The Chicago Sky have announced they will suspend forward Angel Reese for the first half of their team’s game Sunday vs. the Las Vegas Aces for comments that were “detrimental to the team”.
“The Chicago Sky values the safety, respect, and well-being of every player,” the team said in a prepared statement. “We are committed to accountability so our players can stay focused on playing basketball. This matter has been handled and resolved internally, and we are moving forward as a team.”
Head coach Tyler Marsh told reporters Friday that the organization was in agreement on the decision to suspend Reese, and that top executives were on board with the choice. “Just going to handle internally, and that’s kind of what it’s been,” Marsh said.
The suspension means that Reese will now miss the next 1.5 games for the Sky, after she was issued her 8th technical foul of the season on Wednesday. The WNBA will enforce the suspension on Friday, while the Sky will sit Reese as part of their internal suspension on Sunday.
Reese found herself at the centre of a media firestorm after she made several pointed criticisms of her team to the Chicago Tribune earlier this week.
“I’m not settling for the same s—t we did this year,” Reese told reporter Julia Poe, calling out Chicago’s back-to-back losing seasons. “We have to get good players. We have to get great players. That’s a non-negotiable for me.”
“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,” she added.
“I’m willing and wanting to play with the best,” Reese continued. “So it’s going to be very, very important this offseason to make sure we attract the best of the best because we can’t settle for what we have this year.”
“Honestly, it would be a leap of faith for a great, great player to come here and show that this is something that they want to be a part of.”
“We can’t rely on Courtney [Vandersloot] to come back at the age that she’s at,” Reese also said. “I know she’ll be a great asset for us, but we can’t rely on that. We need someone probably a little younger with some experience, somebody who’s been playing the game and is willing to compete for a championship and has done it before.”
Amongst her other comments were opinions about Hailey Van Lith and coach Marsh. Chicago finds themselves at the bottom of the WNBA standings once again with a 10-30 record, which is actually a step backwards from their 13-27 campaign in 2024.
Photo: John Mac. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.