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Angel Reese Misconstrues Rebounding Criticism While Speaking With Dwyane Wade

Chicago Sky sensation Angel Reese missed the mark when telling Dwyane Wade what she's most often criticized for.

Grant Young

Aug 25, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) looks to pass the ball against the Las Vegas Aces during the first half at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Aug 25, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) looks to pass the ball against the Las Vegas Aces during the first half at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Chicago Sky sensation Angel Reese produced a fantastic first season of professional basketball.

While Reese getting a WNBA Rookie of the Year vote over Caitlin Clark is ridiculous, she likely would have won the award in nearly every other season, given the many accomplishments and accolades she amassed.

However, if there was one valid criticism of her game, it was her shooting struggles around the paint. Reese shot 44.5% from within five feet of the basket this season. For comparison, another elite forward Nneka Ogwumike shot 66.9% from the same range and 2024 WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson shot 65.1%.

There was also discourse about how Reese often grabbed her own offensive rebounds after these misses, which contributed to her league-leading rebounds per game total. While she did receive some criticism in that regard, nobody in their right mind would deny that Reese is a great rebounder.

But Reese told NBA legend Dwyane Wade that's what her critics said during Thursday's episode of the "Unapologetically Angel" podcast.

"I feel like I get critiqued a lot obviously, because I do rebound and I do rebound in a great way, and I play defense," Reese told Wade. "When I came into the league, I just really wanted to be able to grow. And luckily, I was really really good at one specific thing, which was rebounding.

"And I knew I had to tighten up on my offense... but so many people critique me because I was a great rebounder, and sometimes like, why don't y'all box me out? How come y'all don't box me out?"

Fans in the comments are taking exception to Reese claiming she was critiqued about her rebounding ability.

"Rebounding is literally the one thing no one criticizes her for. It’s the missed layups," one X user wrote.

Another fan added, "No one calling her out for rebounding, we calling her out for being inefficient when majority of the shots are layups 😭😭," along with a gif of Stephen A. Smith.

"That’s not what is criticized and she knows it lmao," added a third.

What's for sure is that once Reese improves her shooting percentage in the paint, she is going to be even more of a problem for her opponents than she already is.

Published
Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

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.

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