CHICAGO – If you want to know how quickly the WNBA is changing, just look at Angel Reese week.
On Monday, her 22nd birthday, the Chicago Sky rookie made an unusual trip after practice in suburban Deerfield.
Typically, when people leave the Sachs Center, a park district gym in a shopping center, they can grab ramen at Jimmy Thai or a coffee at Dunkin' Donuts. If they really feel like ruining their workout, they head across the street to Portillo's.
Reese, who is a little different than the average player, rookie or not, went to the Met Gala.
“These new guys,” senior guard Diamond DeShields said with a laugh and a sigh. “They did it.”
Happy Birthday, @Reese10Angel ! The basketball superstar is making his first #MetGala appearance tonight wearing @16Arlington.
see more @TheMarkHotelNY outputs here: pic.twitter.com/pnNtFCOHpA
– World Water Day (@wwd) May 6, 2024
Reese wore a custom dress from British brand 16Arlington, enjoyed the celebrity night out, and then flew back to Chicago to get ready for some work on Tuesday. She scored 13 points and added five rebounds in 19 minutes as the Sky beat the New York Liberty in a 101-53 preseason victory.
“I went to the Met Gala, I swept the Met Gala in New York, I came back, I swept New York,” he said. “That's what I do.”
“Angel is one of a kind,” DeShields said. “She is incredibly unique. I think it's really cool that she had the opportunity to go to the Met Gala. I mean, I’m still waiting for my invitation.”
And for a significant preseason game, the Sky, who are not expected to be anywhere near contenders and will lose their top draft pick, Kamilla Cardoso, for four to six weeks due to a shoulder injury, rightfully did vibe to Chicago.
Reese has brought his shine to the team. While No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark is the undisputed leader in WNBA celebrity rookies: she killed on saturday night live before the draft: Reese is not far behind. That's not why they selected her No. 7 overall (she's a ferocious rebounder and a skilled inside scorer), but it doesn't hurt to have some star power for a team looking for its share of the attention economy in a crowded market. The Sky were led by local legend Candace Parker when they lit up the city and won the WNBA title in 2021, but that shine quickly faded.
Now it's a new team and a new time. It's Reese's time.
On Tuesday, his viral trip to New York added some intrigue: How would he play? – and then Chicago Bears Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen showed up and sat courtside, making a game otherwise only open to season ticket holders a stage.
That Chi-Town love hits different 🤝
Keenan Allen, Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze of the @chicagobears and Coby White @Chicago Bulls He stopped to hold up the sky! pic.twitter.com/UKgWiUY608
– WNBA (@WNBA) May 8, 2024
It's normal for Chicago athletes to attend Sky games — Williams, as the Bears' No. 1 pick, adds an extra touch wherever he goes — but Reese, who's always thinking big, predicts this will be a story recurring here and in the future. The way.
“Everyone will be on the court,” he said. “Celebrities are going to be on the court. I just know that who's who will be on the court. “I was at the Met Gala and Usher (said he's) going to try to go to a game in Vegas, and Cardi B. I know some people that you guys might not think I know, but I do.”
The big news around the league right now is Commissioner Cathy Engelbert's surprise announcement (seriously, not even teams knew it was coming) that the WNBA will begin traveling on charter flights. The money is coming and it's time for the WNBA to invest in its game. No more travel delays canceling out a day off.
A private plane, of course, was how Reese got to New York so quickly. Again, she is different.
“I did all my hair and makeup on the plane,” she said. “My two daughters and one of my friends got on the plane with me. We did our hair and makeup on a plane, blow-drying and ironing, which is crazy, but it turned out great, as you can see.”
With young celebrities like Reese and Clark in the league and the attention they attract, perhaps that's one reason the WNBA is finally acting on the players' long-held request for charter flights.
“I'm glad the league was proactive,” said veteran Sky forward Elizabeth Williams. “We are in a time where, I mean, Ángel has 3 million followers. She has a focus that none of us have and we have nothing to compare it to. And rather than an incident happening, I think it's a proactive attitude.”
After all that hoopla, Reese said that if he had had a bad game against Liberty, he would have listened to his former coach at LSU, the always irritated Kim Mulkey, in his head, if not his current Sky head coach, Teresa Weatherspoon . . So she made sure she was ready to play, even if it was just a preseason game. Reese could make a serious living as a social media influencer, but this is her career.
“I already knew the expectations about it, like I needed to be locked in and focused on my matchups,” she said. “I took my matchups seriously. I watched movies when I was on the plane. I wanted to go back. People at the Met Gala were like, 'Are you partying after this?' I told him no, I have a game tomorrow. I have to see a movie. I prioritize everything. I'm still in school too, so I have a very busy schedule with a lot of things to do. But like I said, you have to maximize your 24 hours.”
Weatherspoon, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, has yet to coach an actual WNBA game, but she obviously feels comfortable enough to let her players be themselves. It bodes well for her, as she leads a mostly new roster with limited outside expectations of winning.
As for Reese's trip, she loved it. Weatherspoon said Reese “earned the opportunity to go and as her head coach, I'm not going to take that away from her.”
“How did I know I could trust Angel Reese?” she said. “Angel does angelic things, so I know she knows how to prioritize.”
At Sky's media day on Wednesday, Reese spoke about the duality of his life and his image on and off the court.
“I always felt like I wanted to be the pretty, pretty girl on the court, but I also wanted to be a dog and have that dog mentality,” she said. “That's why I want to continue making women understand and know that you can do both.”
The idea that female basketball players peak in college is nonsense. At 22 years old, Reese's career and life are just beginning. Her WNBA career hasn't started yet, but it's fair to expect we'll be talking about her for a long time.
(Angel Reese Photo: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for The Mark Hotel)
