The start of the 2024-25 season is slowly approaching. This season, as always, should provide us with much action, excitement, and storylines like the NBA always does.
More news: Caitlin Clark Discusses Rookie of the Year Competition With Angel Reese
This NBA season will be spectacular for many reasons, one of which is that it will be Lakers superstar LeBron James‘ 22nd NBA season. James will also enter his age-40 season still at the top of his game.
The WNBA offers an interesting contrast. The league’s new guard has already arrived. Rookie superstars Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are leading the way in the Rookie of the Year race, having already established themselves among the most dynamic players in the league.
LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers leaves the court after their loss to the Denver Nuggets during game one of the Western Conference First Round Playoffs at Ball Arena on April 20, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. James backs Clark in WNBA Rookie of the Year running.
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
On Friday night, Reese and Clark met face to face in a game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky. The Fever came out victorious. It was a great game from start to end, and it ended with Clark putting up a career-high 31 points and becoming the front-runner for the Rookie of the Year award.
After the game, James tweeted, “CAITLIN CLARK!!!!!! HI HATERS,” on Friday night. While Clark was the focal point after the win, a 2021 tweet by Reese resurfaced. Ostensibly, the tweet suggests LeBron wasn’t helping the Lakers in Game 6 of their first-round postseason series loss to Phoenix Suns.
Did some three-year-old shade cause James to back Clark in the rookie race over Reese?
Angel Reese wasn’t the biggest Bron fan back in 2021, and now it seems LeBron James is backing Caitlin Clark for WNBA Rookie of the Year 😅 pic.twitter.com/DIKeiVFZC6
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 31, 2024
Although James is a grown adult, we have witnessed the four-time NBA champion engage in his share of routine human pettiness over the years. Clark is a spectacular player regardless of James’ feelings toward Reese, so his backing of her may not be anything more than public support of a dynamic player.
Clark is having a record-shattering rookie season. Across her first 31 games in her pro career, Clark is averaging 18.0 points on .414/.330/.901 shooting splits (that 33.0 percent 3-point shooting arrives on a whopping 8.6 triple tries a night), a WNBA-best 8.1 assists, 5.7 boards, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game.
Clark continues to take the game by storm, and this is just the start of what should be a Hall of Fame type of career. The 22-year-old set records in the college game in her time at Iowa, and the WNBA is offering Clark fans more of the same.
James is among the all-time greats in basketball. When he recognizes a contemporary counterpart in another sport, he’ll be the first to say something.
More news: Former NBA Player Explains Caitlin Clark’s Incredible First Season Using Marvel Analogy
