For the past few years, the Atlanta Dream seemed to be missing that one piece that pushed them across the finish line for the world championship title. Meanwhile, Angel Reese, who loved Chicago, always knew the team couldn’t readily provide her with the ring. But this season, as Reese came to Atlanta, things were already looking up for the team. In her second game after the FIBA break, Reese reminded everyone of her abilities.

Against her former team, the Chicago Sky, Reese broke multiple records as the team reached defensive excellence it had not seen before. But the forever-relentless forward is not yet happy with how things are going for one specific reason.

“I’m not satisfied,” Reese told Amazon Prime’s sideline reporter Kayla Grey after the win. “This is just the beginning. This is the start. This is year three for me. I want to be in the league for a good amount of time. I want to win championships; I want to break records.

“And I’m just happy to be in Atlanta. I want to do it all in Atlanta. You see the fans. They come out and support and love us. So, it’s easy.”

In a win over the Sky, the Dream forward became the first player in WNBA history to record 500 rebounds in a single season. Angel Reese has already established herself as one of the best rebounders in the league, leading the WNBA with 12.4 rebounds per game. There have been only a handful of games this season in which she has failed to reach double figures in rebounds, and her performance against the Sky was no different.

She entered the game with 495 rebounds on the season, needing only five more to reach the historic mark. In 28 minutes, Reese recorded ten boards to end the night with 505 season total. Even before this milestone, Reese had already broken A’ja Wilson’s record.

The two dominate the frontcourt and have been running a close race ever since Reese’s entry into the W in 2024. But the Dream forward has been outpacing the perennial league MVP. In the August 24 game against the Los Angeles Sparks, she logged 26 rebounds to break Wilson’s record of most rebounds in a single season (451).

But the 500-rebound feat was not the only achievement to come out of her latest performance. The 24-year-old also dropped 23 points to secure her 31st double-double of the season as she helped lead the Dream to a dominant 106-81 win.

Angel Reese also leads the league in double-doubles this season, breaking a record previously held by Alyssa Thomas at 28. Yet, as Reebok celebrated her milestone, she wants to focus on the one aspect of her game that continues to haunt her.

Reebok gives Reese her flowers, but the forward wants to improve herself for one reason

As Reese reached the historic 500-rebound mark, Reebok wasted no time recognizing the accomplishment.

“First to 500,” they wrote on their social handles.

This moment comes at a time when Reese and Reebok continue to build on their partnership. The brand recently revealed a new colorway of her Angel Reese 1 signature shoe, designed as a tribute to her fans.

The ‘REESE’S’ colorway draws inspiration from the iconic Reese’s Pieces candy. The shoe features a brown, yellow, and orange palette drawing on the candy’s well-recognized colors. The new colorway will go on sale on October 20. But before the playoffs, Reese wants to improve on her turnovers that could be a big problem in the knockout rounds.

Against the Sky, Reese turned the ball over six times, accounting for 40% of Atlanta’s 15 total turnovers. Across 41 games, she has averaged 3.2 TOs. While these are lower than last season’s 3.9, they are very high. But there is a reason for this.

She is currently averaging 16.6 points and a league-high 12.3 rebounds per game, but she added another aspect to her game last season, which she continues to build on: assists. She is dishing out an average of 2.8 assists, which means the turnovers could be coming off the passes she makes. Yet, with her dominance on the glass and 1.8 steals, she has become one of the central pieces of Atlanta’s turnaround, which also saw history being made yesterday.

The Dream reaches defensive prowess in league history

Featuring the likes of Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard, Atlanta was always an offensive powerhouse. But as much as they worked on their defense, there’s no denying that Reese’s addition turned that number tenfold. And yesterday, they also achieved a milestone.

According to the franchise’s PR, the Dream have the most disruptive defense in WNBA history. With 374 steals and counting, the Atlanta Dream have set a new WNBA single-season record. The previous mark was held by the conference rivals Indiana Fever’s 2009 team.

The Atlanta Dream have already secured a spot in the playoffs and currently sit fourth in the league standings. With two regular-season games remaining, both at the New York Liberty, Reese will have one final chance to build momentum before the postseason begins. And her defense will certainly help the team against the offensive giants in New York. As much as Reese was on fire against her former team, her teammate also proved that she was on the same wavelength.

Angel Reese’s teammate brings the much-needed energy to the Dream’s win

It’s needless to say that State Farm Arena was on fire last night as the Sky and the Dream went neck-and-neck in the first half. Just then, as Atlanta led by only one point before halftime, Rhyne Howard gave her defender a taste of her own medicine.

Sky rookie Gabriela Jaquez, who was being guarded by Rhyne Howard, waved her hair and hit the Dream player with her hair, as DeWanna Bonner came to create a screen for her. The sequence left Howard frustrated as the two kept going at each other. But with 1:21 remaining in the first half, Howard showed the rookie what she can do.

With 1:23 on the clock and the Dream leading 43-44, Reese passed the ball to Howard on the left wing. Without missing a beat, the guard pulled up for a three-pointer over Jaquez, putting her team up 43-47. She then went directly to Reese, gave her a chest bump, and stared the rookie down for what seemed like an eternity. Meanwhile, all Jaquez could do was give a ‘What did I do?’ look to her.

That action by Howard got so much spotlight that fans couldn’t help but laugh at the whole sequence. The Dream guard ended her winning night with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field, four assists, and a rebound, steal, and block. But Jaquez didn’t play bad either.

The Sky player had a team-high 14 points on 6-for-11 field goals, along with three rebounds and two steals.

The Dream will now travel to New York for the remaining two games of the season against the Liberty at Barclays Center. The Sky will host Toronto Tempo at home later in the week.