Angel Reese had already established herself as one of the league’s top bigs in her first two seasons in Chicago. The former LSU star was named an All-Star in both her rookie and sophomore campaigns, broke a litany of rebounding records, and showcased her force on both ends of the floor.
Angel Reese has found a perfect home
In Atlanta, Angel Reese is playing some of the best basketball of her career.
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
But this season, she’s taken her game to a whole other level. While Reese’s individual accolades with the Sky were impressive, the team around her struggled, and the Sky found themselves near the bottom of league standings in back-to-back seasons. In April, Reese was traded to the Atlanta Dream, a team that already found themselves among the league’s best last year, but wanted to further bolster their frontcourt.
For the most part, it’s been a match made in heaven. Reese is averaging 15.6 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game, and Atlanta is 17-10 and winners of four straight games.
This year, she became the fastest player in league history to record 1,000 rebounds (doing so in 78 games), and the fastest to reach 50 double-doubles (doing so in 65 games).
But, in part due to Reese’s play, they’ve already accrued wins against top teams like the Dallas Wings (who they are 3-0 against) and the Indiana Fever (who are they are 2-1 against), among others. The Dream have outscored opponents by 99 points in Reese’s minutes this season, the 21st-best net rating in the WNBA and the third-best on the Dream, per Hoops Junkie. Atlanta has had a rigorous schedule so far, and they have the third-easiest remaining schedule.
In a Wednesday night victory over the Wings, Reese tallied 22 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, and a block.
In a Wednesday night interview with sideline reporter Terrika Foster-Brasby, Reese expressed gratitude for the situation she is in.
“I’m just so happy here in Atlanta; I’m just grateful to be here,” Reese said. “It’s been a sisterhood. They’ve had my back — through the highs, through the lows. It’s just a joy. I feel safe, I feel loved.”
The Dream are eyeing a title, and they have an elite core around Reese that includes Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Jordin Canada, and Brionna Jones, among others.
They’ll have to get through some of the league’s top teams in a potential title run — they’re 0-1 against the Las Vegas Aces, 1-1 against the Minnesota Lynx, and 0-3 against the Golden State Valkyries this season. But if Reese continues to trend upwards, and if the cast around her continues to thrive, a championship could be headed to Atlanta.
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