CHICAGO — If you want to know how quickly the WNBA is changing, just watch Angel Reese’s week.
On Monday, his 22nd birthday, the Chicago Sky rookie took an unusual trip after practice to suburban Deerfield.
Typically, when people leave the Sachs Center, a park district health club located in a strip mall, they might buy ramen at Jimmy Thai or coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts. If they really want to ruin their workout, they go across the street to Portillo’s.
Reese, who is a little different from the average player, rookie or not, went to the Met Gala.
“These new kids,” veteran guard Diamond DeShields said with a laugh and a sigh. “They did it.”
Happy birthday, @Reese10Ange ! The basketball superstar makes his first #MetGala appearance this evening wearing @16Arlington.
See more @TheMarkHotelNY departures here: pic.twitter.com/pnNtFCOHpA
– WWD (@wwd) May 6, 2024
Reese wore a custom dress from British brand 16Arlington, enjoyed the night among the glitterati, then flew back to Chicago to be ready for work on Tuesday. She scored 13 points and added five rebounds in 19 minutes as the Sky knocked off the New York Liberty in a 101-53 preseason victory.
“I went to the Met Gala, I conquered the Met Gala in New York, I came back and I conquered New York,” she said. “That’s what I do.”
“Angel is unique,” DeShields said. “She is incredibly unique. I think it’s really cool that she got the opportunity to go to the Met Gala. I mean, I’m still waiting for my invitation.
And for a meaningless preseason game, the Sky — who aren’t expected to be close contenders and will miss their top draft pick, Kamilla Cardoso, for four to six weeks due to a shoulder injury — rightfully have makes Chicago vibrate.
Reese brought his shine to the team. While No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark is the undisputed celebrity leader of WNBA rookies – she killed Saturday Night Live before the draft – Reese is no slouch. That’s not why they drafted her 7th overall — she’s a fierce rebounder and competent interior 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 glow quickly faded.
Now it’s a new team and a new era. It’s Reese’s time.
On Tuesday, her viral trip to New York added some intrigue: How would she perform? — then Chicago Bears Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen showed up and sat courtside, making a game otherwise open only to season ticket holders a scene.
This love for Chi-Town is different 🤝
Keenan Allen, Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze of @chicagobears and Coby White from @Chicago Bulls stopped to support Heaven! pic.twitter.com/UKgWiUY608
–WNBA (@WNBA) May 8, 2024
It’s normal for Chicago athletes to show up at Sky games — Williams, as the Bears’ No. 1 pick, adds a little extra pop wherever he goes — but Reese, who always thinks big, predicts it will be a recurring story here and elsewhere. the road.
“Everyone will be present on the ground,” she said. “Celebrities are going to be on the field. Just know that who is who will be on the field. I was at the Met Gala and Usher (he said) is going to try to go to a game in Vegas, and Cardi B. I know people you might not think I know, but I know.
The big news in the league right now is Commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s surprise announcement (seriously, even the teams didn’t know this was coming) that the WNBA would start traveling on charter flights. The money is coming and it’s time for the WNBA to invest in its game. No more travel delays that wipe out a day off.
Of course, it was thanks to a private plane that Reese arrived in New York so quickly. Once 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 do our hair and makeup on the plane, blow dry our hair and flat iron it, 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’re attracting, perhaps that’s one reason the WNBA is finally responding to players’ long-standing request for charter flights.
“I’m glad the league was proactive,” veteran Sky forward Elizabeth Williams said. “We’re in a time where, I mean, Angel has 3 million followers. She has a spotlight on her that none of us have and we have nothing to compare it to. And rather than causing an incident, I think it’s a proactive approach.
After all the hype, Reese said if she had a bad game against the Liberty, she would have heard her ex-LSU coach Kim Mulkey still stung in her head, if not for her current head coach from Sky, Teresa Weatherspoon. . So she made sure she was ready to play, even if it was just a preseason game. Reese might make a serious living as a social media influencer, but it’s her career.
“I already knew the expectations, like I needed to be locked in and focused on my matchups,” she said. “I took my confrontations seriously. I watched a movie when I was on the plane. I wanted to come back. People at the Met Gala were like, “Are you partying after this?” I said no, I have a match tomorrow. I have to watch a movie. I prioritize everything. I’m also still in school, so I have a busy schedule with lots of things to do. But like I said, you need to maximize your 24 hours.
Weatherspoon, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, has yet to coach a real WNBA game, but she’s obviously comfortable enough to let her players be themselves. This bodes well for her, as she leads an essentially new team with limited external expectations of winning.
As for Reese’s trip, she loved it. Weatherspoon said Reese “earned this opportunity to be his head coach, I’m not going to take that away from him.”
“How did I know I could trust Angel Reese?” she says. “Angel does angelic things, so I know she understands 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 pitch.
“I always felt like I wanted to be the pretty, cute girl on the field, but I also wanted to be a dog and have that dog mentality,” she said. “So I want to continue to make women understand and know that you can do both.”
The idea that female basketball players peak in college is insane. 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 that we’ll be talking about her for a long time.
(Angel Reese photo: Ilya S. Savenok / Getty Images for The Mark Hotel)