Angel Reese Becomes First Player to Win This Major Unrivaled Award
It didn't take Chicago Sky superstar Angel Reese long to dispel any doubts about whether her college success with the LSU Tigers would translate into the WNBA. Despite being the No. 6 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Reese quickly cemented herself as a part of the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year conversation due to her being a walking double-double for the Sky.
While there are still improvements for Reese to make on the offensive end, nobody can deny that she's already arguably the best rebounder in women's basketball and also an elite force on the defensive end.
This was proven during Reese's regular season playing for Rose BC in Unrivaled's first season this winter. Before the 22-year-old injured her wrist, Reese led the league in rebounds with 12.1 per game and also tallied 0.6 blocked shots per game.
As a result of this success, Reese was named the Unrivaled Defensive Player of the Year, which was announced on Saturday. And since this is Unrivaled's first season, this means Reese made history by being the first player to win this award in the league.
Unrivaled's Defensive Player of the Year: The Angel Reese ✨👑 pic.twitter.com/quLBBkYZgx
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) March 15, 2025
Some might try and argue that Reese earning this accolade is more a result of her popularity among fans than what she did on the court. However, this argument is quickly refuted once one realizes that voting was tallied from Unrivaled coaches, players, media members, and fans.
It remains unclear whether Reese's wrist injury will be healed enough for her to play in Rose BC's Unrivaled playoff game on March 16. Regardless, the Sky superstar will be riding this Defensive Player of the Year victory into her second WNBA season.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.