Angel Reese made headlines recently for claiming that Caitlin Clark is not the only reason the viewership in the WNBA is up. Fox Sports' Joy Taylor seemingly agreed with Reese and even went as far as saying that Clark wasn't mainstream until they faced each other in the 2023 NCAA championship game.
Taylor insisted that it's not an opinion, but a fact that sports networks began taking note of Clark's game when Reese taunted her after winning the title.
"We were not talking about Caitlin Clark before Angel Reese walked up to her, did this (You Can't See Me taunt) and pointed to the ring. This is not my opinion. I lived it, I watched it. It was recorded, it was broadcasted live. We were not talking about Caitlin Clark before that moment," Taylor said.
However, WNBA fans are not having any of Joy Taylor's facts about Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Some even began pulling receipts to prove that the mainstream media knew about Clark way before she got matched up with Reese in the 2023 NCAA championship game.
"Lmao sports analysts saying they didn’t know who CC was before the 23 chip is extremely damning on sports media lmaoooo this does not say what she thinks it does," a fan commented.
"AR was still in Maryland when Caitlin Clark was being compared to Steph Curry. Don't get it twisted. Don't get it fed up. AR fame took off because of the LSU game, technically wasn't even her game. It was her antics after the game towards CC," another fan remarked.
"That is flat out wrong. CC was huge even before Iowa beat South Carolina to get to the National Championship Game. I can't believe she co-hosts a sports show and wasn't aware of Clark," one fan wrote.
Fans presented an interview by Stephen A. Smith back in 2022 when Clark was still a sophomore and was already being compared to Steph Curry. Kevin Durant also mentioned her in his podcast that same year.
"How did NBA players know who she is a year before that game but nobody else did?" a fan asked while showing KD's comments two years ago.
"Know your facts first," another fan told Joy Taylor then putting up Stephen A. Smith's interview with Clark.
"We knew CC from dropping 30 and 40-point triple-doubles before the LSU game, beating SC, and Lousiville while shooting like Curry," one fan remarked.
What's next for Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever?
The Indiana Fever have already played 11 games so far, two more than the second-most WNBA team. Caitlin Clark and the Fever got a deserved rest before taking on the winless Washington Mystics on Friday for their third game of the 2024 WNBA Commissioner's Cup.
The Fever are 1-1 in the in-season tournament and will need to finish with the best record in the Eastern Conference to qualify for the Cup Final on June 25. They have two more Commissioner's Cup games after Saturday, against the Connecticut Sun and Atlanta Dream.