The Chicago Sky have suspended second-year star Angel Reese for the first half of Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Aces for comments made during an interview with the Chicago Tribune this week.
Reese offered criticism of the Sky front office and roster during a routine one-on-one interview after practice Tuesday with a Sky communications staffer present. The Sky on Friday announced the suspension for “statements detrimental to the team.”
In a wide-ranging interview Tuesday, Reese expressed her desire for the front office to acquire “great players” in the offseason and for coach Tyler Marsh to coach players harder; questioned whether the team relied on injured veteran Courtney Vandersloot to return as the starting point guard; and voiced skepticism about whether top free agents would be willing to take a “leap of faith” to sign with the Sky in 2026 and beyond.
The 2024 No. 7 pick in the WNBA draft also said she “might have to move in a different direction and do what’s best for me” if the Sky could not assemble a more competitive roster before the end of her rookie contract in 2027.
Players, coaches and executives within the Sky organization were deeply upset by Reese’s comments, per a team source. The forward apologized to teammates before Wednesday’s game against the Connecticut Sun.
The team announced the suspension in a statement less than two hours before tipoff of Friday’s road game against the Indiana Fever, for which Reese already was suspended because of an accumulation of technical fouls.
The team has not publicly specified which aspect of Reese’s statements were considered grounds for a suspension. However, several team sources confirmed that the bulk of the Sky’s internal communication has been focused on her criticism of teammates and suggestions of a lack of overall talent on the roster.
Before Friday’s game in Indianapolis, guard Ariel Atkins told the Chicago Sun-Times that the organization had “full support from our team” in issuing the suspension. Coach Tyler Marsh declined to specify which statements were labeled as “detrimental to the team” or how the front office determined the duration of the suspension.
“It was from the top-down as an organization,” Marsh said. “I don’t want to get into specifics. The matter has been resolved. I’d just like to focus on tonight. … The comments were the comments. I think everybody got the chance to see. All the discussion that needed to be had were had. We’ll leave it there.”
The Sky are eliminated from playoff contention with three games remaining in the season. Reese averages a team-leading 14.7 points and 12.6 rebounds in her second year.
Originally Published: September 5, 2025 at 5:14 PM CDT