NBA GAMETIME GOES WILD AS CAITLIN CLARK BREAKS ROOKIE 3-PT RECORD, A'JA WILSON LEADS MVP CHARGE!

hey there and welcome to WNBA weekly I'm Stephanie ready alongside the great Renee Montgomery all she does is win win win all right Renee starting off things with my favorite part of the show every week you choose some topics to talk about sometimes it's Enlightenment education sometimes it's just that was all of that so what you got for us today in Rene is rundown I'm got a little edutainment cuz we're going to start with the legend Elena beard cuz we're going to just in case you didn't know we're going to run through of the Legends and so yes this is Elena beard you guys this is a defensive nightmare that you're looking at right now people had nightmares about this woman right here and at halftime of their past game she went up in the Rapters for the Hall of Fame this woman and and then they had her going into the locker room it's almost like a passing of the torch she's given the hard hat to my former teammate I called her slime but that's Britney stes right there who also is a defensive nuisance she's athletic she's long and lean honestly like Elena beard and in case you didn't know so Elena beard this was what you call an ultimate winner they they use the term garbage player to do all the things that people may not she was a WNBA Champion with the sparks in 2016 four time Allstar two time Defensive Player of the Year as in the best in the league five time all defensive first team four time all defensive second team a legend in our game she just went up in the Raptors for the mystics deserved and earned congratulations I coached her when she was the Mystics I saw firsthand unbelievable unbelievable cheat code so that's that's Elena beard and then the clinching is starting to happen is that Time of the Season yeah it's like we get around Halloween it's getting spooky out here the Liberty the sun and the links all have clenched now they will be entering the playoffs and the links are just playing at a crazy crazy efficient clip and not just on offense cuz that's what you think about when you think about their three-point shooting but it's on offense and defense as you can see right here nefa ker is an MVP candidate for a reason she's carrying this team she's playing well uh Courtney Williams is playing great they're just all playing great together and then if you leave them behind the three-point line it's a scru it they're shooting 39% 39% as a team is insane you have to understand that some of the best Shooters shoot a 39% clip they're doing it together as a team you can see they hold their opponents now to the worst three-point percentage they're first in that at 29% they're first in assist as you can see the ball hops around this team is good in the beginning of the Season we were curious can they sustain it is this going to be the links Team all season the answer is now yes yes thank you yes but this was just a squad on squads on squads all of their numbers are now hanging in the Raptors as they should be this could possibly be the best starting lineup to ever play the WNBA game of basketball period it's impressive period i I mean you just think about that all of them retired and then that's my dog right there listen we played in college we played this is just one of those people that she's always going to be the same human at all times if it's a big game you know Maya Moore is going to show up and show out bow and that's what you knew was going to happen and it's exciting to see now that people they're finding her footage they're finding they're discovering the four time WNBA Champion they're discovering the finals MVP the WNBA MVP the sixth time WNBA Allstar they're seeing her footage and realizing that yes she does look like she was a video game player the five time all WNBA first team player the scoring champion the Yukon Champion did it all in eight years the all everything the all everything all those stats you see right there she did it in eight years of WNBA basketball which is crazy so I'm sure like most people are like who would you bring back yeah I mean she only played eight years imagine if she played a full career if who knows what those record books will look like well I'm glad you said who would you bring bring back let's hear from a couple of players who told us who they would bring back if you could bring any player out of retirement who would it be any player out of mayore mayore every practice we want it was a com like every practice was musty TV like we the second unit uh Gia Perkins Janelle mccarville Natasha Howard myself uh Tim AAC bleay was our five in that unit we were battling it out with them and every day they would try to stomp us out led by my mind so that's how you see people be great you always wonder like man how did they make that shot they made it a 100 times in practice before that and that was what it was like playing with her just practicing greatness literally I mean but she won everywhere that's what she did yeah at Yukon I mean even at Yukon so we had pre-season and Coach RMA of course was separate me and M every time we were never on the same team because he wanted us to go head tohe and so every time whether was a weightlifting thing where it's like who can keep their arms out the longest whether it was Sprints whatever it was she if she didn't win she's mad and and myself as well and so to be able to play with her she came in I played two years at Yukon with her got to play um against her and with her in Minnesota and just it's just she's a machine you know it's one of those players where we talk about Mamba mentalities you talk about what Jordan had that aura she had all of that there was a reason that they let her do the iconic poster instantly there's a reason she was the first athlete to sign to Jordan female athlete to sign to Jordan brand there was a reason that he ground crowned her right away like this is the female version of that so to have her Jersey go up in the Raptors she's going to be she's going to be all the things Hall of Famer everything that you can be she will be first ballot because she was that caliber of player yes undeniable period so much fun to watch congratulations that's what they used to say yeah I mean that's all you she's one of those people just one name that's all you need okay we have still more that was a lot but we still have a lot more to come will there be domination in the desert Asia Wilson has a say in [Music] that I'm man NBA TV news update well was another night another record for Caitlyn Clark fever hosting the Sun and Clark draining this step back three early in the first that was her 86 this season the most ever by a rookie in WNBA history Clark though ended up having a rough shooting night making just three of her 12 three-point attempts but she didn't get this clutch bucket with a minute 27 to go to put the fever up for good they beat the sun 84 to 80 and check this out after the game Clark getting a pick with Simone biles and Gabby Thomas who were at the game lots of greatness in that pck now El to F 32 from Briand Stewart the league leading Liberty were stunned by the last place LA Sparks Derica hamy scoring 21 as the Sparks get the shocking win over New York 94 to 88 Angel Reese's record streak of three straight games 20 rebounds coming to an end last night and a loss to the mystics re finishing with 14 boards scoring seven points Chicago now 11 and 19 on the season just one game ahead of Atlanta for that eighth and final playoff spot with 10 games left to go aces in the hole these are their career stats with Las Vegas Plum young and gray you can see at the bottom how they got there and that is what we're talking about let's listen in on these ladies and their Journey from that time you first picked up a basketball and what would you think of that person to see where you are today a little kid had no idea what was going to be in front of them so um you know it's it's so much joy I play with so much joy because of that and my journey and my path to get here from injuries um to not playing a whole bunch of my rookie year to now getting an opportunity winning championships in the W it's incredible uh to be able to be here with them um and to watch them each individually on their Journeys um I know for all of us you know we were like young puppies coming in together so it's really cool to see everyone uh shine just the Improvement that you have every single year you just keep getting better and better two-way player in this league one of the best in the world what would you attribute your success to as you just climbing your young career yeah I would just say hard work you know um and I have to give a lot of credit to Tyler Marsh um that's my guy he really uh changed my career and we spent a lot of time together in the gym I made a few tweaks to my shot but that's when the biggest difference was expanding my game out to the three but I give a lot of credit to him um yeah that's my dog I've always tried to be someone that comes back better than the year before so just trying to add different um assets to my game I think what I'm most proud of is just the growth over this time and um you know I think for me I came in just as a score and now that's really not what you can say about me and uh I think I'm really proud of that um also too I want to be able to impact winning you know winning to me is what's most most important everything else kind of comes after that who do you think the best trash talker in the league is you know it's so funny people always say me um people always say me but it's not I don't talk trash I'm just honest the difference best trash talker in the league Kelsey Plum easy easy no hesitation no hesitation why is that she backs it up but she's going to talk to whoever she needs to every time listen I love it she she says it's not talking trash if it's the truth yeah she said she telling the truth but I'mma tell you another TR Slayer Diana terasi until Diana terasi exits the WNBA I think that she holds the crown for True Slayer that's what we going to call trash talkers I like that I like what Kelsey Plum said though it's not trash talking telling the truth well then the ultimate truth Slayer has got to be Diana um with a close second though Chelsea I the Kelsey Kelsey if you want to be you know you got your own teammates and and chelse gray has played with a lot of people so for Chelsea Gray to say that she's been around a lot of trash talkers and she said Kelsey plums so I don't take that lightly no but Diana terasi got to be that real truth story I've heard some of that I remember those days meet you in the lobby I don't know if you meet me in the lobby officials yes you know that's okay anyway let's get back to the aces so their Journey okay they are trying to become one of the elite teams in the history of the WNBA you can see here are the dynasties and we put you guys the links in there because you won every other year so that's pretty good it's a good standard a good bar you set there how do the aces get to their third consecutive Championship well the good news for the aces is that they have the talent to do it they have the talent to do it and they have the MV possible MVP this year where I don't know how she's not going to be the NBT with her stats we'll get to that later but they have the talent that's the first thing you have to have to win a championship if you don't have that and you don't have health then there's nothing else you can do right now their all of their talent is not playing great at the same time but who is playing great is Asia freaking Wilson look at this like and keep this up here for a while cuz we got to get into this we talk about like my eyes tell me when I watch them play that she's the best player in the WNBA the most valuable player is Asia Wilson but now look at these stats she's first in the WNBA in points second in the WNBA and rebounds defensive rebounds there she goes first blocks she's first steals baby steals we talking about steals third usage second so she's used the second highest and then get this she's used the second highest but she turns it over the least that's crazy that is people have to understand these stats are not normal huge statistical categories points rebounds and Steals and she's in the top three in all of them number one and two and not it's just unheard of so when you have a player like that on your team you're always dangerous and you're it gives you confidence taking a closer look at next AUM and here's how she ranks among active players you can see all of those top 10 finishes on the right and she's not finished our own Autumn Johnson had a chance to catch up with her the consistency the level of play that high level of play you've been able to dominate with year after year what does it take to maintain that understanding what it means to be a professional and ultimately you know tapping into the importance of recovery and also training like I'm really getting into the details of it now after every game me and Sky we live together and so um just keeping that professionality is what has given me that longevity so for you to come into the Seattle Storm and to make an immediate impact in Noel Quinn's system how have you been able to do that and adapt right away when I came in no he was very adamant about me just kind of being myself and just going out there and playing being free and I was very grateful for that because I think that I've had to strike a balance especially in the last few years of my career with like my responsibilities of me being the president off the court and then you know also uh a very dependable leader in LA and I feel very light I feel like I'm just playing very free and I can just go out there and have fun and win the games and do my job and just hoop right yeah that's it when we look at the second half coming back into the season trying to push in the playoffs and you look at just the other weapons that you have and juel eie you name it down the stretch even Jordan hon coming in as a big piece what do you think this potential could be I feel like we have so much experience and Leadership from so many different members of our team we have a lot of Champions on our team both in the staff and on the court and us being able to come together with that level of maturity that level of focus is something that's really helped develop our chemistry what will it take to be a championship team focusing on how great that we can be and knowing that we step on the court yeah we have to defend we have to defend and we have to stop but who's going you know who's going to stop us as well think us kind of creating that that level of competitiveness but also a little bit of that ego when we come out and play he got a big ego let's go so listen Seattle has a reason to have an ego because of the talent that they have led with NECA so NECA is one of those players that she's going to make all the right reads she sets the pick and roll gets in the pocket of Skylar digging Skylar drops the pass gets a bucket and one here she does a little pick and pop action now she can dribble and handle the ball that's what makes her dangerous from the three-point line she takes her Defender from the top of the key all the way to the block finishes the layup this is a specialty for them because they use that end screen by the guard all it's doing is giving NECA a chance to just get her defender on a one-on-one block ISO situation it's dangerous down there you don't want to be with NE we're back we're talking angel Reese uh run at Montgomery because there are so many things going on for right now had she's had a week uh this introducing a whole new collection designed with the Basketball Star inspired by her powerful energy this is Reebok that's going to be amazing rebot got them a good one I love that they're putting energy behind her early and this one huge Angel Reese fans coming into action yes to help her get this deal with Reese's PC and I love how she let him know y'all made it happen listen the ree's pieces is the name of what her fans call themselves so you know how fan groups have names hers are the Reese's Pieces and they wanted to be sponsored baby and they got it okay and then this one podcast unapologetically Angel every Thursday yes and I love that Shaq shouts to Shaq for laying the groundwork for her he had a part in that rebok deal that happened he has a part in this unap unapologetically Angel but he didn't have a part in this right here shouts to Angel Reese because there's a lot of talk so she three straight games in a row she had 20 plus rebounds there's only one other human that played basketball that's done and has been Wallace in the professional sports League here that's the list that's the list that's it shouts to her for getting it done on the court and then all right let's get into some high tops Sabrina uncu from Deep they call her Big Ellie no that's that's the mascot but shout to Sabrina and that's you man that's a big time shooter right there and she does it ingame as well talk about a clutch Jean Kennedy Carter before that play she made a corner three to catch them up and then on this play She made an unreal crossover slack him got it three points tied up the game it was all love it was all good until mama here goes that woman Asia Wilson shout to the dim from Chelsea Gray first of all that's a dime thread the needle pass straight to Asia Wilson great screen by Kelsey Plum which made the defense have to switch the play was just perfection ran to perfection we are in a fun time of the game right now let's go this is crunch time yes WNBA we are nearing the end of the season teams are clenching playoff births but still also battling so how important is this week man every game's going to matter I mean when you get down to it you start to think about as an athlete the games you let get away because now you only got a couple games to catch up but it's fun for the fans cuz every game is going to be a playoff atmosphere every game well we've got some games on tap still analyzing the Caitlyn Clark Angel Reese rivalry media hype or Genuine competition in the World of Sports rivalries are the fuel that drives fan engagement ignites passion and adds layers of drama to the narratives we love to follow however not every rivalry that Garners attention is rooted in genuine competition and the ongoing Buzz surrounding Catlin Clark and Angel ree in the WNBA is a perfect example of this phenomenon as highlighted by Dallas Wings guard arri ouno the Rivalry between these two Rising Stars may be more of a media creation than an authentic Feud let's break down the elements at play here and explore whether the Rivalry between Clark and Reese is as significant as it seems the origins of the Clark ree rivalry the supposed rivalry between Caitlyn Clark a dynamic guard for the Indiana fever and Angel Reese a dominant forward for the Chicago sky can be traced back to their college days both players were standout stars in the NCAA leading their respective teams Clark with the Iowa hawkey and Reese with the LSU Tigers through intense and high stakes matchups the 2023 NCAA Women's Championship game where Reese's LSU triumphed over Clark's Iowa served as a flash point for the animosity that many believe exists between the two the tension was seemingly reignited in the 2024 Elite 8 and has since carried over into their WNBA careers yet according to Ogen baale this narrative is largely a media fabrication she points out that Clark and Reese play entirely different positions Clark as a guard and Reese as a post player and have rarely if ever directly matched up against each other on the court this observation challenges the idea that they are locked in a heated rivalry as their roles on the court do not naturally lend themselves to direct competition media's role in shaping perceptions oun bal's comments underscore a crucial aspect of modern sports culture the media's power to shape and sometimes distort narratives by Framing Clark and Reese as bitter Rivals the media has managed to capture the Public's attention driving up viewership and creating a story line that extends beyond the court this narrative is compelling because it Taps into the Timeless appeal of rivalries David versus Goliath Goliath Magic versus bird Ali versus Frasier but in this case the Rivalry may be more fiction than fact the media's influence is further evident in the way games between the fever and Sky have been promoted and covered as noted two of the three matchups between these teams this season have garnered the highest viewership for a WNBA regular season game in over two decades this spike in interest is a testament to the power of Storytelling in sports fans are drawn to the drama the tension and the possibility of witnessing history in the making however if the Rivalry is more of a media construct it raises questions about the authenticity of the competition were being sold respect between competitors one of the most telling aspects of this situation is the respect that exists between Clark and Reese as highlighted by oun Bali despite the oncourt drama and postgame comments that have fueled speculation both players reportedly hold each other in high regard this mutual respect is often overlooked in favor of the more sensationalized elements of their interactions comments taken out of cont context heated moments during games or perceived slights oun Bale's perspective offers a refreshing reminder that at the end of the day these athletes are professionals who recognize and appreciate each other's talents the respect they share is a far cry from the Cutthroat rivalry that the media portrays it's a dynamic that is common among top tier athletes who understand the pressures of performing at the highest level and the sacrifices required ired to reach the Pinnacle of their sport impact on the WNBA regardless of whether the Clark Reese rivalry is real or imagined there's no denying its impact on the WNBA The increased attention has brought more eyes to the league boosting its visibility and by extension its growth the WNBA has long sought to expand its fan base and Elevate its status in the crowded Sports landscape and storylines like this one even if partially contrived play a crucial role in achieving that goal however it's important to strike a balance between creating compelling narratives and staying true to the authentic stories within the sport the WNBA is home to incredible athletes each with their own unique Journeys and rivalries elevating these genuine stories can help the league continue to grow in a way that resonates with both longtime fans and newcomers alike in conclusion the Caitlyn Clark angel Reese rivalry serves as a fascinating case study in the intersection of sports media and public perception while the media has successfully crafted a narrative that has captivated fans and driven viewership it's crucial to remember that the reality on the ground may be far less dramatic than the stories were being told as ARA ouno aptly put it the Rivalry may be more about hype than genuine competition for fans of the sport this doesn't diminish the excitement of watching Clark and Reese compete at the highest level but it does offer a reminder to approach these narratives with a critical eye recognizing the role that media plays in shaping our understanding of the game whether the Rivalry is real or not one thing is certain Caitlyn Clark and Angel ree are two of the brightest young stars in the WNBA and their performances on the court not the media hype should be the true measure of their Legacies don't forget to like this video And subscribe to our Channel sport news today fan this way you won't miss any updates about your favorite team