Angel Reese, the former LSU All-American, SEC Player of the Year and 2023 National Champion, is my favorite WNBA player.

She’s enjoying quite the rookie season as a member of the Chicago Sky, who made her the seventh pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. The young forward is averaging 13.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.

Speaking of double-doubles, Reese recently set the consecutive games record for that category when she posted her 15th straight. Her historic streak then ended against the New York Liberty, but setting that mark was quite the feather in Reese’s rookie cap.

Here’s another record you should know about: What is my record for number of favorite WNBA players? One. That’s right, Reese currently holds the mark as the only favorite WNBA player I’ve ever had.

Perhaps you should thank Caitlin Clark, America’s favorite WNBA player, for helping me set my mark for favorite WNBA player. Before the former Iowa Hawkeyes star guard and college basketball’s all-time leading scorer came along, I never paid much attention to women’s basketball.

More people than ever before have started to pay attention to women’s basketball thanks to Clark and her star power–including at the collegiate and professional levels–and that’s reflected in the television ratings. After helping set ratings records for the women’s NCAA Tournament this past spring while guiding her Hawkeyes to the national championship game for the second year in a row, Clark is doing the same during her rookie season as a member of the Indiana Fever, who made her the top selection of the 2024 WNBA Draft. The league’s 10-highest-rated games over the past 22 years have occurred this season and have all involved Clark and the Fever. So far, 15 games have topped one million viewers in 2024, which ties the WNBA record for one season. Interestingly enough, two of those games haven’t included Clark and the Fever. 

The WNBA is also setting record numbers in ticket sales, and how can that not be attributed to Clark? Of course, it is. You’d be a fool not to think so. You’d also be a fool to be angry and resentful of Clark because of it.

Sadly, many people are finding it difficult to hide their resentment for Clark and her popularity, even as she has taken the WNBA to heights it couldn’t have reached otherwise.

Yes, there are gatekeepers in the WNBA, former and current stars who may be more than a little unhappy with the attention the rookie Clark has received thus far, not to mention her $28 million endorsement deal with Nike. 

But contrary to what some narrow-minded and ignorant people have been saying, this kind of thing isn’t exclusive to women’s sports. This happens all the time in men’s sports. Remember the days when Don Cherry, noted NHL media personality and insufferable windbag, would incessantly go after Penguins star Sidney Crosby? He called Crosby a whiner. He called him lots of things, and you could tell that he resented No. 87 for trying to drag hockey into the 21st century.

I don’t know if Cherry and other old-guard hockey types will ever accept Crosby, but it doesn’t really matter now, does it? Crosby is legit one of the top five players in the history of the NHL, complete with three Stanley Cups.

What will Clark’s legacy be when all is said and done? That remains got be seen, of course, but she is having one heckuva rookie season in her own right; through 26 games, Clark is averaging 17.1 points and 8.2 assists. Speaking of assists, Clark just set the single-game mark with 19, even as the Fever fell to the Dallas Wings on Wednesday night.

So, who is going to be Rookie of the Year in the WNBA? Clark or Reese? Dawn Staley, the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks who defeated Clark and the Hawkeyes in the 2024 national title game, thinks it will be Reese. That would further cement this rivalry. First, Reese and LSU defeated Clark and Iowa in the 2023 national title game. Then, Iowa got its revenge on LSU in the 2024 Elite Eight. No matter who wins the ROTY–and it’s going to be one of these two–it will strengthen the rivalry.

Some say Reese shouldn’t even be in the discussion for the award, that she’s just being propped up by the media to make her seem like an equal to Clark.

Gee, where have we seen that kind of thing before? That’s right, all the time in men’s sports. When aren’t we debating which players are better in the NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB? You want to talk about contrived rivalries, men’s sports are dominated by them. We can’t stop doing it. Hell, NBA fans pit Michael Jordan against LeBron James all the time, and there is no way they’ll ever be able to settle that debate.

Clark and Reese may or may not ever settle the debate over which player is better, but my vote for 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year goes to Angel Reese.

And she has Caitlin Clark to thank for my vote.