{"id":130605,"date":"2025-09-03T21:06:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T21:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/130605\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T21:06:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T21:06:08","slug":"angel-reese-offers-sky-a-reality-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/130605\/","title":{"rendered":"Angel Reese offers Sky a reality check"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sky<\/a> executives showed up at practice Tuesday to talk to players about the new Bedford Park practice facility<\/a>, a $40 million project they hope will help sell free agents and signal progress after a 9-30 season.<\/p>\n

Right after the meeting, Angel Reese undercut the optimism with blunt honesty about her offseason expectations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not settling for the same s\u2212\u2212\u2212 we did this year,\u201d Reese told the Chicago Tribune about free agency. \u201cWe have to get good players. We have to get great players. That\u2019s a non-negotiable for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reese told the Tribune she\u2019d do whatever it takes to recruit top talent in the offseason, but she also raised the possibility of leaving if the Sky don\u2019t meet her standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to be here for my career,\u201d she said. \u201cBut if things don\u2019t pan out, obviously I might have to move in a different direction and do what\u2019s best for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

A season of skepticism<\/p>\n

Reese\u2019s comments extended a pattern of skepticism about the Sky\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

When asked in late August whether the Sky took steps forward despite missing the playoffs, she answered it was \u201chard to tell.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

After All-Star break, she said she returned with notes from veteran players about the \u201csmall things\u201d top players now expect of their organizations \u2014 and she shared that list with the Sky.<\/p>\n

And following a long recovery from a back injury, she hinted at a disconnect over the process<\/a>, saying she\u2019d \u201cspeak on it after the season.\u201d In the meantime, she emphasized that she\u2019d learned to put herself first.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably didn\u2019t do that last year,\u201d Reese said after her second game back from injury. \u201cJust try to go out there and play through every damn thing. I can\u2019t always do that. I have to prioritize myself. And when everybody else wants me out there, I can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

What it means for the Sky<\/p>\n

The Sky face the biggest offseason in league history<\/a>: almost every veteran is available to be signed, and two well-funded expansion teams are arriving. Executives keep projecting confidence.<\/p>\n

Their star player doesn\u2019t sound convinced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need great players, and I don\u2019t know what will attract that,\u201d Reese told the Tribune. \u201cMaybe the practice facility will attract that, we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it would be a leap of faith for a great, great player to come here and show this is something they want to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sky executives showed up at practice Tuesday to talk to players about the new Bedford Park practice facility,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-130605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}