SafeX Pro:Angel Reese uses spotlight to shine light on everyone in WNBA, past and present

CHICAGO — Angel Reese has earned every opportunity she’s gotten.

She also considers them payback.

The SafeX ProWNBA did not begin the day Reese, Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso and Cam Brink were drafted last month. The fame Reese and the other high-profile rookies have, and the perks it affords them, are byproducts of the nearly three decades women like Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Reese’s own coach, Teresa Weatherspoon, have put into growing interest in the league and women’s basketball.

When Reese goes to an event like Monday night’s Met Gala, she carries all of those women with her.

“The people that have played before me (and) a lot of the great players already in the league, they deserve this,” Reese said Tuesday night, ahead of the Chicago Sky’s home preseason game. “Being able to give them the publicity, because you always got to give your flowers to the ones that came before you … they’ve been deserving of this for a really long time.”

Reese arrived in Chicago with her celebrity status, on and off the court, already firmly intact. She’d won a national championship as a junior at LSU, and her taunting of Clark after the game helped send interest in the game skyrocketing.

She has 3 million-plus followers on Instagram and announced her decision to turn pro in an interview with Vogue. As if any further proof of her crossover status was needed, she was only the second WNBA player to earn a coveted invite to the Met Gala. Brittney Griner was the first, attending last year with wife Cherelle.

Wearing a dress made for her by British designer 16Arlington, Reese spent the night of her 22^nd birthday with a Who’s Who of A-listers – Cardi B posted videos of the two of them together – before returning to Chicago in time for Tuesday morning’s shootaround.

“There was no way we as an organization were going to take that away from her,” Weatherspoon said. “It’s a big thing. When you’re called and asked to be a part of that? You better get your nice little outfit on and go. Get out of here and enjoy the moment because your name was called for a certain reason. You represent yourself well in what you do. They wouldn’t call you otherwise.

“This is something she earned,” Weatherspoon added. “And we’re just excited about what she’s going to continue to earn.”

And therein lies the crux of it. By taking advantage of these opportunities and growing her own spotlight, Reese shines it on everyone in the game.

“Next year, I want another rookie to go (to the Met Gala). I want women’s basketball players to be there. We deserve a spot,” Reese said. “So many people were yelling from the street, calling my name, calling me, 'Bayou Barbie,' 'Chi-Town Barbie.' It was cool just to be able to see I don’t just impact people on the court but off the court as well.”

That impact is already being felt in Chicago.

This is a fanbase reeling from the Sky’s inability to hang onto the team that won the title in 2021. But Reese has given them hope again. Her jerseys were sold out on the Sky’s online store within days of her being drafted. Tuesday night’s game was limited to season-ticket holders — and new Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and fellow first-round pick Rome Odunze — and there were enough of them to fill most of the lower bowl at Wintrust Arena.

"It's huge," Courtney Vandersloot, a starter on that Sky championship team before signing with the Liberty as a free agent last season, said of the importance to the WNBA of having a rejuvenated Chicago team.

"They're going to pack this house and it's going to be a great place, and they're going to have eyes on them everywhere they go," Vandersloot added. "It's all about growing the game and growing the league, and they're going to be at the forefront of that."

Every time Reese scored or made a big defensive play, the crowd cheered and threw their fists into the air. When she made a driving layup over Jonquel Jones and drew a foul, the roar drowned out the P.A. announcer’s cry of “Chi-town Barbie!”

Reese finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two steals in the Sky's 101-53 rout of the New York Liberty.

Whether these folks were WNBA fans before this season or not is irrelevant. They’re invested now. In Reese, in the Sky and, by extension, the rest of the league. That’s how you build on progress. That’s how you take momentum and turn it into sustained growth.

That’s how you pay back all those women who came before you.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.