“We’re very respectful of one another.”

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Caitlin Clark has a thing or two to clear up about her so-called rivalry with Angel Reese. The short version? It’s not that deep. The longer version, as Clark explained in her Time Athlete of the Year interview, is that it feels like a narrative that was ginned up by outside sources. The two WNBA superstars may not be cohosting girls’ trips or anything, but that doesn’t mean there’s bad blood.

“We’re not best friends, by any means, but we’re very respectful of one another,” Clark told Time. “Yes, we have had tremendous battles. But when have I ever guarded her? And when has she guarded me?” Clark also addressed the supposedly taunting gesture Reese made to her during a game, which was cited as evidence of their beef.

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“I didn’t think it was taunting. It really didn’t bother me,” Clark said. “It’s just like, ‘Why don’t you talk about them winning? Or the incredible run that we went on that nobody would have thought we would have ever gone on?’ The only thing people cared about was this controversy that was really fabricated and made up, and then that has continued to be the case ever since.”

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It’s not the first time Caitlin Clark has gone out of her way to deny the notion that she and Reese have some kind of bitter enemies situation going on. Reacting to the news that Reese was ending her WNBA season early due to a wrist injury, Clark told reporters in September, “For me, getting to play against her—her motor is up there, if not the best in the league. She just doesn’t stop working. So congratulations to her, I think she had a tremendous year and I thought she came in the league and really did what she’s done well her entire career, as long as I’ve known her.”

Similarly, Angel Reese has also tried to put those rumors to bed. In July, after Clark and Reese were both picked for the rookie team in the WNBA All-Stars game, she said, “Being able to be in that environment, we’re gonna be playing together for a while so this is not gonna be the [last] time. I know we’ll be All-Stars again, and hopefully, in 2028 we’ll be Olympians together.”