Angel Reese to Miss Finale vs. Liberty
Angel Reese's sophomore season will cease, keeping her out of the year's finale against the New York Liberty.
Per Chris Kwiecinski of WFLD, Sky head coach Tyler Marsh ruled Reese out of Thursday's game (8 p.m. ET, My9), which will serve as the closeout to a dreary campaign in the Windy City. Reese was listed as questionable with a back ailment on the pregame injury reprt.
One of the more popular, if not polarizing, players in the modern women's game, Reese ends her sophomore tour averaging 14.7 points and 12.6 rebounds. She will miss the final four games of the Sky's season amidst a week-plus of turmoil partly stemming from comments in an interview with Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune, which saw her challenge Sky management to make moves this offseason after missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
“I’m not settling for the same [stuff] we did this year,” Reese said to Poe. “We have to get good players. We have to get great players. That’s a non-negotiable for me...I’m willing and wanting to play with the best, and however I can help to get the best here, that’s what I’m going to do this offseason. So it’s going to be very, very important this offseason to make sure we attract the best of the best because we can’t settle for what we have this year.”
Entering the final day of the regular season, Chicago (10-33) owns the second-worst record in the WNBA but doesn't have its 2026 first-round pick, having traded it to the league-leading Minnesota Lynx for the right to draft Hailey Van Lith with the 11th overall choice last spring. Van Lith is averaging 3.5 points in just over 12 minutes a game this year.
Reese, who has two years left on the rookie contract she earned upon her drafting in the seventh slot of the 2024 draft out of LSU, even hinted at going in a "different direction" if the Sky remains dormant. The article also features what some perceived as shots at tenured point guard and 2024 Liberty champion Courtney Vandersloot, who returned to the site of her first dozen WNBA seasons via free agency, but lasted only seven games before a torn ACL ended her comeback tour.
“We can’t rely on Courtney to come back at the age that she’s at,” Reese said. “I know she’ll be a great asset for us, but we can’t rely on that. We need someone probably a little younger with some experience, somebody who’s been playing the game and is willing to compete for a championship and has done it before.”
Chicago opted to suspend Reese for the first half of Sunday's game against the Las Vegas Aces for "statements detrimental to the team" but wound up sitting out entirely due to the injury. Reese had previously missed Friday's game in Indiana due to a full suspension triggered by her league-leading eighth technical foul of the season.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.