Sunday night in the WNBA, the Chicago Sky beat the Indiana Fever by 1 point, 88-87 in what appears to have been a great basketball game (I didn’t watch it, I just saw the box score online Monday morning).
The obvious appeal of the game was the third matchup between the two teams and their respective rookie stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reece. They had some competitive history in college in the NCAA Women’s Tournament.
In their first two matchups The Fever beat the Sky, both times in Indianapolis. In the first game Reece had 8 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal, while Clark had 11 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 steal. In the second game Reece had 11 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block, while Clark had 23 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 blocks.
In last night’s game, Reece dominated with her 8th consecutive double-double (a WNBA rookie record), while scoring 25 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. She and teammate A’ja Wilson are the only WNBA players with 15 points and 15 rebounds in multiple games. Clark, on the other hand, played well with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 13 assists (a Fever franchise record), and 4 steals. In other words, both played really well.
What struck me was a headline in USA Today which read “Caitlin Clark has another double-double, this time in record fashion.” Say what? Yes, it’s factually true, but she was bested (also in record fashion) by Angel Reece, and her team lost. Why feature her in the headline?
The rivalry between Clark and Reese is strongly reminiscent of the rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the 80s. Both rivalries ignited interest in their respective leagues. Clark, without a doubt, has become the fresh face of the league with Reece carving out her own fan base.
But, in this case, Clark is bested by Reece (personal stats, league stats, and final score) but she grabs the headline (on USA Today, of all places). To be fair, other media outlets represented it the other way. ESPN.com’s headline read, “Angel Reece powers past Sky past fever with eighth straight double-double.”
It reminds me of Tiger Woods in his heyday. At the height of his success, it didn’t matter if he won or not, all the headlines were about him. When he didn’t win, the headline was usually about him.
Too bad some of the media haven’t caught on yet.
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