Angel Reese has moved on from her rocky tenure with the Chicago Sky, but said it wasn’t all bad.
Reese, acquired by the Atlanta Dream in a trade earlier this month in exchange for first-round picks in 2027 and ‘28, said despite the ups and downs in Chicago, she is “always going to be grateful for that because I did experience a lot of great things.”
But during her introductory press conference on Friday in Atlanta, the WNBA star added: “I enjoyed being able to grow within my first two years, but I wanted more. I love to win, I love to compete and I wanted to be surrounded by people that can make me better.”
Reese made headlines — and drew a suspension from the team — when she told the Chicago Tribune last season that she was displeased with the direction of the organization, as the Sky was on its way to a 10-34 finish.
At the time, Reese told the Tribune she “might have to move in a different direction and do what’s best for me” if the roster didn’t improve.
She issued an apology, but was still suspended for the first half of a game by the Sky for comments deemed “detrimental to the team.”
Reese also didn’t play the last three games of the season, held out by the team with a back injury.
She will get a fresh start in Atlanta and believes there is more to prove.
“I am not satisfied with what I am as a player and I felt like being around these kinds of players would help me be better,’’ Reese said of her new team. “I can help them in different ways to help them win, and that’s all I ever wanted. I don’t care about anything else that comes with it. I want to win and being able to come to an organization that really cared about their players.”
One of her new teammates, Rhyne Howard, said of Reese: ”I think [she] is special for us because she could be exactly what we were missing.”
The Dream, coming off a franchise-best 30-win season, will now have Reese, who averaged 14.7 points last year and topped the league with 12.6 rebounds per game last season.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
