Angel Reese’s name solicits all types of reactions.
Stat padder. Caitlin Clark hater. RG III obsession.
There have been many people who have had a lot to say about Reese, and with all the noise, some important points are being overshadowed.
Let’s start on the court.
Reese is averaging the same points per game as last season (13.6) but on 1.3 fewer shot attempts. Though Reese’s shot percentage stands at 43.4%, it is an improvement over last season’s 39.1%.
Part of the reason why Reese’s percentage is low is because of the physicality of the WNBA. This isn’t the time to speak about the refereeing. I’ll do that at a later date, but Reese takes a lot of contested shots. Some of those shots are contested rebounds where a lot of paint-bumping is tolerated, but there are still too many contested shots that come on bad decisions and/or poor angles. Once that gets solved, Reese’s shooting percentage will rise.
Reese’s rebounds are down, but that can be because of her rising shooting percentage. The knock on Reese was that her offensive rebounding numbers were inflated by her misses at the front of the rim. This season, her offensive rebounds have dipped from 5.1 to 4.0.
Reese’s defensive rebounds have grown from 8.1 last season to 8.8 this season.
Off the floor, Reese has always been more popular than her critics like to acknowledge. No, she doesn’t have the TV space that Clark has, but she doesn’t have to apologize for her marketing success.
Last week, Reese’s signature shoe, Reebok Angel Reese 1, debuted.
Reese is one of five WNBA players with a signature shoe. The other four are Breanna Stewart (Puma), Sabrina Ionescu (Nike), A’ja Wilson (Nike), and Jacy Sheldon (HOLO Footwear).
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Reese will also be the cover athlete for the WNBA edition of the upcoming NBA 2K26 video game. Being a cover athlete for a popular video game has proven to add to the popularity of any athlete.
Reese real estate has grown both on and off the floor and should continue to grow, regardless of the noise.
