Chicago Sky Coach Explains Angel Reese Offseason Goal Amid Team Friction
On September 5, the Chicago Sky announced that second-year forward Angel Reese had been suspended for the first half of the team's September 7 game against the Las Vegas Aces as punishment for her "detrimental" comments about the organization, her teammates, and her head coach, Tyler Marsh.
These comments stemmed from a September 3 article from Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune. Reese played in a game that same day against the Connecticut Sun and secured an 88-64 win for her team. After the game, she publicly apologized for her comments and assured the media (and any teammates who were listening) that her ultimate message had been misconstrued.
But this story only gets stranger from there. The Sky's next game was against the Indiana Fever on September 5; however, Reese was suspended from that game by the WNBA because she had amassed too many technical fouls during the 2025 WNBA regular season. So Reese sat out that Fever game and then sat out the first half of their game against the Aces two days later, but was eligible to play in the second half.
Although Reese didn't play in the second half because of what she said was a back injury, which she reported to the team right before tip-off.
Despite taking part in team shootaround, Reese didn't play in the Sky's next game because of her back, and is questionable to partake in their final regular season contest on September 11.
Tyler Marsh Speaks About Angel Reese Before Final Game
Sky coach Tyler Marsh spoke with the media on Thursday and made several statements about Reese.
"I mean, we speak every day. It's more of just checking in on her body, seeing how she's feeling day-to-day," Marsh said when asked if he and Reese are speaking, per an X post from Chicago State of Mind Sports.
He then added, "It wasn't miscommunication. It was [based] off of how she was feeling in warmups... I think the expectation across the board was that she was going to play, but then obviously, her back pain was just too much to kind of push it in the situation that we're in now."
"It has been a disappointing season, from an injury standpoint, for sure, across the board with our team. And so I don't think that's anything different with Angel. I think she wants to be out there, she's a competitor, she wants to fight, she wants to compete. So anytime you're not able to do that at full strength... It's disappointing, and it's frustrating," he continued.
WATCH: Coach Marsh on communication with Angel Reese, Reese's mindset enduring another injury setback and the current locker room culture.
— Chicago State of Mind Sports (@ChiStateOfMind_) September 11, 2025
Marsh also stated that the team is unsure if Reese will play tonight and she will be a game-time decision.
#Skytown pic.twitter.com/mkMVVQDH6k
"I think most importantly, it's about getting healthy so that [Reese] can attack this offseason as best as possible. And that attack next season as best as possible," Marsh said.
It's interesting to hear Marsh talk about Reese's upcoming offseason, as there has been a lot of speculation that she might end up getting traded because of her aforementioned comments.
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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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