There has been a lot of conversation recently about double-doubles, triple-doubles, and the impact on the Rookie of the Year race. Angel Reese’s double-double streak has now extended to 14; it is the longest such streak ever in the WNBA, now longer even than luminaries like Candace Parker. That streak helped secure her the rookie of the month award in June and put her in contention for RoY. Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark has put up a few double-doubles of her own (most of those with assists instead of rebounds), and to boot has now put up the first-ever triple-double by a rookie in WNBA history. Before I get deeper, I’ll just say that all of this just reinforces how amazing this rookie class is. Both Reese and Clark are fantastic players who are leaving a dent on the WNBA.

Now, I’m not a big fan of counting double-doubles and triple-doubles as a statistic. I find it arbitrary and limited, a tribute to our obsession with round numbers. I think measuring streaks is even less useful – I’m not super interested in whether double-doubles are consecutive or not. In short, there are much better ways to determine value than whether a stat happens to hit double digits or not. As an example – on 7/2, A’ja Wilson put up a 28 point, 9 rebound, 5 block game with a 26.3 game score. That’s not a double-double. But on 6/7 Nalyssa Smith put up a 10 point, 10 rebound game with a 6.8 game score. That is a double-double. So again, I’m not a big fan – but if we’re going to have a conversation about double-doubles and triple-doubles, let’s have the conversation.

Points/Rebounds Double-Doubles

Angel Reese has shown a clear superpower in rebounding – she’s at 11.9 RPG so far this season, a full rebound ahead of A’Ja Wilson at 10.9 RPG. This also leaves Reese with the narrowly highest RPG average in a season in the WNBA – ever (Sylvia Fowles would be second at 11.88 in 2018).

Reese’s double-double streak has justified the headlines, and she has the most points/rebounds double-doubles in the WNBA this year, albeit narrowly over Dearica Hamby and A’ja Wilson – and their stats in their double-double games are better than Reese’s. Overall, Reese has 15 double-doubles – just over 10% of the 146 double-doubles in the WNBA so far this year.

It’s worth noting that only a handful of guards have put up points/rebounds double-doubles this year, including Caitlin Clark (3), DeWanna Bonner and Jewell Loyd (2), Kahleah Copper and Rhyne Howard (1)

This list includes triple-double games, as they are, by definition, double-doubles as well.

Points/Assists Double/Doubles

Double-doubles achieved with points and assists are much rarer in the WNBA. There have been 146 points/rebounds double-doubles in 132 games (1.11 per game), but only 24 points/assists double-doubles (0.16 per game).

Two players have dominated here – Caitlin Clark and Natasha Cloud, both with 5, more than 20% of the WNBA total. Alyssa Thomas is the only forward on the list and has 3 (including two triple-doubles).

There have only been four triple-double games in the WNBA this season so far; two from Alyssa Thomas. Of our two prospective RoY candidates, only Clark is on this list.

Summary:

Reese’s double-double streak is really impressive, and she is no doubt a great rebounder. She leads the WNBA in rebounding and in points/rebounds double-doubles (with just over 10% of the total), which is an amazing feat in a league that includes players like A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.

As I said, I think there are deeper statistical looks one could do (I’ve already gone deep into Clark’s stats and may do the same for Reese). But if we’re talking about double/triple-doubles, speaking personally, I find Clark’s more impressive. Points/assists double-doubles are rarer and harder to do in the WNBA, and Clark co-leads the league in them, with a larger percentage (21%). She’s also on the board as the leading guard with three of the rebound variety (one of these was a triple-double).

Keeping in mind we’re only roughly halfway through the season, I’m really excited to see how these two continue to grow as the season goes on.