One of the most eye-catching things this season has been the rivalry between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. Both the stars are performing their best which has made it difficult for the fans to figure out who would take home the Rookie of the Year award. However, when Clark was asked about taking steps towards the ROTY, the 22-year-old opined that it is a “selfish thing to care about individual awards.” While Clark’s answer came as a surprise for many fans, an ex-Detroit Pistons star Isiah Thomas claims that is the right way to proceed.

Thomas took the social media networking site X after hearing Clark’s remark on the ROTY award. The 63-year-old reshared Clark’s clip, where she expresses her disinterest in the ROTY award, opining that “Let it be known: Catlin Clarke Angel Reese, play to WIN!” on X.

Thomas asking the rookies to ignore the award has been linked by fans to his career in which he couldn’t bag the award. Thomas was drafted in 1981 by the Pistons as the second overall pick. Though he averaged a decent 17 points with 7.8 assists per game, the Illinois-born couldn’t win the ROTY award as the Piston failed to qualify for the playoffs. That year the third overall pick Buck Williams won the ROTY award with the New Jersey Nets. Nonetheless, Thomas made it to the NBA All-Star team. And perhaps, it is a certain regret of not winning the Championship title or making it to the playoffs that has led Thomas to share his priorities.

On the other hand, Caitlin Clark apart from opining that playing to clinch individual awards is selfish, also enumerated that even her rival Reese would have the “same answer.” She also slammed the news reporters in the conference by expounding that players don’t wake up and think about individual milestones. But, it is the media correspondents and fans who think in that order. Hopefully, Clark’s words with also resonate with other stars who will come forward to share their perspective. As for fans, they caused a ruckus when ESPN released their ROTY list.

Caitlin Clark’s position in ESPN’s ROTY list disappoints fans

As per ESPN’s list released on Thursday, Reese is the top contender for the ROTY award whereas Clark occupies the second place. This apparently didn’t go down well with fans who slammed the news while mentioning Caitlin Clark’s heroic exploits in the W. The Iowa alum’s WNBA three-pointer rookie record was on the tips of the fans’ tongues.

They also reminded that Clark was the first W rookie to score a triple-double, and also break Ticha Penicheiro’s record for most assists in the W rookie season. And now with her game against the Chicago Sky on Friday, Clark hitting her career-high 31 points make her the best-suited athlete to take home the ROTY.

However, Clark’s recent statement comes off as a surprise as fans got to know that she doesn’t care much about the ROTY award. Hopefully, Clark will be able to fulfill her dream of taking the Fever to the playoffs and helping in the re-emergence of the Indiana-based franchise.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.