Just when we thought that the 2025 rivalry will revolve around the so-called rivals, Indiana Fever’s player Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, national reporters and analysts brought in a fresh and juicy angle. Constantly linked with the Sky player, the Clark-Reese dynamics date back to college days! And while we are aware of Fever’s overall dynamics with certain teams, one team rings a peculiar bell- the Phoenix Mercury.
Looking at the lucrative week-long August schedule, reporters find the Fever-Mercury locking horns as the most entertaining face-off ever! Thanks to Indiana Fever’s roster update just before the preseason matches. With a mesmerizingly clear 3-0 win, the Fever’s roster under Stephanie White has worked its magic on the court. Not to mention, as veteran players like DeWanna Bonner grace the Fever’s roster, White’s locker room stands unsurpassed. But wait till they face Mercury’s current roster.
Meanwhile, national reporter, Zena Keita can be seen teasing the Fever-Mercury chemistry ahead of the face-offs. And boy, does she have tricks up her sleeve! With co-hosts Sabrina Merchant and Ben Pickman joining Keita on the latest episode of No Offseason: The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show, Keita casually takes the subject in her hand amidst the discussion surrounding the week, and sarcastically pointed out, “I make it a rivalry between Indiana and Phoenix just because DeWanna’s on one side and Alyssa is on the other. Is that truly a rivalry?”
Clearly hinting at the recently engaged couple, DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas, Keita questions if the situation with can still be termed rivalry, even if the two stand against one another on the court. And before anyone could answer, she strikes back with a chuckle, “Nope. But it’s a split house and I’m excited to see what happens.” And rightly so! With fans of the couple being split between the two teams, it will be exciting to see who grabs the win.
As former players for the Connecticut Sun, DeWanna and Alyssa’s relationship started brewing during the 2020 WNBA bubble. Though the two complemented each other’s skills on the court as teammates, their friendship developed further during the pandemic, when both were stuck together. Known by coach Stephanie White as the “heart and soul of this franchise,” both Bonner and Thomas made their relationship public in 2021. However, things got serious when Alyssa proposed to Bonner during the 2023 WNBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas.
Thomas shared thoughts about her relationship with Bonner and said, “Clearly we share different connections, off the court and on the court. I feel like it just translates.” The couple were quick to announce their engagement in July 2023. Thomas took to social media and shared a picture where she is sitting on one knee, with a solitaire in hand as a surprised Bonner looks on. The absolutely adorable picture of the couple was titled with a one-word caption, “Forever.” And the two have remained inseparable since.
But their professional lives tell a different tale. While Bonner moved from the Sun to Indiana Fever in 2024 after Connecticut decided to rebuild their roster, Thomas was quick to follow. But instead of moving to the same team, Thomas signed a contract with Phoenix Mercury. “We both have our own individual careers and we do what’s best for ourselves,” Thomas said. “So none of that ‘us being together’ factors into it.” The couple clearly knows when to prioritises their career and move towards bettering it. Even if it means playing for different teams. So, Keita was right when she said, “We have to be careful in the way that we use the word ‘rivals’ and how we perceive rivalries out on the court.” Though they are players, the two also share an intimate relationship outside of the court.
On the other hand, Bonner describes how the couple plans to balance their lives and careers amidst basketball. “It’s a gift and a curse right?” Bonner said. “Because there are times that we go at it and we’re competitors. So, there’s times that we do bump heads on the court. But once we walk off the court, you know, outside of those lines, that’s it about basketball. But on the court, I just feel like she knows me. I know her. She makes me better. She makes my job easier.”
And as two mature adults, the couple is completely fine with it. But it will be interesting to see how the dynamic translates on the professional front. Especially during the so-called rival week. Will it be an awkward move for the recently engaged couple? Or will the focus remain on the predominantly rival teams instead of certain anticipated players like Clark and Reese pitted against each other in the paint?
How will Clark-Reese Dynamics translate on-court ahead of the Rivals Week?
In the wake of Cathy Engelbert’s announcement, the Rivals Week, starting in August 2025, is set to reignite old rivalries and create new ones. It will be exciting to see how the week turns out, especially in the wake of the Clark-Reese dynamics.
The Fever face the Sky on August 9, 2025, in Indianapolis, a marquee Rivals Week game airing on CBS, with the Fever holding a 3–1 edge in their 2024 series.
Talking about the rivalry on the podcast, reporter Ben Pickman pointed out, “I think the Fever-Sky conversation, there’s obviously so many ways to take it. It’s such a broad conversation, but just sticking a rivalry tag on them, are they really rivals?”
Justifying it as media-induced rivalry, Pickman said, “I think they’re two teams, they’re in different points in their life cycle. I think people want to push this narrative that they are clear rivals, and I don’t know if the people in each of those respective locker rooms really see it that way. People want to make them to be very clear A to B rival and rival and I don’t think their public comments ever really indicate that strongly to be the case that they are clear rivals.”
As Ben rightly pointed out, Caitlin Clark and Reese aren’t exactly rivals. They have even clarified against it on multiple occasions. Despite having moments of friction and heated interactions between games, there are no sour intentions between the two. Besides, the two carry very different playmaking styles and represent different positions in the paint. Each is a fantastic player, with a unique skill set to their name. And technically speaking, how can the two be termed rivals without being compared? And since the two have different skills, how on earth do you even compare them?
Hinting at factors that determine rivalry between players, Ben mentions, “It has to be tangible, it has to be real. There has to be real moments; there has to be real tension, not just like we say it’s something and it’s true because that’s where you get dangerous. If you just repeat something over and over, and maybe perception becomes reality. And that’s how these rivalries become invented in the first place.”
Ben directly calls out to the fans and expands on the thought. In the wake of the Clark-Reese rivalry induced by fans, he aptly states how constantly repeating a narrative can ultimately lead to any given perception coming true. And whether the fans have been crying wolf over the rivalry or not, it will be exciting to watch Fever and Sky on the opposite sides of the court in August 2025.
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