With their respective teams battling for the last spot in the WNBA playoff picture, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark currently leads Chicago Sky power forward Angel Reese in the ongoing Rookie of the Year chase, according to a national panel of voters.

Clark and Reese have garnered national attention with record-setting rookie seasons — leading to them being the first rookie duo to make an All-Star team since 2014 — so it’s no surprise that they’re the leading candidates for the award.

The pair have helped the league to huge increases in ratings, attendance and merchandise sales and with so much basketball still to be played an argument can be made for either to win the award.

But at the halfway point, the 15-member panel gives the edge to Clark in a 9-5 vote, according to The Associated Press. One person didn’t vote.

‘Today, I would say Clark, only because they have one more win overall as a team and have a 2-1 lead head-to-head,’ said voter Christy Winters-Scott, a basketball analyst for the Mystics.

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Angel Reese recently set the WNBA record for consecutive double-doubles with 13

Caitlin Clark is leading the WNBA in points accounted for

‘Clearly this could change as the WNBA season progresses. It has been a complete joy for me to witness how both players have evolved as professionals in such a short amount of time in the league.’

Clark is leading the WNBA in points accounted for (points plus points off assists) with 713 according to ESPN. The Indiana Fever’s No. 1 pick also became the first rookie to have a triple-double in a game doing it in a win over New York.

Reese set the WNBA record for consecutive double-doubles with 13, passing Candace Parker’s mark of 12 set across the 2009 and 2010 seasons. She’s leading the league in rebounding with 11.9 a game.

Reese and Clark are preparing to be teammates for the first time at the upcoming WNBA All-Star game on July 20, when they’ll face Team USA in a warmup for Paris Olympics.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever been her teammate before, even with USA Basketball or anything like that,’ Clark said of Reese last week. ‘So, I know people are going to be really excited about it, but I hope it doesn’t take away from everybody else.’

Although Reese previously said she hoped to be teammates with her former college rival some day, her tone has certainly changed since becoming a pro.

In addition to Reese’s well-publicized flagrant foul against Clark on June 16, she told reporters last month that the WNBA’s top draft pick benefits from a ‘special whistle’ from officials.

And then there’s the 2023 NCAA championship, when Reese famously directed wrestler John Cena’s ‘You Can’t See Me’ hand gesture at Clark, who had similarly taunted another player earlier in that same tournament.

Clark and Reese are already inextricably linked in women’s basketball history.

Their 2023 NCAA Finals matchup, when Reese’s LSU Tigers won a national championship over Clark’s Hawkeyes, remains one of the highest-rated games in the sport’s history. And their April 4 rematch in the Elite 8 ultimately topped that mark.

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