Angel Reese THROWS TANTRUM As Caitlin Clark CELEBRATED AS FACE OF FIBA AND NOT HER!

Angel Reese THROWS TANTRUM As Caitlin Clark CELEBRATED AS FACE OF FIBA AND NOT HER!

The FIA Women’s World Cup tips off today [music] in Berlin. And before a single ball got bounced, before a single point got scored, the international basketball world already made one thing crystal clear. Caitlyn Clark is the face of this [music] tournament. Not Angel Reese, not Paige Beckers, not even Asia Wilson, who was supposed [music] to be the centerpiece before her back forced her out. Caitlyn Clark.

 Feba goes all in once again, promoting Caitlyn Clark. something we’ve been asking the bozo WNBA to do time and time again. They even put Caitlyn Clark in the prediction for MVP. Meanwhile, Angel Ree is watching all of this from the same roster wearing the same Team USA jersey [music] and you know exactly how that’s sitting with her because she’s already called herself the Michael Jordan of the WNBA.

She’s already complained about Clark’s awards. She’s already blamed the media for not treating her the way Clark gets treated. And now FIA [music] has drawn a line so clear you’d have to be blind to miss it. Clark is the attraction. Everybody else is the supporting cast. [music] Let’s talk about what that means starting tonight.

 Let us know in the comments. Do you think Caitlyn Clark wins World Cup MVP? >> Two women against each other. Um and I think it’s just been able to be something that [music] is negative but also positive. I think it shines light on women’s basketball. So, I’ll take that of being able to be the person that gets the hate, but I know that at the end of the day, I’m growing women’s basketball and helping women’s basketball.

>> Let’s start with the FIA MVP ladder because this tells you everything about how the international basketball world views Caitlyn Clark compared to the league that keeps trying to hold her down. Feb ranked Clark fourth on its early World Cup MVP predictions. not 10th, not an honorable mention, fourth in the entire tournament.

 And the three players ahead of her, [music] Brianna Stewart, Gabby Williams, Emma Misiman, are all established international stars with years of FIA experience. But here’s where it gets even more interesting. Asia Wilson was supposed to be the favorite for this award. She was the MVP of the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics.

 But Wilson pulled out of the tournament with a back injury, leaving a massive void at the center of this team. Kelsey Plum is out too, shutting down the rest of the entire WNBA season with [music] a calf injury. So, the two players who were supposed to carry the scoring load for Team USA are both watching from home. And suddenly, Caitlyn Clark’s path to being the offensive engine of this team is wide open.

 What’s going on here? because I’ve looked around everywhere and I can’t find a legit reason why Asia Wilson decided to drop out of this. Too scared to share the spotlight with a a guard from Indiana? Now look at the jersey. Clark is wearing number 12 for Team USA, the number made legendary by Diana Terrasi. Terrasi won more international gold medals than any basketball player in history.

 She played 20 seasons at the highest [music] level. And when she retired, that number didn’t go to some veteran with seniority. It went to Caitlyn Clark, a third-year player who wasn’t even selected for the Olympic team 2 years ago. That’s not an accident. [music] That’s USA basketball, making a statement about who they believe the [music] future of this program is.

Caitlyn Clark take over in Berlin is going down. And it looks like Asia Wilson wants nothing to do with it because all of a sudden she doesn’t want to go because she knows she would be second fiddle to Caitlyn Clark. The qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico back in March already told us everything we needed to know. Clark averaged 11.

6 [music] points and a tournament leading 6.4 assists while shooting nearly 53% from the field. She took [music] home Tiso MVP honors, her first senior tournament with Team USA, [music] and she walked away with the MVP trophy. Not Ree, not Beckers, not any of the veterans on that roster. Clark Feeba called her appearance the most eagerly anticipated women’s World Cup debut in the history of the competition. Think about that.

 Not one of the biggest, [music] the most eagerly anticipated debut in history. They called her a mainstream global superstar and pointed directly to the enormous audience she has built around the world. The international basketball world isn’t hedging. They’re not trying to balance the attention between multiple players to keep everybody happy.

 They’re putting Caitlyn Clark front and center because they understand something the WNBA has spent years refusing to admit. Star power isn’t something you distribute evenly. It’s something you recognize and capitalize on. >> Kaitlin’s Kaitlin’s ready. Kaylin’s focused. Um [music] she’s she’s had a great campaign with Indiana.

 I’ve gotten to watch her a lot in person this summer. Um so she’s locked in and ready to go. um yeah, minutes and roles. We we we just really hadn’t got there yet um with our players, but um you know, she’s somebody that can change games um with her um ability to create pace um her ability to score and play make.

 Um and so that’s something that is going to be a great fit for the the personnel that we have on this team. and [music] um you know her her ability to to get um to get going and get hot and and to stretch the floor, the spacing that she provides, the attention that she that she generally draws in the WNBA. We’ll see if that’s the same.

 I mean, that’s another part about FIA that we’ll have to see. It’s her first time here is, [music] you know, how how people defend her. Is it similar to to what we see in the States or is a little bit different? So, we’re still in fact findinding mode in some of those areas that we’ll know when we get into matchups. But >> Angel Reese averaged a team high eight rebounds during qualifying.

 That’s a solid statline for a role player. She shot 52% from [music] the field. She did her job, but the gap between being a solid contributor and being the face of the tournament [music] is the difference between averaging eight boards and averaging six assists while leading the team in scoring.

 One of those players gets ranked on the MVP ladder. The other one doesn’t crack the top 10. That’s not bias. That’s the stat sheet. Now, let’s get into what Angel Ree has been doing while Caitlyn Clark was being crowned the face of FIA. Because Ree hasn’t exactly been quiet about any of this. Start with her calling herself the Michael Jordan of the WNBA.

She said it on camera. No hesitation. The same week Clark got ranked on FIA’s MVP ladder, got named captain, and got Terasi’s number 12. So, here’s the real question. Is Angel Ree being treated like Michael Jordan? Is she getting the superstar calls at the rim? Is she getting the MVP ladder placement? Is she being promoted as the main attraction of the biggest international tournament in women’s basketball? The answer to all of those is no.

>> Caitlyn Clark. >> Mhm. and Angel Angel Ree, right? They’re going back and forth. And J Hill >> says by the time Angel Reese is done, she’s going to be the Michael Jordan of WNBA. >> She said that about Angel Reese. >> She said Angel Ree by the time she retires, can you pull up this quote? She said by the time she retires, she will be the MJ.

> And that’s not a knock on Ree. She’s a good player. She averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds for Atlanta this season. She made the All-Star team. She earned her spot on this World Cup roster. But there’s a difference between being a good player and being the face of a global tournament.

 FIA recognized that difference immediately. Remember the qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico? [music] Clark led the team in scoring and assists and took home MVP. Ree [music] averaged eight rebounds, a team high and shot over 52%. Respectable numbers. But when FIA put together its list of the top 20 players to watch at the World Cup, Clark was ranked seventh.

 They described her as one of the most famous basketball players in the world. Ree wasn’t on that list either. You’ve been saying, “Yo, it seems like the WNBA media only can critique or have something bad to say about Caitlyn Clark. Nobody else.” I mean, it’s almost like no other player has a bad game. You never know about their bad games because they don’t even talk about it. You do not see it.

 Let Caitlin have a bad game everywhere. They’re on ESPN talking about it. Fox, can y’all not be buy it? Then there’s the tantrum pattern. We’ve covered this before on this channel, but it’s worth revisiting because it keeps happening. Reese got caught on camera saying Clark got lucky after winning player of the week. Lucky.

 Clark had just dropped 45 points and 10 assists in under 30 minutes. broke a record nobody in the NBA or WNBA had ever touched. [music] And Ree called it luck. She blamed media bias when Clark won player of the week for the fourth time this season. She called Clark privileged when Clark got named to Forbes’s [music] most powerful women in sports list.

 She cried about a coach calling her a protected species, a common Australian sports phrase that means referees protect you, and got that coach suspended. Then two days later, she went up for a wideopen layup with nobody within five feet of her and injured her own knee. Instant karma doesn’t get that literal. This is going to be like, you know, like when when Michael Jordan went overseas to the Olympics and he stole the whole show and the whole crowd.

 This is what that was going to be like for Asia Wilson. She wanted no parts of it. So, I think it’s really just the fans, her fans, the Iowa fans now, the Indiana fans that are like, but sometimes it’s very disrespectful. >> Um, I think there’s a lot of racism when it comes to it. >> And let’s not forget the betting scandal.

 [music] Reese and Paige Beckers got caught on camera making a $400 wager on their own game. The WNBA posted the video themselves, then had to delete it and issue a statement saying they missed the mark. The league’s own collective bargaining agreement says any player found guilty of wagering on WNBA games shall be subject to fine, suspension, or dismissal.

 But Ree and Beckers [music] faced zero consequences. Zero. The NFL would have suspended them for a year minimum. MLB would have banned them for life. But the WNBA decided the rules don’t apply to their biggest names. Now look at the marketability gap. Clark has the largest Nike deal in WNBA history. She has a $50 million Gatorade deal with her own flavor called Rainberry that crashed Gatorade’s website when it launched.

She’s the first female athlete State Farm has ever signed as a lead endorser. She has a signature basketball line with Wilson, something nobody has had since Michael [music] Jordan. As much as we love Angel Reese because she is special, she’s not Caitlyn Clark as a player. Caitlyn Clark is in a different level.

We just have to own it. >> Reese has a Reebok shoe sitting in bargain bins at major retailers, [music] marked down and barely moving. Reebok has reportedly gone silent on marketing it. Shaquille O’Neal, who runs Reebok’s basketball division, went on record and said Sophie Cunningham, a player who wasn’t even in the All-Star game, is more marketable than Ree.

The guy who signs Reese’s own check said another player is a better brand investment. This isn’t a rivalry anymore. It’s not even close to one. Ree is competing for attention with a player who exists in a [music] completely different stratosphere of fame and marketability. And the gap keeps getting wider.

 FIA understands they have the real superstar for this tournament and they are ready to take full advantage. Caitlyn Clark listed as one of the front rubber runners for FEA MVP. How is it that FIA knows the girls are MVP, but the WNBA don’t get it? Let’s zoom out for a second because this story is bigger than one player throwing tantrums.

 This is about the fundamental difference between how the WNBA and FIA see Caitlyn Clark. [music] Two years ago, Clark was left off the Olympic team. The selection committee chose veteran experience over the biggest star in women’s [music] basketball. They said she hadn’t earned it yet, that she needed to prove herself against professional competition.

Clark didn’t complain. She just went out and set rookie records, then sophomore records, then started breaking records that had stood for 20 years. Is not only number one in this league at 97 a game, it’s the best offense in league history because of Caitlyn Clark. So, with all this drama and nonsense around her, Caitlyn Clark, number one in assist, number three in scoring, best offense in league history, greatest shooting range in in league history, she’s not driving the controversy like Michael Jordan.

She’s all business. Now, she’s the captain of the World Cup team wearing number 12. USA basketball looked at everything she’s done and decided she’s not just good enough to be on the team, she’s good enough to lead it. The WNBA spent two years trying to slow her down. The international basketball world spent two months putting her on a pedestal.

[music] And the officiating, it’s been a disaster all season. Clark gets hammered on drives, no [music] calls. She argues, she gets a technical. She’s two technicals away from an automatic suspension under WNBA rules. Two more [music] moments of frustration away from missing a game because the referees refuse to protect her.

 Meanwhile, she’ll step onto a FIA court in Berlin where the game is called differently, where star players get the benefit of the doubt, where the referees aren’t trying to send a message. The viewership numbers tell the story better than anything else. Neielson ratings showed a 55% drop in WNBA viewership while Clark was injured last season. 55%.

The league nearly lost 2/3 of its audience because one player couldn’t play. She accounts for nearly 70% of all WNBA jersey [music] sales. She’s the second highest jersey seller in all of basketball, men’s and women’s combined. >> Angel always posting on Twitter. DJ Jane Carrington always posting on threads.

Natasha Cloud on threads. Brianna Turner going into back and forths. De’arra Hamby just said, “If somebody punches my daughter, that’s I’m doing them much worse.” In a league where players just seem to not be able to help themselves, going on Twitter and Instagram and begging for attention, begging to be noticed, Caitlyn Clark doesn’t do that.

And yet, [music] there are still people in the media trying to argue she’s not a top four guard in the league. ESPN’s David Dennis Jr. said exactly that. Claimed Clark wasn’t a top four guard, then [music] had to walk it back after she averaged 26 points and nine assists over a seven-game stretch. Complex magazine tried to rank Paige Beckers ahead of Clark using efficiency numbers that were already outdated by the time the article published.

Clark’s fans rightfully lost their minds, pointing out that Clark leads Beckers in virtually every major category. The resistance to admitting what Clark is has become almost comical. She became the fastest point guard in WNBA history [music] to reach 50 steals and 50 blocks. A stat that proves the she’s just a scorer narrative is dead.

 She has four career games with at least 30 points and 10 assists. The rest of WNBA history [music] combined also has four. She alone matches the entire league’s history in that category. And now she’s in Berlin about to show the world what the WNBA has been trying to contain. Oh man, the latter part of that, Stephen A, is quite the thing to think on.

 Um, I think when you go back to the impetus of the rivalry that we have between Caitlyn [music] and uh, and I can remember funny clips on the internet when the whole country’s watching, of course, we’re getting the patented prey up INTO A MELANE BANG. >> YOU a professional basketball player and continuously gallop around like A HORSEY BANG.

 OH, we’re missing the OG brick a two-footer and then fall to the ground. Oh, wait. There it is. [screaming] If only she spent more time working on her shot than at the salon. Huh? PANEL [screaming] RE CLUTCH JEAN FOR THE WIN. [screaming] >> SPEAKING OF Berlin and the jealous veteran establishment, let’s [music] talk about the Asia Wilson situation because the timing here matters more than most people want to admit.

 Wilson was named to the World Cup roster. She was expected to be the centerpiece. She’s the four-time WNBA MVP, the reigning World Cup MVP, the reigning Olympic MVP. And then Caitlyn Clark got named team captain. Clark was given the captain’s title, taking the mantle from Terrasi. That’s not a ceremonial role. The captain is the player talking to officials during games.

 The one coaches lean on to relay adjustments mid- possession. The one reporters go to first after every game. It’s a leadership position that traditionally goes [music] to the most established veteran on the roster. And it went to Clark. Not what y’all making her out to be. At this point, Caitlyn Clark does exactly what Asia Wilson does.

 Even more. Let me tell you, this girl is the engine, right? Asia, I think she’s the engine for the Aces. Without her, they can’t win. I believe in that. But without Caitlyn, the Fever can’t win. What else? Putting up points. Caitlyn puts up points, too. Only reason she’s not getting 26 a game is because she likes to get her teammates involved.

She’s in in charge of the engine, the offense itself. I got Caitlyn Clark over everybody. I said it. I said it. I got Caitlyn Clark over everybody, man. She’s moving up in the list, but I don’t think they’ll give it to her because of how nasty this league is. The politics. just put on a suit and tie at this point, man. The politics that this league has.

>> Shortly after that announcement, Wilson withdrew from the tournament with what was described as a lingering back issue. She’d appeared on the injury report twice in the previous week. Maybe it’s completely unrelated. Maybe her back really was bothering her that much, but the timing is what it is.

 Clark gets named captain. Wilson suddenly can’t go. What we do know is that Wilson’s response to Clark’s captaincy wasn’t exactly gracious. [music] She called Clark privileged. Said her rise to the top came too easy. That word privileged was a direct shot at everything Clark has built. And now the player who said that isn’t even in Berlin.

 She’s at home resting her back while the player she dismissed leads team USA into [music] the biggest tournament of the year. Without Wilson and Plum, this roster looks completely [music] different. Seven players are making their World Cup debut. Brianna Stewart is the only true veteran anchor. Chelsea Gray at 33 is the oldest player on the team.

 Half the roster is under 27 years old. This was supposed to be a transition year where the old guard slowly handed things off to [music] the next generation. Instead, the transition happened overnight and Caitlyn Clark is standing at the front of it. >> Nervous about being knocked off the top of the hill. Take a listen to this. >> And you alluded to the World Cup roster over the weekend.

 [music] In light of what this August schedule’s about to be like and what the sprint to the playoffs in September is going to be like, does that [music] affect your process in deciding to play in the World Cup or you just kind of locked in on that? >> Um, I have given it some thought. I’m not going to lie.

 It has been a thought of mine just to see how to navigate it all. Um, and just the priority prioritization that would need to go into that. Um, but you know, I’m going to see when it gets to that moment and how I feel with my body. my body going to tell it all honestly. Um because if I don’t show up in one place, it’s like oh my god.

 And if I don’t show up in another place, it’s like oh my god. So I’m kind of just stuck in the middle right now, but I’m just going to continue to just build off of what I got going on now [music] leading up to that point in. >> So as you can hear it, man, prioritization. >> The new additions, [music] Kiki and Sonia Citroen, are both firsttime national team players.

 Ian has been solid for the Mystics, but she’s not replacing Wilson’s production. Citroen is a defensive specialist who’s still finding her footing. The talent drop off from Wilson and Plum to their replacements is significant [music] and that means the scoring burden falls squarely on the guards. Clark, Beckers, Copper, Young, they’re going to have to put up points in bunches if the US wants to keep its five tournament gold streak alive. The World Cup starts today.

 Team USA opens Group D against China. then Italy on September 6th, followed by Czech Republic on September 7th. Pool play sets the tone for the entire tournament. And the US is chasing a fifth straight World Cup gold medal. That’s 12 gold medals overall for the program. They haven’t lost in international competition since 2006.

Without Wilson and Plum, the margin for error is thinner than it’s been in years, but the offensive firepower is still there. Clark running the point with Becker’s Young and Copper on the wings. Collier and Stewart holding down the front court. Gray providing veteran stability off the bench. Ree rebounding and finishing inside.

 It’s a deep roster with players who can score from every level. But Clark is the key. She controls the tempo. She draws the defense’s attention and creates opportunities for everybody else. FIA’s early MVP ladder already has her at number four. And with Wilson out, that ranking could climb fast. If Clark puts up the kind of numbers she’s been averaging for the Fever, 22 points, eight assists per game, she’s going to be right in the MVP conversation.

 And if Team USA rolls through this tournament undefeated, that conversation becomes a coronation. You got FEA promoting Caitlyn Clark here. Uh, two FIA 19 U Allstars about to make their senior senior FIA debut. Sonia Citron joins USA team for Berlin. Now, they could have used any photo for Sonia Citron, but what did they use? The one with CC in it because FIA understands star power.

 FIA understands greatness. They get it. The WNBA, the Indiana Fever can’t seem to get it. >> Think about what that would mean. Clark walks into her first senior tournament, wins MVP, walks into her first World Cup, and potentially wins MVP again. Two years after being deemed not ready for the Olympics, the narrative arc writes itself.

 The legacy moment is sitting right there in front of her. She could walk out of Berlin with a gold medal around her neck and an MVP trophy in her hands. That would be the greatest single month of her career. and it would make the argument that she’s the face of women’s basketball impossible to deny, even for the people who’ve spent the last three years trying to pretend otherwise.

Angel Ree can throw all the tantrums she wants. She can call herself Michael Jordan, cry about awards, blame the media, and ask why nobody’s buying her shoes. But while she’s doing all that, [music] Caitlyn Clark is in Berlin wearing Diana Teresy’s number, captaining Team USA, and proving that [music] the entire world sees what the WNBA refuses to.

 Let us know in the comments. Do you think Caitlyn Clark wins World Cup MVP? [music] And don’t forget to like, subscribe, and turn on all notifications. Click the video on the screen and we’ll see you in the next