Claressa Shields says she's on Team Angel Reese, but she believes she was robbed at the 2025 BET Awards. Both athletes were up for the Sportswoman of the Year category with a stacked field of nominees. The rest were A'ja Wilson, Coco Gauff, Dawn Staley, Flau'jae Johnson, JuJu Watkins, Sha'Carri Richardson, and Simone Biles.
But for the second time in a row, and third time overall, the Chicago Sky forward took home the hardware. Reese, like all of the other ladies on this ballot, had plenty of accolades that helped secure this victory.
In her rookie campaign, she would have collected the most rebounds in a season (446) if it weren't for her wrist injury that ended her season early. A'ja Wilson would go on to barely surpass the LSU alumna with 451. Moreover, she had the most consecutive double-doubles at 15.
Her success continued in Unrivaled, a three-on-three league Reese's team, Rose BC, won the first championship. Lastly, Angel Reese owns the only 20-20 game in league history. That all accumulated in winning the Defensive Player of the Year award.
2025 BET Awards
As for Claressa Shields, she was also very successful in the last year or so. Per Athlon Sports, she took down Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to win the WBO light heavyweight and WBC heavyweight titles in July 2024. Then, earlier this year, Shields defeated Danielle Perkins in February to capture the WBA heavyweight title.
But ultimately, it wasn't enough, and the two-time Olympic gold medalist, is letting the internet know how she's both happy for Reese but upset at the same time.
Claressa Shields Claps Back On Twitter
"Still don’t know how I didn’t win the Sportswoman of the Year for the @BETAwards but Congrats to Angel Reese and all the other Nominees🤷🏽♀️ I just thought accolades mattered," Claressa Shields wrote on Twitter.
This angry tweet caught the attention of users and led some of them to retort in her replies. For example, one person said back, "You [got a lot] ms shields but reese has accolades too." Claressa hit back in agreement, but not without reminding the person who's got more. "Yes she does but who has more accolades…. More success in their field. Please use google before responding."
Another had a bit harsher critique of Shields' reaction writing back, "Girl don’t get on here complaining. You’re talented, don’t let that get overshadowed because you appear to come not as a sore loser. Just delete the tweet say congratulations and keep it moving."
Shields wasn't having that. "Sore loser….. naw you hate the facts."
But as we alluded to earlier, she did reiterate that she's happy for Reese. "Ain’t nobody saying Angel Reese don’t have accolades or she not good…. I’m saying I thought the person with "THE MOST" accolades & accomplishments would win the Award. I’m team Angel Reese!"
Despite this clarification, hopefully, it doesn't lead to a beef down the line.
