Angel Reese Suspended For Making "Detrimental" Comments
Angel Reese Suspended For Making “Detrimental” Comments About Her Teammates
When the WNBA season started, a late-regular-season matchup between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky looked like a date to mark on the calendar. However, Friday’s matchup will be missing both teams’ top stars and the league’s most controversial rivalry, as both Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will be absent.
Clark’s groin injury means she won’t return at all this season as the Fever try to make a deep run in the playoffs. Reese is serving a mandatory one-game suspension after earning her eighth tech vs. the Connecticut Sun in a win on Thursday night.
Reese was called for the foul after hitting Aaliyah Edwards in the head while contending for a rebound late in the first half. Sky coach Tyler Marsh said the team would appeal the tech, which comes with a mandatory one-game suspension.
Reese finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, and the Sky won the game, 88-64, but it was only the Sky’s tenth win this season. This comes after Reese gave a controversial interview to The Chicago Tribune, criticizing Sky management and her own teammates.
She apologized to her teammates, but her comments have led to another suspension, this time for the first half of Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Aces.
“The Chicago Sky values the safety, respect, and well-being of every player. We are committed to accountability so our players can stay focused on playing basketball,” the team wrote in a statement. “Because of statements detrimental to the team made by Angel Reese during league-mandated media, she will not play in the first half of the game on September 7 against the Las Vegas Aces. This matter has been handled and resolved internally, and we are moving forward as a team.”
Reese says her comments were taken out of context and that she apologized to her teammates in a closed-door meeting.
The team drafted Reese with the seventh pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Since then, she’s been one of the league’s leading rebounders, improving her stats overall since her rookie season.
See social media’s reaction to her comments below.
