The world knows a lot about Angel Reese.

It knows she’s a WNBA player who inspired a Barbie, walked in a Victoria’s Secret fashion show and is a master at maximizing her brand. Her podcast is called “Unapologetically Angel.” She trademarked the term “Mebounds” in response to haters commenting on her field goal efficiency and has a marketing collab that synergizes her Reebok shoe and her deal with Hershey’s Reese’s chocolate.

It knows, too, her willingness to trash talk on the floor and motivate herself while getting in the heads of her opponents. Basketball fans have not forgotten Reese’s “you can’t see me” gesture to Caitlin Clark during the 2023 NCAA women’s national championship. Not all players and fans like Reese’s style, but getting likes is not what Reese is about.

Reese’s persona is built around refuting those who don’t believe in her ability and the force that she is, on or off court.

Reese, 24, heads into Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Saturday as the league’s defensive player of the year, poised to show that her experience level doesn’t matter at the league’s biggest stage. She’s a winner through and through.

Reaching the finals is a goal Reese manifested around a year ago, when she watched the playoffs from home after missing them in each of her first two professional seasons.

Reese was the seventh overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft. She was an All-Star in her first two seasons with the Chicago Sky but felt the franchise wasn’t taking major steps toward winning at a high level.

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And she said so, questioning the Sky’s approach to roster building, including its decision to bring back franchise legend Courtney Vandersloot, who was in her late 30s. The interview went viral.

“I’d like to be here for my career, but if things don’t pan out, obviously I might have to move in a different direction and do what’s best for me,” she told the Chicago Tribune. “But while I am here, I’m going to try to stay open-minded about what I have here and maximize that as much as I can.”

The comments were remarkable both for Reese’s bluntness and her bravery. Reese spoke up about what she believed wasn’t right and demanded better — something many working women struggle to do. Already, Reese’s legacy looks to be defined by the ways she has defied expectations for women, much like how Diana Taurasi did with how she, too, talked smack on the court.

Reese’s comments weren’t well-received by her Sky teammates or the front office. She was suspended for half a game and said her language “was taken out of context.”

Seven months later, the Atlanta Dream acquired Reese, who quickly found synergy with her new team. Reese and the Dream wanted the same things: to improve, to grow and to win. As a franchise, the Dream had been both slighted and underinvested in before an ownership change in 2021.

Reese helped reinvigorate the Dream fanbase, and the team invested in her development, helping hone her talents.

Her buy-in to head coach Karl Smesko’s mantra of managing emotions and valuing each possession is evident in Reese’s poised approach to the postseason. Although a playoff rookie, Reese hasn’t looked like one. Across five playoff games, Reese has averaged 18 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.2 blocks.

Smesko has also committed to working with Reese on her 3-point shot, a necessary skill for modern front-court players. He challenged Reese to practice shooting in front of her teammates during training camp, something that initially embarrassed her but has fueled her success shooting from deep during the postseason.

Smesko became Reese’s shooting partner not only to build trust with a team star but also to get to know her better. The two have a handshake that has ricocheted around social media.

It’s a fist pound, followed by the right knee going up and a shooting motion, and then both stick their tongues out.

As the Dream head into their first finals since 2013, Reese believes her impact is rooted in her fearlessness. She takes risks just like she did in Chicago.

“I always talk about you can’t be scared when it comes to this,” Reese told me earlier this month.

This fearlessness manifested against the Washington Mystics in her first-ever playoff matchup last month, she said. “I knew I was just going to be fearless. Go out there and play fearless, play with just so much poise, and just have fun and do everything that I can do. And that’s always how I’ve been in my career.”

Reese’s fearlessness and her high motor are widely known. Less appreciated are the ways she uses her instincts and sheer athleticism to impact the game at multiple levels.

Accolades like Defensive Player of the Year reflect rebounds, blocks and steals. But Reese also earned the honor because of her mastery of opponents’ tendencies and making sharp, in-game adjustments that help position her team to win. She had not just the confidence but also the shrewdness to tell her veteran teammate DeWanna Bonner to pass her the ball at the end of Game 2 of the Dream’s semifinal against the New York Liberty. The idea was that Reese would help run out the clock and bait the Liberty into chasing her around.

“That’s just IQ right there,” Reese said when asked about the play. “I mean, it’s going to take them a couple seconds to chase me around the court. So, I told her to throw it in the backcourt and I’m gonna run around as fast as I can out there. I took as much time off the clock as I could, and we just executed.”

Reese is trying to do something that hasn’t been done in almost a decade: lead a team to a championship in her first three years in the WNBA, a feat last achieved by New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart in 2018.

Whether or not she becomes a league champion this season, Reese is already showing the world that her influence is equally great on and off the court.

The post Angel Reese inflames her haters. And is fueling the Dream toward a WNBA championship. appeared first on MS NOW.

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