Angel Reese: An Appreciation
The Chicago Sky star rookie will miss the remainder of the WNBA season. And the WNBA season will miss her.
WE’RE NOT 100% CERTAIN who first said, “No cheering in the press box.” Might’ve been Jimmy Cannon. Might’ve been Jerome Holtzman. Might’ve been Friedrich Nietzsche. But one thing’s for certain:
It was Alan Goldsher who first said, “No crying in the press box…unless there’s something to cry about.”
Now, we have something about which to cry. Take it away, Angel Reese.
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The Rodman-esque rebounding machine finished her first campaign averaging 13.6 points and a WNBA record 13.1 boards, and had Indiana’s Caitlin Clark not been CAITLIN CLARK, Reese likely would have walked away with Rookie of the Year.
There was a point early in the season when Reese wasn’t playing nice, and it bothered the hell out of me; the woman oozes talent, and there was no need for her to get all Bill Lambeer-y to plant her WNBA flag. But within weeks, she seemed to reboot her ‘tude, and evolved into the joyful, gritty player we’ve all come to love.
As a salute to one of contemporary Chicago’s most charismatic sports darlings, here are a couple of pieces I wrote about her early in the WNBA season, published all in one nice, neat package for your Reese-ing, er, reading pleasure. It’ll have to do until she finds her way back onto the court in 2025.
(Note: The stats quoted below are outdated, as the numbers were from the articles’ original publication dates.)
5 Compelling Reasons I'm Again All-In On Angel Reese
I dug the Chicago Sky's uber-talented rookie a whole lot. Then I didn't. Now I do.
ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO, I published a piece entitled I Liked Angel Reese. Until I Didn't. It’s Chicago Sports Stuff’s most-read article to date.
Why the notable traction? Maybe it’s because…
A) …the essay had a semi-contrarian point of view, the POV being that the Chicago Sky rookie’s mercurial temperament was overshadowing her impressive play.
B) …I nailed the headline’s SEO.
C) …it was my first WNBA deep dive, and WNBA deep dives are more appealing than, say, baseball yakkity-yak.
D) …Angel Reese is cool, and sports fans want to read about her, whether it’s the good stuff or the rough stuff.
The answer, of course, is all of the above, but if I had to pick one, it would be D. And I suspect that’s what you think, too.
All of which is why I’m publishing a breakdown of how and why the Maryland native has performed her way back into my heart.
She’s a Generational Double-Double Machine
Last night, taking on Seattle, Chi-Town Barbie had herself a game, dropping a career-high 27 points to go along with 10 boards. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to carry the Sky past the Storm, who pulled out an 84-71 victory.
It was Reese’s 13th — count ‘em, 13th — consecutive double-double, breaking Candace Parker’s WNBA record, as per USA Today.
Not only did she break it — she kinda shattered it. And not only did she kinda shatter it, but she lapped some of the WNBA’s greatest:
Candace Parker - 12
Sylvia Fowles - 10
Tina Charles - 7
Brittney Griner - 6
Breanna Stewart - 6
Jonquel Jones - 6
Liz Cambage - 6
Lisa Leslie - 5
Elena Delle Donne - 5
Nneka Ogwumike - 5
And she’s a rookie. And the Sky next game is Wednesday’s homer against the Atlanta Dream, a wobbly 7-13 squad in the midst of a four-game slide. So a 14th consecutive box-score-filler is a distinct possibility.
P.S. - For context, Angel’s statistical spree would rank her 21st in NBA history, tying her with future Hall of Famer/journeyman Chris Paul and — wait for it, wait for it — Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic.
She’s Helping Make the Sky Legit
Coming into the 2024 season, WNBA pundits were mostly in agreement that the Sky was going to stink.
The Sky doesn’t stink.
Much to said pundits’ surprise, if the season ended today, Chicago’s finest would sneak into the playoffs. Granted, they’d have to face the scary, scary New York Liberty in the first round, but considering Reese’s non-stop domination, an upset wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility.
Okay, maybe it is out of the realm of possibility, but it’ll be a fun trip nonetheless.
She Dresses Better Than All of Us Put Together
We’ll let the visuals do the talking, because Angel rocks a dress way better than I rock words.
She’s No Longer the Gen Alpha Bill Laimbeer
This comes from my aforementioned Reese piece:
“Bill Laimbeer, the baddest of the Detroit Pistons’ Bad Boys is the template for professional bullies, athletes who get off on stuff like fracturing corneas or delivering nut shots. Athletes who are perfectly content to absorb punishment from their respective leagues and vitriol from opposing fans.”
I then went on to describe Angel’s undeniably unprofessional behavior during her first few weeks as a pro. Since then, Reese has been everything you’d want out of a teammate. (I’d like to think that my article played a role in her turnaround.)
Sure, she’s fourth in the league in fouls committed per game with 3.5, but she hasn’t gone full Laimbeer since her double-tech clusterf*** on June 3 — probably the most notable reason I’m back on Team Angel.
She Does Amazing Chicago Sports Stuff
ESPN’s Monica McNutt knows more about the WNBA than me, and you, and your bestest sports buddy combined. Here’s what she had do say about the league’s Rookie of the Year race:
"My rookie of the year is going to go based off the standings because I think that is how you have to measure impact. And the Sky right now are in the playoffs, so you have to give the nod, in my mind, to Angel Reese."
If you disagree, eyeball this:
Ranking Angel Reese’s Barbie Nicknames
Chi-Town Barbie has dazzled the WNBA with her on-court prowess, social media presence, and fashion domination. But which Barbie is the best Angel Reese Barbie?
WHEN THE WNBA SEASON tipped off, would you have thought that Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark would be the league’s second-most intriguing rookie?
Yeah, we didn’t either. But then along came Angel Reese.
Charismatic, media-savvy, and refreshingly candid, the Chicago Sky forward has dominated both the hardwood and the interwebs, as much if not more so than her highly-touted rival-not-rival.
Sure, the rookies have different roles—generally speaking, Reese prowls the paint while Clark roams the perimeter—but the numbers tell us they’re equally vital to their teams: Clark is winning the scoring battle 16.1 to 14.1 and Reese leads the board wars 11.9 to 6.0, while Clark is dishing 7.4 dimes to Reese’s 1.9. Their quality of play is the primary reason why Indiana and Chicago sit, respectively, seventh and eighth in the playoff race.
As for that whole media-savvy thing, let’s dive into their social numbers: Reese has a decent edge in the Twitter war, with 547,400 followers to Clark’s 411,000. But Reese owns Instagram to the tune of 3.5 million followers, a whopping 900,000 more than Clark.
We’ve come to appreciate Reese’s ability to shape her public image, which got us to thinking about her predilection for giving herself exceptional nicknames.
Admittedly, she isn’t a nickname savant along the lines of Shaquille O’Neal, who, at various times in his Hall of Fame career, dubbed himself Diesel, the Big Cactus, Shaq Daddy, Wilt Chamberneezy, Shaq Fu, and our personal favorite, the Big Aristotle. There are about a billion more Shaq sobriquets, but you get the idea.
For her part, Reese uses various iterations of “[Fill in the Blank] Barbie” in a manner similar to the way O’Neal rolled with “The Big [Fill in the Blank].”
To that end, here are Reese’s four most notable Barbie-centric monikers, listed in order of worst to best. (Note: There is no worst — they’re all exceptional.)
4. Baltimore Barbie
Nothing wrong with this one — Charm City is her hometown, after all — but it feels somewhat, oh, let’s say generic. Any local athlete could use it, and it would be fine: Baltimore Babe Ruth, Baltimore Michael Phelps, Baltimore Al Kaline, and, of course, Baltimore Sam Cassell. A potential ROY deserves better.
3. League Barbie
The gritty forward gave herself this one on or around May 29 after dropping one of those aforementioned double-doubles against the Seattle Storm.
We understand what she was shooting for — the WNBA is her playground, and she doesn’t care who knows it — but “League” isn’t quite as slick as one would hope.
Plus, this one never gained any traction.
2. Chi-Town Barbie
Were it not for its potentially limited shelf life, this one would top the charts. It’s cool, it smacks of civic pride — Chicago sports fans are all about civic pride — and it’ll look great on the side of a CTA bus. But if she inks with, say, the Las Vegas Aces when her contract is up in 2028, it’s out with Chi-Town Barbie and in with Vegas Barbie.
1. Bayou Barbie
“The name Bayou Barbie came from a fan in Baton Rouge. She just called me the Bayou Barbie, and my mom heard it and we just ran with it. I mean, it kind of fits me. I’m in Baton Rouge, which is the bayou, and then the Barbie part is my nails, lashes, hair [which are] always done on the court, so yeah, it went together.”
-Angel Reese
Whether she’s playing with the Chicago Sky, or the New York Liberty, or, hell, the Denver Nuggets, this homage to her tenure at LSU will be stuck with Reese for the remainder of her career. And that's a beautiful thing.
Stats. Streaks. Savvy. Sobriquets. Now you know why we find Angel Reese so intriguing.