Angel Reese might be the most criticized rebounder I’ve ever seen.
Think about how ridiculous that sounds.
Reese has spent years hearing the same joke:
“Mebounds.”
The argument is that Reese only puts up ridiculous rebounding numbers because she misses so many shots around the basket and grabs her own misses.
And yes, sometimes she does.
There’s just one problem.
She’s still an absolutely ridiculous rebounder without them.
Reese recently grabbed a WNBA-record 26 rebounds in one game, broke the league’s single-season rebounding record and set another record with her 29th double-double of the season.
Even crazier?
When Reese grabbed those 26 rebounds, 18 were defensive rebounds.
And according to an analysis of her offensive rebounds, Reese doesn’t even rank near the very top of the league in the percentage that come from her own misses. Remove the “Mebounds” entirely and she would still lead the WNBA in rebounding.
At some point, maybe we just admit she’s really good at rebounding.
That doesn’t mean Reese is a perfect player.
She isn’t.
Her offensive game still needs work, particularly her shooting outside the paint. She’s shooting just 18% from three this season.
But those are completely separate conversations.
You can criticize Reese’s shooting while also acknowledging that she’s becoming one of the greatest rebounders the WNBA has ever seen.
And the funniest part?
Reese has completely embraced the “Mebounds” nickname.
She turned the phrase into merchandise and has used something originally created to mock her as another part of her brand.
So keep making the jokes.
Reese will probably keep missing some shots.
She’ll probably grab some of those misses too.
And then she’ll grab everybody else’s misses while she’s at it.
