ESPN Analyst Picks 'Grown Woman' Angel Reese for Rookie of Year

Robin Lundberg | Jul 8, 2024

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark WNBA Rookie of the Year debate will seemingly continue all season. For good reason. Both the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever stars are off to historic starts to their careers. With Reese being the latest to achieve history setting the consecutive double-double record in a loss to the Seattle Storm.

It is the dirty work Reese does to garner gaudy rebounding totals that led to ESPN analyst Carolyn Peck making Angel her current selection to win the award. Peck praised Reese for doing the blue collar work to help her team succeed. Adding that Reese is putting up "grown woman numbers".

.@CAROLYNPECK says Angel Reese has to get the nod for the WNBA ROTY award 🏆

"This is a player who has come in and is putting up grown woman numbers." 😤 pic.twitter.com/Z5OlsgY6YK

— ESPN (@espn) July 7, 2024

Peck's opinion was also based on statistics. The analyst cited advanced stats like Net Rating and Plus/Minus to make the case for Reese as well. Angel is currently +2.3 in Net Rating, meaning the Sky are 2.2 points per 100 possessions better with her on the floor. In contrast, Clark's number there is -8.1, though that is likely skewed heavily by her being on the floor almost all the time for Indiana in combination with the team suffering some big blowout losses earlier in the season. The Fever have since rebounded like Reese and currently sit atop the Sky in the standings, which was the the category another ESPN analyst Monica McNutt had previously said mattered most in the race.

Reese currently leads the league in rebounding, while Clark has generated more points than any player in the W. So it's safe to say the two future All-Star teammates are both deserving of the rookie recognition they are receiving.