Sometimes, players don’t need words for everyone watching to understand the messages they send, and during the game between the Atlanta Dream and Chicago Sky, one Angel Reese teammate’s icy reaction began setting the stage for a celebration that had fans talking.
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The sequence, which was clipped by @brwsports on Instagram, began when Sky rookie Gabriela Jaquez, who was being guarded by Rhyne Howard, waved her arms around with the ball as a teammate screened for her, coming close to hitting Howard and leaving her a little frustrated.
Then, a few possessions later, the Dream were running the ball down the court. Angel Reese, who was handling the ball, ran a handoff action with Howard, leading to her shooting a deep three while being contested by Jaquez. Howard ended up drilling the three, and after chest-bumping Reese to celebrate, stared down Jaquez. This caught the attention of fans all over social media.
That sequence came during the Dream’s 106-81 thrashing of the Sky, and Angel Reese led the charge against her former team. The forward ended the game with 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds, adding three blocks and two steals in 28 minutes on the floor. Angel Reese’s performance led her to record her 31st double-double of the season, further extending her record for the most double-doubles in a single season in WNBA history. She also entered uncharted territory, becoming the first WNBA player to cross 500 rebounds made.
Rhyne Howard was also a key part of the win, finishing with 14 points and four assists, logging the second-highest plus/minus for the game with +24.
Meanwhile, Jaquez had a good night in her own right. The forward was at the helm for the Sky as their leading scorer with 14 points, adding three rebounds, an assist, and two steals.
Jaquez and Howard had already been a part of a physical exchange in the game, with the Dream star being fouled by Jaquez at 3:53 in the third quarter, but Howard wasn’t able to make her pay, converting only one of her two resulting free throws.
Atlanta was flaming hot from long range, knocking down 13 of their 26 three-pointers, shooting 53% from the field while forcing Chicago to yield 17 turnovers over the game. The win pushed the Dream ahead of the Indiana Fever in the standings and put them within half a game of the #3-seeded Las Vegas Aces.
However, the clear story of the game was the moment between Jaquez and Howard, and fans quickly made it clear online.
Rhyne Howard Had Fans Talking With One Look at Gabriela Jaquez
Howard’s reaction quickly became the moment fans wanted to talk about, and despite the guard not saying anything after knocking down the three, the stare towards Jaquez did all the talking.
One fan joked that Howard had completely rolled over the Sky forward on offense, writing, “sized her up like she was 4 feet 😭🤣😭 I love it.”
Another fan pointed to the stare-down as a sign of Howard imposing superiority, as well as the high-level highlight that came as a result.
“That stare down was NASTYYY 😆😆,” their post read.
One user pointed to how Howard had gotten a highlight play off on Jaquez just moments after their tense moment, adding that there might have been more than basketball on her mind.
“Rhyne took that personally. 😤,” they said in their comment.
The reactions only grew from there, with one fan suggesting that the previous sequence not being called for a foul was what motivated Howard, along with some help from Angel Reese.
“Because that should’ve been a foul but it’s ok Angel promised Rhy she was gone get her get back 😂😂🔥🔥,” the comment read.
Another comment offered a simple message for Jaquez, highlighting this as a moment of learning for the rookie.
“Welcome to the league ROOK!” the fan wrote.
Whether the stare was intentional or just caught at the right moment, social media had already decided what it had meant: Jaquez introduced herself to Howard, and the Dream star answered on the scoreboard.