Angel Reese bracing for WNBA suspension after incident vs. Fire
Friday’s matchup against the Portland Fire came with some good and some bad for Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese.
The 24-year-old Reese finished with 16 points, 16 rebounds, six assists, and two steals, becoming the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 1,500 or more points, 1,000 or more rebounds, and 250 or more assists in her career.
Her double-double also made some WNBA history to boot.
“Angel Reese recorded her 28th double-double of the season on Friday night, tying her for most in a single WNBA season with 5 more games to play,” ESPN Insights posted on X. “Reese now has 2 of the 3 highest double-double totals all-time in a single WNBA season.”
And while Reese had reason to celebrate on Friday, some bad news also came with her performance.
In the fourth quarter, Reese picked up her eighth technical foul of the season, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. Reese will miss Sunday’s matchup against the Minnesota Lynx unless the technical is rescinded by the league.
With 8:45 left in the game, Reese got tangled up with Fire guard Carla Leite, whom she was guarding. Video replay showed Reese coming up from behind Leite and shoving her forward as Dream guard Rhyne Howard knocked down a corner 3. Reese also pushed Leite again as the two separated.
“I’m sure we’ll appeal it,” Dream head coach Karl Smesko told reporters after the loss. “From my vantage point, it didn’t look like something that was tech worthy. So, hopefully, it’ll be rescinded, but I haven’t had the benefit of watching it on film yet or anything like that. I think that’s probably something that we’re gonna try to get rescinded.”
Smesko also stated he had no issue with Reese’s actions because he didn’t believe the incident was worthy of a technical.
“We’ll probably have a conversation (with Reese), but she’s been really good from early in the season,” he added. “She’s really managed to ― she went a long time without getting a technical and really never deserved one. So, she was doing a great job. As I said, what I saw didn’t look like (a technical) — maybe a foul. (It) didn’t look like a technical, but to be fair, I haven’t looked at it on film yet. Hopefully this is something that’ll be rescinded, and we’ll have Angel’s services for the Minnesota game.”
