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WNBA player Angel Reese may not have helped her negotiating leverage much with a viral lowlight Monday.
During an Unrivaled game, Reese missed three straight shots while standing right under the basket, and one of the shots hit the bottom edge of the backboard.
Reese was able to at least come away with two offensive rebounds on the possession but fell to the hardwood after missing her third shot.
Footage of the sequence quickly spread across social media, and many mocked the timing of it after Reese ignited controversy with recent claims WNBA players may refuse to play games to negotiate higher pay.
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Angel Reese of Rose reacts during the first quarter of a game against the Phantom at Wayfair Arena Jan. 31, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
Reese and fellow WNBA player DiJonai Carrington addressed the next WNBA collective bargaining agreement during Reese’s podcast Friday.
“I’ve got to get in the meetings because I’m hearing like, ‘If y’all don’t give us what we want, we sitting out,'” Reese said.
“The WNBA don’t pay my bills at all. I don’t even think it pays one of my bills. Literally.”
The sports comedy X account “Hater Report” then posted a video of Reese missing the layups with the caption, “Angel Reese DESERVES more money. PAY HER PLEASE.”
Other users got in on the parade of sarcastic comments.
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“GIVE HER THE MAX,” one user wrote.
Another user joked, “Please give this girl a raise before she decides to sit out the next season.”
Some critics were less sarcastic and more directly harsh.
“We should pay her not to play, please don’t make us watch this (as if anyone watches this),” one user wrote.
Another critic wrote, “PAY HER LESS. Quit running your yapping mouth.”
In November, Reese went out of her way to respond to a user with less than 300 followers on X after he mocked her for missing layups, mentioning her 39% shooting percentage.
Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky arrives at the arena before a game against the New York Liberty July 13, 2024, at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
“Do you realize I got drafted seventh in my class while ‘missing layups’ as a ROOKIE shooting 39% on the year and was STILL an All-Star and that was the worst you’ll ever see me?” Reese wrote. “Or you just laid up with your dog at home hating Adam?”
Reese’s shooting ability was not considered a strength of her game when she entered the WNBA after her championship college career at LSU. At 6 feet, 3 inches tall, Reese was considered a premier defender and rebounder. She lived up to that reputation as a rookie, proving the doubters of her shooting ability right.
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She averaged 13.1 rebounds per game in 2024 and became the first player in WNBA history with three consecutive games of 20-plus rebounds. Reese broke the WNBA single-season assist record Sept. 1. However, season-ending wrist surgery a few weeks later prevented her from holding the record. Eventual MVP A’ja Wilson broke the record Sept. 11.
Reese shot 39% from the field, just 18.8% from 3-point range and just 73.6% at the free throw line. She missed layups multiple times in her first year.
Reese signed a four-year, $324,383 rookie contract ahead of her first WNBA season in 2024. She made under $75,000 in her first year and will make less than that in 2025.
Angel Reese (5) of the Chicago Sky boxes out during a game against the Dallas Wings June 20, 2024, at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. (Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)
In October, Reese revealed she couldn’t afford to pay her bills based on that salary in an Instagram live video.
“I’m living beyond my means. Hating pays them bills, baby. I just hope you know the WNBA don’t pay my bills at all,” she said. “I don’t even think that pays one of my bills. Literally, I’m trying to think of my rent for where I stay at. Let me do the math real quick. I don’t even know my (WNBA) salary, $74,000?”
Reese said she’s paying $8,000 for rent.
“Babe, if y’all thought… That WNBA check don’t pay a thing,” she added. “Did that even pay my car note? … I wouldn’t even be able to eat a sandwich with that. I wouldn’t even be able to eat. I wouldn’t be able to live.”
The WNBA players union opted out of its current collective bargaining agreement in October, two years before its expiration.
The current CBA will still cover the 2025 season, so the two sides have a year to negotiate a new agreement.
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