WNBA rookie sensation Angel Reese has been the subject of intense praise and hate during her record-breaking season with the Chicago Sky.
Many WNBA fans, mostly supporters of her rival Caitlin Clark, have denigrated Reese’s accomplishments, despite the fact that the Bayou Barbie has set rookie, team and league records regarding rebounds and double-doubles (having 10 or more in two offensive statistical categories).
The former LSU champion shattered the WNBA single-season rebounding record with 418 during Sunday’s, Sept. 1, 79-74 loss to the Minnesota Lynx, eclipsing the mark set by Sylvia Fowles, who has 404.
Reese finished the game with 17 points and 19 rebounds to extend another of her records with her 24th double-double of the season. Reese also holds the all-time record for consecutive games with double-doubles, surpassing the legendary Candace Parker. Finally, Reese owns her team’s mark for the most offensive rebounds in franchise history.
Despite these momentous milestones, Reese’s vociferous detractors do not believe that the forward deserves to be in the Rookie of the Year race alongside Clark. They point to Reese’s low shooting percentage and say that many of her rebounds come from her getting her own misses.
After listening to this noise for months, Reese finally addressed this during the post-game press conference, according to Sports Illustrated.
“A lot of people think it’s because I get my own rebounds, but statistically, it’s not,” Reese said resolutely and defiantly. “A lot of people think it’s because I’m the tallest on the court, when I’m not the tallest on the court.”
Reese’s words are substantiated by ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo, who came to Reese’s defense last week on “SportsCenter.”
“Some of her critics like to say, ‘She gets a lot of offensive rebounds off her own misses,’ ” Lobo said. “Well, our stats and information group looked that up. If you take away all of the offensive rebounds off her own misses, guess what? She’s still leading the league in offensive rebounds per game. She has been remarkable. Historically remarkable.”
