BET Awards Overlooks Boxing Queen Claressa Shields for Angel Reese For 'Sportswoman of the Year'
Claressa Shields sounded off on BET's pick for Sportswoman of the Year.
The BET Awards can’t get much right, and their Sportswoman of the Year pick proves it.
Shockingly, they didn’t give it to a man, but choosing Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese over Olympic boxing champ Claressa Shields pissed off a lot of people.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - JUNE 01: Angel Reese #5 of the Chicago Sky looks on against the Indiana Fever during the first quarter in the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 01, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
The biggest night in Black entertainment honored the mediocre Reese, which lit a fire under Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and undisputed boxing champ.
READ: Former Boxing Champ Dumbfounded By Olympics Gender Controversy Involving 'XY Chromosome' Fighter
Reese, in her rookie WNBA season, put up 13.6 points, 13.1 rebounds (or "me-bounds") and 1.9 assists but couldn’t get the Sky to the playoffs and got smoked by Caitlin Clark in the WNBA Rookie of the Year race, earning just one vote.
Meanwhile, Shields dominated, snagging the WBC heavyweight and WBO light heavyweight titles with a TKO.
She’s the baddest woman on the planet, undefeated across multiple weight classes … she sounded off on the decision to crown Reese.
"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," Shields posted on X.
"I just thought accolades mattered. 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!"
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JUNE 03: at Little Caesars Arena on June 03, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
OutKick's own Ricky Cobb laid it out plain in a Tale of the Tape.
"I haven’t even known who Angel Reese was for three years, how the f*** does she have three of these?" he said. "I didn’t know who she was until I started watching Caitlin Clark … meanwhile, Shields is the baddest woman on the planet. The greatest female boxer in the world. She’s never been beaten. But guess what? Maybe if you missed some more layups and padded your rebound stats, you’d win a BET Award as well."
Shields isn’t just an animal in the ring — she’s fighting for women’s sports. She called out the Olympics for letting Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who failed gender tests, compete against women and pummel Italian champ Angela Carini in 40 seconds.
Teammate Defends Angel Reese And Her Third BET Sportswoman Of The Year Award
"At my first Olympics, I was 17 years old, so I hadn’t even fully developed as a woman, so I couldn’t imagine getting inside the ring with a biological man," Shields previously said, speaking with Fox News Digital.
"It is very hard to qualify for the Olympics. You have to go through so many different international tournaments and country tournaments to even make it. So, for me, I can understand [Carini’s] devastation. But it shouldn’t be ruined due to a man. The Olympics definitely dropped the ball."
Let’s be real: Reese didn’t deserve this award.
Shields’ resume buries Reese’s, and the BET Awards’ pick makes you wonder if merit even matters.
Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela