“I want to be a great player and I want to be a great player at every single level. I’ve won championships everywhere and at each level. So I want to go into the League and win a championship and do whatever it takes to win the championship because I feel like I’m a winner,” were Angel Reese’s words in her latest cover story feature with SLAM Magazine. Notably, her cover story with SLAM has been released a day before Reese will make her WNBA debut. Interestingly, Reese’s photo for the magazine’s cover has been taken by Google Pixel. She is the first athlete to have experienced the opportunity.

On the cover, Reese has shared her hopes and dreams along with nuggets of insights about her basketball journey. Reese has also given a shoutout to her former teammates, Flau’jae Johnson and JuJu Watkins. Let’s explore what her praise was.

Angel Reese gives out some words of affirmation

Making it to the W has always been a dream of Angel’s. Her bold and unapologetic personality gives thrilling definitions to her identity as a fierce competitor on the court and a passionate giver off of it. From college to the big league, it has taken a huge effort from an athlete’s end which Reese has recently been through.

Drawing inspiration from her experiences, Angel gives valuable advice to the college basketball star coming after her to the WNBA, saying, “The advice I would probably give is just stay true to yourself. Be you, do something that makes you different from everybody else.”

“I mean, me, I talk trash and I’m a girly girl, on and off the court. But when I get on the court, I’m a dog and I’m super competitive. So I think everybody brings that different [element] for the game,” she adds.

Moreover, Angel Reese praises her former LSU teammate, Flau’jae Johnson, and USC’s guard, JuJu Watkins’ ability to possess skills to do several things besides being an athlete, “I mean, Flau’jae is a rapper, but off the court, on the court, she’s still a killer. Juju, she’s just so smooth and a killer out of L.A. I love players that just do so many different things and [are] versatile; I think that’s also so different with women right now—being able to do both.”

Intriguing as it is, during the past season’s March Madness Tournament, Johnson released her new single, ‘Ain’t My Fault (AMF)’ with the rapper, NLE Choppa. Days after the release Johnson led the Tigers to Sweet 16 with a win over Middle Tennessee, dropping 21 points and 4 rebounds. Interestingly, the song already had over 215,000 streams on Spotify at the time.

On the other hand, everyone is familiar with JuJu’s stone-cold 3-pointers, leaving her opponents fazed out by her responsiveness to their distractions. She would just go up deep and make the shot. This past season, she averaged 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game.

Angel to make her debut in the W tomorrow

Coming from college, Angel Reese has the opportunity to re-introduce herself, while she waves goodbye to the narratives that have been following her throughout her collegiate career. Being a strong-headed rebounder, the fearless forward looks sharp on making a successful transition as she leaves behind her life as a college basketball athlete and steps into the role of a professional basketball player.

Tomorrow comes the day she will play her first game as a pro against the Dallas Wings, alongside her Sky teammates. It will be a day to remember!