Move over Jazz Chisholm. The Miami Marlins shortstop may have been voted the most overrated in baseball by a panel of his peers, but Angel Reese just got labeled “the most overrated athlete in sports” by talking head Jason Whitlock.
Then she went out and had the best game of her WNBA career to date with 25 points and 16 rebounds to help her team overcome a 24-3 Indian Fever run and get the Sky’s first win over Cailtin Clark and Indiana this season after two losses.
In her postgame interview she put her game into perspective in a way that Whitlock might understand: “I’m a dog,” Reese said. “You can’t teach that”
While many argue that Reese’s impact on women’s basketball and the WNBA is just as important as Caitlin Clark’s, critics like Whitlock continue to stir the pot. Whitlock has clearly chosen his side in the Reese vs. Clark rivalry, launching another tirade against the Chicago Sky Rookie of the Year candidate.
Whitlock responded to Reese’s frustration over not getting her proper amount of credit for the current women’s basketball explosion, insisting that it was both her and Reese that made this possible.
Reese’s 3 million IG followers (1 million more than Clark has) is proof of her popularity, and she is bringing more eyes to the Chicago Sky than the franchise has had in the past, even during championship runs.
Whitlock isn’t trying to hear all of that.
According to the 57-year-old podcaster, this lack of recognition is merely the result of a very real situation, which suggests Angel’s impact is not as substantial as she believes.
“It’s like a hot girl; she rarely gets told the truth. So if you wanna sit there and say, ‘Hey, I am the reason this audience is showing up too,’ there is gonna be people like me and others that are gonna say, ‘Well, I’m not really sure, because, without Caitlin Clark, no one knows or cares anything about you, Angel Reese,'” he said.
Whitlock is still refusing to give Reese her props and expresses his adamant belief that Reese’s skill level on offense doesn’t warrant the media attention she thinks she deserves, calling her the “most unskilled player in the WNBA” and “unathletic.”
Another harsh and inaccurate description of one of the more athletic players in the WNBA.
He even suggested how veterans like Candace Parker would find Reese’s offensive shortcomings laughable before proclaiming the LSU product as the “most overrated athlete in all of sports.“
Angel Reese Gives Caitlin Clark and Fever 25 points, 16 Rebounds
Contrary to what Whitlock spewed, Reese was athletic, active, efficient around the rim, played intelligently and provided the passion that Chicago Sky needed on Sunday to overcome a 24-3 run by the Fever and complete a remarkable 88-87 comeback win.
They couldn’t have done it without Reese, who had the play of the game, which announcers ironically called “astoundingly athletic.”
It broke up that Fever onslaught as Reese sprinted down the court off a Fever miss and received the over-the-shoulder football pass from teammate Marina Mabry. Reese glided toward the hoop, was hacked and still finished the and-1.
That one play made everything that came out of Whitlock’s mouth about her seem like diarrhea.
By the third quarter, with Chicago trailing 58-55, Reese had already collected her rookie-record eighth double-double. She was more than impactful and easily the heart and soul of her team, one of the best players on the court.
Reese Loves To Play Defense and Do Whatever It Takes To Win
Entering the fourth quarter on Sunday, Reese had 15 points and 11 rebounds. During her interview in between the third and fourth quarters, Reese said that she had been working on her offensive game around the basket, but also noted that “she loves to play defense” and will sacrifice her body or whatever it takes to win.
Reese has been an impactful rookie player, and she is currently seventh overall in WNBA All-Star voting and fourth among non-US Olympians. The women already on the 2024 Paris Olympic team will combine to form a team that will go against the WNBA All-Stars that aren’t going to the Olympics but are voted in.
The 6-foor-3 forward is averaging 13.1 points and 11.1 rebounds (second best in the league), and 1.9 steals (fifth most in the league). She’s also leading the WNBA in offensive rebounds.
Clark vs. Reese Rivalry Heating Up
Reese and Clark ignited a firestorm when they met in the 2023 NCAA championship game, with LSU prevailing. The back and forth between Clark and Reese, that included a Tony Yayo “You Can’t See Me” gesture and a championship ring gesture, changed women’s college basketball forever.
The two competitors met again in the 2024 Final Four and Clark hung a 41-piece chicken with a side order of mashed potatoes on Reese and LSU before losing to Kamilla Cardoso and South Carolina in the championship game.
The two have since met three times in the WNBA. In the latest meeting between Clark’s Indiana Fever and Reese’s Chicago Sky, Angel Reese took control and planted her first W in what is just the beginning of something special for the WNBA.
Most outlets will probably praise Clark’s double-double and deft three-point shooting, but Reese is all about team. That’s her in a nutshell. Clark gets the love, but Reese represents the glory and guts of true WNBA greatness and leadership, as well as anybody. Both are a credit to the game and the cities they represent. Reese has nothing to feel inferior about and made Whitlock, who was just fishing for clicks, eat his words.
