LSU women's basketball star Angel Reese is one of the most well-known and outspoken college athletes of the new NIL era. The national championship-winning forward is returning for her final college season next year instead of going to the WNBA because her time at LSU is so lucrative. When she does go pro in 2024, Reese thinks WNBA expansion is necessary.

As one of the biggest and most famous college basketball stars in the country — in the men’s or women’s game — the prestigious magazine Harper’s Bazaar recently did a profile of the 21-year-old hooper. In the piece, Reese talked about her pro basketball aspirations, and why she thinks WNBA expansion is important.

“That’s my biggest thing [with] college, just walking out national champion and getting a degree. Then going into the WNBA. I hope that there will be more teams so that everybody has an opportunity, because there are so many great players and they currently only have 144 [roster spots] in the league. I want the WNBA to grow,” Reese told the magazine. “So hopefully, by the time I and Caitlin Clark and all these other players go out, there will be opportunities for others to get on a team.”

There are currently 12 teams in the WNBA for the 2023 season, but the league is planning for an expansion in the future. In May, ESPN reported that “The Bay Area; Toronto; Denver; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Portland, Oregon,” are all on the list of potential WNBA expansion cities.

That same report notes that “it's probably at least reasonable to hope (not expect) expansion by 2025 or 2026,” which should make Angel Reese happy about her and her fellow rising basketball stars’ future in the league.