The 2024 WNBA season is off to a hot start, and one topic that’s been fueling the fire is the Rookie of the Year race between Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese. That race arrived in Brooklyn last week, when the Sky faced off against the New York Liberty at Barclays Center on July 11 and 13.
Clark and Reese played against each other in the NCAA Championship in 2023, a memorable matchup that sparked a rivalry between the two. This friction would last through the rest of their collegiate careers and continue into their first professional season in 2024. Clark was picked first overall in the WNBA draft in April, while Reese went seventh.
Both players faced struggles out of the gate, but they’ve been on a roll as of late, sparking a debate about the Rookie of the Year award in the middle of the season.
Clark leads rookies in scoring and assists, recently becoming the first WNBA rookie to record a triple-double in a game. And after an unbelievable senior season at Iowa, she was expected to be the best rookie heading into the season. Clark and the Fever played against the Liberty at the May 18 home opener in Brooklyn, though they were ultimately defeated by the Liberty.
However Reese has shocked many with how quickly she’s been adapting to the pro level. She leads the league in rebounds per game, and is currently on a 15 game double-double streak, which is the longest in WNBA history.
Reese is also on pace to maybe break some more records this season. She already has 104 offensive rebounds before the All Star Game. With 18 games left to play, she only needs 59 more to have the best offensive rebounding season in league history. Sylvia Fowles’ total rebounds in a season record of 404 could also be in jeopardy as Reese already has 260 boards before the Olympic break.
Last week, Reese arrived in Brooklyn to face off against the Liberty, the team with the best record in the W. She was hoping to keep her double-double streak alive, which would be a tough task against reigning NBA Finals runner ups, but succeeded on July 11, with ten points and ten rebounds.
Her style of play has been turning heads around the league, with Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello praising her pregame.
“She’s really impressed me,” she said, “she’s got an engine you know, and she’s gonna continue to grow.”
When asked about continuing her double-double streak, Reese mentioned that a win was more important, especially because she already had broken the record on Wednesday.
But in reality, and regardless of winning, she’s going to have to keep putting up these numbers consistently in order to compete with Clark.
Having two rookies perform at this level at the same time is uncommon in the NBA, but it’s almost unheard of in the WNBA.
Over the last ten seasons in the league, seven Rookie of the Year recipients have received over 90% of the votes from the media. Only once during that span has a player received less than 60% of the vote, six time All-Star selection Jewell Lloyd back in 2015.
Looking back at it, Lloyd’s ROY race with Kiah Stokes might be the closest comparable situation to Clark and Reese at the moment. Stokes received 41% of the vote that year, but Lloyd managed to edge her out with just five more votes.
Even though she won the award, Lloyd only averaged 10.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in her rookie season. But the league has come a long way since then, as the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces didn’t even exist in 2015.
And this Rookie of the Year race might be the best example of how much the WNBA has grown. With the increase in digital media over the last decade, combined with the celebrity status of both Reese and Clark, this might be the most publicized awards race in the history of the league.
The race has also become controversial due to the play styles of both players. Clark is a guard, so she has the ball in her hands often and a more all around offensive game. On the other hand, Reese is a forward who dominates in the post and on the glass.
This has made the decision between the two at this point a subjective one, having to compare two great with very different styles. When asked about the award race, Brondello hit on this point while admitting it’s close between the two.
“They’re different,” she said, “Rookie of the Year should be [based on] the impact that they have on their team, and they’re both impacting their team in a massive way.”
But before the game on Thursday, Reese claimed that the ROY isn’t something that she’s really focused on. Her intentions are to bring back the winning mentality to Chicago that saw the Sky win the WNBA Championship in 2021.
“I don’t think about the Rookie of the Year stuff,” Reese said, “Obviously I’m just here to win, I want to make it to the playoffs as far as we can.”
Having gone from transferring two years ago, to hoping that Beyonce comes to watch one of her games in the present, it’s clear that her surge in talent and fame has been massive. This was apparent as a sold out crowd at Barclays Center erupted every time she scored for the opposing team, though the Sky wound up losing both matchups against the Liberty.
“I think that’s the difference between me and a lot of players is like I have a connection outside of basketball, and I’m not just a basketball player,” Reese said, “the rappers, the singers, everybody know[s] who I am when they come to the game.”
With status comes criticism, and Reese has faced some tough situations in the media and online ever since her days at LSU. Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon praised her ability to take the hate in stride in her rookie season.
“It’s been tough, but [at] 22 years old, I think she’s handled herself very well,” Weatherspoon said.
Reese and Clark will play as for the first time teammates at the WNBA All-Star Game on July 20, where they’ll face off against Team USA before they head to the Olympics.
