Courtney Vandersloot has an idea.
With the Sky getting ready to open the season Saturday at the Fever (2 p.m., ABC 7), the venerable vet’s idea is a mighty good one, too.
“I would hope, more than anything,” she said, “that it could just be about hoop.”
Not about an unseemly narrative of two teams — and two fan bases — standing in distasteful opposition. Not about bitterness and bile. Not about cheap shots, real and perceived, on the court between players, in the media or on social media among keyboard warriors.
And certainly not about the Sky’s Angel Reese and the Fever’s Caitlin Clark as any sort of enemies.
Just basketball, you know? With a healthy rivalry twist.
“I mean, I’m all about a rivalry,” Vandersloot told the Sun-Times. “And what a great situation; we’re three and a half hours away, two Midwest teams. Like, yes, absolutely, but make it about hoop. That’s it. That’s all it should be about. Two incredible players that came from college happen to be in it — I love it, the storyline is there — but it should be about nothing other than the court stuff.”
The WNBA eagerly promoted Sky-Fever — and Reese-Clark — as a rivalry in 2024, when both players were rookies. And it continues to do so, having lined the teams up for another matchup in Indianapolis, the fourth of their five meetings this season, to kick off the inaugural WNBA Rivals Week in August.
Vandersloot had no part in the Sky-Fever drama last year. She was too busy winning a championship with the Liberty.
“I don’t know the extent of it, but from what I’ve heard, yeah, it got bad,” she said. “So let’s keep it about basketball. Let’s embrace that.”
Reese didn’t speak with reporters Thursday following the Sky’s last practice in Deerfield before they hit the road, but she’ll be asked often about the Fever and her point of view will remain a juicy angle.
All the while, Clark, the face of the league and its foremost superstar, will be on center stage. In a WNBA.com survey of the league’s general managers, Clark split the vote with the Aces’ Chelsea Gray as the WNBA’s best point guard and also received the most votes as its best shooting guard. The Fever — a playoff team last year, unlike the Sky — were credited with having had the best offseason of any team, predicted to be the most improved team and tabbed, in a runaway, as the most fun team to watch.
“Man, a fast-paced, high-scoring game on their end,” first-year Sky coach Tyler Marsh said about his expectations for the opener. “They get it out and they run and they space the ball well. They’ve got a ton of great shooters over there. So we’re going to have our work cut out for us.”
Marsh’s impression of Clark is “probably the same as everyone’s.”
“Caitlin’s amazing,” he said. “Her ability to push pace, her ability to pass combined with her ability to shoot, I mean, she’s only going to continue to be better. If the rookie season she put forth last year is the worst she’s going to be? She’s going to be causing havoc in this league for a long time.”
Vandersloot, entering her 15th season, is no less impressed. One would think the opinion of a point guard with 2,850 career assists — only 384 behind all-time league leader Sue Bird, who played 152 more games — is relevant. The record likely will be Vandersloot’s someday, with Clark, who set the league’s single-season record for assists as a rookie, with 337, chasing it.
“I didn’t realize just how great of a passer she was,” Vandersloot said. “I was impressed with her game. I knew she could shoot, I knew she could score, but to be able to distribute and pass the way she does even at the next level, that’s what makes her great, honestly.”
Vandersloot has no problem throwing bouquets at Clark, whose arrival to the league elevated everything.
“It’s something that we’ve never seen before,” she said. “It was cool to be a part of, cool to see it kind of go down. I think Caitlin is great. She had an incredible rookie year. She really adjusted fast to the professional level. I think she’s just going to continue to get better.”
And Sky vs. Fever will continue to be a rivalry. Maybe even — for the betterment of all who are interested — just a basketball one.