Angel Reese isn’t waiting for All-Star Weekend to make headlines. Just days before heading to Chicago, the Atlanta Dream forward posted a photoshoot on Instagram captioned “yes, i am exactly who i think i am,” and the reaction from around the league was immediate.
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That wave of attention lands at a specific moment for Reese. She’s heading into her third All-Star selection, but she got there after a rockier stretch than the photoshoot suggests. Reese finished seventh among frontcourt players in the final voting, missing a starting spot, and she didn’t hold back about what that snub meant to her.
“I expect to be disrespected,” Reese said. “For those two though, I think they work so hard and they put a lot of work in, and the way that they’re guarded every game and they have to adjust. The reason why we’re where we are is because of those two. For us not to have anyone was just a slap in the face, but they’re not going to say anything. I am.”
That frustration was about her teammates Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray as much as herself, both of whom also missed starting spots despite Atlanta sitting tied atop the standings at 12-8 at the time. Not everyone read her comments the same way. Some fans and commentators pushed back, calling her reaction overblown, criticism that only grew after she followed it with a rough 6-for-15 shooting night in her next game.
None of that has stopped her from fully showing up for All-Star Weekend. Reese will suit up for Team Coop, managed by WNBA legend Cynthia Cooper, and she’s got more than her own game on her mind heading into Chicago.
That photoshoot is exactly what got the league talking before any of these events even began.
Olivia Miles, DeWanna Bonner & Others React to Angel Reese’s Photoshoot
The comments filled in fast once the post went up, and the reactions ranged from stunned to simply admiring.
Olivia Miles seemed genuinely caught off guard, dropping “oml” before following it with an extended “woowowowowowwwww” that said more than words could.
DeWanna Bonner kept things simpler but just as enthusiastic, writing “yep 🤩🫶🏾.”
Indiana’s Raven Johnson added three heart-eye emojis, while former Sparks player Te’a Omari Cooper summed it up with “And is 😍.”
Tennis star Coco Gauff kept her reaction to a single word: “Stunning.”
The reactions weren’t limited to athletes either. Ice Spice and Aniya Harvey were among the celebrities outside sports who also weighed in, adding to what turned into a wave of admiration from well beyond the WNBA.