Angel Reese has ‘real reasons’ to be crowned WNBA Rookie of the Year ahead of Caitlin Clark, Jason Whitlock says.
Whitlock has gone on a series of rants about Reese lately, the most recent of which was claiming that the Chicago Sky forward’s apparent record of having the most “double-doubles” in the WNBA is simply “made up.”
The conservative sportscaster also called her “overrated” in the past before retracting that criticism after she inspired Chicago’s win 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 award after moving to the WNBA and joining Indiana.
Angel Reese has ‘a real case’ to be crowned WNBA Rookie of the Year, says Jason Whitlock
However, while the Fever sensation is averaging more points per game (16 compared to 13.2), Reese has been equally impressive in her debut campaign with the Sky and currently leads the league in rebounds at 11.8 per game.
As a result, Whitlock admits the Rookie of the Year battle 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 that 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 140th in plus/minus. A couple of her teammates are down there, too.
‘Caitlin Clark leads the league in turnovers and is shooting 33 percent of her three-pointers, and she’s going through scoring droughts during the game that hurt her team. She’s a woman who led the NCAA in scoring for two years in a row, she’s the all-time leading scorer… she’s not an effective scorer in the WNBA.
‘I know she averages 16 points per game, but I’ve seen every game. She’s a very inefficient shooter, she has the 8-meter long three-pointer, that’s in her bag. Every now and then she gets to the rim and gets a layup.
Whitlock has done a major about-face after previously criticizing the Chicago Sky rookie.
Conservative sportscaster believes Caitlin Clark is not an “effective” shooter
Reese set a WNBA record for double-doubles in her most recent outing for Chicago.
‘But between the turnovers, the plus-minus, the fact that she’s missing 70 percent of the threes she’s taken… Caitlin Clark has been a great box-office player. But on the other hand, Angel Reese… I don’t believe the double-double thing at all. It’s a gimmick and a statistic that they pulled out of nowhere.
“But she leads the league in rebounding. 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 WNBA history to record 10 consecutive double-doubles in a single season, surpassing future Hall of Famer Candace Parker’s record of nine double-doubles set in 2015.
But Whitlock wasn’t convinced the statistic carried much weight.
‘Angel Reese’s consecutive double-double record in the WNBA was just made up,’ she said.
“Nobody knows who held the previous record. This has never been a standard in the NBA. Players average a double-double.”