Women’s basketball is having a well-deserved moment, and its popularity has been growing with the addition of Angel Reese to the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. 

Only months out of college, Reese, who plays the position of power forward, is leaving an indelible mark on the game. She is a favorite for the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year award, her star power expanding into the stratosphere after a spectacular showing during the league’s All-Star Game, where she racked up a double-double by scoring at least 10 points and recording at least 10 rebounds (she finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds). As of August, she has set a league record for consecutive games (15) with double-doubles.

 

Reese’s charisma and style — which includes eyelash extensions, long nails and other trendy looks — earned her the moniker “Bayou Barbie” when she played for Louisiana State University (LSU), and attracted brand partnerships including Mercedes Benz, Coach, Bose and athletic apparel retailer DTLR. Her winning combination of talent, charm and business savvy has positioned her as one of the most influential sports stars in decades, and at 22 years old, she’s just getting started.

 

Growing up in the Baltimore suburb of Randallstown, Maryland, Reese was always athletic, having played volleyball and softball, as well as running track. She also performed on the cheerleading squad, and though she excelled at all she did, it was basketball that ran deep in her blood.

 

Her mother, Angel Webb Reese, played basketball at the University of Maryland before embarking on a professional career overseas in Luxembourg. Her father, Michael Reese, played for Loyola University in Maryland and, like her mother, later took his pro talents to Europe. Reese’s whole family — including her brother, aunts and grandparents — also played the game. When her younger brother, Julian (who currently plays for Maryland), decided to focus on basketball, Reese — whom she had a friendly sibling rivalry with — followed suit, with the two frequently facing off against each other on a court in front of their house.

 

Reese further honed her skills playing with older kids and in boys’ recreational leagues, while her mother — who raised Reese and her brother after separating from their father — contributed to her love of the sport by regularly taking her to games of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.

 

At Baltimore’s St. Francis Academy, Reese started in all of her school’s 31 games as a varsity freshman, averaging 12.0 points a game and leading her team to an Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (IAAM) state title. During her sophomore year, she averaged 17.6 points and helped St. Mary’s score another IAAM top crown.

 

In her junior year, Reese averaged 18.3 points a game. For her senior year, Reese averaged 18.6 points per game and helped her team win a third IAAM championship, which resulted in her being named Player of the Year by the Baltimore Sun and a first-team All-American by USA Today. After receiving 24 NCAA Division I offers as a five-star recruit, Reese followed in her mom’s footsteps and enrolled at Maryland.

 

Reese’s college career started slowly, as a fractured foot affected her freshman year performance, but she still helped her team garner a Big 10 conference title. Reese’s talents heated up in her sophomore year, when she was considered the Terrapins’ best player, notching several 20-plus point games and guiding the team to a berth in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. After her sophomore year, Reese entered the NCAA transfer portal with an eye on both developing her skills for a professional basketball career and a coach who would guide her into a stretch-four player (who is one of their team’s tallest players and is skilled at shooting the ball from long range).

 

Her search included visits to powerhouse women’s basketball programs like Tennessee and South Carolina, with Reese considering LSU when a friend who entered the NCAA’s transfer portal suggested they visit the campus. Head coach Kim Mulkey’s impressive record and LSU’s strong foundation for women’s teams quickly won her over, and soon she stepped into the program that would propel her to national fame. Baton Rouge and southern Louisiana may seem a long way from Baltimore, both culturally and geographically, but Reese easily made the transition. Reese’s two seasons at LSU served as a dizzying spectacle for her athletic domination, as she scored in double figures in every game (61 double-doubles) and led the Tigers to their first national championship. For 2023, Reese earned 34 double-doubles, more than any other woman in a single NCAA basketball season.

 

The 2023 NCAA National Championship attracted a record-breaking 9.9 million viewers, with Reese’s position as LSU’s star forward and the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player seemingly commanding the most attention. Off the court, her charm, cascading hairstyles, colorful manicures and fashion savvy heightened her visibility. Even people who knew nothing about women’s basketball recognized the 6’3” stunner who ushered the sport onto a new level. Reese, however, would be talked about in a different way following the championship game, when she encountered intense backlash about her personal style.

 

Various sports commentators made derogatory statements about Reese, which had nothing to do with her hoop skills but about what they perceived as her negative attitude. Reese was also subject to sexualized commentary from critics as well as death threats from others. Even in the commercial realm, one former WNBA player claimed Reese didn’t deserve to have her jersey sold at Dick’s Sporting Goods despite her record-shattering stats and popularity.

 

Armed with a thick skin, Reese didn’t complain or engage with online stalkers. The experiences instead served as inspiration to give back to others with the creation of the Angel C. Reese Foundation, launched to empower women and girls through sports, education and financial literacy. The foundation focuses on providing equitable resources for young women in underrepresented groups, with opportunities for them to attend basketball camps, financial literacy programs and community events, as well as benefit from scholarship initiatives.

 

The recognitions continued streaming in for Reese during 2023, as she won Breakthrough Athlete of the Year at ESPN’s ESPY Awards and was selected to play for Team USA at the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup in Mexico (the team placed second to Brazil). The stylish hooper also appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue — where she modeled a selection of eye-catching bikinis — and her fame translated into the hip-hop arena as well, where she was referenced in the Latto and Cardi B tune “Put It On Da Floor Again,” along with being featured in the song’s video.

 

Reese finished her collegiate career as a three-time Associated Press All-American and a two-time Southeastern Conference All-Defense honoree. Playing up her love for splashy gestures, Reese announced plans to enter the 2024 WNBA Draft not at a press conference but in the pages of Vogue. Her professional hoop dreams were realized this April when she was selected 7th overall in the draft by Chicago Sky, with only a month left until she was to graduate college.

 

Powering through her first pre-season game against the Minnesota Lynx with 12 points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes (coming in spite of a loss), Reese lived up to the accolades, but it would be her second pre-season game that truly showcased her multi-dimensional abilities. Opting to celebrate her 22nd birthday May 5 in New York at the Met Gala — which was the day before the Sky’s game against the New York Liberty — Reese sweated through practice in the morning and flew to the gala in the evening, where she strolled the red carpet in a sparkling, custom pale green dress.

 

Returning to Chicago afterwards, Reese racked up 13 points, five rebounds and two steals in 19 minutes to help the Sky defeat the Liberty. If that weren’t enough, Reese topped off her first month in the WNBA by earning her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from LSU.

 

For her regular season debut, Reese scored 12 points and eight rebounds against the Dallas Wings. By the time she played five games, she had cemented her place in WNBA history, becoming the second player ever in the league to grab 24 offensive rebounds through her first five games.

 

“Angel is somebody who works hard no matter what it’s looking like,” Sky guard Chennedy Carter said after the Sky’s July 16 road victory over the Las Vegas Aces. “And I told her, as just one of her teammates and one of the closest people to her on the team, ‘No matter what, I got your back. Miss or make, you’re a special player, you’re a talented player.’”

 

By her second month in the league, Reese had racked up four consecutive double-doubles and ten rebounds, making her the only rookie to eclipse 100 points and 100 rebounds that early in the season. Before she had time to catch her breath, Reese was selected to play for Team WNBA against the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game, held in Phoenix. Per usual, she delivered, helping her team to a victory by garnering 12 points and 11 rebounds as she snagged another record as the first rookie to earn a double-double in an All-Star Game. 

 

It was a sweet victory for the WNBA, as the game shattered viewing records with 3.44 million watchers, which also came as WNBA merchandise — especially Reese’s jersey — was flying off store shelves. Now known as “Chi-Town Barbie,” Reese — who earned the WNBA’s Rookie of the Month honors for June — was shutting down the naysayers who thought her college court skills wouldn’t translate to the pro game.

 

In addition to her achievements, Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon has credited Reese as being a great teammate. “You can tell she’s not out there just for herself,” Weatherspoon explained after the Sky’s July 16 game. “She’s out here for team wins, and that’s what it’s all about.”

 

Sporting her signature single legging on the court (done both to cover a prominent scar and to honor similarly-styled players she’s inspired by, like Te’a Cooper and A’ja Wilson), Reese has proven she’s a master of pop culture as well as basketball. She has influenced a host of memes on social media and has been very popular with users, boasting 4 million followers on Instagram and 3.8 million on TikTok. With record-setting basketball stats and endorsement deals from Amazon, PlayStation and Airbnb in her portfolio, Reese’s rise appears unstoppable. And if all that weren’t enough, Reese announced in July that she will join the Unrivaled, a three-on-three women’s basketball league set to begin play in January 2025 during the WNBA’s offseason.

 

From basketball to pop culture to — dare we say, the world — Angel Reese has her sights set on conquering it all. Don’t expect her to slow down anytime soon, both in Chicago and beyond.

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