Caitlin Clark vs. Paige Bueckers to Open 2026 Season With Angel Reese Rivalry Put on Hold

Even though the next CBA is still being discussed, the WNBA is moving forward with its plans to build on the growth brought in by its young stars, Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers.

The hope is that the new CBA will be signed sometime soon, which would enable the league’s best players to rake in salaries worth more than a million dollars.

However, the league is also concerned about how it improves its valuations, and that of its teams. To pay those millions, the WNBA needs to earn them back multiple times, and with that in mind, they have already released their 2026 season schedule.

Caitlin Clark was one of the first players to show her excitement by reposting the Indiana Fever schedule. What strikes at first glance is how the league chose its opening day games.

They have scheduled the Fever’s season-opener on May 9th. The game will be at home, which means millions will tune in to finally catch the superstar point guard play basketball.

To make it more entertaining, the league decided to match them with Paige Bueckers and her Dallas Wings. This is a shift from last year, when they scheduled Angel Reese and her Chicago Sky to start the season.

That game ended up being a blockbuster for all the wrong reasons, but that was the last of the year’s excitement. Bueckers’ Wings might be the worst team in the league, but the WNBA knows the guard has displayed enough to make it a shootout against Clark.

Caitlin Clark throws darts during workout

It may be months before Caitlin Clark plays basketball wearing an Indiana Fever jersey. Before that, the superstar who just turned 24 will be playing for USA Basketball at the FIBA qualifiers.

That does not mean she will not be working out. Last season, she added a lot of new plays to her repertoire, but could not show them to the world as injuries cut her season short.

This time, she is taking it slow and working out with a plan in place on how to keep herself fit while also allowing her enough rest to heal her groin.

With the Indiana Pacers off on a five-game road trip, Clark took the opportunity to train at the team’s practice facilities. She released a couple of videos on her Instagram showing what seems to be something other than basketball.

Caitlin Clark showing off her QB skills 🏈

(via @CaitlinClark22/ IG) pic.twitter.com/wmqZ2CnGYL

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 22, 2026

The avid football fan was seen tossing passes across the width of two practice courts to some of the team’s staff. Caitlin Clark seemed to be at ease playing quarterback, as she has proved before in another clip.

Caitlin Clark and Fever teammates will still play 44 games

Last season, when the league introduced the Golden State Valkyries as the 13th team, they had to add four games to the schedule. This season, that number was supposed to go up to a potential 50+ games as two new teams were being added.

However, since the length of a season and the number of games are still being discussed and will be a part of the new CBA, the WNBA decided to play it safe and go with what has been the norm.

The league assigned every team to play 44 games, the same as last season. That is why they can maintain the season length and schedule, even though there will be a few more than two weeks off in early September, as the Football World Cup will be in session.

That means Caitlin Clark and her teammates will not have to take into consideration any additional stamina-oriented training methods, which would have been a necessity had the league added more games.

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