Tyler Marsh Equates Angel Reese to 2025 WNBA MVP Contender in Unique Comparison

Legacies don’t always pass quietly from one generation to the next – sometimes, they barge masked within rivalries, a hard foul, and a headline. For Angel Reese and Alyssa Thomas, it came one night in Chicago when admiration turned into a clash. Reese had walked into that game wide-eyed, having just admitted she’d “had eyes on” Thomas ever since her Maryland days. But hours later, she was flat on the hardwood, clutching her neck after Thomas delivered the first Flagrant 2 ejection of her career. Sky 86, Sun 82.

Time passed, but tension traveled with them. By the time the two met again at Unrivaled, whistles were replaced by raw, unfiltered competition. As Dijonai Carrington put it later on X: “They shoulda mic’d up AT & Angel tonight.” Thomas did what she always does (12 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals), but Reese and her squad found a way to flip the script in a 58-53 win. But it isn’t just the intensity that makes their rivalry magnetic.

It’s the resemblance, and Tyler Marsh, Reese’s head coach, knows it better than anyone. “There’s only one A’ja, there’s only one Phee, and there’s only one AT,” he said. “And I think Angel is on her way to create that there’s only one Angel in a lot of respects.” The numbers back him up.

Angel Reese, in just her second season, is averaging 14.4 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. Alyssa Thomas, the veteran blueprint, posts 15.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 9.2 assists. Both thrive as point-forwards, stuffing the stat sheet by doing a little of everything: scoring in the paint, swallowing boards, threading passes, and setting defensive tones. The resemblance is uncanny – Angel Reese crashing the glass like AT in her prime, whereas Alyssa Thomas is orchestrating offense the way Marsh envisions Reese one day will.

It’s why Marsh calls AT the “perfect role model” for his young star. And maybe it’s why that night last season, when Angel Reese took the hit, hit the floor, and still got back up, she captured the essence of their bond. As she later said: “Thank you AT for sending a message to me, because I got back up and I kept going and kept pushing.” That resilience has carried forward into her game today.

Angel Reese’s Path Through AT’s Journey

Angel Reese’s scoring has ticked up while her efficiency has jumped around six percentage points. It is a sign of both refinement and confidence. That growth has emboldened her, and on Thursday night before the Sky’s matchup with the Mercury, she explained how relationships with veterans (Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper) are shaping her path.

“I want to play with the best,” Reese said. “They’re here, obviously, in Phoenix, but I would love Kah [Copper] to come back to Chicago and trying to recruit, and even just being able to take small things from them. I’ve learned a lot from them. I asked them about how their experience in USA Basketball, because that’s something I want to do in 2028. So just picking their brains. Picking their minds, and I think it’s really important to build a relationship with other people I respect. I respect their game. But yeah, I think it’s really important to have vets that you can look up to.”

For Reese, that means embracing Alyssa Thomas as both a rival and a role model. She has set her goals in the same neighborhood where Thomas already resides: earning a spot on the all-defensive team and one day playing beside her on the Olympic stage in 2028. That dream would mark a truly dramatic arc. From a clothesline and ejection in their first professional meeting to bonding on Team Phee at All-Star Weekend, Reese now sees Thomas as a mentor and mirror.

If she grows into that level of dominance, it could transform the Sky. And for Tyler Marsh, molding a star of that caliber would be a legacy-defining achievement of its own.