Angel Reese didn’t hold back in highlighting her recent accomplishment. Just a few hours after she was declared the ‘2025 WNBA Rebounding Leader’, she took to Instagram and wrote. “YEAR 2. You taught me so much. You taught me so many lessons…. This is only the beginning. ♾️” The Chicago Sky star had a brutal start to her second WNBA campaign, as she struggled to deliver during the first few games. By the end, she led the league in rebounds per game. Unfortunately, for many, this stat isn’t worthy enough to merit its own award.

Angel Reese is receiving this honor around the same time that her future with the Chicago Sky seems to be under a cloud of controversy. By now, everyone is well acquainted with how Reese took a shot at the Chicago Sky’s poor season record, saying, “I’d like to be here for my career, but if things don’t pan out, obviously I might have to move in a different direction and do what’s best for me.”

Reese then missed the last stretch of her second WNBA season due to a back injury and disciplinary actions by the league and the Sky. Sky coach Tyler Marsh had addressed Reese’s ailment by stating, “Any time you’re not able to do that at full strength, individually or as a team, it’s disappointing, it’s frustrating”. Well, just in a few days, she seems to be well enough to engage in physically demanding activities.

Well, it didn’t help when the player began sharing her vacation photos on social media. As a netizen named ‘Bronnystan’ highlighted, the 2x WNBA All-Star is currently vacationing in Belize, Central America, and has been captured “cliff-diving” and “riding on four-wheelers”.

With the Facebook video already getting Reese into trouble with netizens, the last thing Reese would have wanted was any further criticism at this point. However, her recent accolade has only led to more trolling.

WNBA Fans Share Stunned Reaction To Angel Reese’s Rebound Award

One social media user wrote, “Is this real???🤣🤣🤣”. Since there is an actual image, and Angel Reese has acknowledged the accolade through an Instagram post and an Instagram story, it is very much real.

Since 1997, the WNBA has been handing out the Peak Performer Awards. It first began by honouring the “shooting champions” from each conference. Later, from 1998 to 2001, the Peak Performer awards were given to players who had the best field goal and free throw percentages in the league.

Starting from 2002, the WNBA changed the format. The league began giving the award to the players who led the league in scoring and rebounding per game during the regular season. In 2005, the assists category was introduced. Angel Reese had also received the 2024 WNBA Peak Performer Award for rebounds. This year, too, she has received the same accolade for averaging 12.6 rebounds per game. So, yes, again, very real.

One individual wrote, “The real question:  How many of those rebounds were the result of her bricks off the rim, backboard or both?” The term ‘Mebound’ gained traction over the course of the ongoing WNBA season after a bunch of viral social media posts critiqued Angel Reese for getting rebounds off her own misses.

According to Polymarket Hoops, Reese had 255 total rebounds a little before mid-July 2025. When the “mebounds” are removed, the number reportedly drops to 228. When the total offensive rebounds were removed, the number dropped to just 176. If one were to only count her rebounds through the first three quarters, the number remained at 182.

One social media user wrote, “Why are we giving consolation prizes? Joke of a f—– league lol”. Well, not just fans but even analysts are stunned and not in a good way.

‘Courtside Club’ reporter Rachel A. DeMita was among the few renowned celebrities who reacted to Angel Reese’s recent accolade. The podcast host had previously trolled the 23-year-old after the latter trademarked the ‘mebounds’ term. She had also previously called an Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark altercation an “embarrassing” situation. This time, she reacted to the ‘Rebounding Leader’ award by taking to X, and writing “I mean absolutely no shade when I ask this, because I truly do not know…. Does the WNBA always give out “Rebounding Leader” trophies? Do they do this for scoring and assists also?”

Well, to answer her question – yes. Enter A’ja Wilson and Alyssa Thomas. The WNBA announced Friday that Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson claimed this year’s Peak Performer honor as the league’s scoring leader, averaging 23.4 points per game. In the assists category, Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun took the award after handing out 9.2 dimes per contest.

Over the years, some of the game’s greatest names have collected multiple scoring titles. Diana Taurasi holds the all-time record with five, while Lauren Jackson topped the charts on three occasions. Other notable two-time winners include Tina Charles, Brittney Griner, and Angel McCoughtry.

One individual wrote, “Angel’s probably mad it say Chicago Sky on it at the moment”. Amidst these ongoing issues with the Chicago Sky, rumors have already linked Angel Reese to trades. Sporting News contributor David Suggs recently said the Dallas Wings could be Reese’s next home, since the team has “some serious assets to bring in Reese, who has two years remaining under team control.”

In the end, though, Chicago or not, the term Mebounds kept popping in the comment section. “All-time Mebound leader,” another fan echoed. Still, if Angel Reese has made one thing clear, it is that she doesn’t mind being called a ‘Mebounder’. After applying for the trademark for the term, she said, “Whoever came up with the Mebounds thing, y’all ate that up. Because rebounds, mebounds, crebounds, kebounds, tebounds—anything that comes off that board, it’s mine. It’s mine. And our brand? That’s six figures right there. Whoever came up with that—the trolling, I love when y’all do that.”

Most of the responses carried a common theme – criticism of Angel Reese’s rebound recognition. Whether she decides to address the backlash in the days ahead is still uncertain.