Angel Reese had a historic night Monday against the Los Angeles Sparks. She grabbed 26 rebounds in Atlanta’s 78-71 win, breaking the WNBA single-game record (24) that Chamique Holdsclaw had held since 2003.
Her 20th rebound of the night also put her past A’ja Wilson for the most rebounds in a WNBA season.
Hitting the glass for 26 boards is an impressive record, no question (even if three of them were her patented “Mebounds”). But Reese and her Dream teammates tainted the historic night during the final 20 seconds.
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Atlanta led 76-69 with 20 seconds left and Reese had nine points. Following a Sparks possession that resulted in two missed shots, Dream guard Jordin Canada collected the rebound. It turns out that Reese never even attempted to play defense on the possession. Instead, she waited in the frontcourt for Atlanta to regain possession.
Angel Reese’s 26 rebounds broke the WNBA single-game record, but a controversial uncontested layup in the final seconds raised stat-padding questions. (Getty Images)
Canada did just that and then heaved the ball the length of the court to a wide-open Angel Reese with 15 seconds left.
Reese had the ball with a seven-point lead, and no defender near her. All she had to do was dribble out the clock and secure the victory. But if you’ve been paying attention to Reese’s career, you can probably guess what happened next. Reese scored on an uncontested layup, giving her 11 points on the night and her 27th double-double of the season.
Atlanta didn’t need the points. Reese needed them.
If an NBA player did that, there’s a chance a physical altercation might follow. Instead, everyone simply accepted that Reese is going to do whatever she has to do to make sure the box score looks the way she wants it to look.
Reese had plenty of chances to score before the final possession
To be clear, Reese didn’t find herself one unlucky bounce short of 10 points. She went 4-for-14 from the field and was 3-for-13 before the layup. The WNBA.com play-by-play lists seven missed layup attempts and all 10 of her missed shots came within 5 feet of the basket.
She also had five shots blocked and Sparks forward Cameron Brink blocked four of them.
Brink is the Sparks’ only legitimate healthy rim-protector, and Los Angeles came into the game 13-24. Reese kept attacking her, kept getting turned away and then got the one layup nobody contested after the result had already been decided.
Her 26 rebounds were already in the books. The late basket didn’t help her reach either rebounding record. It took her from nine points to 11, and it got her to double-double No. 27. Not only that, but Reese didn’t get back on defense during a possession that could have mattered to ensure that she got her points.
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Reese is now one double-double behind Alyssa Thomas’ WNBA single-season record of 28 and she has six games left to tie it. Given that she and her teammates seem intent on making sure she gets her numbers, Reese should be a lock to break that record. But should it come with an asterisk?
Reese has pulled this double-double move before
This isn’t the first time a Reese double-double has needed help after the actual basketball part of the game was finished.
In 2024, her former team, Chicago, was closing out a win over her current team, Atlanta, when Reese needed one point to keep her double-double streak alive. She had seven points and 11 rebounds entering the fourth quarter, but struggled to score in the final frame, missing two layups over the first nine minutes. With 25 seconds left, she finally converted a layup to give the Sky a five-point lead.
It was a crucial bucket for the team, but left Reese one point away from the 10 she needed.
Angel Reese has been accused of stat-padding back to her days with the Chicago Sky. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
The Dream failed to score on their ensuing possession and the Sky hit two free throws after an intentional foul. Atlanta once again failed to score and was content to let the clock run out and end the game.
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Rather than just dribble out the rest of the clock, like almost every basketball team does in that situation, Chicago guard Chennedy Carter decided to get the ball to Reese, who had her arms in the air and was calling for Carter to pass her the ball.
Clearly, Reese knew she needed those points to get into double-figures and, despite the game being over, she wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to pad the stats and add to her record.
Reese was then fouled by an Atlanta defender, and she made both free throws to extend her double-double streak to 14 straight games.
Monday’s layup came with a different team and a different record on the line. But the results were eerily similar. Reese knew the exact number of points she needed, put herself in a position to get those points despite the game being essentially over, and made sure her teammates did their part to help her.
Reese followed it with an arrogant postgame answer
A reporter opened a postgame question by congratulating Reese on the “NBA record,” then immediately corrected himself.
“Well, you know what I’m talking about,” he said.
“No, I don’t cuz I be setting NBA records, too,” Reese replied.
Angel Reese grabbed 26 rebounds to break the WNBA single-game record against the Los Angeles Sparks, but an uncontested layup in the final seconds sparked stat padding criticism. (Tyler Ross/NBAE via Getty Images)
Look, the reporter obviously meant WNBA. Reese set WNBA rebounding records Monday night. She didn’t set an NBA record because she plays in the WNBA, not the NBA.
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Instead of laughing off the mistake and talking about her team’s performance, she took the opening to brag about something that simply wasn’t even true. Maybe she was joking, but it didn’t sound like a joke.
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It was an arrogant response to a reporter’s verbal mistake, and it looks even worse after considering the stat-padding layup that she ended the game with.
Reese set two legitimate WNBA records on Monday. Then she cherry-picked two free points in a game Atlanta had already won because she just can’t help herself.