The race for the WNBA Rookie of the Year has taken a momentary pause but will soon heat back up.
The WNBA season is currently at a standstill due to the 2024 Paris Olympics, but fans are all certainly well aware of who is in the race for the prestigious honor given to the best rookie.
In years past, the winner of the award typically wins in a landslide, with the last three winners accumulating around 95% of the vote or more.
In fact, the last time that the race for the award was close by any means was when Jewell Llyod won with 53.8% of the vote in 2015.
The 2024 season has seen Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark as the projected winner in a landslide for most of the year.
But the recent strong play of the Chicago Sky’s double-double machine, Angel Reese.
Actually forced FanDuel to change their odds from Clark and the field to Clark (-2000) and Reese (+700).
Clark is still the overwhelming favorite as she has seemingly only gotten better, but as we have seen throughout the final month of games, Reese is making a major case for herself.
However, if Clark, who is leading the league in assists, can sustain the level of play she was at before the break, Reese may just be playing for second place. In a recent social media post, StatMamba revealed where Clark ranks in eight key categories, with her being the rookie leader in six of them. The other two, she was ranked in the top four, and they both happen to be something that you typically wouldn’t expect from a guard.
On top of these impressive marks, Clark also leads all rookies in player efficiency rating (19.6) and became the first rookie to ever record a triple-double. Reese clearly has a puncher’s chance based on the odds, but she would need a historic second half to pass Clark.
The Fever and Clark return to action on August 16, while Reese and the Sky will be back on August 15. The two rookies and new faces of the league will square off one final time in the regular season on Friday, August 30, in what could be another instance of them shattering viewership records. Their June 16 meeting was the WNBA’s most-watched game in 23 years and averaged 2.25 million viewers as the Fever beat the Sky 91-83.
Their final game in the regular season will surely command quite an audience.
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Source: USA Today
