LAS VEGAS — After years of dueling in college and the WNBA, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are going to be teammates for the first time.

Clark and Reese have battled multiple times, dating back to Reese's days in the Big Ten in Maryland. The duel first made headlines in the 2023 NCAA women's basketball national championship game, when Reese made a gesture toward her ring finger as her LSU Tigers beat Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes. That game drew 9.9 million viewers, and fans were immediately hooked. The two met again in the 2024 Elite Eight, and Iowa took down LSU in Albany, N.Y. with 12.3 million viewers watching on ESPN.

Then, Clark was drafted by the Fever at No. 1, and Reese went to the Chicago Sky at No. 7 overall. They have met three times so far in the WNBA, and each game has been must-see TV — two of them were decided by one point.

Clark knows how much people tune in to watch her and Reese play, especially when it's against each other. The two have never been teammates — not in USA Basketball, AAU or even pickup.

Until now.

Clark and Reese were named to the Team WNBA roster for the 2024 All-Star Game; they will face the Olympic team in Phoenix on July 20. They are the only rookies in the All-Star Game. And while Clark knows WNBA fans are going to be excited about the duo being on the same side of the ball, she doesn't want All-Star Weekend to be all about that.

"I know people are gonna be really excited about it, but I hope it doesn't take away from everybody else," Clark said. "This is a huge accomplishment for everybody on Team USA and everybody on Team WNBA, and they all deserve the same praise. I don't want it to take away from any of that and just be the focal point of All-Star Weekend because that's not fair to them, and obviously this is something that's really hard to accomplish.”

Aside from Clark and Reese, there are multiple storylines heading into All-Star weekend. The Connecticut Sun's DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas, who are engaged, will be playing against each other -- Thomas on Team USA and Bonner on Team WNBA. The Phoenix Mercury's Brittney Griner, who is on Team USA, will be preparing to go overseas for the first time since she was detained in Russia for nine months in 2022. The Los Angeles' Sparks Dearica Hamby is on Team WNBA ahead of going to Paris to play on the Olympic 3-on-3 team.

The Indiana Fever have the most players on Team WNBA, with Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell joining Clark on the roster.

"The best we can celebrate all of them will be great, and I'm obviously just gonna soak in the experience," Clark said. "Because you never know if you're ever gonna be able to get back there. It'll be fun for all of us."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark hopes being All-Star with Angel Reese isn't focal point