Sky Veteran Responds to Angel Reese Comments
Angel Reese hasn't had the best week. Her team, the Chicago Sky, did manage to beat the Connecticut Sun for their 10th win of the 2025 WNBA regular season.
However, her comments during an interview with the Chicago Tribune landed her in some hot water. Some of her teammates spoke on the matter, including starting guard Ariel Atkins, after Reese apologized.
"I’m not settling for the same s*** we did this year," Reese told Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune recently. “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."
tonight’s game status report @UChicagoMed | #skytown pic.twitter.com/DnzbOUn05C
— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) September 5, 2025
Reese went on further by saying, "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."
The team decided to issue a punishment to the two-time WNBA All-Star. Reese is to sit out the first half of Sunday's game against the Las Vegas Aces.
Furthermore, with Reese being issued her eighth technical foul during the second quarter of Wednesday's game, she is suspended one game. She served the one-game suspension on Friday as the Sky played without her against the Indiana Fever.
How veteran Ariel Atkins feels about her teammate's comments
Veteran guard signed a one-year deal to join the Chicago Sky. Atkins is averaging 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game this season.
"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," said Atkins. "But I'm grown and I just don't care.
According to an article from the Chicago Sun-Times' Alissa Hirsh, a player's only meeting was held after the game against the Sun. Atkins added that "We just here trying to do our jobs on a day-to-day."
Statement from the Chicago Sky pic.twitter.com/kf8qXvEkGb
— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) September 5, 2025
Atkins struggled to find her shot in the win against the Sun. In 29 minutes, she managed just six points and three rebounds in the game.
She is one of several players on the Sky that will be a free agent this winter. While it remains if Atkins will be brought back, the 29-year-old still has more basketball in her future as this is her eighth season in the WNBA.
Last month, the former Washington Mystic player scored a season-high of 30 points against the Las Vegas Aces. That is who the Chicago Sky will play their next two games before wrapping up the season at home against the New York Liberty.
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My name is Scott Conrad and I am a Contributor for the Chicago Sky with Sports Illustrated.com. I am also a Contributor with FanSided on NinerNoise, as well as Da Windy City. In addition, I am the Site Editor/Expert for The View from Avalon. I spent two seasons (2015 & 2016) with the Tampa Bay Times as a Correspondent covering high school football. I am a two-time published author with more work to come. In my teenage years, I started watching both MLS and WNBA start in 1996 and grow to be the juggernauts they are in their respective sports. Much love to the career on and off the court for fellow-Napervillian and former Sky forward Candace Parker. Outside of the sports journalism world, I am a travel volleyball coach. I accepted the Head Coach position with Greater Cincinnati Volleyball Club for their U13-2 team. In terms of active sports, I play volleyball, soccer, softball, kickball and train in mixed martial arts.