Angel Reese is becoming a WNBA star on her own terms for Chicago Sky

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Angel Reese is already proving her unique skill set can work at the highest level of the game.

CHICAGO — Teresa Weatherspoon channeled her ‘90s playing days as the Chicago Sky head coach led the huddle with under one minute remaining in a tie game against the Indiana Fever on Sunday. Weatherspoon had her team clear out the right side, post-up her power forward, and patiently wait to enter the ball until she had established position.

Chicago’s Angel Reese fought to get a deep seal on Fever forward NaLyssa Smith, ever-so-slightly used her right arm to hook past her opponent, and gently banked in a lefty layup to give the Sky the lead. A play design like this with the game on the line would have felt more appropriate 25 years ago when Weatherspoon was a star point guard for the New York Liberty, but then again Reese is proving to be anything but a conventional rookie as the new face of the Sky.

Reese took over down the stretch to bring home a season-defining win, 88-87, for Chicago over Indiana. On paper there was nothing special about this game as a mid-season matchup between two sub .500 teams, but the celebrities dotting the stands (Jason Sudeikis, Jalen Brunson, Chance the Rapper, and Sheryl Swoopes were there, just to name a few) and the bright lights of ESPN’s national broadcast told a different story.

Reese ended the game with 25 points and 16 rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor and 9-of-11 shooting from the foul line. In a massive spotlight game, she delivered the best performance of her career and proved definitively that her junkyard dog translates to the highest level in the world.

“I tried to take my time today, finish around the basket,” Reese said after the game. “I’m getting and-1s and I’m being more efficient, so I just continue to try to grow every game.”

Every chapter of Reese’s rivalry with fellow rookie Caitlin Clark has become must-see TV, and this one delivered again. Reese first ascended to prominence as Clark’s foil in the 2023 national championship game, openly taunting in the Iowa’s face and marking herself as a villain in Clark’s hero’s journey. Reese has been called some horrible things in public ever since, but what she also learned is there are a lot of people who identity with the bad girl.

Reese is a legitimate celebrity off the court. She’s walked at the Met Gala, appeared in a music video with Cardi B, and owns almost a million more Instagram followers than Clark. Despite her incredible success at LSU, there was still serious skepticism that her game would translate to the pros as she fell halfway down the first round to the No. 7 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.

Reese’s game just doesn’t have much precedent in the modern era. Her skill set is all heart, hustle, and muscle at a time when power forwards are supposed to play on the perimeter and stroke threes. Reese almost never takes a shot outside of 10-feet. Instead, she attacks the offensive glass with relentless aggression, throws her body into opponents in the paint to generate free throws, and has a tendency to attempt some of the most awkward waist-high finishes around the rim you will ever see.

Reese is such a throwback in terms of her style of play that actually scans as a true original: a player not big enough to play the five or skilled enough to shoot from the outside, but one who still consistently succeeds by working harder than anyone else on the floor. It might not always be pretty, but Reese’s motor never takes a possession off, and it’s starting to lead to some great results.

With just under seven minutes left the fourth quarter, Smith hit a tough hook shot over Reese and immediately did the “too small” taunt. The bucket extended the Indiana lead to 12 points, and appeared to put the Fever on the brink of their fifth straight win. That’s when Reese decided she wasn’t going to let the Sky lose. On the next possession, Reese drove the ball from the arc and finished with an and-one over Smith to start the Chicago run:

One minute later, Reese set multiple screens to open up a hard roll to the rim where she converted another bucket.

A few possessions later, it was Reese again, this time grabbing an offensive rebound out of Smith’s hands and finishing it for another and-one.

Chicago held on down the stretch, and the Sky finally had a win over Clark and the Fever this season on their third try. Reese ran over and hugged Swoopes in the stands after the game, and then she dropped a gem of a quote to Holly Rowe on the ESPN broadcast.

“I’m a dog,” Reese said postgame to ESPN reporter Holly Rowe. “You can’t teach that.”

Only 15 games in her career, Reese is starting to look like a legit WNBA star. She leads the league in offensive rebounds, she’s second in total rebounds per game, fourth in free throw attempts, and eighth in steals. Her 13.2 points per game are second among all rookies after Clark.

A lot has been made of Reese needing to improve her finishing, but her scoring efficiency is starting to inch closer to league average. Reese is up to 49 percent true shooting now with the league average at 53.3 percent — and that’s despite a stretch where she couldn’t make anything to open the month. Over her last six games, Reese is averaging 15.8 points and 14 rebounds on 51.5 percent shooting.

An underrated aspect of her rookie season has been her touch at the free throw line. After being a career 70.4 percent free throw shooter in college, Reese is draining 76 percent of her freebies — an important skill when only three players in the league reach the foul line more often than her.

While Reese is all heart and physicality on the court, she seems like a true girl’s girl off the court befitting of her “Barbie” nickname. Reese is constantly smiling and laughing and praising her coaching staff and teammates. She’d never admit it, but getting a win against Clark

“I think this is one of the most important times right now, and we just continue to keep putting on,” Reese said after the game. “I think both teams tonight did an amazing job putting on a show. It was fun. I had a great time, I’m sure the other team had a great time. I’m just happy we won tonight.”

Reese wasn’t supposed to be this good this soon as a 22-year-old in the best league in the world. She’s far from a finished product, but she’s already producing at a high level without the benefit of an offseason after her dominant LSU career.

The Sky are still in their infancy in their total rebuild following their 2021 WNBA championship. Reese and fellow rookie Kamilla Cardoso form this team’s foundation as an old school bully ball front court with tons of toughness and zero shooting. The Sky take fewer threes than any team in the league, and are 10th in a 12-team league in three-point percentage. There are some obvious team-building challenges that come with the Reese/Cardoso pairing, but Chicago is already starting to figure it out. If they can eventually find a true point guard to set the table for the bigs and add more perimeter shooting and athleticism on the wings, look out.

Reese feels like she’s swimming against the current of modern trends with her playing style, but it’s already proving effective. She simply plays too hard to fail.