Angel Reese is closing her regular-season series against fellow rookie Caitlin Clark as the Chicago Sky hosts the Indiana Fever in what would be the WNBA’s first-ever Barbie-themed game tonight. The game’s theme is due to the collaboration between the Sky and Barbie’s parent company Mattel.
The “Chi-Town Barbie” dressed for the occasion as she entered the Wintrust Arena wearing a Dennis Rodman Detroit Pistons jersey backward.
“We’re catchin’ your drift Angel Reese. She rebounds and hustles relentlessly like Dennis Rodman, and we’re living for the whole look rockin’ his jersey,” said the caption of the post on the WNBA’s official Instagram account.
Reese’s WNBA career only started this year, and yet she’s already surpassed established stars like A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, and Breanna Stewart in rebounding. She’s currently leading the league in boards, averaging 12.9 rebounds per game.
The Chicago rookie recorded over 20 rebounds in three consecutive games from August 18 to 25, becoming the first rookie in the NBA or WNBA to grab over 20 rebounds in back-to-back games since Shaquille O’Neal did it with the Orlando Magic in 1993.
The owner of the jersey Angel Reese wore, Dennis Rodman is a seven-time NBA rebounding champion and a five-time NBA champion—twice with the Pistons and thrice with the Chicago Bulls. The rookie paid a fitting tribute to “The Worm,” but it is too early to tell if she can match the impact the NBA Hall of Famer made in his career.
Angel Reese receives high praise from Sheryl Swoopes amid her rookie season
Another big name that joins the list of Angel Reese’s is four-time WNBA champion Sheryl Swoopes.
The former Houston Comets legend recently praised the Chicago Sky star amid her ongoing remarkable rookie season in the league.
“I wanna see her continue to be a dawg. She is a dawg!” the three-time WNBA MVP said of Reese. “I love the fact that she’s just her. She is unapologetically Angel. She plays hard on both ends of the floor, [it] doesn’t matter what the score is.”
Angel Reese is a strong candidate to win the 2024 Rookie of the Year award, closely contending with the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark for the honor.
“I just love how she’s coming into this league, she’s embraced the bumps, the bruises, she has embraced the good with the bad,” Swoopes continued. “I just love watching her play because she plays hard the entire game.”
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