ESPN star suggests Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese incident became talking point for more than racial reasons

WNBA star Sophie Cunningham spoke to Fox News Digital about her offseason trade to the Indiana Fever and her hopes for the upcoming season. 

ESPN star Stephen A. Smith weighed in on Monday about why Catilin Clark’s hard foul on Angel Reese became a major story of the sports weekend.

Clark’s foul under the basket came after Reese pushed off of an Indiana Fever player to secure an offensive rebound. Clark fouled the Chicago Sky forward in order to prevent an easy two points. Reese let Clark have an earful over the foul. 

Clark’s personal foul was upgraded to a flagrant foul.

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Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, #5, reacts to a flagrant foul from Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, #22, on Saturday, May 17, 2025 during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (IMAGN)

The two WNBA stars downplayed the foul in their postgame press conferences, but it still became a hot topic of debate because of the history the two young athletes have.

"First Take" host Molly Qerim asked bluntly whether the story of Clark and Reese becoming "trending news" was because it was women being physical with each other or was it because it involved a Black and a White player.

"It’s not about Black and White – it’s about that White player and that Black player," Smith said of Clark and Reese. "Why? Because of the history they had before they came to the WNBA. If Angel Reese was never in Caitlin Clark’s face taunting her the way that she did, mimicking what Caitlin Clark was doing to numerous opponents in route to the Final Four and then LSU and Angel Reese busted their you know what at that particular moment in time and Angel Reese was in her face