Angel Reese gesture to young fan at first WNBA All-Star game sums her up

Chicago Sky superstar Angel Reese made one fan's day by gifting her some signed basketball shoes following Saturday's WNBA All-Star game.

Rookie Reese teamed up with her longtime rival Caitlin Clark as Team WNBA toppled Team USA 117-109 in Phoenix. Reese registered 12 points and 11 rebounds in the victory, reaffirming herself as one of the league's top rising stars.

As Reese walked off the court, a young girl holding a sign caught her attention. "Angel, I'll trade you all of these for your shoes," the sign read, with the border covered in Reese 's treats.

Reese handed her the shoes and also signed them, leaving the girl beaming with joy. Unfortunately for Reese on a historic night, her mother and brother were unable to attend the All-Star game. The LSU icon shared the sad news on X before the game.

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Arike Ogunbowale set a WNBA All-Star points-scoring record with 34. Three of those came from a 27-foot-three-pointer. "As a scorer, when you see a couple go down like that, you just have all the confidence in the world," Clark said. "The basket looks really big. So, I know exactly how she felt. She was just in the zone."

As for Team USA, they'll fly to London for a warmup game against Germany before heading to Paris for the 2024 Olympics. Saturday's defeat shows there's work to do for the WNBA vets. After the game, the facial expressions from Team USA told the story.

Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve was most disappointed with her defense. "We didn't come out and really compete to say we have a certain identity we're trying to play to," Reeve said. "I've got to figure that out. I've got to help them get there."

Breanna Stewart says she and A'ja Wilson are trying to take up leadership roles in the locker room heading into Paris. Stewart also called for no one to panic. The women's Team USA has won the last seven Olympics in a row, and nine of the last ten, with a bronze coming in 1992 in Spain.

"Throughout this entire trip, A'ja and I are going to continue to find our voices more in the locker room," Stewart said. "It's not time to panic but it is time to learn and grow and figure out how we can be our best together."

After the clash with Germany next week, Japan will follow on July 28. Games against Belgium and Germany again will close out the group phase.