Angel Reese Keeps Proving People Wrong
Angel Reese grabbed 26 rebounds last night, another remarkable performance from a player who appears capable of eventually rewriting the WNBA record book on the glass.
I’ll also say something I didn’t expect to say when Reese entered the league: I was wrong about her.
I evaluate sports for a living, and the WNBA has been my bread and butter in recent years. I didn’t believe Reese’s skill set would translate this well against bigger, stronger and more experienced professionals. It has.
Through three seasons, Reese is averaging roughly 15 points and 13 rebounds per game, has become a three-time All-Star and is a member of the U.S. World Cup team. Now she’s an important piece alongside Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada on a dangerous Atlanta team nobody should be excited about seeing in the postseason.
Reese’s rebounding isn’t accidental. Positioning, anticipation, physicality and relentless effort are basketball skills. There are rebounds that come to you, and there are rebounds you go get. Angel Reese goes and gets the basketball.
She’s still only 24, too. There’s room for improvement offensively, and she’s nowhere near a finished product.
What makes Reese’s rise even more impressive is everything surrounding it. She has built a significant brand, become a successful businesswoman and established herself as one of women’s basketball’s most recognizable personalities.
Meanwhile, the online obsession with tearing her down has become ridiculous. Some of the criticism is legitimate basketball discussion. Much of what she receives clearly isn’t. Some of it is racist, some misogynistic, and plenty of it is simply hateful.
Sports evaluation requires admitting when the evidence proves you wrong. Reese has done exactly that to me.
I underestimated Angel Reese. She’s an excellent basketball player building an exceptional career, and she’s doing it all in the face of ignorant and hateful men who have some really strange ways of displaying their anger, frustration and insecurity.
