Lisa Leslie Weighs In on Angel Reese WNBA Record Pursuit
Chicago Sky star Angel Reese has done a great job dispelling any doubts about whether her success in college would translate to the WNBA.
Through two seasons, Reese has proven that she's not only an elite rebounder but also a versatile scoring threat. She has a deep bag of post moves that allows her to create offense, is still developing a midrange and three-point shot, and showed an impressive ability to facilitate for her teammates and create offense during the 2025 season.
Reese has surely taken cues from the legendary Lisa Leslie, who is a three-time WNBA MVP and one of the best forwards in women's basketball history. Leslie was seen working with Reese while the two were in Miami, Florida, for Unrivaled last year, and a video of Leslie reaching the former LSU Tigers star's post moves went viral on social media.
Reese's success has translated best into one stat: double-doubles. She averaged 14.7 points and 12.6 rebounds per game in 2025, thus becoming one of three WNBA players to average a double-double in their first two seasons in the league. Reese also set the WNBA record for most consecutive double-doubles (15) during her rookie 2024 campaign.
Lisa Leslie Celebrates Angel Reese’s Success
In addition to working with her on the court, Lisa Leslie has always been quick to praise and celebrate the 23-year-old. Another example of this came with an X post on December 25.
The @trendyhoopstars X account made a post that read, "In the history of women’s basketball, only three players have recorded multiple double-double seasons at both the collegiate and WNBA levels: three-time MVP Lisa Leslie, 2021 WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones, and two-time WNBA All-Star Angel Reese."
"Now entering Year 3 of her WNBA career, Reese has an opportunity to move into third all-time in league history in double-double seasons. She also begins the year on the verge of becoming the fastest player to reach 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Should she maintain a double-double average, Reese would stand alone as the only player ever with three double-double seasons in both college and the WNBA," the post added.
Lisa Leslie commented on this, writing, "This is outstanding! Records are meant to be broken! Go get ‘em @Reese10Angel I will be cheering you on 💕😘🙏🏾".
This is outstanding! Records are meant to be broken! Go get ‘em @Reese10Angel I will be cheering you on💕😘🙏🏾 https://t.co/NN8DBCl0cf
— Lisa Leslie (@LisaLeslie) December 25, 2025
While Reese isn't actually chasing down any of Leslie's records, the WNBA legend showing support for Reese's continued improvement is still awesome to see.
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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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