Candace Parker drew criticism from Angel Reese fans on Monday after defending her tier rankings. In July 2025, Parker ranked Reese as a C-tier player and tried to explain her decision in the latest episode of her podcast. However, Reese’s fans were not happy with her explanation and called out the WNBA legend online.
The podcast’s official handle shared a clip of Parker’s remarks on X (formerly Twitter).
“Candace Parker responds to Angel Reese’s tier rankings ahead of the WNBA Finals,” the handle captioned the post.
In the clip, Parker appeared alongside her co-host Aliyah Boston and tried to defend her tier rankings.
“A lot of times people are coming at me about the tier ranking,” Parker said. “When I filmed this, obviously, she’d only been in the league one year. And they were asking me to compare her against players like Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson and things like that.
“The tremendous growth that she’s made and the impact. I’m sure there are a lot of teams in the WNBA draft that wish they could redraft.”
However, her explanation did little to ease the backlash, as Reese fans left no stone unturned in slamming Parker.
“She is extremely jealous,” a fan wrote.
“Girl bye!!! You play the players in her class in A and B tiers and she outplayed them all!!” another fan added.
Fans continued criticizing Parker, calling her out for lying that she was being made to compare Reese to players like Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson.
“No one was asking you to compare her to A’ja or Breanna stop lying,” a fan commented.
The backlash against Parker stems from the forward’s video with Complex Sports, where she ranked players between S and D tiers and placed Reese in the second-to-last category. With Reese now in the WNBA Finals, the video has resurfaced, prompting renewed criticism of Parker and leading her to defend her rankings.
Candace Parker admits she was “wrong” about Angel Reese while congratulating her on reaching the Finals
Candace Parker has faced heavy criticism for ranking Angel Reese as a C-tier player in 2025 and addressed the clip on her podcast. However, the WNBA legend went a step further, admitting she was “wrong” while congratulating Reese and the Dream on reaching the WNBA Finals.
“I was wrong,” Parker said. “They’re in the finals. She’s defensive player of the year. There’s no hate. I am just giving my opinion. So congratulations to Angel Reese and the Dream for making the Finals.”
The Dream and Reese will be eyeing their first WNBA title this term as they face the Golden State Valkyries in the Finals.
Edited by Arian Kashyap