No defensiveness. No dismissiveness. No unpleasantness.
Angel Reese answered the questions that had to be asked Wednesday, and the new face of the Atlanta Dream handled them like a pro’s pro.
She can’t be thrilled with how her two years with the Sky ended — after all that losing and with acrimony between superstar and team — can she?
“I’m still happy,” she said. “I’m grateful for my time here in Chicago — I experienced a lot of great things — but I’m just happy to start this new journey.”
Why didn’t things work out better between the “Bayou Barbie” and the team that drafted her in 2024, which she publicly took to task for some of its glaring weaknesses late last season?
“I think it was just best for me to move on, and I think it was helpful for both of us,” she said. “I’m grateful for Chicago for putting me in a [trade with Atlanta] where I can come somewhere that I really wanted and people really wanted me. I’m just grateful to turn the page. No love lost.”
Did returning to Wintrust Arena for an exhibition game in her old backyard remind her just how permanently she hopes to make the Sky rue the day they called it a wrap and dealt her?
“It’s just like any game,” she said. “I’m just looking forward to another opportunity to play basketball.”
Oh, and how happy is “happy” as she moves forward with one of the best — and most functional — organizations in the WNBA?
“I’ve shown all 32 teeth every day,” she said.
That’s 32 more than I saw the first time I attempted to interview her, early in her rookie season. That day, after a practice in Deerfield, she turned her back to me, said she didn’t trust me and accused me of aiming to twist her words, all of which was a bit strange given we’d never met. Then again, she didn’t owe me anything more than that considering the way basketball “fans” were abusing her online and some in the broadly defined “media” wanted to pigeonhole her as an enemy of Caitlin Clark.
Reese got through her time in Chicago, but it never seemed as enjoyable for her or rich with possibilities as it does in Atlanta, where the Dream are coming off a 30-14 season — 20 games better than the bumbling Sky were in the standings — and are right behind the Liberty, Aces and Fever among this year’s championship favorites.
An 87-78 exhibition win against the Sky didn’t mean much in the scheme of things, but Reese’s inability to wipe a smile off her face during warmups just might. Surrounded by serious talent — Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, Brionna Jones, Jordin Canada, Naz Hillmon — she has a chance not only to win but also to be the reason the Dream ascend to a new level.
Reese didn’t exactly look different in her first action with the Dream, missing some close-in shots and pounding the glass — her signatures with the Sky — but her level of intensity stood out, and that’s a good sign. Her enthusiasm with her new teammates did, too, including on the bench in the second half when, her night’s work done, she took on the role of lead cheerleader. It isn’t difficult at all to imagine these attributes being factors that send the Dream over the top.
“My first impression is she’s an All-Star-level player already, and I think she has some room to grow because she’s only been in the league a couple years,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. “And I don’t think she’s satisfied with where she’s at. She wants to be one of the very best players in the league, and I think she has that potential.”
Reese will turn 24 four days before the Dream’s regular-season opener. It could be a tailor-made scenario for her on a team with such healthy vibes — completely unlike recent Sky squads — that Howard, Gray, Jones, Canada and Hillmon all re-signed as free agents despite a Wild West offseason of opportunity throughout the league.
Then again, Reese does have to work her way into an established culture, which can be harder than it sounds. It’s too soon for anyone to say she has already managed that.
But as a giddy Reese put it in a recent scrum with reporters in Atlanta, “It feels great. I mean, I can’t believe this is my life.”
If the Sky ever made her feel like that, we must have missed it.
