In June 2024, when Angel Reese announced herself to the WNBA, she was confident as ever. “I know I’ll go down in history. I’ll look back in 20 years and be like: ‘Yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball isn’t just because of one person. It’s because of me, too.’” Call it self-confidence or shots at rival Caitlin Clark, the Chi-town Barbie turned all eyes on her. And she did not disappoint, breaking the single-season rebound record in 2024. Fast forward a year, and the people are still watching her. But the reason has changed. Entitlement might be the keyword here, as per one analyst.

According to Rodney Rikai of The Fumble on September 4, it is high time Reese does some introspection before making any comments. “There’s a bit of entitlement that is happening with Angel Reese. Her success off the floor, I think, makes her feel like she is supposed to inherently have success on the court. And those two things don’t align unless you are better at your job,” he said. Well, off the court, Reese was shining.

Her very own signature shoe, dubbed the Angel Reese 1, will be launched globally on September 18. She beat her rival, Caitlin Clark, to it, whose signature shoe will debut next year. Furthermore, Reese also made history as the first-ever female athlete to have her own national McDonald’s meal. Add in a Vogue cover, an appearance at the Met Gala, and other high-profile milestones, and her off-court legacy looks untouchable. But on court, reality was far from what she envisioned in 2024 by claiming her team would make the postseason. Expectedly, Rikai recalled a recent debate with someone who argued that Angel Reese’s impact would eventually surpass Caitlin Clark’s.

“This person made it sound like because Angel was a better teammate, like she would be able to galvanize a group a lot better than Caitlin Clark. Unfortunately, I think, the opposite has happened with the rise of Angel Reese’s star power. She does not recognize that she has to be so much better for her team to be competitive, the way in which she’s asking for in this article,” he noted, before adding, “You have to figure out how to be a better scorer. You have to be better at facilitating. You have to be more consistent in your game. The star power of her brand off the court is phenomenal, but her play on the court is not necessarily on par with that.” And it’s not like the talent’s not there to do that. As Sue Bird pointed out last year, “What I find most fascinating about [Reese’s] game is her shooting percentage. And this is why: She shoots something like… 38, 39 percent.” For context: Reese was shooting 39.1% in her rookie season. And most of the WNBA’s best forwards, like A’ja Wilson, shot 46.2% in their rookie season. Still, that isn’t enough for Rikai.

“I’m not saying that she’s not good… but we do need to get to a point like, where do you rank amongst the position play the people at your position in the league?… You know, like there are a lot of people that come before Angel Reese at that 4/hybrid 3-4 position. And until she figures out how to take her game to the next level, I don’t want to hear any complaints about you having to do what’s best for you because there’s no other team for real that you’re going to go to and make the kind of impact that’s going to put them in a position to win a championship. You’re not that caliber of player,” Rikai said, giving a warning call for Reese.

Notably, this comes days after Reese had landed in hot water for her controversial comments. In a conversation with the Chicago Tribune earlier this month, the 23-year-old had blasted her teammates saying, “I’m not settling for the same sh-t we did this year. We have to get good players. We have to get great players. That’s a non-negotiable for me. I’m willing and wanting to play with the best. And however I can help to get the best here, that’s what I’m going to do this offseason. 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.” Such was the backlash that even her own team suspended Reese for the first half of Sky’s game vs the Las Vegas Aces.

While the young star did apologize, revealing how “the language was taken out of context and I really didn’t intentionally mean to put down my teammates”, the damage was already done. Having said that, although Rikai places Clark over Reese currently, the Chi-town Barbie has a bit of time to prepare.

Angel Reese vs Caitlin Clark debate in the cold bag for the sophomore year

The verdict from Rodney Rikai was clear: Elevate your game or risk being forgotten in history. But while Reese is not the best at the position right now, she is certainly making strides in the right direction. In 2025, Reese is posting 14.7 PPG, 12.6 RPG, and 1.5 SPG. Her numbers from last year are up, along with her playmaking skills. Last year, she managed 13.6 PPG, 13.1 RPG, and 1.3 SPG.

While her strength in rebounding has taken a minor dent, her scoring and assists have seen a major improvement. Take her teammate’s word for it. “Whenever she has the ball and I’m in the vicinity, I’m a hundred percent moving my feet to try and get a window to be open because I know that she’s going to be looking for me,” said rookie Hailey Van Lith, praising Angel’s playmaking skills. Interestingly, Reese leads the league in average rebounds per game.

So while this year ended in a dud, Reese has the next season to elevate her game so she can match the level the Chicago Sky needs for a postseason berth. It also helps that the comparisons will fade, at least for the 2025 season. Her rival, Caitlin Clark, has been declared out for the season owing to her groin injury. For the fans awaiting their rivalry, they sadly would have to wait till 2026.