Women's Fastbreak On SI

Fans Lament A'ja Wilson's 'Fraudulent' Pursuit of Angel Reese's WNBA Record

WNBA fans are up in arms over A'ja Wilson nearing an injured Angel Reese's impressive record.

Grant Young

Aug 25, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) is defended by Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) during the first half at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Aug 25, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) is defended by Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) during the first half at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Las Vegas Aces superstar forward A'ja Wilson finished Friday's 78-74 win over the Indiana Fever with a whopping 17 rebounds.

This gives her 435 rebounds in the 2024 season. As a result, she is just 12 rebounds away from surpassing Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese's record (446) for the most rebounds ever recorded in a single WNBA season.

This stat is extremely impressive for both women. Yet, Wilson would have had a much tougher time catching Reese's rebounding mark if the rookie was still playing in games, as opposed to being sidelined for the season's remainder due to a wrist injury that required surgery earlier this week.

And fans are expressing their frustration over Wilson likely taking an injured Reese's rebounding record over social media.

"Man we all know who would’ve blown this record out of reach had she not gotten hurt. This will be fraudulent," X user @JuJu_Da_Gamer wrote.

Another fan wrote, "I don’t think A’ja Wilson should be allowed to break Angel Reese’s record because she had a season ending injury.

"If you’re going to break a record you have do it in the same amount of time it was set, if it’s legitimate".

"A’Ja my girl. The scoring record & MVP will be rightfully hers. But this rebound record, oh baby that’s gonna have an asterisk next to it. Idc. Get well soon Angel," added a third X user.

While Reese fans may be upset about this, the reality is that Wilson had no control over Reese getting injured, and is therefore not to blame for breaking her record.

Not to mention that Reese surely has many, many more (hopefully healthy) WNBA seasons ahead of her. And given her generational rebounding ability, she'll likely break Wilson's eventual record many times over by the time her career ends.

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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