With the major football club seasons concluded, it would be fair to think that sports fans would be tearing out their proverbial hair trying to figure out what to watch.

Thankfully, there are three competitions running parallel that have been providing enough mouthwatering action and stimulating ample water-cooler conversation, to keep even the most discerning sports fan entertained: Wimbledon, Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024.

Unfortunately, the curtains will be drawn on all three competitions this Sunday (July 14) following the Wimbledon men’s final, Euro 2024 final and the Copa America final. While the finalists for the men’s Wimbledon crown will be decided following today’s semi-final matchups (Daniil Medvedev vs Carlos Alcaraz and Alex de Minaur vs Novak Djokovic), the finalists for Euro 2024 (Spain vs England) and Copa America (Argentina vs Colombia) were decided earlier this week following four closely contested games.

Again, it may appear that sports fans will be watching the calendar, counting down the days to July 26 when the Paris Olympics begin, but there has been a story simmering for some time that has stirred many debates and has been the source for many contentious exchanges.

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) welcomed two rookies this season that have ignited interest in the league like never before: Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese. Since the league was founded in 1996 (league play started in 1997), there has never been so much interest in the female version of the sport and viewership has skyrocketed, particularly when these two teams are involved. It doesn’t help (or it does) that Clark is Caucasian and Reese is African American, and the conversations surrounding them have ranged from favouritism to racism, and from jealousy to white privilege; however, the impact of their play and the influence of their presence have never been questioned.

After going head-to-head as the two biggest stars in female college basketball over the past two seasons, Clark and Reese are now in the big league and sparks fly whenever they meet on the court. Both players took a few weeks to acclimatise to the professional game, but they have both hit their stride, setting records and pushing the WNBA to heights never before seen.

Clark is best known for her exceptional scoring ability, having already had two games with at least 30 points, but her overall game has risen leaps and bounds, resulting in a 19-point, 13 assists and 12 rebounds outing in Indiana’s stunning 83-78 win against the league-best New York Liberty last Saturday (July 6) night, the first-ever triple-double by a WNBA rookie. The No 1 pick in the WNBA draft was also one rebound shy of a triple-double two games prior in an 88-82 road victory over the Phoenix Mercury.

Not to be outdone, Reese has transcended into a rebounding machine and, on the day following, Clarke’s record-setting feat, she moved a WNBA high watermark with her 13th-consecutive double-double (17 points and 14 rebounds), breaking the record previously set by Candace “Ace” Parker, who retired earlier this year. Parker previously set the record at 12 consecutive games during the 2009 and 2010 seasons while playing for the Los Angeles Sparks. And last weekend wasn’t the first time the league’s No 7 overall pick surpassed one of Parker’s records, ad she previously became the first player in the history of the league to put up 10-consecutive double-doubles in a single season, surpassing the future Hall of Famer’s record of nine in 2015.

To put things into perspective, in 2016, Parker led the Sparks to win their first WNBA Finals title since 2002 and won the WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, then in 2021, she helped the Sky win their first title. Parker won two WNBA MVP Awards (2008, 2013), a WNBA All-Star Game MVP Award (2013), two Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012), and the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2008). She was selected to six All-WNBA teams and five All-Star teams and was the first player to win the Rookie of the Year and the MVP awards in the same season.

Reese is averaging 14.1 points plus a league-best 11.9 rebounds per game and is in an intense battle with Clarke — top-20 in scoring in the league, top-five in assists, and top-ten in 3-point shooting — for the league’s Rookie of the Year award. Clark is leading the WNBA in points accounted for (points plus points off assists) but is also on track to break the record for the most turnovers in a season in the next few games. Indiana leads the season series 2-1 over Chicago, with one last head-to-head game scheduled for late August, as the season takes a break next week for the All-Star game, plus an extended break for the Paris Olympics.

For the All-Star game on July 20, Clarke and Reece are slated to be teammates — the first rookie duo to make an All-Star team since 2014 — as they compete against the women’s USA Olympic basketball team, in preparation for Paris. It will be an interesting encounter, if for nothing else but the intense rivalry that exists between the two, and the fact that they will be sharing the same bench during the contest. The anticipation of how things will work out is definitely worth the price of admission.

Undoubtedly, the pair have contributed significantly to the ballooning in WNBA ratings, attendance and merchandise sales, and with so much basketball still to be played after the break, the race for rookie honours will come to a boil when play resumes after the Olympic Games.

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Angel Reese #5 of the Chicago Sky shoots the ball during the game against the Atlanta Dream on July 10, 2024 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. (AFP)