Angel Reese earned plaudits for her incredible hustle as a rebounder and stellar defense during her rookie season in the WNBA. While it’s a hallmark of her game today, that wasn’t always the case.
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During an appearance on Mark Jackson and his son Bluu Jackson’s Come and Talk 2 Me podcast, Sam Cassell revealed the center had a questionable work ethic on the court during her high school days. He said,
“Just watching her grow up through the ranks in Baltimore High School and seeing her now play the game of basketball, I thought she was so lazy high school because she was so much better than anyone. Sometimes she’d miss a layup, get a rebound, miss another layup, another team get the ball and she wouldn’t run back down court.”
Cassell and the Chicago Sky center are from Baltimore and the former Clippers star watched her in action during her time at St. Frances Academy. He is glad she has developed into an energetic player willing to work hard on both ends of the floor and make her hometown proud with her stellar performances on the court. He added,
So seeing her play in the WNBA right now, it’s been joy to me, seeing her play, it’s like, ‘Wow! We got another from our town that’s doing that’s doing something positive and making it.'”
It’s hard to envision Reese as a lazy player considering how impactful she was on both ends of the floor during her college career with Maryland and Lousiana and in her rookie season with the Sky.
Angel Reese was a menace under the rim
The center made history in her debut campaign in the WNBA. She became the first player to average over 13 rebounds per game (13.1) and broke Sylvia Fowles’ record for most boards in a season.
She missed the last six games of the season with an injury, which allowed reigning MVP A’ja Wilson to lap her and become the record-holder for most rebounds in a campaign with 451, five more than the rookie. However, she set the single-season record for most offensive boards with 172.
Reese’s innate to grab offensive rebounds and get second-chance points is one of the main reasons why she broke Candace Parker’s WNBA record for most consecutive double-doubles with 15 straight. The center finished a distant second to Caitlin Clark in the race for the Rookie of the Year award. However, there’s palpable excitement about her future.
