Angel Reese's Candace Parker Sky Retirement Shirt Refusal Raises Eyebrows
Women's basketball legend Candace Parker was interviewed by Complex Sports back in July and was asked to do a "tier" ranking of select WNBA stars. This meant she was given the names of several players and would rank them between "S" tier (the highest) and "C" tier (which was the lowest grade that Parker gave.
After listing several players, Parker was asked to rank Chicago Sky standout Angel Reese. She ultimately gave Reese a "C" tier ranking, and when asked why she made this decision, Parker said, "I put her right at that C level. I think in terms of being above, you have to be able to have the ability to carry your team, be a one or two option. I think Angel Reese is fantastic at her role, which is offensive rebounding. She showed and demonstrated so much growth in that first year."
Parker giving Reese this ranking turned a lot of heads within the WNBA community. And Parker has since doubled and tripled down on her ranking, not backing down from some of the backlash she received about it.
It seems that there's a chance Reese might have also caught wind of what Parker said, given a decision she made on August 25.
Angel Reese Doesn't Wear Candace Parker Pregame Sky Retirement Shirt
Parker was back in Chicago on Monday night, as her No. 3 jersey was getting retired at halftime of the Sky's home game against the Las Vegas Aces.
To celebrate this, the Sky players were all wearing Candace Parker shirts with the No. 3 on the back while warming up. Well, every Sky player aside from Angel Reese.
This was shown with a video from X user @teee_que, who posted the Sky warming up while Reese was still wearing her jacket.
Angel like eff that shirt pic.twitter.com/QYWF2LBLWo
— TQ (@teee_que) August 25, 2025
There were several other videos depicting Reese not wearing the shirt, including one during Chicago's pregame player introductions.
X user @allthedogspleaz reposted the WNBA's video of the Sky's starting five getting announced, where Reese can be seen not wearing the shirt. The post's caption was, "I can’t get over Angel Reese covering up the t-shirt everyone is wearing to celebrate Candace Parker, just because CP gave her objective basketball opinion on Reese, and she didn’t like it.
"You don’t disrespect the GOAT and your elders like this."
I can’t get over Angel Reese covering up the t-shirt everyone is wearing to celebrate Candace Parker, just because CP gave her objective basketball opinion on Reese, and she didn’t like it.
— Rachel (@allthedogspleaz) August 26, 2025
You don’t disrespect the GOAT and your elders like this.
pic.twitter.com/P5pWp1ZN2m
One can't say for certain why Reese isn't wearing the shirt. But many fans on social media are convinced it's a byproduct of what Parker ranked her in the aforementioned video last month.
After Parker tripled down on her tier ranking during a Post Moved podcast episode with Aliyah Boston, Reese made an X post that wrote “Clout is one helluva DRUG. Like it really gets to a point."
clout is one helluva DRUG. like it really gets to a point.
— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) July 30, 2025
Fans believed this was in reaction to what Parker said about her. And Reese not wearing the Parker retirement shirt on Monday could further suggest there's a disconnect between these two.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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