FORT WORTH, Texas — Other than grab 29 offensive rebounds on the same possession, mostly off her own shots, Angel Reese’s most impressive play on a basketball court remains her “You Can’t See Me” hand gesture in front of America’s sweetheart.

We will never know if it was business decision, but the moment Reese diminished Caitlin Clark in the 2023 NCAA national title game, when the two played at LSU and Iowa, respectively, it created an identity that one of these two needs whereas the other doesn’t.

Caitlin Clark doesn’t need Angel Reese. Angel Reese needs Caitlin Clark. Women’s basketball has seen players of Reese’s caliber before whereas Clark is the unicorn.

If Reese can deal with the noise, her best play is to remain the WNBA’s heel. Every sports league is better with a bad guy, and Reese subtly demeaning Clark is a brilliant marketing ploy.

Reese and the Chicago Sky come to Arlington on Saturday, May 31 to play Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings. The game is a sellout, with nosebleed seats priced for as much as $200.

This is a wonderful statement for the state of the WNBA; these are two of the worst teams in the league, and this is a game in which people should be paid to enter the arena to watch. Instead, people are paying The Stupid Price to see Buckets play Bayou Barbie.

All of this prompted former Baylor, Olympian and current WNBA player Brittney Griner to (allegedly) utter, “The ‘W’ will be bigger than the NFL in five years thanks to Angel Reese.”

Apparently marijuana is legal in Russian prisons; Griner’s point is hyperbole, but her thoughts about the continued rise of the league, thanks in part to Reese, is accurate.

Reese’s game

On the court, Reese is an inspiring, tireless rebounder. In her second season as a pro, she averages 13.5 rebounds a game.

The recurring joke is most of these rebounds come off of her own missed shots. After you type in Angel Reese on Google, one of the first auto prompts is, “missed layups.”

YouTube and Instagram are full of reels of Reese collecting two or three rebounds only to miss another close shot at the rim on the same possession.

These reels are real. This isn’t AI. She averages better than 5.5 offensive rebounds per game.

What Reese should be is 1996 Olympian and University of Georgia product Katrina McClain-Johnson. As the WNBA was born, McClain was the best women’s player alive. She was a 6-foot-1 walking double-double. In 2018, the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association created the Katrina McClain Award, given annually to the nation’s top power forward.

Reese was a finalist for this award multiple times during her college career. The only reason she never won it is an offensive game that’s a little ... what’s the word? Rough? Unrefined? Awful?

Reese can grab any rebound, defend any big player, but she’s not much of a scorer. She shoots the ball at less than 40% from the floor. For a big, that’s a problem.

She is a good player with an upside who may mature into a scorer who averages better than 10 points per game.

Reese’s appeal

She has posed for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, is unafraid of her own opinions, and boasts 4.9 million followers on Instagram.

She hosts a podcast called the “Unapologetically Angel” show. She is outspoken about player salaries in the WNBA, going so far as to suggest the players will sit out when the collective bargaining agreement expires after this season.

In her second year in the WNBA, she has also made it a point not to kiss the ring of Caitlin Clark. Whether this is gamesmanship, bravado, bold marketing or jealousy, it’s working.

What began in college has continued, and none of it comes from Clark.

During Chicago’s game against Indiana on May 17, Clark committed a hard foul on Reese that prevented her from getting the shot off. On second and third look, it was a standard basketball foul, and a “flagrant” was assessed. Reese turned on the theatrics and had to be “held back” from going after Clark.

The play kicked off another round of debate about Clark, Reese, and the WNBA; because Reese is Black and Clark is white, a fair amount of this debate jumped into race.

None of this is perfect, or even ideal, but Reese even faking like she’s going after Clark is a wise choice. Reese was no more going to hit Clark with a punch than she will dunk a basketball from the foul line.

It was a good show.

A show that the WNBA needs. There are still only a small number of WNBA players who are widely known, and Reese is one of them.

She’s known because she’s a solid player who won in college, and has made either the intentional or unintentional decision not to revere the league’s meal-ticket player. It has made Angel Reese a villain.

All sports leagues are better off with bad guys.

And the best move Angel Reese can make is to be the WNBA’s heel.

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