WNBA Veteran Leaves No Doubt About Her Opinion of Angel Reese

Angel Reese’s Rapid Rise in the WNBA

Reese entered the league in 2024 as the seventh overall pick by Chicago after a decorated college career at Maryland and LSU.

At LSU, she led the Tigers to the 2023 NCAA championship, earning Most Outstanding Player honors and set the NCAA single-season record for double-doubles. She followed that with SEC Player of the Year honors in 2024.

In her first WNBA season, Reese broke the league's single-season rookie rebound record with 446 boards and set a league mark with 15 consecutive double-doubles.

She averaged 13.6 points, 13.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game as a rookie. This season, despite missing time with a back injury, she has built on her impressive rookie year by averaging 14.4 points, 12.3 rebounds (leading the league), 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals over 24 games.

Beyond the Box Score: Building a Brand

Known as the "Bayou Barbie" since her LSU days, Reese has also pieced together one of the biggest personal brands in professional sports. Her pregame tunnel outfits regularly trend on social media and she has appeared at the Met Gala and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

Her endorsement portfolio is among the most extensive in the league, with partnerships that include Reebok, McDonald’s, Hershey’s Reese’s, Beats by Dre, Amazon, Bose, Coach and more. She is the cover athlete for the WNBA Edition of NBA 2K26 as well.

Reese also hosts her own podcast, "Unapologetically Angel," which launched in 2024 and features athlete and celebrity interviews, lifestyle segments and candid discussions about the business of women’s basketball.

For a league still fighting for broader mainstream attention, players like Reese represent a bridge to untapped audiences, something Allen, a nine-year WNBA veteran, claims she's never seen in her time in the league.