People have been very mad at Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark throughout the year for pretty much every reason that you can think of. One of those reasons is that both have been accused of stat-padding during blowouts.
Clark was criticized for chasing a Fever franchise assist record earlier in the year. And Reese has been dragged for chasing double-doubles during blowouts all season. Those issues came to the forefront after Reese recorded her rookie record-setting 23rd double-double of the year on Friday during the closing moments of a blowout loss to the Fever. Clark had checked out of the game minutes earlier.
How much validity do these accusations have? Let's take a look at the actual data to find out.
Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese stat-padding
The definition of a blowout is somewhat subjective. I looked at every possession played within the last three minutes of a game where one team held a lead of 10 points or more in order to see how many stats Reese and Clark were piling up during garbage time. Here's how they've performed when the game has been out of hand.
Clark and Reese have each played well over 2,000 possessions' worth of basketball this season. A tiny, tiny fraction of those have come during garbage time. And in those minutes, they've barely done anything. Their overall season stats look mostly identical to their stats with garbage time filtered out.
This is reflected even further if you have actually been watching their games. The accusations against Clark are particularly silly. She oftentimes dribbles the clock out during the end of quarters or blowouts rather than trying to get a shot up.
The criticisms against Reese are also greatly exaggerated but do have at least some shred of basis. Here are the examples that critics harp on.
- July 10: Reese was fouled with six seconds left and the Sky facing a seven-point deficit. She hit both free throws, extending her double-double streak to 14.
- July 11: Reese secured her 15th consecutive double-double with two minutes to go and the Sky down by 11.
- July 13: Reese was accused of trying to chase another double-double on the final possession of a 14-point loss. She failed to do so after the Liberty quadruple-teamed her, forcing to pass the ball out and ending her streak at 15.
- Aug. 30: Reese's double-double came with 2:41 remaining and the Sky down by 24 points. Clark had checked out of the game over a minute earlier.
That puts only three of Reese's 25 double-doubles in question. The other 22 came in relatively close games or with more than three minutes remaining. Even taking those three away, Reese would have double-doubles in two-thirds of her rookie games and the record for consecutive double-doubles.
Those three games have gotten a massive amount of attention. The reality is that those plays happen all of the time throughout all professional leagues. They are far less egregious than what NBA star Domantas Sabonis did to extend his double-double streak, for example.
Flying much more under-the-radar are the times where Reese has foregone accruing her own stats in order to set up teammates.
The accusations against Reese look even stranger when you realize that she has scored exactly one field goal all season when the Sky have been down by over 10 with under three minutes left. This lone basket, coming in a very highly-publicized game over the weekend, is what has brought her haters out in full force.
Reese has also faced criticism that her rebounding totals are inflated because of how often she grabs her own misses. That has been completely disproven by the data — even when only counting rebounds she gets from other players on the floor, she is still an all-time great rebounder and the best offensive rebounder in the league.
Here's what is actually true about Reese and Clark when it comes to garbage time. They're both very good players whose teams play much better with them on the floor. And given their youth, they're thrown out there a lot so that they can continue to develop. That leads to them playing a lot of minutes (both rank in the top 15 in the league), even when their teams are down.
That can occasionally lead to situations such as Clark playing the last 18 minutes of a 19-point blowout loss to the Aces, or Reese playing the entire fourth quarter in the Sky's 19-point loss to the Fever. It can also lead to them playing in pretty much all of their team's clutch minutes, which never gets discussed in the stat-padding debate.
Reese and Clark both rank in the top 20 in points scored in the clutch this season, despite being on teams that are not near the top of the standings. Clark leads the league in clutch assists, while Reese leads by a mile in clutch rebounds. They have both been extremely productive when it matters the most, raising their games to another level. Both are shooting close to 90 percent on clutch free throws (Clark is 24-of-27, while Reese is 10-of-11), because they don't fear big moments.
There are a handful of outstanding examples of Reese trying to extend her double-double streak in blowouts that stand out in critics' minds, and one example of Clark chasing assists that doesn't have legs to stand on. For the vast majority of their seasons, both players have done their damage when it matters and at the most crucial junctures of games.
It's a disservice and lazy analysis to accuse them of stat-padding any more than any other player in the league. It's also not backed by what has actually happened in the games. Both are well-deserving of the praise they've received this season, and attempts to de-legitimize their accomplishments ring hollow.