Magic Johnson has advised Caitlin Clark to seek the wisdom of a former NBA star amid the Fever rookie’s rivalry with Angel Reese.
Clark and Reese have been on-court rivals since their college days at Iowa and LSU respectively, and Reese ratcheted things up last week when she cheered her teammate Chennedy Carter’s aggressive bodycheck on Clark.
And while speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday, the Lakers legend Johnson said that Clark should speak with a former rival of his.
‘Let me give Caitlin some advice,’ he began. ‘Call Larry Bird, ask him for advice … Indiana, he’s already there [, and he could give her great advice on how to handle this situation because he went through it himself.
‘So, it would be a perfect situation. He already lived there, grew up in Indiana, on and on and on. I think it would be great.’
Caitlin Clark has been advised by Magic Johnson to seek wisdom from his ex-rival Larry Bird
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson clashed in the ’80’s as the Celtics and Lakers battled for glory
Bird and Johnson, who both entered the NBA during the 1979-80 season, famously battled throughout the 80’s as Celtics and Lakers battled for glory.
At a different point in the show, Kimmel put it to Johnson that Clark and Reese were the ‘Larry Bird and Magic Johnson of the WNBA. Do you like that when you hear that?’
‘I like it and they are,’ Johnson said.
‘Just like Larry and I, we [weren’t] the best when we entered the league. We became the best later on by our play. Caitlin still has to play great to become the best WNBA player.’
Just as Bird and Johnson clashed in their heyday, it seems as though some tension will continue between Reese and Clark.
Clark and Reese have been seen as rivals since Reese taunted Clark during the 2023 national championship game
Reese recently rejected the notion that people were watching WNBA games ‘for one person’ and said she’d embrace the ‘bad guy role’ following her encouragement of Carter’s shove.
‘People are pulling up to games, we have celebrities coming to games, sold out arenas. Just because of one single game. 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.’
She added: ‘I know I’ll go down in history. I’ll look back in 20 years and be like: ”yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball isn’t just because of one person. It’s because of me, too” and I want you to realize that… a lot of us having done so much for this game…’
On Friday, Clark had her best WNBA game to date as she dropped 30 points in a narrow Fever win over the Mystics.
However, she appears set to be left off the USA Olympic roster.
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