Boxing

Claressa Shields Blasts WNBA Star Angel Reese Winning BET Sportswoman of the Year Award

Boxing icon Claressa Shields isn't happy that WNBA star Angel Reese won a BET award over her.
Grant Young|
Jun 7, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) looks on during the first half of a WNBA game against the Indiana Fever at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Jun 7, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) looks on during the first half of a WNBA game against the Indiana Fever at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The 2025 BET (Black Entertainment Television) Awards were held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, on June 9. While this is always a momentous awards show, Monday's event was extra special because it marked the 25th anniversary of the ceremony.

One of the prestigious awards given out is the BET Sportswoman of the Year. The nominees for this award were Chicago Sky superstar Angel Reese, Las Vegas Aces standout and reigning WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson, boxing icon Claressa Shields, tennis star Coco Gauff, college basketball head coach Dawn Staley, LSU basketball icon Flau'jae Johnson, USC basketball player JuJu Watkins, USA track and field star Sha'Carri Richardson, and legendary USA gymnast Simone Biles.

Ultimately, Angel Reese won the award, marking the third year that she was given the honor.

For context, Reese was a key part in women's basketball experiencing a massive boom in popularity in 2024. In addition to her historic rookie season (which included Reese leading the league in rebounds per game and setting the WNBA record for consecutive double-doubles), her rivalry with Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark added an unprecedented amount of eyeballs to the sport.

However, Claressa Shields made it clear that she doesn't think Reese did more than her in terms of 2024 accolades, and she made this apparent with several social media posts on June 10, one of which wrote, "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."

She later added, "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!"

Shields only fought one time in 2024, beating Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on July 27, 2024, via TKO in the second round to win the WBC, vacant WBF female heavyweight, and WBO female light heavyweight titles.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.