Angel Reese's Teammates' Blunt Takes on Controversial Sky Criticism Raise Eyebrows
Chicago Sky star Angel Reese was the center of attention within the women's basketball community on September 3, after she was quoted in a Chicago Tribune article calling out her organization for several things, including making claims that the team's current roster wasn't good enough to compete in the postseason and that the front office needed to do a better job in free agency.
Reese got a lot of backlash for these comments and offered an apology after her team's September 3 game by saying, "I don't think I’m frustrated [with the Sky franchise]. I probably am frustrated with myself right now. I think the language was taken out of context, and I really didn't intentionally mean to put down my teammates, because they've been through this with me throughout the whole year. They've busted their a** just like how I've busted my a**. They've showed up for me through thick and thin in the locker room when nobody could see anything.
"I want to apologize to my teammates, which I already have, about the article and how it was misconstrued, about what was said. I just have to be better with my language because I know it's not the message, it's the messenger. And understanding what I say can be taken any type of way. So I just have to really be better and grow from this," Reese concluded.
Chicago Sky Players React to Angel Reese's Criticism
It was always going to be interesting to see what Reese's teammates thought about her comments and ensuing apology. And a September 5 article from Alissa Hirsh of the Chicago Sun-Times included several quotes from Reese's teammates reacting to what she said.
The article read, "Rachel Banham told the Sun-Times she felt 'blindsided' by Angel Reese’s interview, where she called for roster upgrades and raised the possibility of leaving if things didn’t 'pan out.'"
Standout guard Ariel Atkins was quoted as saying, “I think I just don’t really care. I’m so over all of this s---. If I was younger, it would have affected me more. But I’m grown and I just don’t care... We just here trying to do our jobs on a day-to-day."
Oh yeah Angel Reese’s time in Chicago is coming to a end 😭 pic.twitter.com/id4OubQlE3
— Quin (@Quinthox) September 5, 2025
Veteran forward Elizabeth Williams appeared to be more sympathetic to Reese, as she said, “[Reese] obviously doesn’t want to disrespect us or anything like that. Ultimately I think the goal of [the interview] was just to share things she wanted to see in the future for the team and improvements that could be made.
“She has a big influence, whether she says something good or bad, people like to interpret it a certain way,” Williams added. “I think she understands she just has to be mindful of the language she uses.”
It seems that Reese's future in Chicago is as uncertain as ever right now.
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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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