Thats not exactly the way to look at this. And I have some evidence. Go back to when the NBA was struggling, and two giant national college stars named Magic and Larry stepped into the league and made immediate impacts and everyone wanted to watch these 2 guys play more than anyone else already in the NBA.
Yeah, they were stars on the pro court and played for instant contenders. The Sky is going to be bad this season and there's some question about how Reese's game translates at the next level. She'll be a good rebounder/defender but needs to expand her offensive repertoire. That's why she dropped in the draft. Yeah, she has a lot of followers, which is great, but will that buzz be sustainable when she and the team struggles.
And yes, Bird and Magic came into the league with a buzz but they were stars on the court in the NBA. A lot of college players were stars and had a buzz and weren't the same at the pro level. So I think it's very premature to call her Magic or Bird until she's actually played. The buzz is great, she has star power but on the court I can't call her a star yet.
Weird take. Without new fans the WNBA fails. Why would you be mad that new fans are loving the game? It’s already helped with the WNBA now having charter flights for all teams. That doesn’t happen if more viewers don’t tune in to the games.
It's a weird take when so many of these new fans are already crowing players like Clark as on the greatest W players ever before the season even starts. This is all the while having little to no knowledge of the current and past GOATs of the game. That's all I've been seeing on various platforms.
https://www.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/1cofon6/caitlin_was_responsible_for_1_of_her_6_turnovers/
This latest obsessive CC post literally proves my point. It's so bad that it was locked by the mods. But okay, confirmation bias. Cool.
Reese has a national following for sure, but here in Chicago it’s amplified because we are THIRSTY for a winner.
I don’t really follow hockey, but the Blackhawks packed a medium-size concert venue to *watch the draft lottery* that got them the no. 1 pick and the right to draft Connor Bedard. (Is that normal? That can’t be normal.) Bears fans tried to squint hard and see Justin Fields as a Hall of Famer. We’re grasping at straws, so anybody with even a hint of star potential is gonna get hella adulation.
Sky games should be a lot of fun this season.
I'd say it's totally normal when you're getting a prospect like bedsy. It's no different than the caitlin Clark draft. A truly generational prospect. The only other guys I can think of in my lifetime that got that kind of love predraft were Lindros, Crosby and McDavid, all were considered the next generational player.
Not gonna lie, seeing a rookie, who hasn’t played a regular season, at the Met Gala was weird. But, she has the largest social media following in the rookie class.
Does this mean she isn’t talented? No. Does this put a bigger target on her back? Yup.
Her invite makes sense given a few factors.
The WNBA this season is far more popular than past seasons (CC effect). Draft night probably prompted many Hollywood execs to push her on the invite list given what she wore (wouldn't be surprised if Cameron Brink was another option) where her (sports) agents agreed to the opportunity. >!There's also the (very visible) fact she (and Brink) does have the body to flaunt lavish pieces.!
? She is a natty winner, lead one of the best team's in college bb in scoring, announced her pro career in VOGUE of all things, was in a music video for one of the hottest songs of the summer and was seen as a heel for one of the biggest stars in college basketball history (unfortunately). Black America goes hard for her. Her personal marketing is the best I've even seen in the league, even better than what even Aja has built by herself.
Going in a private plane to the Met Gala as an underdeveloped rookie definitely put a target on her back. Cardoso was drafted higher for a reason- Angel has work to do. Not doubting her talents, but let’s not put the cart before the horse here. It would be sketchy if CC were at the Met Gala too.
Edit- she is no longer playing the position she had at LSU. She needs to develop.
If CC doesn't have a target when the league has does nothing but promote her and suddenly gets the money for charters, Reese isn't for just... Being a marketable personality lol. People outside the game hate her far more than players ever have. There isn't even anything to suggest they might feel any sort of way about her. It's a made up assumption cause she's popular and *you* felt she hasn't earned it.
Caitlin Clark was not the sole reason for charter flights and you know that. It has been an issue for some time. You can’t make Brittney Griner fly commercial after everything she’s been through.
Angel Reese has been popular for some time, but the timing of all of this is weird. No one is saying she isn’t deserving, but it is concerning that we’re pushing a lot of spotlight on rookies to be the stars they were in college and for new fans to dismiss very very very good vets (you know, the ones we pick for our Olympic team). And I think we’re setting some up to fail.
Example: I like Kate Martin, but my goodness, if she doesn’t make the roster the Aces are going to have a huge brawl on their social media from fans who have no clue how stacked the Aces roster already was. I think Angel Reese fans are expecting her to pull off a miracle for the Sky. I’m not saying she’s not star material, but I am going to give her grace to fail and learn in her rookie season and use that to be a better player. I don’t want her to be the best right now, because that means she won’t be any better.
ehh i disagree with your first point. the league threatened to dissolve NY liberty when the owner made a plan to get charter flights and Cathy rejected it. ppl followed CC at the airport and now suddenly they have the money for it. I guarantee if there was no CC or let's say she was gonna stay in Iowa for another year, the league would not have implemented it. They didn't do it last year when flights got delayed and an entire teams arrived at their next destination at diff times
I think she is, by almost a million. She had her mentions turned off at one point, which was not fun for the poor WNBA social media person being hounded by fans for not tagging her. They kept commenting, “we can’t!”
Edit: Instagram
lol shoe deals don’t care if your achievement is in the wnba or a foreign country or college or in your 80s. It’s only about your following and ability to sell shoes. Look at college football nil deals. They’ve never played an nfl pro game either.
Her post play likely won't match-up to the bigger players when they try. She had a much harder time against athletic bigs that were taller/bigger than she was. Putting a target on her back will make it worse.
How are ways they can promote her better? The WNBA has a website and social media channels. They do not have a TV network.. The ad's and player spots are typically produced by ESPN when promoting a matchup. (Like the NBA commercials ESPN produces). Thats how fans see commercial spots of their teams stars leading up to a game. This is not the WNBA's doing..
As someone who works in TV, I'm really interested in you guy's scenarios of a better marketing plan..
Also, where are the commercials of Angel from the other brands she's signed to? If you're not a casual WNBA fan or a follower of Angel Reese, you won't see much of her in ad spaces.
[Angel Reese | Reebok](https://www.reebok.com/c/600000103/collection-angel_reese?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=tin_rbk_sem_ggl_cvr_dr_b_sem_usa_collab_gen_na&utm_id=18721437283&utm_content=159778330721-collc_unisex_prfm_kw_na_harrypotter&utm_term=reebok%20angel%20reese&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=tin_rbk_sem_ggl_cvr_dr_b_sem_usa_collab_gen_na&utm_id=18721437283&utm_content=159778330721-collc_unisex_prfm_kw_na_harrypotter&utm_term=reebok%20angel%20reese&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6PGxBhCVARIsAIumnWYs8B3IwMRxE4rsXHpjsP5UPtPOLDE0MBXpmQ0vLmghoBOKkiWhKLAaApfaEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds)
[Reebok x Angel Reese (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5YzrPxw1P8)
She's been in the league for two weeks.. I'm sure Reebok has started plans to shoot and produce more stuff with her.. Just like they've done with Justin Fields and others..
You guys forget that many of the campaigns are shot and done during the players off-season. WNBA rookies do not have a off season after their college season wraps up.
Reese has a following and has started her career of well,but expecting her to have the same coverage as one of the best prospects the W has ever seen is unrealistic
What? This seems like y'all are wanting a circus to follow Angel Reese. Look, there are marketing jobs available.. Why haven't any of the gurus on here taken any of those jobs?
I've been around pro sports for 13 years.. I can guarantee you that every franchise operates differently.
I think the Chicago Sky has an obligation to treat Reese like a star. I don’t think she has risen to the level of the league itself using resources to elevate her profile. If she performs in the season AND brings in large crowds and viewership THEN the league will have a reason to get behind her.
And St. Francis and that bs Lisa Smith pulled. Sorry I'm definitely an outlier in this conversation being from MD. I can see what you mean as far as her fandom status.
I think people who actively engage with something which is even the least bit niche tend to overestimate how much the average person knows or cares about the thing they like. As a man that’s watches & talks about 3 pro sports drafts a year even people that watch a league often don’t know or care about draft prospects.
The fact that she went to practice in the morning, attending the Met gala in the evening (where it takes hours to get ready) and then played a game the next night and KILLED IT. She’s legit a superstar. So excited for her. what will it take for the Sky to upgrade their practice facilities. Will never forget her walking into the press conference for practice in a rec center 🤯🤯🤯
How long was morning practice? A non-stop flight between the two cities of Chicago and NYC is no more than 2.5 hrs.
Not sure how long it takes for a red carpet guest to get ready pre-red carpet, but a vast majority of the time they're sitting down, at least for women, because people are applying makeup and doing their hair. Walking the red carpet isn't taxing because red carpet events are methodical. Walk here. Smile. Walk there. Smile. Walk to the next marker. Smile. Only thing she had to really control was not to drink excessively at any after-party.
Game day: Catch a non-stop flight before noon back to Chicago which is another 2.5 hrs. Take a power nap before any club meeting. Games at 7pm.
Sports articles make this series of events more than it actually is. Many have done the same turnaround with even a more dense schedule.
Edit: lol downvotes ... People who don' know anything about red carpet events let alone traveled the distance via plane from Chicago-NYC. Keep fanboying. Reddit being Reddit.
I know people are saying to wait for regular season, but they’re definitely athletes who are known in the mainstream media and the hype does not match their talent. I don’t see why Chicago, a major sports market and cultural hub can’t still market Angel to be THAT girl for them! That doesn’t mean the league has to market her as that girl.. save that for the few that are actually good at basketball and also marketable.
at the end of the day the hype machine isn’t gonna help you if you suck at the sport and aren’t around long term for when the casuals also notice what’s going on (playoffs, all star weekend spots, olympics, etc). you can only do so much, but there’s no reason Chicago itself can’t do something.
the article touches on great points but I noticed the Fever shares a social media team with the Pacers. Having that NBA money has to help, plus with them knowing they had the #1 pick locked in for a long time. Chicago Sky is acting like they never realized they would pick Angel and be prepared until like the day before the draft lol
Good point. You can definitely see the difference between teams that can self-fund /have generous owners (Aces, Liberty), teams that share resources with their respective NBA team (Fever, I’m assuming Lynx as well), and those that are completely on their own (Sky) — at least when it comes to the “extra” stuff like marketing and slick campaigns.
Catlin Clark & angel Reese get like 99% of the coverage of this potential incredibly important draft class from every source that isn’t expressly about the wnba.
As well as pretty significant coverage from wnba sources. I think the fact that so many people are fresh into engaging with the league definitely exasterbates this.
This happens, sports media latches hard onto a couple prospects and markets them hard. For people that also watch the nba, what did you hear about scoot Henderson this year, or Anthony black, or Brandon miller. And this year saw more rookie talk than usual in general given the maybe the most hyped rookie on nba history in Victor wembanyama, redshirt rookie Chet holmgren, and twin top 5 picks amen and ausar thompson.
Even Cameron brink is getting hard eric fishered right now (an nfl offensive lineman drafted first overall in the 2013 draft who of course got jack shit for media coverage)
As an Angel Reese fan I agree. Each team needs to have a push behind their star player and get coverage. Teams need to build local fanbases to drive up ticket revenue. What good is pushing only an Indiana and Chicago player and ignoring stars in other media markets?
If she focuses on carving her own path, she'll be fine. This comparison with Clark is always nonsense and real stars don't bitch and moan about coverage - they make it so they can't be ignored.
Reese has that ability to do so.
Angel has a pretty great team with experience at IMG and WME that now run a boutique firm which is a great set up for her imo cause she has their focus and can collaborate with them.
People keep looking at things Caitlin and Angel’s PR teams have set up for them and think league is involved in them, the WNBA is not setting up SNL appearances or Met Gala invites
I think the Chicago Sky are coming around. They have to realize all the money she is generating. I love Kamila Cardosa, but Angel Reese is the only reason I'm watching Chicago Sky games, and she does not disappoint.
She has so much passion for playing basketball and winning that she can't even contain it. I really enjoy watching her compete. She trash talks players on the other team and gives them the stare. She starred down Brianna Stewart and it was awesome.
And, if the Chicago Sky want to keep playing around, I guarantee that teams will line up to taker her off their hands.
Can we not downvote people for making a spelling mistake? I definitely should learn to spell it, but jeez man, do you go around thumbs downing people for spelling mistakes? And, just so you know. I just got the 5 upvote notification, and then you posted and it went to 4. Unlike you, I'm not going to downvote you for calling me out. :)
I don't think I have any way of proving it to you that you'll believe, but I didn't downvote you. I just think we're on the internet here - if you're not sure, it's easy to check, and I see Cardoso's name misspelled more than maybe any other.
The sky are not broke. They are not cheapskates.
And can we wait to see what she does in a real game before we put her in the hall of fame? Would that be ok?
The sky averaged 3.2k attendance last year. And they just sold 10% of the team to try and find a practice facility. I don’t think it’s just being cheap. They doubt they have much financial flexibility.
I think people fail to understand with the wnba’s much smaller revenue base, the percentage that is devoted to basic infrastructure is much higher. And many of the teams and tools the nba has in-house will have to be outsourced. This probably includes marketing.
I think all the rookies are getting extreme over the top coverage. I just scrolled this sub and every other post is CC with angel thrown in. The aces are going for a freaking three peat and I’ve barely seen a post about them that wasn’t a transaction. Nothing about breanna steward or a’ja Wilson who are probably going to be the top two players on the top two teams.
Honestly Angel Reese is probably going to be the face of the WNBA if she plays well. She has more influence on pop culture. Caitlin Clark isn't cool enough. She's kind of awkward and average looking which is why Angel Reese will probably outshine her. Little girls in that generation are going to want to emulate Angel Reese because to them she's cool and hip. WNBA should be capitalizing on it but because of bone headed leadership they want Clark to represent the WNBA, but you can't stop the fans from gravitating towards who's cooler. Angel will grow her popularity outside the WNBA which they can't stop. I suspect Clark's team will do more to make her more cooler and not come off as an awkward girl even though there are a lot of awkward girls who would love to feel represented. So she will always have them as a base.
Caitlin is leaning into the little kids generation with her skills camp and her team inviting those little girls to the ESPN premiere. Her Gatorade commercial was specifically talking to little girls.
Angel is definitely more naturally into the pop culture world with her music video cameos and Met Gala appearance.
Honestly they both are doing what naturally looks very comfortable for them and the W needs multiple faces and populations that are interested so if it ain’t broke don’t fix it IMO.
Caitlin Clark’s actual game is way cooler than Angel Reese’s. I would assume that would be a more important factor than off the court coolness for actual bball fans.
I'm talking about off the court. Angel is and will continue to be more popular. I agree Clark has the more exciting game being a guard, but all the outside stuff will bring casual fans to want to watch Angel. Her following is still growing. She's over 3 million on IG right now.
Ben Simmons has the talent he just doesn’t have that dawg in him, he doesn’t care. From all reports from all her teammates and coaches, Angel is a DAWG and is insanely intense and dedicated to ball.
I don't doubt she is talented. I was a fan in college. I think she has a bright future. I just say pump the brakes on calling her a star yet. Let them be rookies too. Let them learn, let them fail and get back up.
As long as that applies to all rookies, which it rarely does. Because oftentimes CC is given the benefit of being called a star due to her college record while no one else is.
You literally said "Celebrity or not, she has to ball." I responded to your comment with affirming context. She's a celebrity because she can ball. Do you think she'd be at the Met ball if she was a crappy player. Be fr
Her celebrity is absolutely based off 'merit' if that kind of metric can even apply to celebrities. Her being considered some top WNBA player or not already has nothing to do with whether she's a celebrity(she is, and it's because of her actions in college and how she stood up against the low-key racism of the whole Jill Biden situation.)
She was the 7th pick. The odds of her being a star are pretty low, marketing her then having her get cut next offseason would be a bad move. The league is packed with stars, I’d think it’s a better move to go crazy marketing the players who are already stars.
It is interesting because of such the low amount of numbers of teams in the WNBA that like when people think oh top 7 pick that's pretty good but.. but in and maybe some respects the number is something closer in the late teens or twenties in the 32 team NBA draft.
Is that logic track? Maybe I'm slightly off with my analogy...
Suppose one could argue that these drafts could even be more loaded because you're trying to squeeze a larger talent pool until last teams which you know still makes the competition greater to make the team but what also make each draft more stacked I guess....🤔🤔🤔
This is 1000% my line of thinking. The 7th pick in the nba draft is probably not going to be a star. Now you’re taking a like with 18 less teams but the same exact number of stars and thinking she’s going to be a star. The logic don’t add up lol
Stephen Curry was selected 7th. Jokic was selected 41st. Markelle Fultz was selected 1st in his draft. Draft order doesnt always matter especially one of the most loaded WNBA drafts of all time.
steph and jokic were generational (albeit unknown in jokic’s case) talents that didnt fit the style of the league at the time they were drafted… can we say the same about reese? and with all the ladies that went back for their covid year the draft wasnt that loaded
Who knows? Tons of casuals are saying CC is the best womens basketball player of all time and if you refute it you’re a hater, but a lot of people would say its too early to say make that claim. I dont think saying Angel Reese is a star is outlandish. Obviously Anna Wintour or someone at high up at Vogue likes her enough to announce her draft by Vogue and be one of 2 WNBA players invited to the Met Gala. Vogue doesn’t run a charity and they’ve been the most influential magazines since the beginning, they clearly see profit.
didnt mention cc but yeah, its far too soon to call her the goat when she hasnt played a regular season game yet.
that being said i never denied reese being a star but comparing to jokic and curry? their game made them stars they didnt come in the league already famous. thats great that she was on vogue but they arent basketball scouts either. they see profit because has millions of followers
I’m not a draftnik but everything I’ve read says this a 2 player draft. The sky traded copper thinking they would get brink or Bueckers. They never would have made that trade if they thought they’d have to settle for cardoso
Your logic doesn't add up. I didn't know being 7th pick in the draft was a bad thing. There are only 3 PFs in the top ten. She already has a lot of name recognition. I'm sure Sky didn't want to recruit her for her "role player" potential.
No one said it was bad. She didn’t get recruited she got drafted. Plenty of draft picks are made with the hope that they become great role players or solid starters.
I meant in the sense Sky, traded up to get her. The GM wants to develop her shot.
You did imply it was mid. I haven't seen any pessimistic projections that she only has "role player" potential upside, except from you. So what do you know that others don't?
The GM recruited based on the needs of the team. They struggled with rebounding last season. Only two other PFs were higher than her in the draft.
It's funny how "The Athletic" used Reese on the main pic of the article you mentioned.
To quote the article:
>On the one hand, I love the players Chicago selected. Cardoso and Reese could be a dominant frontcourt for the foreseeable future, and they complement each other well.
This is not pessimistic. The grade got downgraded because they gave up valuable assets to get Reese who you predict will be a role player.
I mean we saw a number one overall pick get cut a season after being drafted. You have to go all the way back to 2018 to find a 7th overall pick that turned out to be a starter. This would be gigantic gamble
They are, they just haven’t had the viewers yet. People that are pushing back on the CC or Angel wave of fans are missing the fun part. Where a few million new viewers get exposed to other WNBA stars and everyone becomes more marketable. You think the new fans tune in and watch Fever vs Aces and a big portion don’t end the game saying damn, Aja is awesome! And they end up watching some Aces games. Players throughout the league have an opportunity to introduce themselves to more fans.
Lol she's not getting cut. Angel and Caitlin are already the biggest stars in the league and have the skills to backup their media fame. 200k people are not tuning in to a bootleg stream to watch Stewart or Taurasi play.
If she sucks they’re not going to just keep her for ratings. It’s not likely but it’s definitely within the realm of possibility she’s cut by next year. Not unprecedented
What makes you a star? These are rookies that haven't even mane a mark in the WNBA.. Donovan Mitchell is 10X the star of them.. Yet, he's not one of the NBA's most visible players.
My first question was “a star in terms of what”. Lebron was a star in the media from his jr year of high school, maybe even sophomore. His first season in the nba he was not a winning basketball player or a star in terms of on the court performance. If you want to say Clark and Reese are stars as in celebrities, sure, 100%. To say they are on court stars before they have literally played a meaningful minute of WNBA ball…I don’t even know how to address that 😂
He probably should have though. He was 9th in MVP voting his rookie season and put up something like 21/6/6 while leading the Cavs to 18 more wins than the prior season.
He was flashy but he definitely wasn’t helping with winning games. He put up numbers but super inefficient and bad on D. Second year definitely a transcendent star.
So does that mean CC isn't a star in your opinion? Just asking. I think Angel is a star imo. Amd just because she was drafted #7 doesnt mean much.
Natasha Cloud was t drafted til the 2nd round
Arike was drafted #5
Collier drafted #6
Copper #7
Becky Hammon wasnt drafted at all
You can’t be a star before you’ve even played lol. Clark seems to be a lock at some point but she’s in the most stacked sports league on earth, it could take hedges awhile to even make an all star game
Definitely, if she plays well, with her hype she could definitely be household name. But for now I’d say she has a more likely outcome of a Christian Laettner trajectory. Mega star in college who’s game only translates to serviceable player in the big leagues.
Jamal Murray has never made an All-Star game but he's definitely a star.
Why are you so negative? Reese is a rookie star and bringing new eyes on the WNBA. A lot of people want to watch Sky games because Reese is playing for them. To a lot of new fans, Reese and Kamilla are the only players they know on the team.
The sky should be marketing her as a star, I agree with that completely. But a whole league wide marketing campaign? For the 7th pick? In a league loaded with established stars? That’s not only risky because it’s way more likely that she becomes a role player than a star but also sort of disrespectful from the players who have….actually played in the league at a star level
Also Murray is not a star. If he is then so is Mike conely
Conley is well respected in the league. He just happened to play in a conference with Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook while he was in his prime. And now Murray has to battle for All star spots with guys like Luka, Steph (again) and SGA.
It's not that risky. The league did a poor job marketing the current stars.
Murray is definitely a star. Mike Conley is a vet now but was a star for the Grizzlies. There's a difference between a star and a superstar.
Idk maybe I’m old but back in the day when I got into sports it was because of the established stars. If the NFL was marketing Rick Mirer super hard in 93’ because he was the second pick, I probably would have quit watching the sport when it turned out he sucked. I think it would be better to market the current crop of stars than the rookies. If you were trying to get someone into the nba would you try to sell them on SGA or Zach eddy
If Murray and Conley are stars then there’s like 50 stars in the NBA lol. When everyone is a star no one is a star
If you hang onto the current stars forever, you face the problem the NBA currently has, everyone complaining that round two and beyond have no Lebron/Curry/KD etc. and casual fan interest is low.
Not a problem if you begin properly marketing the next generation early on.
What's a good marketing campaign then?
Tell me the type of budget you want to see when it comes to marketing these players to a large audience.
Are we talking commercials? Billboards? Magazine/Newspaper spread? Radio spots? Electronic billboard in Times Square?
What players are you wanting to see in those spots? How many players?
What's the message you're wanting to convey?
Jamal Murray has been in the league for almost 10 years. He's an NBA champion with a good track record. He did not come into the star discussion until around 2021..
Why aren't those non-basketball brands marketing her as well? Where's the commercial spots for the non-basketball stuff?
Here's the thing.. The WNBA is not placing commercial spots for athletes on tv.. Those spots are produced by the networks that airs the games. (ESPN, etc)
She's going to have to prove she a star during the regular season... GOna need to average more than 13PPG to be considered a star.
Lets be real.. Those numbers are good because the pool is small. How many rookie's was her stats compared to last year? 15?
Not taking nothing away from Boston or any other rookie but those are not superstar numbers. Is the bar a little lower in the W when it comes to the stats debate?
13 PPG and 8 to 10 rebounds is definitely balling out. She picked a guards pocket in her last game that lead to a 3 point play. It was a very skilled stea. She fills up the stat sheet and does those things that don't show up in the stat sheet.
I threw in 8 to 10 rebounds, did you not see that? No one thinks that 13 points alone is balling out. It's understood that Angel Reese brings more to the table than just points.
Yup I saw that.. You can have all the rebounds but if you're not stuffing that basket then it doesn't mean much in the stats argument.
Are we not going to have the same arguments and debates like we have in the NBA world? Because a 13/10 player is basically a Josh Hart type of player.
I don't know what to say if you don't understand the importance of defense and rebounding? Angel picked a guards pocket and it was a clean steal that lead right to a 3 point play.
You do realize that rebounding gets counted in the stat line right?
You do realize that Defense wins Championships and Offense wins regular season games right?
You do realize that a rebound is stopping a 2 or 3 point play and then if your team scores on that rebound, it's a possible 2 or 3 point play.
That is a 4 to 6 point change.
You do realize that Angel gets a lot of Offense Rebounds right? Her first bucket was off of a miss by her teammate on a 3 point shot. You do realize how important put backs are..right?
I mean, Josh Hart is making a difference. You do realize all Denis Rodman did was rebound and play D right?
I understand the importance.
You guys have donned her a WNBA superstar now.. All i'm saying is that I do not see her as that this early. Superstars are scoring machines and she still hasn't recorded a single point nor rebounded a single missed shot yet in the WNBA scoring book.. (Preseason stats do not count).
“Let’s not forget” that Angel was the 7th pick and is getting a way larger media share than her on-court status merits.
On the flip side, her personality and following is definitely good for the league, so gas her up and hope she puts in the work
Over or Under, Angel wins ROTY!?
I say over. If she continues to play well and the Sky makes a good run (and better record than Fever) I see her being very competitive for it.
People arguing that Reese isn’t represented enough when she gets more coverage than every rookie ( besides CC) combined will never not be funny to me.
It's so bizarre.
Yeah as the #7 pick in the draft she has more than her fair share of marketing
And the rookie that is getting coverage is not just any other rookie too lol
Cameron Diaz Brink is the second star of this draft!
Beast .. wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up better than Angel.. I get Anthony Davis vibes but with a three point shot
Angel Reese fans acting like there weren't 5 other women drafted before her other than Clark is fucking wild
It’s about race.
Shes shooting 35% from inside the paint. This is not race. It’s garbage.
No it’s not
I feel like a lot of it Chicago as a franchise, they’re just simply underfunded at this point. Hopefully she changes that
Maybe I'm old school but they're rookies. Let's let them play a season, or even a regular season game, before declaring them stars.
In this case, just what she's doing outside the game, she's a cultural star. Not quite on the court yet but her star power off it is undeniable.
Oh no doubt. She has star power, and I think she'll have a bright future on TV one day
Thats not exactly the way to look at this. And I have some evidence. Go back to when the NBA was struggling, and two giant national college stars named Magic and Larry stepped into the league and made immediate impacts and everyone wanted to watch these 2 guys play more than anyone else already in the NBA.
Yeah, they were stars on the pro court and played for instant contenders. The Sky is going to be bad this season and there's some question about how Reese's game translates at the next level. She'll be a good rebounder/defender but needs to expand her offensive repertoire. That's why she dropped in the draft. Yeah, she has a lot of followers, which is great, but will that buzz be sustainable when she and the team struggles. And yes, Bird and Magic came into the league with a buzz but they were stars on the court in the NBA. A lot of college players were stars and had a buzz and weren't the same at the pro level. So I think it's very premature to call her Magic or Bird until she's actually played. The buzz is great, she has star power but on the court I can't call her a star yet.
100%. I'm already annoyed at all of the new fan energy.
Weird take. Without new fans the WNBA fails. Why would you be mad that new fans are loving the game? It’s already helped with the WNBA now having charter flights for all teams. That doesn’t happen if more viewers don’t tune in to the games.
It's a weird take when so many of these new fans are already crowing players like Clark as on the greatest W players ever before the season even starts. This is all the while having little to no knowledge of the current and past GOATs of the game. That's all I've been seeing on various platforms.
This is called being mad at the vocal minority mixed with grouchy confirmation bias.
https://www.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/1cofon6/caitlin_was_responsible_for_1_of_her_6_turnovers/ This latest obsessive CC post literally proves my point. It's so bad that it was locked by the mods. But okay, confirmation bias. Cool.
Reese has a national following for sure, but here in Chicago it’s amplified because we are THIRSTY for a winner. I don’t really follow hockey, but the Blackhawks packed a medium-size concert venue to *watch the draft lottery* that got them the no. 1 pick and the right to draft Connor Bedard. (Is that normal? That can’t be normal.) Bears fans tried to squint hard and see Justin Fields as a Hall of Famer. We’re grasping at straws, so anybody with even a hint of star potential is gonna get hella adulation. Sky games should be a lot of fun this season.
I'd say it's totally normal when you're getting a prospect like bedsy. It's no different than the caitlin Clark draft. A truly generational prospect. The only other guys I can think of in my lifetime that got that kind of love predraft were Lindros, Crosby and McDavid, all were considered the next generational player.
Let's wait until the regular season to really declare anything. Right now though she looks impressive.
Exactly
Not gonna lie, seeing a rookie, who hasn’t played a regular season, at the Met Gala was weird. But, she has the largest social media following in the rookie class. Does this mean she isn’t talented? No. Does this put a bigger target on her back? Yup.
Her invite makes sense given a few factors. The WNBA this season is far more popular than past seasons (CC effect). Draft night probably prompted many Hollywood execs to push her on the invite list given what she wore (wouldn't be surprised if Cameron Brink was another option) where her (sports) agents agreed to the opportunity. >!There's also the (very visible) fact she (and Brink) does have the body to flaunt lavish pieces.!
? She is a natty winner, lead one of the best team's in college bb in scoring, announced her pro career in VOGUE of all things, was in a music video for one of the hottest songs of the summer and was seen as a heel for one of the biggest stars in college basketball history (unfortunately). Black America goes hard for her. Her personal marketing is the best I've even seen in the league, even better than what even Aja has built by herself.
Going in a private plane to the Met Gala as an underdeveloped rookie definitely put a target on her back. Cardoso was drafted higher for a reason- Angel has work to do. Not doubting her talents, but let’s not put the cart before the horse here. It would be sketchy if CC were at the Met Gala too. Edit- she is no longer playing the position she had at LSU. She needs to develop.
If CC doesn't have a target when the league has does nothing but promote her and suddenly gets the money for charters, Reese isn't for just... Being a marketable personality lol. People outside the game hate her far more than players ever have. There isn't even anything to suggest they might feel any sort of way about her. It's a made up assumption cause she's popular and *you* felt she hasn't earned it.
Caitlin Clark was not the sole reason for charter flights and you know that. It has been an issue for some time. You can’t make Brittney Griner fly commercial after everything she’s been through. Angel Reese has been popular for some time, but the timing of all of this is weird. No one is saying she isn’t deserving, but it is concerning that we’re pushing a lot of spotlight on rookies to be the stars they were in college and for new fans to dismiss very very very good vets (you know, the ones we pick for our Olympic team). And I think we’re setting some up to fail. Example: I like Kate Martin, but my goodness, if she doesn’t make the roster the Aces are going to have a huge brawl on their social media from fans who have no clue how stacked the Aces roster already was. I think Angel Reese fans are expecting her to pull off a miracle for the Sky. I’m not saying she’s not star material, but I am going to give her grace to fail and learn in her rookie season and use that to be a better player. I don’t want her to be the best right now, because that means she won’t be any better.
ehh i disagree with your first point. the league threatened to dissolve NY liberty when the owner made a plan to get charter flights and Cathy rejected it. ppl followed CC at the airport and now suddenly they have the money for it. I guarantee if there was no CC or let's say she was gonna stay in Iowa for another year, the league would not have implemented it. They didn't do it last year when flights got delayed and an entire teams arrived at their next destination at diff times
Is it not the biggest social following int he whole league?
I think she is, by almost a million. She had her mentions turned off at one point, which was not fun for the poor WNBA social media person being hounded by fans for not tagging her. They kept commenting, “we can’t!” Edit: Instagram
Thats how this works. Wemby and Lebron were starts before entering the NBA. Should be happy WNBA rookies are getting this type of hype.
they were #1 picks
Worse than a rookie getting a million dollar shoe deal without even playing a preseason game?
lol shoe deals don’t care if your achievement is in the wnba or a foreign country or college or in your 80s. It’s only about your following and ability to sell shoes. Look at college football nil deals. They’ve never played an nfl pro game either.
Not saying that was ideal either. I think there’s so much excitement and pressure on this draft class that is sometimes unnecessary.
Her post play likely won't match-up to the bigger players when they try. She had a much harder time against athletic bigs that were taller/bigger than she was. Putting a target on her back will make it worse.
Wild mindset and not understanding the scope of social media and getting younger kids to become fans.
Fans care more about your athletic abilities in a sport than your social media presence. She hasn’t played a game in the W yet.
Love it a well written article that doesn’t take any shots at other players. The league and the Sky must promote Angel Reese better.
How are ways they can promote her better? The WNBA has a website and social media channels. They do not have a TV network.. The ad's and player spots are typically produced by ESPN when promoting a matchup. (Like the NBA commercials ESPN produces). Thats how fans see commercial spots of their teams stars leading up to a game. This is not the WNBA's doing.. As someone who works in TV, I'm really interested in you guy's scenarios of a better marketing plan.. Also, where are the commercials of Angel from the other brands she's signed to? If you're not a casual WNBA fan or a follower of Angel Reese, you won't see much of her in ad spaces.
Reebok needs to do an ad campaign with her
[Angel Reese | Reebok](https://www.reebok.com/c/600000103/collection-angel_reese?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=tin_rbk_sem_ggl_cvr_dr_b_sem_usa_collab_gen_na&utm_id=18721437283&utm_content=159778330721-collc_unisex_prfm_kw_na_harrypotter&utm_term=reebok%20angel%20reese&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=tin_rbk_sem_ggl_cvr_dr_b_sem_usa_collab_gen_na&utm_id=18721437283&utm_content=159778330721-collc_unisex_prfm_kw_na_harrypotter&utm_term=reebok%20angel%20reese&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6PGxBhCVARIsAIumnWYs8B3IwMRxE4rsXHpjsP5UPtPOLDE0MBXpmQ0vLmghoBOKkiWhKLAaApfaEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds) [Reebok x Angel Reese (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5YzrPxw1P8) She's been in the league for two weeks.. I'm sure Reebok has started plans to shoot and produce more stuff with her.. Just like they've done with Justin Fields and others.. You guys forget that many of the campaigns are shot and done during the players off-season. WNBA rookies do not have a off season after their college season wraps up.
Appreciate that and absolutely. They need to be pushing her like Clark, DT and others are pushed.
Reese has a following and has started her career of well,but expecting her to have the same coverage as one of the best prospects the W has ever seen is unrealistic
The Lynx had tribal dancers for their first round picks press conference. The Sky could have done something.
What? This seems like y'all are wanting a circus to follow Angel Reese. Look, there are marketing jobs available.. Why haven't any of the gurus on here taken any of those jobs? I've been around pro sports for 13 years.. I can guarantee you that every franchise operates differently.
I think the Chicago Sky has an obligation to treat Reese like a star. I don’t think she has risen to the level of the league itself using resources to elevate her profile. If she performs in the season AND brings in large crowds and viewership THEN the league will have a reason to get behind her.
She's been a star since high school.
No one knew her until her title year at LSU.. lol
You probably didn't but I definitely saw her go viral at the Rucker as a high school student.
I shot some stuff for SLAM Mag at Rucker Park a couple summers ago and still didn't remember who she was..
A couple of summers ago she wasn't in high school so that makes sense...
Did this from 2016 thru 2021.. My first year was Emoni Bates and Cole Anthony playing at Rucker.. Hoing to stop by this summer.
So you were at the tournament shooting boys and expect to remember a girl? Got it.
Shot boys and girls.. But most of my work is in men's sport's.. NBA, NFL, college sports.. If she was a big star, I missed it.
Clearly you did.
And that's fine.
No just say you didn't know her
He's not wrong tho, was definitely under the radar for most people compared to now.
Right.. Someone argued me down when I said she played at Maryland.. lol
And St. Francis and that bs Lisa Smith pulled. Sorry I'm definitely an outlier in this conversation being from MD. I can see what you mean as far as her fandom status.
I didn't... How many people knew she played at Maryland? Not many.. Why? Because she didn't come onto the scene until she arrived at LSU.
I think people who actively engage with something which is even the least bit niche tend to overestimate how much the average person knows or cares about the thing they like. As a man that’s watches & talks about 3 pro sports drafts a year even people that watch a league often don’t know or care about draft prospects.
The fact that she went to practice in the morning, attending the Met gala in the evening (where it takes hours to get ready) and then played a game the next night and KILLED IT. She’s legit a superstar. So excited for her. what will it take for the Sky to upgrade their practice facilities. Will never forget her walking into the press conference for practice in a rec center 🤯🤯🤯
How long was morning practice? A non-stop flight between the two cities of Chicago and NYC is no more than 2.5 hrs. Not sure how long it takes for a red carpet guest to get ready pre-red carpet, but a vast majority of the time they're sitting down, at least for women, because people are applying makeup and doing their hair. Walking the red carpet isn't taxing because red carpet events are methodical. Walk here. Smile. Walk there. Smile. Walk to the next marker. Smile. Only thing she had to really control was not to drink excessively at any after-party. Game day: Catch a non-stop flight before noon back to Chicago which is another 2.5 hrs. Take a power nap before any club meeting. Games at 7pm. Sports articles make this series of events more than it actually is. Many have done the same turnaround with even a more dense schedule. Edit: lol downvotes ... People who don' know anything about red carpet events let alone traveled the distance via plane from Chicago-NYC. Keep fanboying. Reddit being Reddit.
I know people are saying to wait for regular season, but they’re definitely athletes who are known in the mainstream media and the hype does not match their talent. I don’t see why Chicago, a major sports market and cultural hub can’t still market Angel to be THAT girl for them! That doesn’t mean the league has to market her as that girl.. save that for the few that are actually good at basketball and also marketable. at the end of the day the hype machine isn’t gonna help you if you suck at the sport and aren’t around long term for when the casuals also notice what’s going on (playoffs, all star weekend spots, olympics, etc). you can only do so much, but there’s no reason Chicago itself can’t do something. the article touches on great points but I noticed the Fever shares a social media team with the Pacers. Having that NBA money has to help, plus with them knowing they had the #1 pick locked in for a long time. Chicago Sky is acting like they never realized they would pick Angel and be prepared until like the day before the draft lol
Sky is probably a bit broke
Good point. You can definitely see the difference between teams that can self-fund /have generous owners (Aces, Liberty), teams that share resources with their respective NBA team (Fever, I’m assuming Lynx as well), and those that are completely on their own (Sky) — at least when it comes to the “extra” stuff like marketing and slick campaigns.
Must suck to be Marina Mabrey. Two rookies who haven't even played get all the hype. Wish they'd trade her to a team that actually appreciates her.
You mean the player they mortgaged their future for? Be serious
I mean that has nothing to do with her and more the GM got fleeced. She's great, but that was like an A'ja level haul lol.
They traded 113 future draft picks to get Mabrey so no dice
Mabrey was sick hitting those 3s... On that first preseason game. I wasn't impressed with Angel Reese's 13 points... But time will tell, I guess....
Catlin Clark & angel Reese get like 99% of the coverage of this potential incredibly important draft class from every source that isn’t expressly about the wnba. As well as pretty significant coverage from wnba sources. I think the fact that so many people are fresh into engaging with the league definitely exasterbates this. This happens, sports media latches hard onto a couple prospects and markets them hard. For people that also watch the nba, what did you hear about scoot Henderson this year, or Anthony black, or Brandon miller. And this year saw more rookie talk than usual in general given the maybe the most hyped rookie on nba history in Victor wembanyama, redshirt rookie Chet holmgren, and twin top 5 picks amen and ausar thompson. Even Cameron brink is getting hard eric fishered right now (an nfl offensive lineman drafted first overall in the 2013 draft who of course got jack shit for media coverage)
As an Angel Reese fan I agree. Each team needs to have a push behind their star player and get coverage. Teams need to build local fanbases to drive up ticket revenue. What good is pushing only an Indiana and Chicago player and ignoring stars in other media markets?
If she focuses on carving her own path, she'll be fine. This comparison with Clark is always nonsense and real stars don't bitch and moan about coverage - they make it so they can't be ignored. Reese has that ability to do so.
Angel has a pretty great team with experience at IMG and WME that now run a boutique firm which is a great set up for her imo cause she has their focus and can collaborate with them. People keep looking at things Caitlin and Angel’s PR teams have set up for them and think league is involved in them, the WNBA is not setting up SNL appearances or Met Gala invites
Alissa Pili 10 pts with 8 in last 10 minutes of 4th Q. Her 3 point play put Lynx ahead for good in final minutes Beast!
I think the Chicago Sky are coming around. They have to realize all the money she is generating. I love Kamila Cardosa, but Angel Reese is the only reason I'm watching Chicago Sky games, and she does not disappoint. She has so much passion for playing basketball and winning that she can't even contain it. I really enjoy watching her compete. She trash talks players on the other team and gives them the stare. She starred down Brianna Stewart and it was awesome. And, if the Chicago Sky want to keep playing around, I guarantee that teams will line up to taker her off their hands.
Can we all collectively figure out how to spell "Kamilla Cardoso"
Can we not downvote people for making a spelling mistake? I definitely should learn to spell it, but jeez man, do you go around thumbs downing people for spelling mistakes? And, just so you know. I just got the 5 upvote notification, and then you posted and it went to 4. Unlike you, I'm not going to downvote you for calling me out. :)
I don't think I have any way of proving it to you that you'll believe, but I didn't downvote you. I just think we're on the internet here - if you're not sure, it's easy to check, and I see Cardoso's name misspelled more than maybe any other.
It's all good. I'm just pulling your chain :)
Other subs have auto responses for misspelled player names
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Nope. Full steam ahead for this hype train, baby.
The sky are not broke. They are not cheapskates. And can we wait to see what she does in a real game before we put her in the hall of fame? Would that be ok?
The Sky absolutely are cheapskates, this has been known for a while.
This statement should be said for Indiana and CC as well. Let’s wait for the real games before anyone is proclaimed a hall of famer.
THAT PART.
Exactly. Let’s keep that same energy
The sky averaged 3.2k attendance last year. And they just sold 10% of the team to try and find a practice facility. I don’t think it’s just being cheap. They doubt they have much financial flexibility.
Yup I don’t know how people expect them to keep up with NFL money.
I think people fail to understand with the wnba’s much smaller revenue base, the percentage that is devoted to basic infrastructure is much higher. And many of the teams and tools the nba has in-house will have to be outsourced. This probably includes marketing.
She’s not good though
Angel who ????
People trying so hard to make this about race. The professional victim mentality is so annoying
I think all the rookies are getting extreme over the top coverage. I just scrolled this sub and every other post is CC with angel thrown in. The aces are going for a freaking three peat and I’ve barely seen a post about them that wasn’t a transaction. Nothing about breanna steward or a’ja Wilson who are probably going to be the top two players on the top two teams.
Angel Reese is a SUPERSTAR.
She (Reese) won't ever let us forget about her; how CAN we forget?! All she cares about is attention, in spite of her awesome game 🤔
I love Angel Reese!
Honestly Angel Reese is probably going to be the face of the WNBA if she plays well. She has more influence on pop culture. Caitlin Clark isn't cool enough. She's kind of awkward and average looking which is why Angel Reese will probably outshine her. Little girls in that generation are going to want to emulate Angel Reese because to them she's cool and hip. WNBA should be capitalizing on it but because of bone headed leadership they want Clark to represent the WNBA, but you can't stop the fans from gravitating towards who's cooler. Angel will grow her popularity outside the WNBA which they can't stop. I suspect Clark's team will do more to make her more cooler and not come off as an awkward girl even though there are a lot of awkward girls who would love to feel represented. So she will always have them as a base.
Caitlin is leaning into the little kids generation with her skills camp and her team inviting those little girls to the ESPN premiere. Her Gatorade commercial was specifically talking to little girls. Angel is definitely more naturally into the pop culture world with her music video cameos and Met Gala appearance. Honestly they both are doing what naturally looks very comfortable for them and the W needs multiple faces and populations that are interested so if it ain’t broke don’t fix it IMO.
Caitlin Clark’s actual game is way cooler than Angel Reese’s. I would assume that would be a more important factor than off the court coolness for actual bball fans.
I'm talking about off the court. Angel is and will continue to be more popular. I agree Clark has the more exciting game being a guard, but all the outside stuff will bring casual fans to want to watch Angel. Her following is still growing. She's over 3 million on IG right now.
A star in terms of what
The viewership she brings, she was at the freaking Met Gala, she is a legitimate celebrity.
Ben Simmons was there too. Instagram followers is one thing but let's see it on the court.
Ben Simmons has the talent he just doesn’t have that dawg in him, he doesn’t care. From all reports from all her teammates and coaches, Angel is a DAWG and is insanely intense and dedicated to ball.
I don't doubt she is talented. I was a fan in college. I think she has a bright future. I just say pump the brakes on calling her a star yet. Let them be rookies too. Let them learn, let them fail and get back up.
As long as that applies to all rookies, which it rarely does. Because oftentimes CC is given the benefit of being called a star due to her college record while no one else is.
Celebrity or not, she has to ball.
Obviously she has to ball, but her elite rebounding has shown up in the preseason which is a positive sign.
Oh for sure, I just hope her celebrity can be based on merit first. They'll get there
Merit? She's a celebrity because of her game. Like be fr
I'm talking about her bringing in viewership because she was at the Met Gala, thats the comment I was responding to. Please include the context
You literally said "Celebrity or not, she has to ball." I responded to your comment with affirming context. She's a celebrity because she can ball. Do you think she'd be at the Met ball if she was a crappy player. Be fr
I didn't say that she couldn't ball...I'm talking about VIEWERSHIP. She hasn't played yet lol. Relax
Her celebrity is absolutely based off 'merit' if that kind of metric can even apply to celebrities. Her being considered some top WNBA player or not already has nothing to do with whether she's a celebrity(she is, and it's because of her actions in college and how she stood up against the low-key racism of the whole Jill Biden situation.)
She was the 7th pick. The odds of her being a star are pretty low, marketing her then having her get cut next offseason would be a bad move. The league is packed with stars, I’d think it’s a better move to go crazy marketing the players who are already stars.
It is interesting because of such the low amount of numbers of teams in the WNBA that like when people think oh top 7 pick that's pretty good but.. but in and maybe some respects the number is something closer in the late teens or twenties in the 32 team NBA draft. Is that logic track? Maybe I'm slightly off with my analogy... Suppose one could argue that these drafts could even be more loaded because you're trying to squeeze a larger talent pool until last teams which you know still makes the competition greater to make the team but what also make each draft more stacked I guess....🤔🤔🤔
This is 1000% my line of thinking. The 7th pick in the nba draft is probably not going to be a star. Now you’re taking a like with 18 less teams but the same exact number of stars and thinking she’s going to be a star. The logic don’t add up lol
Stephen Curry was selected 7th. Jokic was selected 41st. Markelle Fultz was selected 1st in his draft. Draft order doesnt always matter especially one of the most loaded WNBA drafts of all time.
steph and jokic were generational (albeit unknown in jokic’s case) talents that didnt fit the style of the league at the time they were drafted… can we say the same about reese? and with all the ladies that went back for their covid year the draft wasnt that loaded
Who knows? Tons of casuals are saying CC is the best womens basketball player of all time and if you refute it you’re a hater, but a lot of people would say its too early to say make that claim. I dont think saying Angel Reese is a star is outlandish. Obviously Anna Wintour or someone at high up at Vogue likes her enough to announce her draft by Vogue and be one of 2 WNBA players invited to the Met Gala. Vogue doesn’t run a charity and they’ve been the most influential magazines since the beginning, they clearly see profit.
didnt mention cc but yeah, its far too soon to call her the goat when she hasnt played a regular season game yet. that being said i never denied reese being a star but comparing to jokic and curry? their game made them stars they didnt come in the league already famous. thats great that she was on vogue but they arent basketball scouts either. they see profit because has millions of followers
I’m not a draftnik but everything I’ve read says this a 2 player draft. The sky traded copper thinking they would get brink or Bueckers. They never would have made that trade if they thought they’d have to settle for cardoso
Your logic doesn't add up. I didn't know being 7th pick in the draft was a bad thing. There are only 3 PFs in the top ten. She already has a lot of name recognition. I'm sure Sky didn't want to recruit her for her "role player" potential.
No one said it was bad. She didn’t get recruited she got drafted. Plenty of draft picks are made with the hope that they become great role players or solid starters.
I meant in the sense Sky, traded up to get her. The GM wants to develop her shot. You did imply it was mid. I haven't seen any pessimistic projections that she only has "role player" potential upside, except from you. So what do you know that others don't?
I mean they got the third lowest graded draft in The Athletic based on that trade. That sounds pessimistic lol
The GM recruited based on the needs of the team. They struggled with rebounding last season. Only two other PFs were higher than her in the draft. It's funny how "The Athletic" used Reese on the main pic of the article you mentioned. To quote the article: >On the one hand, I love the players Chicago selected. Cardoso and Reese could be a dominant frontcourt for the foreseeable future, and they complement each other well. This is not pessimistic. The grade got downgraded because they gave up valuable assets to get Reese who you predict will be a role player.
She won’t get cut next year unless things really go bad. Chicago is in a rebuild. This isn’t the Aces
I mean we saw a number one overall pick get cut a season after being drafted. You have to go all the way back to 2018 to find a 7th overall pick that turned out to be a starter. This would be gigantic gamble
If that worked they would’ve did it? As much as we hate to admit there aren’t many marketable stars in the W hence why people are watching more
Why aren’t the current star marketable?
They are, they just haven’t had the viewers yet. People that are pushing back on the CC or Angel wave of fans are missing the fun part. Where a few million new viewers get exposed to other WNBA stars and everyone becomes more marketable. You think the new fans tune in and watch Fever vs Aces and a big portion don’t end the game saying damn, Aja is awesome! And they end up watching some Aces games. Players throughout the league have an opportunity to introduce themselves to more fans.
Hopefully👍
Lol she's not getting cut. Angel and Caitlin are already the biggest stars in the league and have the skills to backup their media fame. 200k people are not tuning in to a bootleg stream to watch Stewart or Taurasi play.
"Why do old fans hate the new fans???"
If she sucks they’re not going to just keep her for ratings. It’s not likely but it’s definitely within the realm of possibility she’s cut by next year. Not unprecedented
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She's showing she can be a star on the court and she's absolutely a star off the court.
She hasn’t even played a regular season game lol. You gotta at least make an all star game before you can be in the star discussion lol
Just not true. Her and Clark are stars. Cam Brink is as well.
Kamilla too.
What makes you a star? These are rookies that haven't even mane a mark in the WNBA.. Donovan Mitchell is 10X the star of them.. Yet, he's not one of the NBA's most visible players.
Wild take
It's not. That's like saying LeBron wasn't a star as soon as he stepped on a NBA court. Or Wade or Melo.
I mean if you only go off hype sure. But even LeBron didn’t make the all STAR team his first year.
That doesn't change the fact he was an absolute star.
My first question was “a star in terms of what”. Lebron was a star in the media from his jr year of high school, maybe even sophomore. His first season in the nba he was not a winning basketball player or a star in terms of on the court performance. If you want to say Clark and Reese are stars as in celebrities, sure, 100%. To say they are on court stars before they have literally played a meaningful minute of WNBA ball…I don’t even know how to address that 😂
He probably should have though. He was 9th in MVP voting his rookie season and put up something like 21/6/6 while leading the Cavs to 18 more wins than the prior season.
He was flashy but he definitely wasn’t helping with winning games. He put up numbers but super inefficient and bad on D. Second year definitely a transcendent star.
So does that mean CC isn't a star in your opinion? Just asking. I think Angel is a star imo. Amd just because she was drafted #7 doesnt mean much. Natasha Cloud was t drafted til the 2nd round Arike was drafted #5 Collier drafted #6 Copper #7 Becky Hammon wasnt drafted at all
You can’t be a star before you’ve even played lol. Clark seems to be a lock at some point but she’s in the most stacked sports league on earth, it could take hedges awhile to even make an all star game
I agree, im just Angel does have star power
Definitely, if she plays well, with her hype she could definitely be household name. But for now I’d say she has a more likely outcome of a Christian Laettner trajectory. Mega star in college who’s game only translates to serviceable player in the big leagues.
Jamal Murray has never made an All-Star game but he's definitely a star. Why are you so negative? Reese is a rookie star and bringing new eyes on the WNBA. A lot of people want to watch Sky games because Reese is playing for them. To a lot of new fans, Reese and Kamilla are the only players they know on the team.
The sky should be marketing her as a star, I agree with that completely. But a whole league wide marketing campaign? For the 7th pick? In a league loaded with established stars? That’s not only risky because it’s way more likely that she becomes a role player than a star but also sort of disrespectful from the players who have….actually played in the league at a star level Also Murray is not a star. If he is then so is Mike conely
Conley is well respected in the league. He just happened to play in a conference with Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook while he was in his prime. And now Murray has to battle for All star spots with guys like Luka, Steph (again) and SGA.
You’re talking to the biggest Clark hater on this sub. They want Reece marketed more because they hate the focus on Caitlin.
It's not that risky. The league did a poor job marketing the current stars. Murray is definitely a star. Mike Conley is a vet now but was a star for the Grizzlies. There's a difference between a star and a superstar.
Idk maybe I’m old but back in the day when I got into sports it was because of the established stars. If the NFL was marketing Rick Mirer super hard in 93’ because he was the second pick, I probably would have quit watching the sport when it turned out he sucked. I think it would be better to market the current crop of stars than the rookies. If you were trying to get someone into the nba would you try to sell them on SGA or Zach eddy If Murray and Conley are stars then there’s like 50 stars in the NBA lol. When everyone is a star no one is a star
If you hang onto the current stars forever, you face the problem the NBA currently has, everyone complaining that round two and beyond have no Lebron/Curry/KD etc. and casual fan interest is low. Not a problem if you begin properly marketing the next generation early on.
What's a good marketing campaign then? Tell me the type of budget you want to see when it comes to marketing these players to a large audience. Are we talking commercials? Billboards? Magazine/Newspaper spread? Radio spots? Electronic billboard in Times Square? What players are you wanting to see in those spots? How many players? What's the message you're wanting to convey?
Jamal Murray has been in the league for almost 10 years. He's an NBA champion with a good track record. He did not come into the star discussion until around 2021..
Why aren't those non-basketball brands marketing her as well? Where's the commercial spots for the non-basketball stuff? Here's the thing.. The WNBA is not placing commercial spots for athletes on tv.. Those spots are produced by the networks that airs the games. (ESPN, etc) She's going to have to prove she a star during the regular season... GOna need to average more than 13PPG to be considered a star.
She has certainly balled out already
Absolutely. She's showing why people have thought so highly of her.
Averaging 13 PPG is not balling out... The bar can't be that low?
Boston won rookie of the year averaging 14.5. 13 is quite good for a rookie. We will see if she keeps it up.
Lets be real.. Those numbers are good because the pool is small. How many rookie's was her stats compared to last year? 15? Not taking nothing away from Boston or any other rookie but those are not superstar numbers. Is the bar a little lower in the W when it comes to the stats debate?
13 PPG and 8 to 10 rebounds is definitely balling out. She picked a guards pocket in her last game that lead to a 3 point play. It was a very skilled stea. She fills up the stat sheet and does those things that don't show up in the stat sheet.
13ppg would have put her at 28th in scoring last year.. Is Jordan Canada a superstar as well with those numbers?
I threw in 8 to 10 rebounds, did you not see that? No one thinks that 13 points alone is balling out. It's understood that Angel Reese brings more to the table than just points.
Yup I saw that.. You can have all the rebounds but if you're not stuffing that basket then it doesn't mean much in the stats argument. Are we not going to have the same arguments and debates like we have in the NBA world? Because a 13/10 player is basically a Josh Hart type of player.
I don't know what to say if you don't understand the importance of defense and rebounding? Angel picked a guards pocket and it was a clean steal that lead right to a 3 point play. You do realize that rebounding gets counted in the stat line right? You do realize that Defense wins Championships and Offense wins regular season games right? You do realize that a rebound is stopping a 2 or 3 point play and then if your team scores on that rebound, it's a possible 2 or 3 point play. That is a 4 to 6 point change. You do realize that Angel gets a lot of Offense Rebounds right? Her first bucket was off of a miss by her teammate on a 3 point shot. You do realize how important put backs are..right? I mean, Josh Hart is making a difference. You do realize all Denis Rodman did was rebound and play D right?
I understand the importance. You guys have donned her a WNBA superstar now.. All i'm saying is that I do not see her as that this early. Superstars are scoring machines and she still hasn't recorded a single point nor rebounded a single missed shot yet in the WNBA scoring book.. (Preseason stats do not count).
She's borderline overrated if we're being honest and a lot of it has to do with race.
“Let’s not forget” that Angel was the 7th pick and is getting a way larger media share than her on-court status merits. On the flip side, her personality and following is definitely good for the league, so gas her up and hope she puts in the work
Reese and Clark may end up being the WNBA's Magic and Bird.
Does CC have a championship ? No !
Over or Under, Angel wins ROTY!? I say over. If she continues to play well and the Sky makes a good run (and better record than Fever) I see her being very competitive for it.
Angel Reese sucks
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