Sky suspend Angel Reese over ‘different direction’ comments

Angel Reese has been suspended for the first half of the Sky’s game Sunday against the Aces after she called out her Chicago teammates and threatened to go in a “different direction” in a recent interview.

Reese was also previously suspended by the league for the Sky’s game on Friday after recording her eighth technical foul of the season earlier this week.

“The Chicago Sky values the safety, respect, and well-being of every player,” the team said in a statement Friday. “We are committed to accountability so our players can stay focused on playing basketball. Because of the 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, in the interview with the Chicago Tribune, talked about not “settling for the same s–t we did this year” and potentially needing to do “what’s best for me” if something didn’t change.

“I am very vocal about what we need and what I want,” Reese told the Tribune. “I’d like to be here for my career, but if things don’t pan out, obviously I might have to move in a different direction and do what’s best for me. But while I am here, I’m going to try to stay open-minded about what I have here and maximize that as much as I can.”

She also didn’t mince her thoughts about veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot, who returned to Chicago for this season and tore her ACL during the campaign — telling the Tribune that the Sky “can’t rely on Courtney to come back at the age that she’s at.”

Reese attempted to clarify her comments following the Sky’s Sept. 3 win, saying that the “language is taken out of content.”

“I don’t think I’m frustrated,” Reese told reporters. “I’m more frustrated with myself right now … I didn’t mean to intentionally put it on my teammates because they have been through this with me throughout the whole year. They’ve busted their ass just like l’ve busted my ass. They’ve shown up for me through thick and thin in the locker room when nobody could see anything.”

The Sky enter Friday’s game with a 10-30 record and, once this year concludes, will have missed the playoffs in each of Reese’s first two WNBA seasons. 

Reese, the No. 7 overall pick last year, has averaged 14.7 points and 12.6 rebounds per game in 2025.