ESPN Analyst Names Deciding Factor in Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese Rookie of the Year Debate

Arguably the biggest topic of the second half of the WNBA season is how the Rookie of the Year race shakes out between Indian Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese.

The debate has divided many analysts and sports media personalities, and ESPN analyst Andraya Carter recently stated during a recent appearance on “NBA Today that believes she knows what the deciding factor in the ROTY race will be.

“The biggest difference in the Rookie of the Year race will be how their teams perform,” Carter said . “The Fever got hot right towards the end of that break. Their chemistry, they were gelling. Chicago had great chemistry, in my opinion, and then they made a big-time trade. That could impact their team when they traded away Marina Mabrey.

“So, how their teams play and perform could come into that Rookie of the Year discussion. We will see. So, still some questions on the teams. No questions on Caitlin and Angel. I expect them to be great.”

Among rookies, Clark ranks first in scoring (17.1 points per game), assists (8.2 per game), steals (1.5 per game) and free-throw percentage (.890), second in player-efficiency rating (17.3), third in win shares (1.2) and fourth in rebounding (5.8 per game) and field-goal percentage (.404). She also ranks fifth in 3-point percentage (.327) among first-year players.

Conversely, Reese leads all rookies in rebounding (11.9 per game), player-efficiency rating (18.4) and win shares (2.7), and she ranks second in scoring (13.5 points per game) and steals (1.4 per game), fourth in assists (1.2 per game) and fifth in field-goal percentage (.402) and free-throw percentage (.760).

Among notable achievements, Clark became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double, and Reese set the WNBA record with 15 straight double-doubles, and she’s four away from breaking Tina Charles’ rookie double-double record of 22.