Fox Sports’ Joy Taylor shocked basketball fans with an unusual take, suggesting that Caitlin Clark’s rise to stardom can be attributed to a viral moment with Angel Reese.
Taylor’s comments are further proof that critics of the Indiana Fever star are truly living in an alternate universe.
“We wouldn’t be talking about Caitlin Clark the way we do if it wasn’t that moment for Angel Reese,” Taylor argued on a recent episode of The Joe Budden Podcast. “I will die on this hill.”
“It’s crazy to me, every time I bring this up, they’re like, ‘Angel’s not better. We would’ve been talking about her anyway.’ No the (expletive) you wouldn’t,” she further explained. “And the reason you wouldn’t is I do this every (expletive) day.”
“I know what we talk about on my show. We were not doing WNBA topic — whole 15-minute segments — on the (expletive) show until that happened … I know what I’m talking about,” Taylor said, despite proving she has no idea what she’s talking about.
Joy Taylor stood 10 toes down on the Joe Budden podcast when speaking on her stance that the media would not be talking about Caitlyn Clark had she not had that moment with Angel Reese. pic.twitter.com/NQzIZwg58w
— After Hours X JBTV (@JBTVSpaces) June 23, 2025
Nobody Was Talking About Caitlin Clark?
It’s challenging to determine where to begin with this level of ignorance. Let’s start by recalling the viral moment between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese that the Fox Sports host is referring to.
Reese, during the 2023 National Championship game between her LSU Tigers and the Iowa Hawkeyes, taunted Clark with a ‘you can’t see me’ gesture while also pointing to her ring finger.
As in, ‘Hey Caitlin, you’re not getting a championship ring.’
ANGEL REESE HIT CAITLIN CLARK WITH THE "YOU CAN'T SEE ME" 👀 pic.twitter.com/Zj3mqIzkk9
— ESPN (@espn) April 2, 2023
Clark was already a well-established star, garnering extensive media attention at the time. The ‘Caitlin Clark Effect’ had already been entrenched in women’s basketball when her presence in that title game helped draw record ratings.
Reese played a good foil, but fans weren’t there to watch her.
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Just an Absurd Take
Taylor, as an example of how ridiculous her comments are, points out that the proof that nobody was talking about Clark until Reese gave her some attention is that nobody was discussing the WNBA on her show.
Neither player was in the WNBA at the time, so why would they be talking about a league they wouldn’t be drafted into until after the following season?
If anything, that viral moment between the two helped catapult Reese in the collective media narrative as perhaps being on the same level as Clark when it comes to basketball.
We’ve since learned that there is no comparison between the two. However, perhaps that exchange allowed the media to elevate Angel to a level comparable to Caitlin Clark, when that was never warranted.
If Reese never taunted her, Clark would still be the biggest star in basketball today. Would anyone even be talking about Angel?
