Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese revealed on X (formerly Twitter) Saturday night that her season is over due to a wrist injury. Reese, who was initially listed as questionable for the team’s upcoming game against the Dallas Wings, shared her emotional response to the news.
“I’m filled with emotions right now that I have a season-ending injury, but also filled with so much gratitude for what is next,” Reese wrote. “Although this is God’s timing and not mine, I am finally able to give myself a physical and mental break. ‘God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers.’”
Despite her shortened season, Reese has made an impressive mark in her rookie year, setting a new WNBA record for the most rebounds in a single season and leading the league with 13.1 rebounds per game. She broke the previous single-season record of 404 rebounds, set by Sylvia Fowles in 2018, during the Sky’s 79-74 loss to Minnesota on September 1. Remarkably, Reese achieved this feat in just 23 games.
Reese had emerged as the top contender to rival rookie Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever for the WNBA Rookie of the Year honor. Even former NBA All-Star Joakim Noah voiced his support for Reese, stating he would vote for her over Clark if given the chance. “When I look at her play, she reminds me a lot of myself,” Noah told Fox News Digital.
Clark, however, has the edge in other statistical categories, including points, assists, steals, blocks, and shooting percentages. She recently broke the Fever’s single-season record for assists in a game against Minnesota. Nonetheless, Reese’s dominance in rebounding — averaging 13.1 rebounds per game compared to Clark’s 5.8 — set her apart.
In their head-to-head matchups, the Indiana Fever triumphed over the Chicago Sky in three out of four meetings this year. Reese outscored Clark in two of these games and out-rebounded her in all four encounters. Despite their fierce on-court rivalry, Reese expressed great respect for Clark during the first episode of her podcast, stating that there is no bad blood between them, even though their rivalry dates back to their college days when Reese played for LSU and Clark for Iowa.
However, Reese did criticize Clark’s passionate fan base, accusing some of them of harassment and racism. “I think it’s really just the fans, her fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans, that are really just, they ride for her, and I respect that, respectfully. But sometimes it’s very disrespectful,” Reese said, adding that she had received death threats and that fans had even come to her home.
Reese also alleged that fans had created AI-generated images of her without clothes and sent them to her family. “Multiple occasions, people have made AI-images of me naked. They have sent it to my family members,” she said. “It sucks having to go through that and see other players have to go through that.”
Both Reese and Clark were standout rookies this season, with Clark drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever and Reese selected seventh overall by the Chicago Sky. They were the only rookies to be named to the WNBA All-Star Game in July, further underscoring their remarkable debut seasons.
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