LSU women’s basketball prospect turned WNBA forward for the Chicago Sky, Angel Reese, had her rookie debut cut short after sustaining a season-ending wrist injury on Friday, September 6, against the Los Angeles Sparks. Soon after, Reese took to social media to address and clarify her injury, in which she was diagnosed with a small crack in her left wrist bone after a hard fall on the court. Angel Reese underwent a successful surgery this past Tuesday, September 10.
The day before her wrist diagnosis, Reese had put up astounding numbers against the Sparks, racking up 24 points and 12 rebounds in a dominant 90-72 victory in California.
Reese later went to TikTok to address information about her injury, saying, “Basically, the doctors told me that I could either not get surgery or have surgery. The risk of not having surgery—I could literally have arthritis at 22 years old. That wasn’t an option. The bone could literally crack and completely shatter” (ESPN).
The 7th overall pick in this year’s WNBA draft finished off her season averaging 13.6 points, 13.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals in her short-lived rookie debut (ESPN). Reese managed to make history as well by breaking the record of most rebounds averaged in a single season.
Since the draft, Reese has been in major competition with the Indiana Fever’s first overall pick, Catlin Clark. This competition between the two has stemmed since their college careers. During both their rookie seasons, they have managed to increase the WNBA’s TV ratings as well as overall attendance.
The Chicago Sky are now forced to push through the season without their star player. The Sky’s new starting lineup now features Isabelle Harrison to cover for Angel Reese at power forward during her recovery period. Harrison has been averaging 6.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 0.6 steals (ESPN).
Reese was a strong contender for the WNBA Rookie of the Year award up until her injury; however, with her surgery, Reese is taking the route of avoiding long-term health issues as addressed in her social media post.
Reese concluded her injury news with a heartfelt post on social media, saying, “What a year. I never would have imagined the last bucket of my rookie season would be a 3 but maybe that was God saying give them a taste of what they will be seeing more of in Year 2” (Bleacher Report).
Reese’s recovery time should fortunately be short-lived at the moment; a six week recovery period was issued and should be sufficient until she is back and dominating on the hardwood come next season.
