INDIANAPOLIS — The recent talk surrounding women's basketball has mostly been focused on an incident that happened 15 days ago when Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter committed a flagrant foul on Indiana Fever rookie star Caitlin Clark. With a little Team USA Olympic controversy sprinkled in, also surrounding Clark, the discussion of the foul and what implications this type of play may have on the WNBA as a whole has seemed inescapable.
The Sky have moved on. They've played six games since then, including a highly-anticipated rematch against the Fever on Sunday.
Takeaways:Caitlin Clark, Fever get better of Sky matchup, have now won 4 of past 6 games
"I don't care what people are saying, I don't care what they're talking about, I'm locked in," Carter said before the game.
After earning 30 minutes off the bench in the controversial game one, Carter started Sunday. She finished the 91-83 loss with 18 points, admitting she plays with a chip on her shoulder.
But it's a chip she feels is reasonable, citing potentially unfair opportunities in her time before the Sky as hardships she has endured to reach the level of consistent playing time she has with Chicago.
"I'm finally with a team where coach is giving me what I deserve," Carter said. "I've earned everything I've gotten, coach has never given me anything."
Now with her third WNBA team and fifth professional team including her two tenures overseas since being drafted fourth overall in the 2020 WNBA draft, Carter explained further not just why she plays with a chip on her shoulder, but why the controversy surrounding her flagrant foul to Clark frustrates her.
"I can't really care about somebody's opinion who's never played professionally, who's never traveled across the country to play basketball, they've only sat and watched it," Carter said. "I've been working my whole life, so I (couldn't) care less what a person has to feel about my competitive nature and my grit.
" ... I play with no fear, no worry."
Inevitably roped into the Fever/Sky discussion is Carter's teammate, rookie Angel Reese. Reese and Clark have been linked when it comes to conversation about the growing interest in women's basketball since the 2023 national championship game pitting Clark's Iowa against Reese's LSU.
Reese said she didn't approach the Sky's second game against the Fever any differently in the wake of recent controversy, instead she viewed it as another chance to grow the game she loves.
"They love to watch us," Reese said. " ... I think we did a great job bringing our fans from college to the league, and they still want to watch it."
While Clark finished with 23 points and a win, Reese finished the game with her seventh double-double of the season (six in a row); she also committed five fouls along the way. With 2:53 left in the third quarter and the Fever leading 63-62, Reese seemingly went to block a layup from Clark, but instead made heavy contact with the Indiana guard's head.
Reese was given a flagrant foul on the play and was booed from the home Fever fans. After the game, Reese made it clear she was going for the ball, but she knows there are many who will watch the clip and sensationalize it.
"People are going to think what they want to think about me," Reese said. "I am super-confident in who I am, I'm unapologetically me and I'm gonna continue to stand on who I am if you like it or not.
"I think that's why a lot of people do love me, because I do say things that people don't want to say or are scared to say. I know I have a platform and a voice that a lot of people do listen to."
Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said Carter and Reese's style of play is exactly what she hopes for out of all 12 roster members, it's something she has tried to instill or enhance in them during her first season in charge.
"Keep the energy, keep the fire, you never lose that," Weatherspoon said.
Reese doesn't plan to, and she doesn't demonstrate unprecedented and, at times, controversial confidence at just 22 years old for her gain alone.
"I have so much fun, and I think we need people like myself," Reese said. "Hopefully I can give confidence to other young women that are coming into the league within the next couple years.”
Chicago (4-9) returns to action Thursday with a home game against Dallas (3-9). The Fever (5-10) are back at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. contest against the Washington Mystics (2-12).
Contact Kyle Smedley with comments via email at KSmedley@Gannett.com or via X @KyleSmedley_.
