Angel Reese, 2024, Chicago Sky, F: While her offensive game is still evolving and some of the overall numbers leave her short of our top 10, it’s impossible not to mention Reese. She broke the league record for total rebounds by 40 with 446 and set the all-time mark for consecutive double-doubles with 15, all despite missing the Sky’s final six games with a wrist injury. A’ja Wilson then topped her rebounds mark during that absence, but there’s no reason Reese can’t challenge the record again in 2025.
Nneka Ogwumike, 2012, Los Angeles Sparks, F: The older of the Ogwumike sisters was an advanced-metrics darling coming out of Stanford, finishing in the top 10 in all-time true rookie PER (seventh, 23.8) and win shares (5.9, fifth). She won Rookie of the Year, but her lack of other accolades kept her on the outside looking in.
Aliyah Boston, 2023, Indiana Fever, F/C: Another prolific rebounder, the 2023 No. 1 pick from South Carolina grabbed the third-most rookie boards at 335. The 2023 ROY also comes in at No. 10 in total points and fourth in true rookie win shares at 6.0. Another first-year player to garner down-ballot MVP votes, she put up 1.3 blocks per game, even if her defensive metrics left her short of the top 10.
Napheesa Collier, 2019, Minnesota Lynx, F: Queen Phee was a problem from the jump, posting 5.2 win shares, the eighth-best rookie mark ever, on her way to ROY honors. The No. 6 pick out of UConn was only the second rookie to post at least 400 points, 200 rebounds, 75 assists, 50 steals, 25 blocks and 25 three-pointers made in a single season.
Seimone Augustus, 2006, Minnesota Lynx, G/F: The newly minted Naismith Hall of Famer posted the highest rookie scoring rate ever with 21.9 points per game to take WNBA second-team honors, down-ballot MVP votes and the ROY award. Still, her defensive game was just lacking enough to keep her off the proper ranking.
Chamique Holdsclaw, 1999, Washington Mystics, F: All the 1999 No. 1 pick did was finish sixth in MVP voting and nab a second-team All-WNBA nod on her way to winning Rookie of the Year. The advanced metrics left her short of our top 10 (39th in rookie WS), but that’s no real knock on one of the league’s first phenoms.