Even before she played in the WNBA, Angel Reese’s relationship with the media has been tricky.
The former LSU Tiger and now Chicago Sky star has found herself at the center of dueling narratives as she and Caitlin Clark have had a Bird/Magic-like dual career trajectory. The outspoken Reese often complains about the coverage she receives, saying it unjustly paints her negatively. Her detractors would say that she doesn’t put up the numbers to justify her talk, which leads to some relishing when she falls short of expectations on the court.
Fairly or not, Reese’s play gets scrutinized. Sometimes, because of what she says. Sometimes, because she’s not Caitlin Clark. Sometimes, because of both. And sometimes, for entirely unclear reasons.
Former NBA men’s basketball player Etan Thomas, who has worked in sports radio and written several books, took Bleacher Report to task Monday over how they wrote about Reese’s recent performance in an exhibition game.
The Chicago Sky lost 92-87 to the Minnesota Lynx in their final preseason game on Saturday. Reese struggled, failing to hit a field goal in the first half and finishing with 10 points on 2-of-8 shooting. Still, it was a preseason game and ultimately unimportant in the grand scheme.
Bleacher Report’s initial headline for the game recap was “Angel Reese Disappoints WNBA Fans as Van Lith, Sky Lose to Collier, Lynx in Preseason.” That didn’t sit well with Thomas, who took to X to voice his displeasure with the framing.
Thomas divided his concerns into three parts. First, he asked, “It’s a little early to return to the demonization of Angel Reese, isn’t it?” Next, he noted that this was a preseason game and perhaps not worthy of such strong framing. Third, he emphasized that preseason games aren’t about wins and losses but teams figuring out their regular-season rosters.
Bleacher Report seemed to get the message from Thomas or others. At some point after publishing, they replaced “disappoints WNBA fans” with “struggles.”
This appears to have been a case of a headline writer being overly focused on getting all the relevant SEO keywords in there. Trust us, we get it. But given the sensitivity around how Reese, Clark, and the WNBA have been covered over the past year, it’s understandable that some would bristle at what appeared to be a somewhat overzealous rendering of a meaningless outcome.