Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are having historic rookie seasons on and off the court and their performances continue to fuel the debates around the WNBA Rookie of the Year race.
The pair came into the league highly touted and haven't disappointed.
Despite the record-setting play by both players, Clark is still the favorite to win the league’s Rookie of the Year award, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. On Friday, Clark and Reese meet for the final time during the regular season when the Indiana Fever take on the Sky in Chicago.
Clark made headlines again Wednesday night. After setting the rookie assists record on Aug. 18, the Fever guard set the rookie record for made 3-pointers in a win against the Connecticut Sun.
She is averaging 18 points, a league-leading 8.1 assists and 5.7 rebounds. Clark is on pace to break the overall assists record for a single season. She also has had at least 15 points and five assists in 22 games this season, more than any WNBA player ever.
Clark has helped lead the Fever to the most wins since 2016 and the team is in position to make the playoffs for the first time since that season.
“She's got special, special skills and those open things up for her,” said all-time assist leader Sue Bird. “Her range unlocks so much for her. Her pace of play, she's either walking or sprinting, she even made a joke about it. That puts a lot of pressure on defense."
One downside to Clark's aggressive play is it leads to turnovers. In addition to leading the league in assists, she also leads the WNBA in turnovers. But the pros outweigh the cons for Bird, one of the league's iconic point guards.
“Her ability to find her teammates and create opportunities for her teammates,” Bird said, "it's the combination of those three things that makes her a threat all the time. So you can never really exhale” when defending Clark.
Reese is getting her work done inside.
The 6-foot-3 forward is the league's leading rebounder at 12.9 a game — the highest average in league history. She saw her unprecedented streak of three straight 20 or more rebound games come to an end on Wednesday in a loss to Washington. She’s currently tied with Tina Charles for the rookie record with 22 double-doubles this season. The Sky All-Star set the overall WNBA record earlier in the season with 15 consecutive double-doubles.
“They are two separate players having two great years,” said ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo, who also made her presence felt in the paint as a player. “Not voting for Angel doesn’t diminish the historic season she’s having on the glass. No one has ever done it before. We can appreciate that while also understanding Caitlin Clark has separated herself as Rookie of the Year.”
Both Clark and Reese have areas they can definitely improve on.
Reese's efficiency around the basket can improve while Clark needs to cut down on the turnovers. Lobo believes both players will get better and with all the attention on the rookie of the year race, people are paying more attention to their faults as opposed to appreciating the positives in their games.
“If you didn't have these happening at the same time, people wouldn't be pointing at the negatives for each player,” Lobo said.
Since 2008, 11 of the last 16 winners of the WNBA Rookie of the Year award have been the No. 1 pick in the draft, including the last two. Clark is looking to continue that trend.
Clark and Reese played on June 16 and drew the largest viewing audience for the league in 23 years. There have been 20 games drawing over a million viewers and Clark has played in all but three of those games. Reese’s game against Las Vegas last weekend drew the third-highest viewership of the season.
The play of Clark and Reese has overshadowed others who are having stellar rookie seasons.
Rickea Jackson of Los Angeles, Kamilla Cardoso of Chicago and Leonie Fiebich of New York would be strong candidates for the top rookie award in any other season. But timing is everything and their impressive first-year campaigns are colliding with unprecedented seasons by the Clark and Reese.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Doug Feinberg, The Associated Press
