It’s August 7th already, and soon the WNBA will be back from its Olympics break. Once again, the league will focus on one of its most contentious topics this season: Rookie of the Year. The race is even more intense because of two extremely hyped rookies who’ve been exceeding high expectations every time they enter the court. Though little breaks, neither of them seems to be backing down.
The Olympic break has had players outside the Paris roster enjoying a well-deserved vacation. Reese was one of them until now. But today, she’s back in practice with her teammates. On Tuesday, the Sky rookie took to Instagram to upload a picture of herself on the first day of practice.
A clip that later surfaced on X shows Reese and her Chicago Sky teammates, Brianna Turner, Izzy Harrison, and Kamilla Cardoso, concluding the morning session with post-up drills. At the same time, her arch-rival and strong competitor for ROTY, Caitlin Clark, is busy completing hilarious tasks.
Angel Reese, Brianna Turner, Kamilla Cardoso and Izzy Harrison working through some post-up drills at the end of this morning’s practice pic.twitter.com/on34SbDQXe
— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) August 6, 2024
As the Sky get on with their practices, the Indiana Fever crew is having a bit of a field day. In a clip posted by the team’s social media handle, Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, Erica Wheeler, and Kelsey Mitchell, were seen feeding the baby goats at the Indiana State Fair.
But this is not to say Clark hasn’t set foot in the practice session yet. The 22-year-old returned to the court about a week ago but only seems to be taking it slow and with confidence. “I honestly kind of feel that already. I feel like I’m ready to get back out there and get playing,” she told the reporters after the practice session on Tuesday. With both rookies set for the challenge,
Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are once again up for rivalry
Reese has consistency and excels in defensive prowess. She’s leading with rebounds and will return to the court with a historic double-double record still to her name. On the other hand, Clark’s a bit “slower,” though she is now propelling as a standout front-runner at the end of the first half. More recently, she also received backing from Sue Bird. “To me, she is the Rookie of the Year,” Bird said, via Fever.
The Golden Rookie leads the WNBA with 8.2 assists per contest. If this record holds, she’ll break the rookie record of Ticha Penicheiro’s 7.5 in 1998. Regarding historical records, she leads all rookies with a 17.1-point average and is the first rookie to record a triple-double.
