The Chicago Sky traded Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream in April, and the three-time All-Star forward has turned over a new leaf as “ATL Barbie.”
“I’m just so happy here in Atlanta,” Reese told Terrika Foster-Brasby for USA Network’s coverage of the Dream’s win over the Dallas Wings on Wednesday, July 29. “I’m just grateful to be here. It’s been a sisterhood. They’ve had my back through the highs and the lows. It’s just a joy. I feel safe. I feel loved.”
“I feel safe.”
Dating back to Reese’s star-making seasons at LSU, the media hasn’t always been the safest space for her. Reese has expressed as much repeatedly this year.
“The media has not always been great for me,” Reese said on Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson’s podcast this spring. “And I’ll take a fine. I’ll catch a fine, especially in the WNBA. I’ll have a fine before I have to go to media and feel like my back is against the wall.”
More recently, in early July, Reese pulled the curtain back even more while lamenting the Dream not having a single player voted as an All-Star starter.
“I haven’t really said much this year in the media, because honestly it’s been tough for me over the last two years,” Reese said, according to ESPN’s Kareem Copeland. “But I feel like it was important for me to speak for my teammates that don’t necessarily speak for themselves all the time.”
Reese felt it important to use her voice when asked by Monica McNutt for her advice to young women who look up to her as an athlete and entrepreneur.
“Be bold,” Reese said. “Take that step. I think, oftentimes, women, they try to put us in a box. What we have to do and what spaces we can be in, what we can’t be in.”
“I think you’re an example of it,” Reese said of McNutt. “Being one of the focal points on ESPN all the time. Like, you that girl. I be seeing you. Like, ‘OK, period! That’s a Black queen right there.’ But I just think it’s important just to have a voice. […] Women are just so powerful. We run the world. I love women.”
“Be bold. … Be in these spaces and be confident.”
Angel Reese shares advice to young women with @McNuttMonica
pic.twitter.com/g97l0BKW1E
— espnW (@espnW) July 29, 2026
McNutt became a household name in recent years in large part because of her unflinching WNBA analysis. As a result, ESPN rewarded her with a multi-year extension in 2024, and her star is rising alongside an increasing demand for smart women’s basketball coverage. Just this week, McNutt went viral for challenging Caitlin Clark on her criticism of how the media covers her.
Reese’s point, even if subtle, about diversity and representation at ESPN is a timely one. The network is currently under the microscope for deprioritizing outspoken personalities who wade in more controversial waters. ESPN’s latest round of layoffs was headlined by Ryan Clark, who subsequently shared on his The Pivot Podcast that he believes he was fired for being vocal about political and social issues that intersect with sports.
ESPN’s WNBA coverage, however, still boasts a diverse cast of characters to give nuanced voice to the league’s complex dynamics.
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