Former NBA point guard Raymond Felton has claimed that the WNBA should give its Rookie of the Year award to both, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, as a way to honor their contributions to the league.
The 40-year-old, 2005 NCAA champion was asked his thoughts on the two rivals just two days after Reese and Clark played on the same team together for the first time of their careers at the WNBA All-Star Game.
‘Caitlin Clark has figured it. She’s playing amazing basketball,’ Felton said via Tidal League.Â
‘Angel Reese is breaking records… If [the ROTY race] is so close, let them share it…Â
‘They both have changed and impacted the NBA.’Â
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese both deserve of the WNBA’s ROTY award, per Raymond Felton
Felton – a former NBA guard – is basing his opinion on the NBA splitting the award three times
Basketball fans were torn over Felton’s proposal on social media, as his opinion is modeled off the NBA previously having split its Rookie of the Year Award on three separate occasions. Â
Dave Cowens and Geoff Petrie both won the Rookie of the Year Award in the 1970–71 season, Grant Hill and Jason Kidd in the 1994–95 season, and Elton Brand and Steve Francis in the 1999–2000 season.
A fan posted on X: ‘Grant Hill and Jason Kidd shared it for the 1994-95 season… so Caitlin and Reese can in the wnba… it’s only right this year.’
In contrast, someone else wrote: ‘No its not called Rookies of the Year.’
‘Why?’ another person asked in response to Felton’s suggestion.Â
‘This is like BOTH of them going to the WH after that championship game,’ a user pointed out, referring to the aftermath of the 2023 NCAA Championship game, when Jill Biden – the US’ First Lady – suggested that both Iowa and LSU should visit the White House after the Tigers’ win over the Hawkeyes.Â
However, no finalist in the history of the NCAA title game has gone on an official visit to the US President. Only LSU ended up meeting the Biden administration that year.Â
Meanwhile, speculation on Reese’s trip to Paris has gone viral as fans think the All-Star may have received a last-minute call up from Team USA’s women Olympics basketball team.Â
Clark was not selected.