WNBA Rookie Rankings: Sky’s Angel Reese rises to top spot, Fever’s Caitlin Clark dazzles vs. Mystics
Reese and Clark are set to square off Sunday on CBS
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Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese earned the No. 1 spot in CBS Sports’ WNBA Rookie Rankings this week by putting together multiple well-rounded performances. The former LSU star recently became the first WNBA player this season to register double-doubles with five-plus steals in two consecutive games.
At No. 2 is Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, who had her second 30-point performance of the season — plus a career-high seven 3-pointers — in a 85-83 win against the Mystics on Friday. Clark’s Fever and Reese’s Sky are set to meet Sunday at noon ET on CBS.
Meanwhile, Washington Mystics forward Aaliyah Edwards has reentered the list at No. 5 after tallying a career-high 23 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks against the Sky.
The sun is also shining bright in Los Angeles, as Rickea Jackson and Cameron Brink are giving the Sparks some great minutes. Los Angeles recently earned its biggest win of 2024 on Sunday against the Las Vegas Aces, and Jackson played a key role late in that game.
Reese’s consistency and ability to contribute on both ends of the court are some of the most impressive parts of her game. She has already registered four double-doubles this season, and three of them came in the past week. Reese’s shooting percentage hasn’t been the most consistent, but she has still reached double figures in scoring in eight of her 10 games so far.
Despite going 5-for-17 from the field in the Sky’s 79-71 win over the Mystics on Thursday, she still recorded 16 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and a season-high five steals. Reese continues to be a strong rebounder and leads the league in offensive boards.
2. Caitlin Clark
Clark had one of her best performances in Friday’s 85-83 win against the Mystics with 30 points on 53.8% shooting, including seven pointers. That was her second 30-point game in the WNBA. That performance also included eight rebounds, six assists and four steals. Clark did have eight turnovers, but she was still the key reason for the Fever’s victory.
However, it is normal for a rookie to go through ups and downs. In Monday’s 89-72 loss to the Connecticut Sun, Clark scored 10 points but was visibly struggling against Dijonai Carrington and found herself in foul trouble in the third quarter.
3. Rickea Jackson
Jackson can singlehandedly be the difference between a win or loss, which she demonstrated Sunday against the Aces. The rookie turned up the heat when the Sparks needed it most and scored seven of her career-tying 16 points in the fourth quarter. Jackson shot 63.6% from the field while adding five rebounds, an assist and a block in 23 minutes.
The former Tennessee star knows how to keep her composure, reads the defense well and continues to show she can score at all three levels.
“I just want to win,” Jackson said after Sunday’s victory. “I feel like this team comes in every day and puts in the work. I’m just so grateful to be in L.A.”
4. Cameron Brink
Brink continues to struggle with foul trouble and fouled out for the first time in her career in the Sparks’ 86-62 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday. However, she bounced back from that one with her first double-double against the Dallas Wings on Friday. Brink tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds, along with two steals and three blocks, while shooting 45.5% from the field.
Against the Aces, Brink contributed eight points and six rebounds, while registering five blocks for the second time in her young WNBA career. Brink is averaging 2.8 blocks per contest, the third-best mark in the league.
5. Aaliyah Edwards
The Mystics have not won a game yet, but Edwards is earning more minutes and developing nicely. The former UConn star is back in the Rookie Rankings after averaging 14 points and over 10 rebounds per game over the last seven days.
Edwards had her best WNBA performance thus far Thursday against the Sky. She registered 23 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the field against Chicago, completing a double-double with 14 rebounds while adding four blocks. Edwards followed that game with 10 points and 12 rebounds in a close loss to the Fever.
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Angel Reese speaks on ‘GETTING COOKED’ in her first game, continuing to grow the WNBA to reclaim her CROWN | CBS Sports
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Angel Reese is not the villain she’s been made out to be
CHICAGO — Angel Reese isn’t the villain here.
Oh, she’s willing to play the role. Has gotten comfortable in it, too, over the last two years. If this is what it takes to get, and keep, people watching women’s basketball, this idea that she hates Caitlin Clark or is jealous of her or any of the other mistruths about her, then fine. She’ll take that on.
But she shouldn’t have to. Nor is it accurate.
“I don’t think there’s any jealousy or hate or any of that. I think we’re appreciative to be a part of this journey,” Reese told USA TODAY Sports ahead of the Chicago Sky’s game against the New York Liberty on Tuesday night.
“Obviously, everybody wants this (increased spotlight) and has wanted this for a long time, especially my teammates who’ve been in this league for a little while now. They’ve deserved this for a really long time,” Reese added. “We’ve all been given these opportunities and we don’t take them for granted. So I’m just happy to be a part of it and continue to help grow the game as much as I can.”
So much of the discourse that has surrounded the WNBA in the first month of the season has been toxic and troubling. Rooted not in facts but in assumptions by people who until now have not paid much, if any, attention to the league.
It came to a head Saturday, when the Sky’s Chennedy Carter shoulder checked Clark hard and Reese was seen applauding. The narrative quickly became that Reese resents the credit Clark gets for the increased TV ratings, attendance and sponsor interest, and, as a corollary, the veterans want to put the high-profile rookie in her place even if it endangers her physically.
It’s an easy storyline to believe, especially the Angel as villain part, given the history between Reese and Clark. Their individual fan bases made up their minds about the other player long ago, and this just served to harden opinions.
But that’s ill-informed, too, zooming in on one play — which, to be clear, was inappropriate — of a 40-minute game without considering the context of the entire game and the rough-and-tumble nature of the league.
Worse, it does a disservice to both Clark and Reese.
“Nothing is malicious,” Liberty veteran Breanna Stewart said, speaking in general about the league’s physicality. “It’s just heat-of-the-moment things. Things happen in a game.”
Neither Clark nor Reese asked for the roles they’ve been assigned, Clark as the savior of the W and Reese the WWE-style anti-hero. By reducing them to these caricatures, it diminishes who they are as both people and players when all either wants is to play basketball and for more people to appreciate the game they love.
Expecting the rest of the W to roll out the red carpet every time Clark steps on the floor erases the progress of the previous 27 years and the women responsible for it. Ignores the role Reese and other young players have in the skyrocketing interest, too. Demanding the league step in and protect Clark is patronizing, suggesting she’s not strong enough to hold her own.
And painting Reese as the female Dennis Rodman disregards her considerable talent and hard work. She needed almost no time to prove wrong those who questioned whether her game would translate to the WNBA, coming into Tuesday night’s game leading the league in offensive rebounds and second to Clark among rookies in points per game.
Reese also is making a place for herself in the fashion world, attending the Met Gala last month and starring in Good American’s new ad campaign. Oh, and when LSU announced its student-athletes of the month Monday, guess who was one of them?
“I know my role and I know my purpose in this world,” Reese said. “God put me in this world for a reason. I’m beautiful, educated, smart — I’m so many different things. If (being a villain) is one of the characteristics that people want to put me as, that’s not a thing on it.
“But it doesn’t bother me,” she added. “I’ll continue to come in every day and work hard and grind for everything I deserve and I know that I deserve.”
Chicago loves hard-working, scrappy players who don’t back down to anyone — see the ’85 Bears defense — and the city has already claimed Reese as one of its own. Her jersey sold out almost immediately after she was drafted.
On Tuesday night, despite storms rolling in, some schools still in session and the Cubs and White Sox squaring off in the Crosstown Rivalry, Wintrust Arena was nearly full, with empty seats visible in only a few of the upper sections. Fans cheered every time the P.A. announcer said Reese’s name and they booed even louder when she was given a weak double technical late in the fourth quarter and ejected.
“I’ve dreamed of a moment like this,” Reese said. “Being able to see the (increased) coverage, so many people watching the games … who love us and enjoy us for who we are. All these players have a story that is just phenomenal. And I think that’s why everybody gravitates to us.
“Every little girl here gravitates to a different one of us,” Reese added. “That’s what’s important.”
Even if she wanted to just be Angel, that last part is why she’s willing to play the villain, too. She knows which one she really is.
It’s too bad so many others don’t.
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A’ja Wilson is making a compelling argument for her third WNBA MVP award. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The Las Vegas Aces aren’t looking their usual dominant selves so far this season, but A’ja Wilson certainly is.
The two-time MVP posted 32 points on 10-of-17 shooting with 15 rebounds, two assists and two blocks against the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday. That line in itself was impressive, but it was also Wilson’s eighth straight game with at least 25 points, breaking the WNBA regular season record.
The previous record-holder: Tina Charles with seven in 2021.
