Candace Parker Sets Record Straight on Angel Reese 'C-Tier' WNBA Ranking
During a recent segment with Complex Sports (which was posted on their Facebook account), women's basketball legend Candace Parker was asked to do a "tier" ranking of select WNBA stars. This meant that she would be given a WNBA player and either rank them in the "S" tier (which is the highest), the "A" tier, the "B" tier, or the "C" tier.
The first three players were A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, and Breanna Stewart, all of whom went in Parker's top "S" tier. Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Plum, and Sabrina Ionescu went in the "A" tier below that; Dallas Wings duo Arike Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers were placed in the "B" tier; and Cameron Brink and Angel Reese were both placed in the bottom "C" tier.
When explaining Reese's ranking, Parker said, "I put her right at that C level. I think in terms of being above, you have to be able to have the ability to carry your team, be a one or two option. I think Angel Reese is fantastic at her role, which is offensive rebounding. She showed and demonstrated so much growth in that first year."
Damn I didn’t want to believe it. How tf do you put Reese in a C tier smh. I wanna believe that her and Angel are having convos behind the scenes pic.twitter.com/3FNIFsPHL6
— Swift (@Goodfella_100) July 13, 2025
This prompted a lot of pushback, as some fans accused Parker of hating on Reese unnecessarily. But Parker cleared the air about this during a July 22 appearance on the Good Follow show.
"They asked me my opinion on player tiers, and my thing is, if you bring something to the argument, bring something else," Parker said.
"Can [Reese] get to player A, or player S, or whatever? Yes, she can. Right now, I don't know if she's alongside those players. And you're measuring her against players that have been in the league for years," she added.
There’s a difference between hate and holding space for real conversations.
— Good Follow (@GoodFollowShow) July 22, 2025
Candace Parker & Ros talk Candace’s recent Angel Reese comments, criticism in women’s sports, and why objectivity shouldn’t feel like betrayal.
Full episode with @ROSGO21 & @Candace_Parker dropping… pic.twitter.com/RR5ETWKveQ
It sounds like Parker is still standing by her tier ranking.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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