Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese© Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Chicago Sky are set to make their regular-season debut on Saturday against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 3 p.m. ET on ABC. The matchup is another edition of the budding rivalry between the Fever and Sky, featuring Angel Reese and Clark.

Last year, Reese claimed that the extra intrigue surrounding the WNBA in 2024 was due to Reese taking on a villain role after LSU defeated Iowa in the 2023 national title.

“It all started in the National Championship game — I’ve been dealing with this for two years now, and understanding, yeah, negative things have probably been said about me, but honestly, I’ll take that because look where women’s basketball is,” Reese said. People are talking about women’s basketball that you never would think would be talking about women’s basketball. People are pulling up to games, we got celebrities coming to games, sold out arenas, just because of one single game (the 2023 NCAA championship game).”

“And just looking at that, I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad guy role, and I’ll continue to take that on and be that for my teammates. I’ll look back in 20 years and be like, ‘Yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person. It’s because of me, too,’ and I want y’all to realize that.”

Angel Reese appeared frustrated by Caitlin Clark comparison

During the Sky’s media day event on Monday, a reporter started to ask Reese a question about that comment, but Reese quickly shot the question down before the reporter could finish.

“Next question,” Reese said while appearing frustrated by the question, per video by CHGO Sky.

The Chicago Sky hope their “villain” stays motivated

Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese© Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) goes to the basket against the Connecticut Sun during the second half of a basketball game at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Clark won the WNBA Rookie of the Year award in 2024. Reese broke a league record for the most rebounds in a single season with 446 rebounds, averaging a whopping 13.1 rebounds per game.

Reese didn’t need to answer the question about Clark. The fact that the Sky will host the Fever at the United Center on June 7 is proof enough of how popular Reese is in the sport.

Because Reese has embraced the “villain” role, comparisons between her and Clark won’t go away anytime soon. Those comparisons should provide Reese with ammunition to get better so the Sky can knock off the Fever in future contests.