Angel Reese was ready to lead the Sky as a rookie last year. Even at that stage of her career, she had the credentials to do it after driving LSU to a national championship in 2023 and being toughened up by Tigers coach Kim Mulkey for two seasons.
But the transition to the WNBA is hard enough as it is, and if Reese had her choice, she would have preferred to take her time and follow more than lead. She didn’t have that option, however — not with a team that needed her to take charge on and off the court, despite her being just 21 at the start of 2024 training camp.
Reese will still be the focal point this season, but the burden of keeping the Sky on track at every turn won’t fall squarely on her shoulders anymore. General manager Jeff Pagliocca prioritized picking up veterans this offseason and brought in, among others, a pair of All-Stars and former champions in guards Courtney Vandersloot and Ariel Atkins.
Teammates with that kind of pedigree and presence are exactly what Reese has been craving.
“As a rookie, you really don’t want to have to step into that leadership role right away — you’re not expecting it,” she told the Sun-Times. “You expect to come in and just be laid-back and just learn. But my experience obviously was different. I was forced into a leadership role early, and my voice mattered to a lot of the girls and the coaching staff, so I made my voice present.
“When you have 10-year vets around you, [stuff] is easy. They play for championships. They play for everything that I want to do. So I don’t have to say too much.”
The Sky figure to have three new starters alongside Reese and center Kamilla Cardoso when they open the season May 17 against Caitlin Clark and the Fever. Coach Tyler Marsh opened with Vandersloot, Atkins and Kia Nurse in the first two preseason games and liked what he saw.
Vandersloot, 36, has been carving up the league since Reese was just 9. She played her first 12 seasons with the Sky, earning four All-Star selections and helping the team win its first WNBA title in 2021, then spent two seasons with the Liberty and won a championship with them last fall.
“It’s such a weird feeling because it’s so different and new, but it’s also so familiar,” Vandersloot said. “The Sky, the uniform, the ownership is all the same, but then we have this whole new team and staff. The right people are here, so this feels like the right place.”
Atkins, 28, made the WNBA first or second all-defensive team five times in seven seasons with the Mystics before Pagliocca traded for her in February. She has been in the playoffs five times and won a title in 2018.
Nurse, 29, hasn’t gotten as far in the postseason but has been in the league since 2018 and made the All-Star team once.
The Sky also brought in guard/forward Rebecca Allen, 32, who’s going into her 10th season with four postseason appearances.
Reese called the influx of veterans “a breath of fresh air” and said it’s a key reason she sees the Sky making a leap this season after skidding to the second-worst record in franchise history last season at 13-27.
“I’m washing my hands of last year,” she said. “This team is amazing. We have a lot of great vets and great coaches, and we’ll shock a lot of people.”
As always, Reese brings relentless confidence to the equation. Although she hasn’t yet stacked up the accomplishments of someone such as Vandersloot, that hunger and ferocity will help her fit right in on a veteran-led roster. It could be an ideal combination.
