Believe it or not, the WNBA’s most hyped season is halfway through. The league’s 12 teams are halfway through their 40-game schedules, and the W has storylines galore.
The Las Vegas Aces are chasing a third straight WNBA title behind two-time MVP and Defensive Player of the Year A’ja Wilson, but they’re outshone in the standings by the likes of New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun. Diana Taurasi, 20 years after entering the league in 2004, remains a motor in the Phoenix Mercury backcourt. And then, of course, there are the rookies.
Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark is perhaps the most famous female basketball player of all time. Her old college rival, Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, is now a household name. In very different ways, the two players have headlined a crazy rookie of the year race. This is the story of the tape—so far.
Caitlin Clark, Guard, Indiana Fever
The argument for: Clark isn’t exactly carrying the WNBA on her back, but she is building on the progress the league made years before she joined. But she’s still the league’s biggest draw. Her every move is watched closely—often by people with agendas that go beyond basketball—and, as with any star rookie, opponents work tirelessly to shake her up. But Clark has generally managed the spotlight well and still managed to conjure a little magic on the court. She’s just the first rookie in league history to post a triple-double when she produced 19 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds in a win against the Liberty on Saturday. Her prodigious playmaking ability has been on display often: Clark is third in the WNBA with 7.4 assists per game, despite playing on a team that was bad enough to be picked first overall two years in a row. She’s only going to get better from here, so her case for rookie of the year should get stronger as the season progresses.
The argument against: Clark has not been That good. She’s an undeniable star, but don’t tell that to the WNBA’s defenders, who have denied her many times. Her 39.3 shooting percentage is significantly worse than her career average (46.2%) in four record-breaking seasons with Iowa. In the four games for Saturday’s sparkling triple-double, Clark shot a lousy 33% from the field and gave the ball away nearly six times per game. That’s a recurring problem. Clark’s 122 turnovers through Saturday are far ahead from another player. Perhaps the honor of rookie of the rear should go to a player who doesn’t give the other team the ball all that often—or at least one who makes more field goals per game than he commits turnovers. (Clark, for now, isn’t doing that, averaging 4.9 shots made from the field and 5.5 given up.)
Angel Reese, forward, Chicago Sky
The argument for: It’s simple: Reese has been the best rookie in the WNBA so far this season. The 6’3″ forward has been an absolute dominant rebounder, her calling card dating back to a decorated college career at Maryland and LSU. Reese’s overall rebounding percentage of 21.3 through Saturday was the best in the whole competition among regular rotation players. She’s a disruptive force in the middle of Chicago’s defense, and she’s also a big scorer, as evidenced by a consistent streak of 13 double-doubles. That streak isn’t just a rookie record, it’s a record in WNBA history. Not bad for a first-year player. Reese has done it all while playing with her own media circus and intense public focus on everything she says and does. Based on both conventional statistics and advanced numbers like win shares, Reese is the best of all the WNBA rookies.
The argument against: It’s not a good one right now. Reese should be the frontrunner even though the betting markets are only slowly warming up for the idea that anyone other than Clark would win the award. But if you want to play devil’s advocate, Reese adds almost no value as a perimeter shooter and is not a polished finisher around the basket. Her rebounding totals, while excellent, have long been inflated by Reese’s many opportunities to rack up her own misses around the basket. She had plenty of those opportunities at LSU, where she shot 47.1 percent from the field her last season. She’s had many more with the Sky, where she shot 41 percent. By taking almost all of her shots from around the basket, unlike Clark, Reese has had opportunities to track and increase her rebounding totals without necessarily being efficient. Clark doesn’t get the same stat-padding opportunities around the rim and has less room for error in her quest for efficiency, so perhaps the Fever guard should be given a little extra leeway when evaluating her early stat lines.
Rickea Jackson, Guard, Los Angeles Sparks
The argument for: Life is more interesting when there’s a game-changer in the mix. There’s a slim chance that anyone other than Clark or Reese wins the award. The other likely candidate is perhaps Chicago center Kamilla Cardoso, but she’s struggling with two issues: An injury kept her out for a handful of games early this season, and she shares a frontcourt with Reese, who’s clearly a better prospect. So any unlikely intruder would have to come from somewhere else, and Jackson fits the bill. She’s the only other rookie averaging double figures (10.4 points per game) and has done so on more efficient shooting than either Clark or Reese, and has far fewer turnovers than Clark.
The argument against: Well, you get the idea. Reese and Clark make other people’s business irrelevant.