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Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson discussed the similarities between herself and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese following a promising rookie season from Reese.
Wilson revealed to Rachel Bachman of The Wall Street Journal that she became aware of Reese during her college days at Maryland.
“My good friend actually was coaching her at that time, so that’s how I honestly started to follow Angel, and I saw a little bit of myself in her,” Wilson said (h/t Jack Winter of Athlon Sports). “No matter what I do, I’m gonna make sure that I go all out and I give it 100 percent. And I saw that, just the motor that she has, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that is young A’ja 100 percent.'”
Before Reese won a national championship with LSU, she was an integral part of Terrapins teams that made consecutive Sweet 16 appearances in 2021 and 2022.
The 22-year-old was selected by the Sky with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, putting together an impressive rookie season before it came to an early end due to a wrist injury.
In 34 starts, she averaged 13.6 points to go along with a league-leading 13.1 rebounds per game. Wilson was the only other player in the WNBA to finish the regular season with a double-digit rebounding average.
Reese initially set a new single-season rebounding record by pulling down 446 boards, but her record was broken by Wilson a few weeks later after she was unable to complete her inaugural year in the league.
Although the Aces’ quest for a third straight title came to an end during the 2024 playoffs, Wilson still wrapped up another incredible season. She won the third MVP award of her career and averaged a career-high 26.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game on 51.8/31.7/84.4 shooting splits.
Wilson also finished No. 2 in WNBA Defensive Player of the Year voting, averaging 1.8 steals and 2.6 blocks per contest.
As Reese looks to help Chicago return to the playoffs next season, she’s already receiving praise from one of the best players in the sport.
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