A rivalry that did not really exist until Monday night is already heating up between Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark. Both superstar women’s college basketball guards will square off for the for second time in their careers at the Final Four in Cleveland later this week.
They are very different players both on and off the court!
UConn and Iowa met during the 2021 NCAA Tournament, when both Bueckers and Clark were freshmen. The 1-seed Huskies defeated the 5-seed Hawkeyes 92-72. Clark dropped 21 points on 21 shots. Bueckers had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.
This second meeting will be different. Both players have evolved. Both teams are in very different places than they were three years ago. It is going to be a battle!
On-court play aside, Bueckers threw some shade at Clark after beating USC in the Elite Eight. She may not have intended to do so, but she did!
Very few photos in sports are as iconic as the one of Kobe Bryant in the shower after winning the 2001 NBA Championship. We don’t own the rights to that image so I can’t post it here, but you know the one. He was emotional in the shower while wearing this jacket:
Fast forward to last month. Clark led Iowa to its third-straight Big Ten Tournament title.
She recreated the iconic image of Kobe after the game. It was cold.
However, in the homage Mamba himself “the job was not finished.” The Big Ten Tournament ultimately does not mean anything if you get knocked out of the NCAA Tournament. Clark drew criticism for recreating such a famous picture for a win that matters far less than the national championship.
Bueckers, whether she knew of her Final Four opponent’s shower photo or not, refused to do the same. One of UConn’s all-time greats left that to one of the NBA’s all-time greats.
Caitlin Clark took the photo after the Big Ten Tournament. Paige Bueckers refused after the Elite Eight. Spicy!