Angel Reese is WNBA’s last young star standing — just as she manifested

NEW YORK — Nearly all of Atlanta Dream’s players had left the floor, and Angel Reese was headed back to the locker room when, from across the court, she spotted a familiar figure in a dark grey jacket perched behind the security rope. Reese turned and took off on a sprint, like she was chasing down a rebound, like she hadn’t just played almost 38 minutes.

From behind the rope, Teresa Weatherspoon — the New York Liberty legend and Reese’s coach during her first year in the league with the Chicago Sky— stretched her arms around Reese and pulled her protégé in tight.

This is what we talked about. This is what you talked about.

In the decisive third game of the Dream’s sweep of New York, punching Atlanta’s ticket to the WNBA Finals, Reese scored a team-high 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds in their 85-83 win.

But it wasn’t just that.

She gave the visitors in Barclays Center the full Angel Reese Experience. She blocked two shots, talked major trash, came to the defense of her teammates and then motioned to the rowdy New York crowd to bring it — yes, she wants all the smoke.

She chest-bumped, fist-pumped and when it was all over, put her head in her hands as the tears welled and reality set in. The game had felt extra-long to Reese, maybe because she had gone toe-to-toe with Jonquel Jones all night, or maybe because when the moments we spend imagining for years finally arrive, time seems to bend in a way.

This is what Reese talked about. This is exactly what she imagined.

Now, she gets a finals appearance against the Golden State Valkyries.

Even as a rookie in Chicago, with Weatherspoon as coach, when the Sky limped to a 13-27 season, and even last year, when the Sky, under first-year coach Tyler Marsh, went 10-34, Reese saw herself here.

On the evening of the 2025 WNBA Finals, as the Las Vegas Aces swept the Phoenix Mercury, and as Reese — for the second-straight postseason-less year — watched from home, she texted Kahleah Copper, a friend who was on the losing side of that series. She wrote: “Give me one playoff game and I’ll make it to the finals.”

Then, she told the world exactly what she and Weatherspoon had discussed.

The player who had never even sniffed a playoff game — let alone a winning record in the pros — wasn’t just thinking about the first round. She was manifesting the finals. And she wanted everyone to know.

There is a risk in making the private public. In taking those dreams and allowing the world to see, to measure, to grade. Reese knows that better than most. One of the most famous players in a league never short on drama, Reese has been vilified and lionized, compared and doubted incessantly.

In her lead-up to the WNBA, she knew there was skepticism. As with every player, there were questions. But as with everything orbiting around Reese, it was louder. Was she physically strong enough? Could she develop an outside shot? Would her skillset translate to the pros since she’s a bit of a tweener? Would the noise around her with her NIL presence distract her?

In April 2024, Reese sat in the room at Brooklyn Academy of Music, a stone’s throw from the Barclays Center, and watched as six players were drafted before her.

Finally, No. 7 came and Chicago (with its second pick in that round) took Reese.

No. 7 hurt in the moment, but she couldn’t be more grateful for it now. Hindsight has shown her that she needed it to get here.

“I think it was important for me to go through what I’ve been through,” Reese said. “Going through adversity builds character, and I was able to learn from a lot of things. Being able to continue to be great but also learning to know that I can be better.”

Those six players drafted in front of her? None has made it to a WNBA Finals yet. The players who’ve been anointed, along Reese, as the future of the league — Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Olivia Miles — none have won in the postseason like Reese has now.

She spent two years in Chicago before maneuvering an exit to Atlanta, a team that had just completed a 30-win season under first-year coach Karl Smesko. Atlanta, as a city, made sense as did the existing roster — she filled a need for size and rebounding, and had existing relationships with several players.

The fit with Smesko was TBD. Reese is a main character, the player who went from “Bayou Barbie” to simply “Barbie.” She has reached the level of fame that when she tweets about her love of a television show, she’s cast in it the next season. Meanwhile, Smesko exudes suburban dad energy. He’s the kind of guy who you assume mows his lawn in a specific pattern and whose most surprising trait is that he likes heavy metal.

And yet, there has been no better fit for Reese at this point in her pro career. Smesko has challenged her and raised her up. He is her main workout partner and does every pre-game shooting routine with her. When she got to Atlanta, she entrusted the staff to change her shot. Smesko told her to be patient, which is not an inherent trait for Reese. The results would come, he promised. Her range would extend. She needed to see that for herself, but she also needed to expect the journey (and know it wouldn’t be easy).

“It’s really hard for me to not want to rush success,” Reese admitted.

So, when Reese was getting impatient, Smesko — understanding her mentality — challenged her. Nothing like making that chip on her shoulder just a bit heavier. He stopped a practice during training camp and said they couldn’t continue until she knocked down two 3s in a row.

Reese got mad. Then she got better. If she could be comfortable shooting those shots in front of her teammates, she could shoot those shots in front of sold-out arenas (even if her misses ended up becoming videos that trolled her online). Eventually, she would hit those shots in sold-out arenas. Her first basket of Game 3 was a baseline 3-pointer directly in front of the Liberty’s sideline before she turned and pointed at the end of the bench.

Sure, many point to her 3-point percentage on the season: 19 percent. But Smesko will happily pull up her 3-point percentage in the playoffs: 39 percent.

Smesko knew she’d get here, so did Reese.

“She’s one of those people who puts her goals out there, and sometimes when you do that, you put it out there for people to criticize and judge,” Dream owner and former WNBA player Renee Montgomery said. “But she does it unapologetically, and now she’s just checking goals off the list.”

It was exactly one year ago that the Aces took home the 2025 title in four games and Reese told the world she was manifesting to do the same. She saw herself here a thousand times before she stood in this moment.

Give me one playoff game and I’ll make it to the finals.

Reese has made it there faster than any of her peers, but anyone who knows Reese knows it’s not just about making the finals. She’s not a player who shows up wanting a participation trophy. She has undoubtedly dreamt up so much more.

When Reese finally let go of Weatherspoon after the game, she just smiled and nodded. This moment is what Reese envisioned, and Weatherspoon was there to see it all unfold. For a moment, they stood in silence before Reese rejoined her team.

Like a proud mom, Weatherspoon stayed on the baseline and just admired the court that became Angel Reese’s domain for one night in October.

This, here, is exactly what they talked about. This, and so much more.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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