Putting Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese's historic double-double streak into perspective
CHICAGO - The streak has come to an end.
With eight points and 16 rebounds on Saturday against the New York Liberty, Chicago Sky star rookie Angel Reese had her streak of 15-straight games with a double-double end at Wintrust Arena.
It was a historic run, where Reese displayed a level of consistency that's uncommon for a veteran player, let alone a rookie in a draft class that has energized viewership at historic levels around the 27-year-old league.
With that streak over, here are a few ways to put that into perspective.
Angel Reese and league history
During this 15-game stretch, Reese has set the WNBA record for most consecutive double-doubles in WNBA history. However, one streak that's still alive is her streak of games with 10 rebounds or more.
She has 17-consecutive games with 10 or more rebounds, the most in WNBA history. This also puts her on pace to break the WNBA's single-season double-double record.
Although plenty point out double-doubles aren't that uncommon in the NBA, the WNBA plays 10-minute games compared to 48-minute games in the NBA.
In this stretch, it needs to be noted that Reese has faced the likes of A'ja Wilson, DeWanna Bonner, Ezi Magbegor, Nneka Ogwumike, Tiera McCowan, Jonquel Jones, Brionna Jones, Alyssa Thomas, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Tina Charles, Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith.
Of those names, Collier, Thomas, Wilson and Stewart were named to the Team USA Summer Olympic team. Others, like Boston, Ogwumike, Jones and Bonner, were named to the WNBA All-Star Game.
When Reese started her 15-game double-double streak, she was the eighth-best rebounder in the WNBA.
She is now WNBA's leading rebounder with one game left before the All-Star and Olympic break.
Reese is also 129 rebounds away from breaking the WNBA's single-season rebounding record. It took her 13 games to record 129 rebounds; there are 17 games left in the WNBA's regular season.
Reese, who was also named to the WNBA All-Star Game, has earned the respect of some of the best players in the league.
"She has always been someone that was rebounding the basketball very, very well, and that's something that was going translate over to this league very quickly," Wilson said on June 27. "It doesn't come by any surprise by me that she's successful in that field, because it's a field that takes a lot of grit and a lot of work."
Angel Reese among the rest of the WNBA
If Reese continues putting up numbers like she has so far this season, she would be one of only three WNBA rookies to average a double-double for a season.
She's already just one of four WNBA players to average a double-double through 23 games, joining Wilson, Collier and the Sparks' Dearica Hamby.
"She wants to get better in every aspect of the game," Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said on July 11. "She looks at players she admires, and she wants to take things from them and add to her game. She’s always doing that. Having conversations with those players means a lot in how to get it done. The whys behind it. If that’s her goal, we’re going to push her toward it."
During this time, the main criticism that Reese has faced is due to her offensive struggles. Through 23 games, Reese has shot 40.2 percent from the floor which is a low percentage for a post player.
However, some of that could also be attributed to the Sky's offensive struggles as a team. Chicago has struggled with its 3-point shooting, which can allow opposing teams to clog the paint and make it difficult for Reese to create higher-percentage shots when she's surrounded by defenders.
There's a sentiment that Reese is also leading the league in offensive rebounding because she gets offensive rebounds from her own misses. The Sporting News' Stephen Noh debunked this, as she was still the WNBA's leading offensive rebounder by a large margin heading into the July 10 game against the Dream if you only counted offensive rebounds off her teammates misses.
Any struggles also can't overshadow some of her best performances, either.
During Reese's historic 15-game stretch, she was also just one of three WNBA players to record 10+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 5+ steals in consecutive games. She was also one of three WNBA players this season to record 15 or more points and 15 or more rebounds in a single game.
Basketball is a team game, but what Reese has done is nothing short of impressive and vaults her to the top of the WNBA's Rookie of the Year race.
"I'm not really surprised by any of these rookie or anybody that comes into this league because you wouldn't have made it past training camp if you weren't ready for the moment," Wilson said. "No coach is just going to keep you just to keep you. Particularly in this league where it's only 144 of us."
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