Stephen A Smith Makes Bold Prediction for WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Angel Reese has made a career of defying expectations.
Following an All-Big First-Team and Big Ten All-Defensive Team run with her home state University of Maryland Terrapins, the 6-foot-3 power forward transferred to the LSU Tigers in 2022.
There, she won an NCAA championship by besting the most prolific scorer in college basketball history, Iowa Hawkeyes point guard Caitlin Clark, while being named NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player. She was also a three-time All-American during her stints at Maryland and LSU.
During a rematch with Clark’s Hawkeyes, Reese and the rest of the Tigers fell in the 2024 Elite Eight.
She declared for the 2024 WNBA Draft shortly thereafter. Questions about how her skillset could translate at the pro level abounded, and she fell out of the lottery.
Reese was the second player selected by the rebuilding Chicago Sky, drafted with the No. 7 pick. The Sky had also snagged another non-shooting big from a title-winning NCAA squad, 6-foot-7 former South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso, with the third pick in the draft.
Reese expediently silenced her doubters upon taking the floor for Chicago. The 22-year-old was named an All-Star, along with Clark (now with the Indiana Fever), the only rookies to earn that honor this season.
The inclusion of both players on the WNBA All-Star team marks the first time in a decade that a duo of rookies has made the cut.
During a new “First Take” conversation on location in Chicago with Chance The Rapper.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith boldly proclaimed that he believes Reese, not Clark, will be this season’s WNBA Rookie of the Year.
“Angel Reese … she may be Rookie of the Year. She’s special! And let me tell you this right now: I don’t care what anybody says, ’cause she can play. She’s no scrub, she’s a walking double-double,” Smith offered.
Across her first 24 contests for the 10-14 Sky (24 starts), Reese is averaging 13.5 points on 40.2 percent shooting from the floor, 11.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 steals a night. Chicago is currently the No. 8 seed in the league, meaning if the playoffs ended today the Sky would make the cut. That’s pretty much a bonus in a rebuilding season
Earlier this season, Reese proved her mettle as already one of the elite rebounders in the game, notching an astounding 15 consecutive double-doubles from June 4 through July 11.
Clark, for her part, has had a solid pro career start, too.
The 6-foot phenom is averaging 17.1 pionts on a .405/.327/.891 slash line, 8.2 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks in her 26 games with Indiana. The Fever are currently 11-15, mere percentage points ahead of the Sky for the WNBA’s No. 7 seed.
