ESPN Calls Out Voter Who Chose Angel Reese Over Caitlin Clark For Rookie of the Year
Anybody who thought it was controversial or incorrect that Caitlin Clark won the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year award doesn't know ball.
However, despite voting for Clark seeming like a no-brainer for the vast majority of the women's basketball community, one of the 67 voters selected Angel Reese instead of Caitlin Clark for the award, which kept Clark from winning ROTY unanimously.
Because the votes are kept anonymous (aside from those voters who share their choice over social media), we'll likely never know who it was that went with Reese over Clark. But whoever it was, they received a clear, stern message from ESPN analysts on Friday for their ballot.
During an ESPN segment on Friday, ESPN hosts Andraya Carter & Chiney Ogwumike went off on the voter who didn't choose Clark for ROTY.
"Hats off to Caitlin, should have been unanimous, but I'll stop there," Carter said after discussing all that Clark accomplished for the Fever this season, per X user @Sudharsan_AK10.
"No no no, I'mma pick it up," Ogwumike responded. "Because [Clark] should have been a unanimous rookie of the year... Ever since Angel Reese had that injury, and also coming off of Olympic break, Caitlin Clark separated herself. She should have been unanimous.
"Now to celebrate her... as a rookie, she was the most blitzed player in the WNBA. And she still put up 19 [points], 5 [rebounds, and 8 assists... To be able to do that as a rookie, in the face of that much defensive pressure, should've been unanimous," Ogwumike added.
Carter concluded by saying, "And this is why we would love for the WNBA to make voting not anonymous. Because if you were the person that had that one vote... we should be able to know who you are."
Andraya Carter & Chiney Ogwumike feels Caitlin Clark should've been UNANIMOUS ROTY
— AK (@Sudharsan_AK10) October 5, 2024
"Coming off of Olympic break Caitlin Clark separated herself, to do that as a rookie in the face of that much defensive pressure should've been unanimous"#WNBA #FeverRising pic.twitter.com/tsHqlfCLyq
While Reese had a sensational first season, choosing her over Clark feels like professional negligence.
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.