The brewing rivalry between Caitlin Clark's Fever and Angel Reese's Sky is incredibly good for business
This is how we're supposed to talk about basketball, folks.
This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Goooood morning, folks! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you taking the time here.
Man. Did you catch part three of Sky vs. Fever on Sunday? I certainly hope you did. I was quite the show, man.
Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark did their thing. Those two showed us exactly why they’ll be future WNBA All-Stars, maybe in the not-so-distant future if current vote counts hold up.
Reese finished with a career-high 25 points and 16 rebounds in this one. She led an epic fourth-quarter comeback against the Fever with Chicago evaporating a 15-point deficit in the game’s final seven minutes.
RELATED: Angel Reese is a dog and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise
She stole the spotlight from Clark who had a pretty good game herself with 17 points, 13 assists, five steals and five 3-pointers. She had some absolutely dazzling moments in this one, like this incredibly deep 3-pointer in the 4th quarter and this RIDICULOUS pass on the break that unfortunately didn’t lead to an assist.
In the end, though, the Fever came up short. But, man. This was some incredibly exciting basketball. It’s exactly what we wanted between these two up-and-coming stars and their teams.
Look, it’s far too early to christen Reese and Clark’s rivalry as the next Candace Parker vs. Maya Moore or anything like that. It’s only year 1, after all. And the reality is neither of these teams are great right now.
But, man. It’s so tantalizing when you think about what this thing has the opportunity to become.
This could be a special rivalry considering the history between Clark and Reese and the history between the Sky and Fever, who saw each other in the playoffs for three consecutive years from 2013 to 2015.
Things have been dormant between these two sides for most of the last decade — the Fever haven’t made the playoffs since 2015. But these two electrifying players seem determined to kickstart things once again.
I’m so glad we get to watch it all unfold. We are being treated, folks. Let’s enjoy it.
For all the marbles
(Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)
Folks. It is happening. The Oilers. The Panthers. Game 7. A comeback of epic proportions is underway.
Honestly, I can’t believe that we’re here. It feels like I was writing about bringing the brooms out for the Mavericks and Oilers in their respective Finals series just yesterday. Dallas is long gone, but Edmonton is giving us enough drama for the next three Stanley Cup and NBA Finals combined.
Edmonton forced a Game 7 on Friday with a dominant 5-1 win over Florida on Friday. While that was good, what comes next will be the Oilers’ biggest challenge yet.
But if the Oilers can pull it off? Whew, that would be quite a feat — especially with all the history working against them.
- Only one team has completed a reverse-sweep in the Stanley Cup Finals
- And no team from Canada has won a Stanley Cup since Montreal did it in 1993.
If the Oilers pull this off, it may be the greatest comeback we’ve seen in sports history.
YU-GI-OH!
Noah Lyles has a fan in me, folks. This dude was already fast. But the fact that he pulled out Yu-Gi-Oh cards before his runs during the Team USA Trials over the weekend has my millennial nostalgia senses firing off.
Mary Clarke has the breakdown for you here.
“On Saturday, during the opening round of the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, Lyles went viral for pulling out a Blue-Eyes White Dragon Yu-Gi-Oh! card before sprinting to a first-place finish in the 100 meter event with a 9.92 second time. And on Sunday during his intro for the semifinal, Lyles continued his trend with an even better follow up by flashing the iconic Exodia the Forbidden One card.
Not only that, just after showing off Exodia to the fans, Lyles clocked off a speedy 9.8 seconds to advance to the final later on Sunday!”
NOAH LYLES!! 9.83!!!
KENNY BEDNAREK! 9.83!!
FRED MF KERLEY!!! 9.88!!THAT’S YOUR 100M TEAM USA FOR THE PARIS OLYMPICS!!
— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) June 24, 2024
Somebody get this man a Slifer, the Sky Dragon card ASAP.
Quick hits: Call him Conn Smythe McDavid from now on … Rob to the Spurs? … and more
— Prince Grimes said Connor McDavid has the Conn Smythe award locked up regardless of Game 7’s result. I agree.
— Bryan Kalbrosky takes a look at ESPN’s latest NBA mock draft that includes Rob Dillingham going to the Spurs. That’s a good pick.
— Angel Reese cooking NaLyssa Smith has blessed us with the MEMES, folks. Meg Hall has more.
— Travis Kelce dancing to Karma is hilarious (and adorable). Charles Curtis has more.
— Jon Rahm hates drones. I feel him. Andrew Joseph has more here.
— Michael Jordan’s 1988 Defensive Player of the Year award is being questioned. Here’s Robert Zeglinski with more on that.
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading. Let’s do this all again tomorrow! Until next time. Peace.
-Sykes 