The mission always has been twofold for Sky star Angel Reese. Standing among the best basketball players in the world is her top priority — and she has climbed there at just 23 after winning a national championship at LSU and earning a WNBA All-Star selection as a rookie — and the drive to build her brand is close behind.
Those ambitions fit what the Sky and the league want, too. As both push for prominence, Reese’s rise lifts them. It has been rare for the Sky to have a player among the titans of the Chicago sports landscape, and the WNBA is banking on Reese’s stardom to draw eyeballs.
That starts with the Sky’s season opener in a nationally televised game Saturday at the Fever, the next chapter in the rivalry between Reese and Caitlin Clark that began when LSU defeated Clark’s Iowa team for the national title in 2023.
The WNBA is putting Clark and Reese on its biggest stage, with all five games between the teams this season on national broadcasts.
‘‘It really helps shine light on my other teammates, too,’’ Reese told the Sun-Times. ‘‘When the light is always on me, you can connect to my other teammates, as well. . . . When you come, maybe to see me, your kids may want to see somebody else on the team and have something they love about that player.’’
As for the WNBA heavily marketing her games against Clark, Reese said: ‘‘I just worry about Chicago. . . . I can’t control what goes on outside of the Chicago locker room, but I really enjoy being here and enjoying this moment here. This is something I really, really love being in.’’
The Sky’s rivalry with the Fever likely annoys her because Clark casts quite a shadow, and that’s partly the WNBA’s doing.
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was on ‘‘The Bill Simmons Podcast’’ this week and called Clark ‘‘the most popular athlete in America,’’ then credited her for the surge in the WNBA’s viewership.
That probably won’t sit well with Reese, who a year ago bristled at that notion by saying: ‘‘The reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person; it’s because of me, too, and I want y’all to realize that.’’ She added that she was fine being ‘‘the bad guy’’ in the WNBA universe.
When that comment was revisited Monday, Reese interrupted with, “Next question,” then similarly declined to answer a question in a separate interview when she was asked how well she and Clark know each other.
Meanwhile, everyone else can’t seem to stop talking about Clark, who has been touted by the media and oddsmakers as an MVP candidate.
‘‘No league is ever about one player, but, in this case, Caitlin brought tens of millions of new viewers,’’ Engelbert said. ‘‘There’s no denying that impact.’’
Of the Fever’s 44 regular-season games this season, 41 will be shown nationally on TV or streaming platforms. The Sky will have 25 such games, which is still impressive growth.
Reese tracks all of that — she doesn’t miss a thing — but isn’t preoccupied by it.
Nothing matters more to her than washing away the ‘‘bad taste’’ of the Sky finishing 13-27 last season, their worst record since they were an expansion team in 2006.
She talked about wanting to make the playoffs ‘‘bad’’ and being ‘‘eager and hungry’’ for it. For all the Met Galas and endorsement deals and her ‘‘Bayou Barbie’’ image, Reese said winning is still everything to her. Reaching the playoffs would be progress, but she’s aiming higher.
‘‘When I walk away from the game, I always want to be known as a winner,’’ she said. ‘‘The best thing is to keep winning and winning and winning. To win a WNBA championship would mean the world. And to get a gold medal. Those are the last two things that I have on my big goal sheet.’’
