Amid all the noise, Angel Reese is putting up historic numbers.
The WNBA star, who has established herself as one of the faces of the sport since arriving in 2024, has been mocked by fans in the early weeks of the season.
5
Her Chicago Sky team are struggling, and have gone 2-6 through their first eight games.
That’s the third-worst record in the league, and the manor of some of those defeats have been eyebrow raising.
Chicago’s season began with a 93-58 loss to Caitlin Clark‘s Indiana Fever on May 17 — in which the two rivals were involved in a heated incident — and they were then blown out 99-74 by the New York Liberty.
In the last seven days, the same two teams have also beaten the Sky 79-52 and 85-66 in the Commissioner’s Cup.
MORE FROM WNBA
But as her team struggle, Reese is often the standout, and has seen a teammate jump to her defense over the ‘nonsense’ criticism she faces.
The ‘Bayou Barbie’ is proving to be a double-double machine, averaging 10.1 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
Reese has now put up 543 rebounds across the first two seasons of her WNBA career, which is the exact same as the number of points she has scored in the league to date.
In simple terms, those rebound numbers are nothing short of insane.
And, perhaps unsurprisingly, they have seen Reese match a record that stands across both the WNBA and NBA.
Per the Underdog WNBA X account, the 23-year-old is averaging 5.1 offensive rebounds per game (OREBs), tied with legendary center Moses Malone, who was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player on three separate occasions in 1979, 1982 and 1983.
5
5
Dennis Rodman, a Chicago Bulls legend who won five NBA championships and established himself as one of the greatest rebounders in history, is just behind them, having averaged 4.8 OREBs per game.
While Reese is putting up historic stats on the court, she has also drawn attention off it this week, taking to social media to call out a former Unrivaled teammate.
In very public beef, the Sky star suggested Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper has been ‘shady’ in recent months.
The pair played together for Rose BC in the inaugural 3-on-3 basketball league, and won the first-ever Unrivaled championship together.
On Thursday, Reese first responded to one of Copper’s X posts that read: “Cheating on my eyebrow lady, pray for me y’all.”
“I hope she mess them up. Thank ya.”
5
The Sky star then pulled up a post from June 7, in which Copper suggested Reese was going to be ‘mad’ at her.
Quoting that, Reese suggested her former teammate has been ‘shady’ recently.
She wrote: “Oh yeah, I forgot to reply to this too… You been acting real shady since Unrivaled too.
“You didn’t even want to speak in Phoenix and had to FaceTime me after smh.”
Just two minutes later, Copper hit back, saying: “Lol, you actually replied smarta**! And don’t even start making up stuff on the net I’m not playing wit youuuuuu.”
Reese, clearly in no mood to mess around, responded: “You right. I’M STILL OFF YOU.”
She also suggested the pair could ‘meet outside of the workplace’ if they wanted to, after Copper suggested Reese ‘just misses her’ and that she’ll be in Chicago to play against the Sky on June 21.
With their argument playing out in front of nearly 700,000 of Reese’s X followers, it will certainly be interesting to see what happens when the pair go toe-to-toe at the Wintrust Arena next weekend.
5
Before they meet, the Sky will play three other games, against the Atlanta Dream, Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics.
Chicago will be hoping to pull together some wins, and general manager Jeff Pagliocca believes that Reese will be vital to that.
“She’s had some great games, and she’s had some games like everybody else that haven’t been her best,” he said of the standout star.
“But she’s our best chance at versatility on this roster.
Read More on talkSPORT
Chicago Sky 2025 record to date
Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky are 2-6 so far in 2025
May 19 @ Indiana Fever: 93-58 loss
May 23 vs New York Liberty: 99-74 loss
May 25 @ Los Angeles Sparks: 91-78 loss
May 28 @ Phoenix Mercury: 94-89 loss
May 30 vs Dallas Wings: 97-92 win
June 1 @ Dallas Wings: 94-83 win
June 8 vs Indiana Fever: 79-52 loss
June 11 @ New York Liberty: 85-66 loss
“We need more production out of her, but we need her to help us in other ways, too.
“She’s been putting the time in. She’s been a great teammate.”
