Accolades are piling up for Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese six weeks into her WNBA career.
Reese is on track to be voted onto the league’s All-Star team, on which she might join top players such as Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Arike Ogunbowale. And along the way, she also could break multiple WNBA records — including a double-double milestone set by Candace Parker.
This year’s All-Star Game will feature a 12-player roster of WNBA All-Stars facing the U.S. Olympic team on July 20 in Phoenix. Fans can vote for any player — Olympian A’ja Wilson currently leads voting — and any top-10 finisher in overall voting (50% fans, 25% media, 25% players) who isn’t on the Team USA roster will earn an automatic All-Star selection, with league coaches filling out the remainder of the WNBA team.
Reese, who is second in the league in rebounding behind Wilson with 11.1 per game, was seventh in the first returns of fan voting with 118,490 votes. That ranked fourth among non-Olympians behind fellow rookie Clark (second overall), Boston (third) and Ogunbowale (fifth).
“Every time that she’s stepped in, she keeps getting better,” Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said. “She does things that are incredible. Just to look at her, to see the way that she rebounds basketball — that’s All-Star status.”
And an All-Star selection is only one goal ahead of Reese. She set a rookie record Sunday with her eighth consecutive double-double, and she’s four behind former Sky star Parker’s overall record of 12 consecutive double-doubles, set over the 2009 and 2010 seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Reese could match Parker’s record for consecutive double-doubles within the same season if she records her ninth straight Thursday against the Las Vegas Aces.
But Reese doesn’t want to let records or accolades dominate her focus.
“My strength is rebounding and that’s something I knew I can do coming into the league,” Reese said. “It’s translating really well. I just come to do my job and I don’t want to let my teammates down. If I get a double-double, I get a double-double. My job is to do whatever it takes to win.”
Other aspects of Reese’s game can’t be quantified through simple stats. She seems impervious to exhaustion despite the breakneck rigor of her rookie season, speeding from the NCAA Tournament to the WNBA draft to her first professional games in barely more than a month.
There’s no statistic that measures a player’s motor. But for Reese, it’s reflected in the fact she leads the league in offensive rebounds (4.7 per game) — and, just as importantly, in how she baits opponents from Jonquel Jones to NaLyssa Smith into foul trouble with a persistent, badgering style of play in the post.
That doesn’t make Reese a finished product. She’s often the first to point out her turnover count or missed shots.
She struggled to finish around the rim in the early weeks of the season, and for the season she’s shooting just 45.5% within 5 feet of the basket. While she ranks 11th in the league with 3.1 points per game off second-chance opportunities, that also reflects the missed opportunities caused by inefficient shooting from close range.
After a June 8 loss to the Atlanta Dream, Reese spent several minutes talking shop on the sideline with veteran Tina Charles. The former league MVP gave her simple advice: You have all the time in the world around the rim.
Two weeks later, Reese translated that advice onto the court, slowing her approach to the rim as she backed down Smith during Sunday’s 88-87 victory over the Indiana Fever.
This has always been Reese’s approach to the game. She’s keenly referential as a player, both in her style on the court and in the homage she pays off of it. She wants to be versatile like Breanna Stewart. And a playmaker like DeWanna Bonner. And a competitor like Alyssa Thomas.
When Reese learned after Sunday’s win that she was the first WNBA rookie since Wilson to tally 25 points and 15 rebounds in a game, her face lit up in praise of the reigning champ.
“I love A’ja,” Reese said. “She mentored me when I was at Maryland and she’s been somebody that I’ve always tried to model my game after on and off the court. I just love who she is, so just being able to be named with her is amazing.”
Through film sessions and veteran mentorship, Reese is taking the necessary steps to build off a strong rookie foundation.
Reese is shooting 42.5% from the field in June and 51.5% over the last six games. Her rim finishing has consistently improved in that span, rising to 48.8% in June and 58.9% in the last six games.
The growth trajectory is clear. And in the meantime, Reese’s strength on the boards is powering her into the WNBA record book — and quite likely to the All-Star Game.
“She’s learning and she’s learning quickly,” Weatherspoon said. “She has everything that it takes to be an All-Star.”
