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Angel Reese Gets Surprise Announcement From Unrivaled League

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Deveney | Last updated Mar 15, 2025 2:04 PM ET

Those who watched the inaugural season of the women's basketball league, Unrivaled, which was based in Florida and gave WNBA stars the opportunity to compete and earn money in a domestic offseason league, most likely expected co-founder Napheesa Collier to sweep the league's awards.

She has been named a first-team All-Unrivaled player, after all, and as USA Today noted, "Collier is also a favorite to win Unrivaled MVP, and a frontrunner for Unrivaled defensive player of the year."

But wait just a moment. One player who honed her chops as a defensive stalwart during the league was Angel Reese, last year's WNBA Rookie of the Year runner-up. Reese averaged 13.1 points and 12.1 rebounds for the Rose during league play, also adding 0.7 blocks and 0.6 steals.

She led the circuit in rebounding, one of only four players to average double-digits on the boards.

That factored in, surely, to Unrivaled's decision on Saturday to name Reese the league's Defensive Player of the Year, over Collier.

"Unrivaled's Defensive Player of the Year: Angel Reese," the league noted in a post on Twitter/X.

Unrivaled's Defensive Player of the Year: The Angel Reese ✨ pic.twitter.com/quLBBkYZgx
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) March 15, 2025

The 22-year-old Chicago Sky star certainly left her mark on the league, both for her play on the floor and her occasional confrontations with veterans, including Collier.

She seemed to enjoy the time, though.

'We get to workout, use the weight room, create new bonds/friendships, get treatment, get massages, use the sauna, getting 2 meals a day, and then a facial before I leave for the day??? yeah i love it here,' she wrote on X.

Unrivaled's playoffs, including Reese's Rose team, will wrap up this week, with the semifinals on Sunday and the final on Monday.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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