Angel Reese may have captured headlines and shattered records in her rookie WNBA season, but her focus is now firmly on changing the narrative around her Chicago Sky team.
Chicago ended the 2024 season with a 13-27 record, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018 despite breakout performances from Reese and fellow rookie Kamilla Cardoso. Reese posted a league-best 13.1 rebounds per game and delivered 26 double-doubles, the most by a rookie in WNBA history.
Yet the Sky stumbled, dropping 12 of their final 14 games, including five straight to close out the season after Reese suffered a wrist injury.
“I wasn’t used to that,” Reese told ESPN. “It just takes an adjustment. It’s something that you don’t want to get used to because you don’t want to get in a mindset, like, ‘Oh, we’re just going to be losing every night.’ We were right there every night.”
Sky rebuilds with veteran presence and coaching shift to support young stars
To change course, the Sky‘s front office overhauled the coaching staff and roster. Former head coach Teresa Weatherspoon was let go, and Las Vegas Aces assistant Tyler Marsh was brought in to take the reins. In free agency, the team made bold moves-bringing back franchise assist leader Courtney Vandersloot and signing two-time All-Star Ariel Atkins.
General manager Jeff Pagliocca sees these additions as a way to build around Reese and elevate her ceiling.
“She wants to compete, she wants to win, she’s somebody that puts that above everything else,” Pagliocca said. “With all the time that she puts into building her brand and flying all over the world, she still has proven to us time and time again she puts basketball first.”
That competitive fire is what drew fans to Reese during her college days at Maryland and LSU, where she never lost more than two games in a row. She capped off her collegiate career with a national title in 2023, defeating Caitlin Clark and Iowa-a rivalry that has now spilled into the pros and helped push the WNBA to new levels of popularity.
In 2024, Reese trailed Clark in Rookie of the Year voting but still set the league ablaze with her rebounding prowess. She briefly held the single-season rookie rebound record with 446 before being overtaken by A’ja Wilson after missing the final six games due to injury.
Reese is now working on becoming a more versatile threat. She participated in the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league during the offseason, fine-tuning her shot selection and range after shooting just 39.1% from the field last season and going 3-for-16 from beyond the arc.
“I always just tell myself if I work out and make the shots I might as well take them in the game,” she said. “I think we have the right pieces this year. We have the great veteran leadership. We have coaches that just built a culture from the beginning and built the standards, so I’m excited.”
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