Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese has impressed in her first season in the WNBA, earning a trip to the All-Star game, and in a recent press conference, she opened up on what head coach Teresa Weatherspoon has done for her.
“She meant everything to me, I mean… I've had amazing coaches in my career. But this one is special,” Angel Reese said, via @MsMeliss on X. “She understands with me off the court. She understands me on the court. She believes in me. Shots that I take that she wants me to take, she believes in me that, I mean I believe in myself. So being able to come to the league and feel at home, feeling being able to be here. I remember sitting on the computer talking to her when I was going to the process or the draft process and I was like, ‘please God let me go to Chicago.' Like, ‘please, please I don't care where I drop to. Let me go to Chicago.' Because when you know that feeling, when you know somebody loves you and believes in you, not just as a basketball player but as a human being, it's special. And just coming from her, like I'm away from home, my mom believes that I'm okay away from home. So it's family here and I just feel I'm blessed to have coach.”
The Sky are coming off of an 85-77 win over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday, in which Reese extended her double-double record to 11 straight games. Reese put up 12 points with a staggering count of 19 rebounds. She shot 5-of-12 from the field, and five of the 14 rebounds she had were on the offensive end of the floor. Her performance along with Chennedy Carter's 26 points and Dana Evans' 14 points off of the bench helped the Sky get the win, which is big in the playoff race.
As a result of the win, the Sky moved to 7-11 on the season, which is good enough to be tied with the Dream for the seventh seed in the playoffs. Chicago is a half game ahead of the Indiana Fever, who are the first team on the outside of the playoff standings. The next game for the Sky is on Friday on the road against the Seattle Storm, which is the first of two they will play in Seattle this weekend, with the second game coming on Sunday. This will be a good test for Reese and the Sky.
Angel Reese turning heads in her rookie season
When Reese declared for the WNBA Draft, it was expected that she would be an impactful big from a rebounding standpoint, and that has transpired right away in her career. She is averaging 13.2 points per game with 11.8 rebounds, according to Basketball Reference.
Reese will want to improve her shooting percentage (currently at 39.7 percent), but she has immediately come in and made the Sky a tough physical team. That was the hope when Chicago came away with Reese and Kamilla Cardoso with their two first-round picks.