Amid the drama surrounding her long-running rivalry with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese insisted she has no problem playing the villain if it brings more eyeballs to the WNBA.

‘People are pulling up to games, we have celebrities coming to games, sold out arenas. Just because of one single game,’ the Chicago Sky rookie said about her matchup against Clark and the Indiana Fever earlier this month.

‘And just looking at that… I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad guy role and I’ll continue to take that on – and be that for my teammates.’

Reese had caused uproar that night following her teammate Chennedy Carter’s brutal bodycheck on Clark – the No. 1 WNBA Draft pick.

After Carter shoved her to the ground unprovoked, they received fierce criticism for appearing to laugh about the foul together while making their way off the court.

Angel Reese has emerged as a top contender to win the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award

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Over the past four weeks, the unnecessary roughness Clark has been subjected to has sparked major controversy, with some suggesting both her and Reese are being weaponized by opposing sides in a ‘race war’. The topic has spiraled out of control at times, with the Chicago forward’s own foul on her former college nemesis a few weeks later reigniting the outrage once more.

Reese was heavily berated in certain sections after hitting Clark in the head during a defeat for the Sky and then implying that the Fever superstar greats a ‘special whistle’ from the referees. Jason Whitlock said she was playing ‘victim’, while Dave Portnoy accused her of suffering from ‘main character syndrome’.