WNBA legend Lisa Leslie ruffled some feathers on Sunday night for posting a controversial take on the ongoing Rookie of the Year race between Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese.
Both Clark and Reese put up big performances in their respective games over the weekend as the ROY race continues to heat up. Clark dropped 28 points and 12 assists in the Fever’s victory over the Dallas Wings and helped lead her team to its first winning record this season (17-16) while Reese snagged yet another double-double and set the WNBA’s new single-season rebounding record in the Sky’s loss to the Minnesota Lynx.
Despite Reese’s historic first year in the league, many fans would agree Clark is firmly in pole position for the ROY award given the 22-year-old guard’s all-around game and offensive skillset.
Leslie, however, would not.
The Hall-of-Famer shared a message on social media in which she made a case for both Clark and Reese to win ROY this year.
Leslie wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “I don’t care what comparisons you make both @Reese10Angel and @CaitlinClark22 deserve the Rookie of the Year Award! The pressure and the weight of this season has forever changed the @WNBA and both rookies rose to the top and exceeded all our expectations! Take a bow ladies.”
I don’t care what comparisons you make both @Reese10Angel and @CaitlinClark22 deserve the Rookie of the Year Award! The pressure and the weight of this season has forever changed the @WNBA and both rookies rose to the top and exceeded all our expectations! Take a bow ladies👏🏽👏🏽
— Lisa Leslie (@LisaLeslie) September 2, 2024
WNBA fans, many of whom were unsurprisingly Fever supporters, crushed Leslie for her take.
Nah, this isn’t a consolation prize.
— just1n (@just1nvest) September 2, 2024
May the best rookie win.
That’s how it is meant to be, this isn’t particularly close but the media has really tried to portray it as such.
We as a society need to stop coddling. We need to stop giving out participation trophies. These are two adults and Caitlin has outperformed Reese by a large margin. I mean c'mon Caitlin is third in the mvp race smh. What message are we giving to younger generations? Stop it.
— greek phenom (@GreekPhenomeno) September 2, 2024
… nah you be having good takes but this was a terrible one like really bad. You got one player that’s All WNBA first team and the other is a roll player that bring no winning basketball to they team. Stop it.
— Martell C Parks (@MrMonies28) September 2, 2024
Just disrespectful to what Clark is doing
— Pam (@lilkasperss) September 2, 2024
It’s not a consolation award. Clark and Reese are miles apart. There’s no comparison so please be serious.
— Blanco (@FcBlanc0) September 2, 2024
Imo it’s okay to applaud what Angel has done while also being able to say that Caitlin has simply
— Knicksfan930 (@knicksfan930j) September 2, 2024
Been more valuable to her team & winning. 17-16 vs 11-21. Caitlin has transformed her TEAM while Angel has been an elite rebounder & defender. Being 2nd in ROY isn’t shabby.
Respectfully, no Caitlin’s earned the ROTY title. At the beginning of the season everyone was running victory laps with how the fever started and said records only matter when it comes with winning.
— kaytee ♡⋆*ೃ:. (@caitlinclarks) September 2, 2024
Lost all respect for Leslie today.
— Corey Clayton (@CoreyClayton) September 2, 2024
Clark leads Reese in EVERY STAT CATEGORY except rebounding.
Clark LEADS THE WHOLE #WNBA in points scored+assisted-on points by a WIDE margin.
Reese leads the WNBA with the worst shooting % inside 6 feet. pic.twitter.com/AuOB2UUWo7
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as WNBA Fans Blasted Lisa Leslie for Hot Take on Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese ROY Race.
