Angel Reese has a ‘real case’ to be crowned WNBA Rookie of the Year ahead of Caitlin Clark, says Jason Whitlock.
Whitlock has embarked on a number of tirades about Reese of late, most recently claiming the Chicago Sky forward’s apparent record for having the most ‘double-doubles’ in the WNBA is simply ‘made up’.
The conservative sports commentator also branded her ‘overrated’ in the past before taking back that criticism after she inspired Chicago’s victory over Clark and the Indiana Fever last month.
Clark, who left college basketball as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history, instantly became the favorite for this year’s Rookie of the Year prize after transitioning to the WNBA and joining Indiana.
Yet while the Fever sensation is averaging more points per game (16 compared to 13.2), Reese has been equally impressive in her debut campaign for the Sky and currently leads the way in the league for rebounds with 11.8 per game.
As a result, Whitlock admits the battle for Rookie of the Year is now ‘a lot closer than people think’.
‘There’s going to be a legitimate case for Angel Reese to be rookie of the year, and I’m going to say this for a couple of different reasons,’ the controversial podcast host said this week.
‘Caitlin Clark’s plus/minus is one of the worst in the league. I think out of 145 or 146 players she ranks about 140 in plus/minus. A couple of her teammates are down there as well.
‘Caitlin Clark is leading the league in turnovers and Caitlin Clark is shooting 33 percent from three-point range, and she goes through these scoring droughts during the game that hamper her team. This is a woman that led the NCAA in scoring two years in a row, is the all-time leading scorer… she is not an effective scorer in the WNBA.
‘I know she’s averaging 16 points a game, but I’ve watched every game. She’s a very inefficient shooter, she’s got the long 27-foot three-pointer, that’s in her bag. Occasionally she gets to the rim and gets a lay-up.
‘But between the turnovers, the plus-minus, missing 70 percent of three-pointers she shoots… Caitlin Clark has been great box-office, she’s a great player. But on the other ledger, Angel Reese… I don’t buy the double-double thing at all. That’s a bit of a gimmick and just a stat that they brought out of nowhere.
‘But she’s leading the league in rebounds. That’s a real stat, that’s a real contribution. She’s doing it as a rookie. This Rookie of the Year race is closer than a lot of people think.’
On Tuesday night, Reese became the first player in the history of the WNBA to put up 10 consecutive double-doubles in a single season, surpassing future Hall of Famer Candace Parker’s record nine double-doubles in 2015.
But Whitlock was not convinced that stat holds much weight.
‘Angel Reese’s most consecutive double-double WNBA record is just made up,’ he said.
‘No one knows who had the previous record. This has never been a standard in the NBA. Guys average a double-double.’
