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There has been an exorbitant amount of attention on the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and the Los Angeles Sparks’ Cameron Brink as the stars of this rookie class, and while those players have been impressive, the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese has a case as the best this 2024 class has to offer.
She entered the league out of LSU with a national title in hand, beating Iowa and the beloved Clark on the biggest college basketball stage in 2023. Never one to be timid, she let the world know in her now infamous celebration, telling her competition they couldn’t see her and demonstrating that a ring would soon be on her hand.
The Bayou Barbie was one of the reasons the 2024 WNBA Draft was considered to be one of the best ever, but she wasn’t the top pick like Clark or the second pick like Brink. She wasn’t even the first pick on her team, as Chicago drafted Kamilla Cardoso with the No. 3 overall pick.
Reese was drafted at seventh, which is nothing to sneeze at but peculiar given her accolades in college. The reason for the lower draft selection? It seems teams believed she would have issues scoring at the next level. Well, it’s early, but five games in, she’s making even the Sky look foolish for not drafting her sooner.
The Chi Barbie might be the best thing coming out of the Midwest, and she has begun her rookie campaign averaging 12.0 points and 8.6 rebounds. Reese is the only rookie to score in double figures in her first five games this season and only the second to do so in a Chicago Sky jersey. Who is the other player? Future Hall of Famer Sylvia Fowles.
Reese is an offensive irritant
Why did so many miss the mark on their assumptions about Reese’s game translating to the WNBA? Simply put, her tools are better than anticipated.
What’s been so impressive with her game early on is how many ways she can get to the basket. She has the speed and power to take the ball from the top of the key to the hoop. Reese has impeccable footwork and can create separation with little forward momentum. She bends and twirls like a ballerina, finding even the tiniest opening and using it to get a good look near the rim.
Is the physicality too much for her at this level? It doesn’t seem to bother her one iota. She’s played through contact from all kinds of bigs, has been effective scoring in post-up scenarios and is playing well through contact, drawing fouls and getting to the line.
Five games in, she’s averaging 6.6 free throw attempts per game. Now, she’s only converting on 66 percent of those shots, but that number is deceiving as most of her misses came in one game against the Dallas Wings, where she shot 2-for-8 from the charity stripe. In all other games, she was 70 percent or higher.
Being a franchise player is more than just scoring; you must have an all-around game in the WNBA to be impactful. Reese is leading the team in rebounds, and her defense has held up in the paint, bending but not breaking against the bigs in the W.
Barbie is never done developing
The rookie may be off to a great start, but even great ones have room to improve. Her offense is clearly further along than her defensive ability, and with virtually every team having quality bigs, there truly will be no days off for Reese in the defensive department.
At times when she was at LSU, it felt like Reese would take plays off. Nothing major, but moments where she wouldn’t engage offensively, didn’t fight to box out or wouldn’t close out on shooters. At this level, those kinds of lapses will be lethal, and while I’ve seen less of them during this early part of the season, there have been a few plays here and there where it looked like Reese was beaten to a spot due to either a lack of focus or desire to execute.
“She recognizes that eyes are upon her, but what I like the most is she remains who she is. … She loves this game of basketball, but she also knows how to maximize everything that she’s earning. That’s big.”
Enjoyed this response from Teresa Weatherspoon today on Angel Reese pic.twitter.com/DQ8G4mmP3c
— Sean Hurd (@seanahurd) May 8, 2024
A star off the court
Being a star also means doing the non-basketball things. These players are more than athletes; they are representatives of their culture, the community and the sport. Personally, I would never blame a player for shying away from that aspect of being a superstar, but Reese seems to embrace it and does it well.
Even her haters and critics are compelled enough by her big personality to watch and pay attention to her moves. Recently, those moves have involved attending the Met Gala on her 22nd birthday and joining Megan Thee Stallion and GloRilla on stage at a Chicago concert.
Through it all, Reese has kept the main thing the main thing, playing well on the floor while participating in all these extracurricular activities.
The Chi Barbie is proving that she can truly have it all, and even her biggest critics have to admit that the Sky is far from the limit for this Angel. She’s not a player to keep an eye on or one to watch when the time is convenient. She’s box office now, and it’s in your best interest as a fan of the sport to watch every minute of her rookie season that you can.