The race for WNBA Rookie of the Year has become one of the most compelling storylines in all of North American sports. With Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese picking up where they left off in college, the award is certain to go to a player with star power and All-Star talent alike.
In a recent appearance on "Good Game with Sarah Spain," produced by iHeartPodcasts, as part of the company's new Women's Sports Audio Network, WNBA legend Sue Bird offered her take.
Bird played a record 20 seasons with the Seattle Storm, accumulating a résumé to which few can compare. She was also a part of perhaps the most star-studded rookie class of all time alongside the likes of Tamika Catchings, Chamique Holdsclaw, Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, and Tina Thompson.
During the interview with Spain, Bird was put in the same position as the voters for the 2002 WNBA Rookie of the Year award by having to choose between two of the best possible candidates for the hardware in 2024.
Bird's response acknowledged how premature a midseason award selection is, making a great point about the danger of making one, but ultimately landed on Clark as her pick.
"Currently, first of all, I hate doing mid-season awards, right. Honestly, I’ve felt this way about MVP forever. People would say someone was MVP in the first two weeks and then in a weird way, it kept them in that conversation no matter what they did. So I've never been [a fan of mid-season awards], but currently Caitlin Clark."
It's an impossible choice between Clark and Reese at this stage, but Bird has begrudgingly landed on the Indiana Fever star with roughly half the season to go.
Sue Bird names Caitlin Clark midseason WNBA Rookie of the Year
Bird makes an excellent point about how crowning someone as the leader for an award early in the season can endanger a truly fair and balanced vote. Instead of looking at things through the lens of a full season, opinions become slanted by dominance at a time when teams are still figuring themselves out, let alone their opponents.
As such, a player can gain the lead in an award race based on being ready sooner than their peers, and potentailly hold on to win the honor despite being outplayed the rest of the way.
In saying that, neither Clark nor Reese have given the other much room, if there's an advantage at all, for Rookie of the Year. Clark recently set a WNBA record by recording 19 assists in a single game, while Reese produced the longest double-double streak in league history.
The fact that two rookies are coming in and already rewriting the history books is a testament to how generational they truly are as talents.
Beyond the all-time records, Clark and Reese are already ranking among the league's elite in several areas of the game. Clark currently ranks No. 1 in the WNBA in assists, No. 3 in three-point field goals made, No. 11 in steals, and No. 13 in scoring.
Reese, meanwhile, is No. 1 in the WNBA in offensive rebounds, No. 2 in overall rebounding, No. 14 in steals, and No. 24 in points.
Furthermore, Clark and Reese have their respective teams on pace to make the playoffs. Indiana is on pace to secure the No. 7 seed at 11-15, including a 9-6 record over the past 15 games, while Chicago is the No. 8 seed at 10-14, as well as 6-5 over their last 11 outings.
The race for WNBA Rookie of the Year will likely be decided in the closing weeks or even days of the season, making Bird's full quote as accurate a take as any could be.