Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream fell to Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in overtime on Sunday.
The Dream had a chance to take down the Fever at the end of regulation on Sunday evening. However, Reese was unable to make a game-winning layup attempt. The Fever then pulled away in overtime, winning a huge regular season game, improving to 23-12 on the year.
Throughout the game, ESPN promoted a Katie Barnes article on Reese's rebounding prowess. Reese is well on her way to becoming the WNBA's all-time rebounding leader. However, many of Reese's rebounds come from her own missed shots. She's shooting less than 30 percent from the field over the past four games.
Still, ESPN made it an objective to promote the story a lot, and tout Reese's rebounding ability.
© Brett Davis-Imagn Images.
ESPN announcer Ryan Ruocco brought up the story during the first quarter and Holly Rowe made sure to bring it up, too.
"You talked about Katie Barnes’ great article about Angel Reese and her rebounding acumen," Rowe said.
"Great article, Katie Barnes."
However, ESPN is facing some backlash for its promotion.
ESPN faces backlash for Reese promotion
Some felt it was over the top.
"But there's a big difference between mentioning a timely feature and turning a regular-season broadcast into a promotional tour for your colleague’s work. Especially when the story is working awfully hard to convince readers that Reese is not just a great rebounder, but some sort of basketball clairvoyant," one critic wrote.
ESPN's halftime show also made sure to constantly promote Reese, ultimately facing backlash for it, too.
Reese is undoubtedly a great rebounder, but that's only part of the story when it comes to her game.
If she is going to become a great WNBA player, her shooting percentages need to improve - drastically.
