‘Hate’: Chicago Sky teammate thinks Angel Reese might’ve gone too far with Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark appeared surprised at the reaction of Angel Reese to a hard foul during the Chicago Sky‘s contest Saturday against the Indiana Fever. The Fever routed the Sky 93-58 in front of a crowd of 17,274 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

In an otherwise non-competitive regular season opening game, the biggest talking point was a flagrant foul called on Clark with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter. Clark claimed nothing was “malicious” about her intent of making Reese earn her points at the free-throw line.

“It’s just a good take foul,” Clark told the ABC TV crew. “You know, either Angel gets a wide-open two points, or we send them to the free-throw line. Nothing malicious about it. It’s just a good take foul. Every basketball player knows that.”

Angel Reese had a viral reaction to Caitlin Clark

Reese fell to the floor as a result of the contact on the foul. The second-year WNBA power forward immediately bounced up to confront Clark, who walked away to the Fever bench. Cameras caught Reese continuing to yell what appeared to be profanities at Clark.

I’m sorry doing angel Reese doing too much now that was yea hard could by Caitlin Clark but get up and play on pic.twitter.com/aeRfh9R3yO

— lily (@yungbartz) May 18, 2025

Following the game, Reese said Clark made a “basketball play” and agreed with the decision called by the refs on the floor.

On Instagram, Reese’s teammate, Ariel Atkins, suggested Reese might have gone a little overboard in her reaction to Clark’s play.

Chicago Sky’s Ariel Atkins comments on the controversy

In a response to a highlight of the interaction between Reese and Clark by Houseofhighlights on Instagram, Atkins wrote that hard fouls like the one Clark made do happen. She also believes discourse around the topic could be dangerous.

“Realistically, hard fouls happen,” Atkins wrote. “But the hate is unnecessary and the narrative y’all have built is weird to meand dangerous. Just let them hoop.”

Ariel Atkins defending Angel Reese on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/DPF6bQKzpX

— LANI ❦ (@___lovelani) May 18, 2025

It was immediately unclear what Atkins meant by the “hate” that was unnecessary.

Some spectators believe Reese’s reaction to Clark’s foul happened becasue of the “hate” the former LSU star has for Clark.

The narrative was spun because of how Reese reacted in the heat of the moment.

While Atkins suggested that Reese might have gone too far in her reaction to the hard foul, she wants to protect her teammate from the potential ramifications of those actions. Some fans have definitely taken the drama too far.

Unfortunately, Reese invited the criticism by following Clark around yelling. If Alyiah Boston hadn’t stepped to push Reese from Clark (causing the refs to call offsetting technicals), another hateful and dangerous action might have occured on the court.

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