Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese Headlines WNBA's 1st-Ever Rivals Week on 2025 Schedule

Taking a page from the NBA playbook, the WNBA is adding a rivals week to its 2025 schedule.

The WNBA announced the first-ever rivals week will begin on Aug. 9 with a showdown between Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever taking on Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Other rivals-week matchups include a WNBA Finals rematch between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx on Aug. 10, and Brittney Griner returning to Phoenix as a member of the Atlanta Dream to take on the Mercury on Aug. 10.

The league is also seemingly anticipating a matchup between Clark and Paige Bueckers during rivalry week, as the Fever will host the Dallas Wings on Aug. 12.

Bueckers, who just led Connecticut to its first national title since 2016, is expected to be selected by the Wings with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft on Monday.

It's no secret that the WNBA is investing a lot in the rivalry between Clark and Reese that dates back to college. The Fever and Sky are also opening the regular season against each other on May 17.

Reese and Clark met four times during their rookie seasons in 2024. The Fever won three times, with Clark averaging 20.5 points on 51.1 percent shooting (44.1 percent from three), 10.0 assists and 6.4 rebounds per contest in those games.

Despite the Sky's 1-3 record against Indiana, Reese more than held her own with 13.5 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. Clark and Reese finished first and second in Rookie of the Year voting, with Clark missing out on a unanimous selection by one vote that went to the Chicago forward.

The Fever are being featured in a league-high 41 nationally-televised games, followed by the Las Vegas Aces (33) and reigning WNBA champion Liberty (32). Reese and the Sky will be on national TV 24 times.

Rivals week has been a feature of the NBA schedule in each of the past three seasons. The schedule consists of matchups between classic and budding rivalries between teams and players.

It only makes sense for the WNBA to take advantage of its growing popularity by spotlighting its biggest team and player rivalries over the course of the season.

The league experimented with a version of this last season with what it called rivalry weekend. Matchups included the Sky vs. Fever, Aces vs. Liberty and Mercury hosting the Seattle Storm.