The WNBA is undergoing an unprecedented period of growth at the moment, thanks to a huge spike both in game attendance and television viewership. This growth is evidenced by the rapid expansion of the league.
The league welcomed the Golden State Valkyries to their inaugural season this year, and both Toronto and Portland will welcome franchises next year, with Cleveland not far behind.
The fast-growing nature of the league’s popularity has resulted in increased scrutiny that the league perhaps wasn’t ready for.
In particular, the budding rivalry between Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese and Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark has received a lot of attention both in the media and on social media.
The on-court rivalry between the two, which has taken on racial undertones with respect to the two’s fanbases, was elevated to a new level in both teams’ 2025 season opener, when Reese took a hard take-foul from Clark.
The foul resulted in many saying that the league should stop trying to promote the rivalry or insisting that there is no rivalry to promote between the two players.
However, this is the completely wrong takeaway. The league should do everything it can to pit these two against each other, and root for both the Sky and the Fever to succeed in the meantime.
The rivalry between Clark and Reese is eerily reminiscent of the NBA rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, and could do wonders in helping to secure stronger media deals for the league that would lead to even more growth.
And if the league is lucky, the “Bird-Johnson” rivalry may even be followed by the arrival of the WNBA’s Michael Jordan equivalent…
