Fans Believe A'ja Wilson Took Subtle Shot At Angel Reese With Rebound Record Reaction
During the Las Vegas Aces' 85-72 win over the Seattle Storm on Tuesday, Aces superstar forward A'ja Wilson surpassed Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese's record for the most rebounds in a season, with 446.
While this is undoubtedly an impressive accomplishment, some fans believed that Wilson's record has to come with an asterisk, given that Reese has averaged more rebounds per game this season but hasn't been (and won't be) able to add to her tally of 446 rebounds because has been injured for the past few games, which ostensibly allowed Wilson to surpass her record.
Regardless, the WNBA's single-season rebounding record now belongs to Wilson. Although the WNBA MVP favorite didn't seem too excited about this record when asked about it during a postgame press conference.
"Record for what? Rebounds? Oh, um, that's cool," Wilson replied when asked about her rebound record by Callie Lawson-Freeman of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I don't hunt rebounds, you know, so it's not something that's always on my mind."
I asked A’ja Wilson about setting the WNBA’s new record for rebounds in a season.
— Callie Lawson-Freeman (@CallieJLaw) September 18, 2024
Wasn’t surprised by her answer, but Becky Hammon and Kelsey Plum always surprise me lol.
pic.twitter.com/PZx3H2064I
Given that Reese has been criticized by fans for allegedly stat-padding and hunting for rebounds late in games this season, some on social media believe Wilson was throwing shade Reese's way.
"Not so subtle shot fired.....😂," X user @KinnickNorth23 said along with a graphic on Wilson's response.
Not so subtle shot fired.....😂 pic.twitter.com/2veiPgXXft
— Kinnick North (@KinnickNorth23) September 18, 2024
"Reese's pieces not gon like this one lol," another X user responded.
A third added, "Shots at Angel Reese and her toxic fan base … nobody ever cared about rebounds lmao".
Shots at Angel Reese and her toxic fan base … nobody ever cared about rebounds lmao https://t.co/TeMusxPz5C
— Wesley (@WesleyChi600) September 18, 2024
Given the great relationship Reese and Wilson appear to have, there's almost a 0% chance that Wilson was deliberately trying to throw shade at Reese with this response, and was instead just being honest about how she feels about the record. In fact, it's unlikely she even knew the record was Reese's.
But fans are still clearly inclined to take Wilson's words out of context and apply them to the Sky rookie.
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.