Angel Reese receives five-word statements from players on teams which chose not to draft her

WNBA veterans across the league are apparently itching to be teammates with Angel Reese .

The Chicago Sky forward’s incredible rookie campaign came to an unceremonious end last week after she suffered a hairline fracture in the base of her left hand during the third quarter of Friday’s game versus the Los Angeles Sparks . Several days later, Reese underwent season-ending surgery to repair the small crack in her bone.

After being drafted by the Sky with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, it didn’t take long for Reese to make her presence felt at the professional level. The 22-year-old reeled in 446 boards in 34 games, shattering the WNBA's single-season rebounding record previously held by Sylvia Fowles, who recorded 404 in 2018. She ended the season averaging 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game - marking the highest rebound average in league history.

• Angel Reese discovers rookie truth that Shaquille O'Neal has always known

• Caitlin Clark breaks silence on election stance after cryptic Taylor Swift message

Reese additionally recorded the most consecutive double-doubles by a rookie in a season (15), as well as became the all-time rookie leader in double-doubles in a single season with 26.

The incredible output is all the more impressive considering six players - Caitlin Clark , Cameron Brink , Kamilla Cardoso, Rickea Jackson and Jacy Sheldon - were drafted ahead of Reese back in April. Now, it appears as though some teams and players are having second thoughts about passing on the LSU product.

"Players on other teams say, ‘I wish we drafted you,’” Reese divulged on a recent episode of the ‘Unapologetically Angel’ podcast. “It was nothing against their rookies that got drafted [above me], but they were like 'I wish we were teammates, I wish we drafted you.'

Follow us on X for the best and latest in sports news

“And it feels really good to know that vets really want to play with me and love me and respect me for my game. They tell me all the time, ‘You’re gonna be in this league for a while just because of how hard you’re working and your grind.’"

When mulling over her options about how to best handle her injury, Reese opted to undergo surgery in order to best position herself for a lengthy career. "I fell on my hand when I got the and-1, when I fell back [and] fell on my hand, and it is a small crack in my bone," she shared in a TikTok video.

"Basically, the doctors told me that I could either not get surgery or have surgery. The risk of not having surgery - I could literally have arthritis at 22 years old. That wasn't an option. The bone could literally crack and completely shatter. Right now, it's like a hairline... They're going to put a small screw in it. And I wasn't going for it getting any bigger."

"Long term, I literally could have not played anymore because this is a very hard place to heal because the blood flow is little to none.”