“I’m saving my right hand for the Lakers.”

That was Larry Bird’s flex in 1986—before casually torching Portland with 47 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists, mostly using his left hand. Bird’s stunt was petty genius. Nearly four decades later, Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese finds herself unintentionally echoing that legacy—but not quite in the way she hoped. In her case, the story of left-hand shooting isn’t a flex. It’s a flaw, at least in the eyes of the WNBA community.

Reese has said it before: she’s right-handed. In fact, she tweeted back in 2023, “I’m really right handed IYKTYK” 😭. Yet, her gameplay suggests otherwise—most of her finishes, layups, and jumpers come off the left.

That contradiction was back in the spotlight after the season opener between the  Sky and the Fever, when a reporter in a post-game presser asked about her use of the right hand that night: “Offhand finishing. How much did you work on that? Your right hand was working a lot tonight.” Reese replied dryly, “I’m right-handed, so…”

That one sentence threw more fuel on the fire. Bleacher Report posted the clip on X with the caption: “Angel Reese explains she is right-handed even though she shoots with her left 🤯.”

And well with her recent, lackluster 12-point, 17-rebound double-double in the season opener—dismissed by fans as stat-padding, the internet exploded.

“Wait, She’s Right-Handed?” — Fans React to Angel Reese’s Revelation

One fan said: “Thanks for clarifying because no one can tell.”
Sarcasm dripping from every word, the comment perfectly captures the collective eye-roll at Angel Reese’s baffling shooting woes — because seriously, even though she’s made it clear multiple times that her right hand is dominant, some fans still seem to think she’s missing shots because she’s forcing her right hand as if it were her weaker “off hand.”

Another chimed in bluntly: “Point being, you still miss a majority of the shots you take, especially with your right hand, dumdum.”

During an episode of Reese’s own podcast, Unapologetically Angel, which aired last year, WNBA legend Lisa Leslie didn’t hold back: “The biggest advice I have for you is going to be how you shoot your layups, period. We’re going to fix that. That’s fixable for you.”

And the numbers back it up. Last year, Reese made just 12 of 70 shots in the paint—a painfully low 17% field goal efficiency inside the key. According to WNBA stats, she’s got plenty of room to grow.

Another fan joked: “So work on your left so you don’t have to work with your right so much 😂.”

Truth is, Reese needs to work on everything. In 2024, she converted only 146 of 353 attempts from under 8 feet—a mere 41.4% shooting. Early in 2025, she’s made just 4 of 12 such shots (33.3%). And it gets worse: she’s struggling from three-point range and mid-range alike.

One critic pointed out: “She has half her FG shots taken within 3 feet and still has a .357%.”
Not quite right—that’s her overall field goal percentage—but even closer up, Reese is only hitting around 40% from less than 5 feet. In a recent matchup against Caitlin Clark and the Fever, she drained only 4 of 10 shots inside 5 feet. Whether that’s the Fever’s lockdown paint defense or Reese’s shaky finishing, anyone who’s watched the game can guess.

And then there’s this gem from a fan: “So you’re telling me your ‘off hand’ is your dominant hand, you shoot lefty, and still need 5 attempts per possession to make a layup? Interesting.”

Well, she made just 4 of 12 layup attempts against the Fever this season. Last year? She connected on 136 of 321 layups—42.4% efficiency. Her hook shot is even more brutal, hitting only 5 of 18 attempts (27.8%), and her driving floating jumper? A grim 2-for-11 (18.2%).

Angel Reese’s shot chart might look like a work-in-progress masterpiece that desperately needs a second draft. But with legendary guidance and plenty of hustle, the question remains: can she flip the script and turn those numbers around before the critics write her off?