Keeping up with the annual tradition, ESPN has revealed nominees for all categories for the 2024 ESPYS awards, and the voting for the same stands open. The winners will be announced on July 11 at 8 PM ET by tennis legend Serena Williams. While most of the nominations were quite expected, a notable WNBA rookie with the highest number of double-doubles seemed to be missing from the list.

ESPN announced the list of nominees this season on their X account with the caption, “Nominees announced for The 2024 @ESPYS presented by Capital One as fan voting begins.” The immediate focus was on A’ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark, and Angel Reese. Notably, A’ja Wilson is nominated for Best Athlete in the Women’s Sports category, while Caitlin Clark, the 2024 WNBA Draft No. 1 pick, features a nomination trio: Best Athlete, Best College Athlete, and Best Record-Breaking Performance.

However, Angel Reese, Clark’s arch-rival, has fallen short of matching ESPN’s nomination level. Despite recently recording a historical feat, Reese has been kept out of the nominations. In a recent matchup against the Indiana Fever, Reese recorded her eighth consecutive double-double. By doing so, she became the first rookie in WNBA history since A’ja Wilson to score 25-plus points and 15-plus rebounds in a single game.

In the same game, she added a career-high 25 points and 16 rebounds in just 36 minutes to secure a win over Clark’s Fever. But now the question is: how were A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark better than Reese to get their names on the list?

Caitlin Clark and Aja Wilson’s achievements

Since the arrival of Caitlin Clark, the WNBA has seen significant growth in viewership. All credit goes to Clark, who keeps spectators hooked to their seats, filling arenas up to 94% with her impressive long-range accuracy (logo 3s) and 16.3 points average per game.

All this makes her an ideal candidate for an ESPYS award. In fact, this isn’t the first time Clark has received ESPY nominations. Last year also, Clark had been nominated for two categories: Female College Athlete and Breakthrough Athlete. This year, she has been nominated for the Best Record-Breaking Performance as she became the NCAA’s All-Time scoring leader with 3,951 points accumulated over her four collegiate years. This broke Pete Maravich’s record of 3,667.

A’ja Wilson, on the other hand, has been the leading scorer in the league with 27.8 points and an impressive 11.6 rebounds per game. For those unaware, she accumulated 682 points in her rookie season. Since then, she has been a major part of the Las Vegas Aces‘ current success in the league. All this makes her a deserving candidate for an ESPYS award. What do you think? Comment down below!

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.