“I’m not settling for the same s— we did this year,” Angel Reese said when she left Chicago. She landed in Atlanta, a franchise that saw her as the missing piece culturally and on the court. Dreams literally came true as the team sprinted to a 12-4 start that made the move look like one for the books. But then the rest of the league adjusted. Five straight losses later, the reality check rings louder than anything else, and the questions being asked about Reese are getting sharper.

“She won that title in college, but that’s cute when you get to the pros,” WNBA analyst Zena Keita said on ‘No Offseason.’ “That doesn’t matter when you get to the pros.”

Reese led LSU to the 2023 national championship as the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and it was proof that she was one of the elites of the college game. But the WNBA doesn’t care about that – the expectations are entirely different here. You win, or you don’t. For instance, Arike Ogunbowale hit the buzzer-beater that won Notre Dame the 2018 title and has gone eight WNBA seasons without a ring. Napheesa Collier came out of UConn and still hasn’t touched the trophy. 

“Atlanta, as much as it’s about the same things that Angel Reese is about, is also about winning. It’s also about succeeding at a very high level,” Brian Hamilton said. “There’s an urgency there that you’re going to feel from the city, and she probably feels it herself.”

Things look worse when one considers that last season the Dream finished 30-14, making a franchise record with a .682 winning percentage, second-best in the league. Right now they’re sitting at 12-9, a game worse than they were at this point last year.

Reese was also named an All-Star reserve despite being snubbed from the starting lineup, a small tension that adds to what’s already a high-pressure stretch. The ESPN net points metric, which measures a player’s contribution to their team’s scoring margin, has her at -17, ranking 177th in the league. She’s shooting 41.8%, down from 45.8% in 2025, and turning the ball over 3.5 times per game, third-highest in the league.

That said, individual numbers aren’t the problem, since Reese is averaging 14.9 points, a career high, 11.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. Her double-doubles game has still been on point, even through the losing streak. She fouled out in the Valkyries’ loss and still posted 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Her response after that game set the tone: “We have 5 games going into All-Star, and any team in front of us should be scared because we’re ready, and we’re gonna continue to put our foot forward every day, watch film, get together and figure ourselves out.”

She didn’t shy away from her own words, posting 18 points and 11 rebounds for her league-best 15th double-double as the Dream beat Seattle 89-78. But Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray both went cold during the streak, and Brionna Jones’s return from injury remains indefinite, which puts more on Reese to carry. Hamilton hence asked the long-term question. 

“I think that’s going to be the ultimate test of her as a player and as a franchise player. Can you be part of elevating this franchise to a different level? If you can’t, how long are you going to hold Atlanta’s interest? They’re about stars, and they’re about winning. If you’re not winning, I don’t know how you can be the brightest star.”