WNBA star Angel Reese's play draws comparisons to an NBA legend—for the wrong reasons

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese had herself quite the rookie season. Despite her season coming to an early end, she has already broken the WNBA record for most total rebounds in a single season and rebounds per game. She grabbed 446 boards in 34 games—or 13.1 rebounds per game. That is impressive, to say the least for a rookie to break two major records but there has been some criticism lobbed her way with some questioning the records.

Reese averages a staggering 5.1 offensive rebounds per game, a lot of those rebounds coming from her own misses. That has drawn comparison to NBA legend Moses Malone, who was notorius for grabbing his own misses and scoring. Missing a couple of layups, grabbing a couple of offensive rebounds, and still scoring allowed Malone to rack up major rebounding numbers.

His career average happens to be 5.1 offensive rebounds per game—the exact same number as Reese averaged this season. That doesn't help the optics for Reese, but that doesn't mean that she isn't still a terrific rebounder.

Is Chicago Sky star Angel Reese a dominant rebounder or inflating her numbers?

While it's true that a lot of Reese's boards are off her misses, and that she shot just 40% on 2-pointers, it shouldn't take away from her work on the glass. If it were as easy to break, let alone shatter the WNBA rebounding record, then it would have been done sooner. It's also worth mentioning that MVP candidate A'ja Wilson has also broken the previous WNBA record of 404 rebounds set in 2018 by Sylvia Fowles.

Offensive rebounds have gotten a bad rap even though they are valuable. Even if Reese is missing contested layups, grabbing her own rebound keeps the possession alive, draws in defenders, which frees up shooters, and can still result in her scoring or getting fouled.

Extra possessions are extra possessions, and it can be demoralizing for opposing teams to keep giving up second-chance opportunities. It can also cause them to exert more energy and even keep opposing teams from being able to get out in transition with them having to send two or even three players to crash the glass. As a result, Reese's work on the glass, like Malones', is useful.