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Caitlin Clark, not Angel Reese, is the WNBA Rookie of the Year according to women’s basketball legend Sue Bird.
Bird appeared at a panel discussion with girlfriend Megan Rapinoe and was asked about the hotly contested race between Clark and Reese.
She credited both players for remarkable rookie seasons, but said that by the eye test, it’s Clark who should get the nod.
“I don’t do the stat comparison,” Bird said. “It can help when things are close… I just do the eye test, and to me, [Caitlin Clark] is Rookie of the Year.”
But she also made sure not to discredit Reese’s historic rookie season in the process.
“They can both be good. They can both be having great years,” Bird added.
Clark began the season as the overwhelming betting favorite for the award. But Reese then went on a historic streak of double-doubles, moving her atop the odds.
Even WNBA legend and South Carolina women’s coach Dawn Staley backed Reese for the award at one point.
So you gonna try to put me in a controversy, right,” Staley jokingly replies when asked about the two. “They both are having great years. Don’t get me wrong. If I had to pick a rookie of the year at this time, it’s Angel. Not a doubt.
“What she’s been able to do with the double-doubles. But listen, the season is halfway through and Caitlin is coming … I’ll say this, whatever team makes the playoffs, that’s our rookie of the year.”
But Reese’s streak eventually ended and Clark has begun to look like the superstar many expected, moving the Indiana Fever into a playoff spot in the process.
Clark is now, yet again, the heavy favorite to win the award according to oddsmakers. Though as Bird noted, both are having historically good rookie campaigns.
