Angel Reese’s presence on the cover of a popular video game continues to fuel uproar among her critics and fans of her WNBA rival, Caitlin Clark.
Now Members Club, a conservative sports and culture podcast, has seized on the issue, which co-hosts Charly Arnolt and Arynne Wexler are blaming on DEI and a league that functions as ‘welfare for tall lesbians,’ according to Wexler.
‘It’s a very toxic place,’ Wexler said of the league. ‘And [Arnold] mentioned in that introduction about what’s going on that this should be a place where it’s feminism, women uplifting women.’
Instead, Wexler claimed, ‘women sabotage other women,’ and the proof somehow lies on the cover of NBA2K26.
The annual WNBA version NBA2K features Reese, the Chicago Sky All-Star, emblazoned across its front rather than Clark, the Indiana Fever guard and reigning Rookie of the Year. And even though gamers still have the option to buy the same exact game with the NBA’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the box, Arnolt believes ‘there should never be a woman on the cover of NBA 2K.’
‘First of all,’ she began, ‘I don’t know which man is going to be like: “I want to buy the WNBA edition of NBA 2K26. That’s the one I want to put on my shelf when my friends come over and we’re playing video games.”
Clark was in attendance for All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, but was sidelined due to injury
Reese responds to the crowd after she’s introduced at last weekend’s All-Star game
Discussing the decision to put Reese on the cover of a video game over Clark, Arynne Wexler (right) told co-host Charly Arnolt (left) that ‘women sabotage other women’
‘But for whatever reason, they decided to make a WNBA edition and then decided that Angel Reese should be on the cover over Caitlin Clark, which does not make sense,’ Arnolt continued, returning to the Reese-Clark debate.
‘I mean, Caitlin Clark is the poster child of the WNBA,’ she continued. ‘So, this is like DEI on top of DEI.’
Reese, who is black, and Clark, who is white, have been framed as bitter rivals since last season, with many conservatives claiming the Fever guard is somehow the victim of ‘reverse racism.’
‘I mean, it’s reverse racism, which is just racism, but it’s not just that,’ Wexler said. ‘It’s like they hate [Clark] because she’s white, because she’s straight, and because she’s excellent.’
‘Caitlin Clark doesn’t care about Angel Reese,’ Arnolt argued. ‘Like, she just doesn’t. She’s very concerned with like playing her game. She’s got like a great boyfriend. She seems like she’s got her life together.’
Meanwhile, Arnolt described Reese as ‘super petty towards Caitlin Clark,’ although she stopped short of explaining why.
‘We can probably definitively say Caitlin Clark is the better player. I mean, she was the WNBA player of the year last year,’ Arnolt continued, mistakenly crediting Clark with the MVP award won by the Las Vegas Aces’ A’Ja Wilson.
This image provided by 2K Games in July shows WNBA player Angel Reese in a special edition cover for the video game NBA 2K26. Some believe Caitlin Clark should be on the cover
Reese and Clark have had a few tense moments on the court dating back to their college days at LSU and Iowa, respectively. Reese famously gestured at Clark en route to the 2023 national championship and tournament MOP honors – a move that Clark has since defended.
Clark, meanwhile, has been whistled for a flagrant foul on Reese, who tried to confront her rival after the May incident. Reese has since dismissed the incident as a ‘basketball play,’ thereby diffusing any perceived tensions.
Zak Armitage, the NBA 2K general manager, recently explained the company’s decision to include Reese on the cover of this year’s WNBA version of the game.
‘NBA 2K26 is celebrating the bold, the confident and the visionaries, and WNBA All-Star Angel Reese carries all that on and off the court,’ Armitage said in a statement. ‘In her sophomore year in the WNBA, Angel Reese has made waves, created impactful conversations, and inspired the next generation. She’s a storyteller and has helped the WNBA grow its audience.’
