'Part Of The Future': Angel Reese Gets Backing Of Napheesa Collier As One Of The WNBA’s Pillars

The Chicago Sky and the Lynx squared off in back-to-back matchups at the Wintrust Arena, splitting the series. The Sky came out on top in Saturday’s clash, winning 87-81, before Collier and the Lynx bounced back to take the win in the rematch. 

Before the game on Tuesday, Collier expressed her admiration for the Chi-Town Barbie and talked about her impact in evolving players around her. 

“Yeah, it’s great, honestly. That’s one of the big reasons why we did Unrivaled, too. The whole mission was to have players leave better than they came. Angel’s a part of the future of the league … she’s got a long future ahead of her,” said Collier. 

She added, “You can really see the difference between this year and last year, even from the beginning of Unrivaled to the end.”

Reese was a part of Collier’s Unrivaled league, where she won the inaugural season with Rose BC. This offseason’s success led her to become the monster that she is now in the WNBA. 

Despite the team’s defeat on Tuesday, Reese recorded 22 points and 10 rebounds, marking her ninth consecutive double-double. Her solid performances lately made Collier’s mind to have her part of her All-Star squad for the showdown in Indianapolis. 

“They helped me a lot”: Angel Reese reciprocates praises for Collier’s Unrivaled

Founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, the inaugural season of the 3×3 league Unrivaled was a huge hit, not only for the women’s game, but also for Angel Reese, who won with Rose BC, and is now showing the fruits of her hard labor during the offseason. 

In a post-game interview on Saturday, the Bayou Barbie shared how the league helped her grow as a player, expressing gratitude towards Collier and her husband, Alex Bazzell. 

“She worked with me all off-season, her and Alex.” Reese said, “Kudos to them because they helped me a lot … being able to go down unrivaled and being able to have them in my corner still to this day Alex texts me all the time.”

After an intense matchup during the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx’s back-to-back games, Reese and Collier will take on Team Clark during the All-Star game before they resume their contest, with Chicago travelling to Target Center to face the Lynx.