Angel Reese receives one vote over Caitlin Clark for WNBA Rookie of the Year

The WNBA named Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark the league's 2024 Rookie of the Year, but it wasn't a unanimous decision.

Although Clark broke the WNBA's assist and rookie scoring records in a single season and became the first rookie in history to record a triple-double, only 66 of the 67 voters chose her to win the award. The other voter chose Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, Clark's long-time rival.

Reese was a minor contender for the honor behind Clark in the early months of the season. However, her rookie season was cut short after she underwent season-ending wrist surgery following an injury sustained on September 6.

Clark increased her lead in nearly every statistical category in the weeks before and after the end of Reese's season. She also led the Fever to the playoffs for the first time in eight years as the team's leading scorer.

Reese was just the third-leading scorer on a Chicago team that finished the season with a 13-27 record, third-worst in the league, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

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Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever (left) and Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky look on during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on June 1. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)

The only statistic in which Reese had an advantage over Clark was the number of rebounds, with 13.1 more than twice as many rebounds per game compared to Clark's 5.7. Reese has a natural height advantage at 6-foot-3 compared to Clark at 6-foot-0.

But Clark had the advantage in points at 19.2 to Reese's 13.6 per game, assists at 8.4 to Reese's 1.9 and even blocks at 0.7 to Reese's 0.5, despite the height disadvantage.

Like Clark, Reese also broke a groundbreaking WNBA single-season record in her rookie year by breaking the single-season rebounding record with 418 rebounds during a game against the Minnesota Lynx on September 2. However, unlike Clark, Reese did not hold this record at the end of the season. Following Reese's season-ending surgery, MVP A'ja Wilson broke Reese's record in the final week of the season when Wilson recorded her 419th rebound.

But despite the statistical discrepancies between Clark and Reese, the Sky rookie had her passionate supporters this year who made her case to Clark.

Former NBA All-Star Joakim Noah, a 6-foot-2 center who also specialized in rebounding and game dominance, told Fox News Digital that he would vote for Reese about Clark Rookie of the Year if he had a say in an interview at NBA Night in the Emirates Suite at the US Open in early September.

IN THE IMPACT OF CAITLIN CLARK AND ANGEL REESE ON MEN'S BASKETBALL

Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese looks on during the game against the Las Vegas Aces at Wintrust Arena in Chicago on August 25. (Kamil Krzaczynski-USA Today Sports)

“I would say Angel Reese,” Noah said. “When I watch her game, she reminds me a lot of myself.”

In the direct duels this year, the Fever beat the Sky three out of four times. In two of those contests, Reese scored more points than Clark and grabbed more rebounds than Clark in all four meetings. Clark recorded more assists in all four matches.

Reese's height advantage over Clark led to the Sky rookie having better finishes in the paint and some very physical blocks and block attempts. Some instances also resulted in Reese receiving major fouls because of her defense against Clark. In a game on June 16, Clark went for a layup and Reese didn't quite have the wingspan to block the shot, but got a bad 1 when she hit Clark in the head from above instead.

Reese's reputation and personality have also garnered a passionate following compared to Clark's, although a smaller one than Clark's when attendance and television viewership numbers are taken into account.

Rutgers freshman basketball player Ace Bailey, who is the No. 3 recruit nationally this year, told Fox News Digital at his team's media day on Sept. 24 that he would rather ask Reese for advice than Clark if he just could talk to a women's basketball star.

“I would probably talk to Angel Reese, definitely about her competitiveness, what keeps her going,” Bailey said.

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Angel Reese of the LSU Lady Tigers points to Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament championship game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on April 2, 2023. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Reese and Clark's reputation, fan base and long-standing rivalry are tied to their respective races, dating back to their most famous clash in the 2023 NCAA women's national championship game. Reese and LSU defeated Clark and Iowa, and Reese pointed her finger for bragging rights in a viral moment that drew intense backlash and support.

Reese said it was a moment that “changed her life forever” when she accused Clark's fans of racism, death threats and even sending explicit AI images of her to family members on the first episode of her podcast “Unapolagetically Angel.”

“I think it's really just the fans, their fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans, that are really just, they're driving for them, and I respect that respectfully. But sometimes it's very disrespectful. I think there's a lot of racism when it comes to that,” Reese said.

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