Chicago Sky star Angel Reese is running it back, with the 23-year-old confirming plans to return to the Windy City for the 2026 WNBA season while participating in a USA Basketball training camp over the weekend.
"I'm under contract, so yes, I plan on returning to the Sky," Reese told reporters. "[I'm] continuing to talk to [head coach] Tyler [Marsh], and building that relationship with [GM] Jeff [Pagliocca] and Tyler."
Her future with the Sky came into question in September, after the front office suspended Reese for half a game for making comments deemed "detrimental to the team" in a Chicago Tribune interview — comments she later apologized for, both publicly and privately.
Drafted by the Sky as the overall No. 7 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, the LSU alum remains under a rookie contract through 2026, with an option to extend through the 2027 season.
After leading the WNBA in both double-doubles (23) rebounds-per-game (12.6) in the 2025 season, Reese's late-season availability waned due to a back injury — though the forward now reports a full recovery from the knock.
"Angel is an ascending young talent in this league who's had two very, very good seasons here in Chicago," said Pagliocca after September's suspension. "Obviously, we went through what we did. I feel like we closed the chapter on it."
WNBA officiating is once again taking center stage, with multiple head coaches reportedly issued fines after criticizing referee conduct in the weekend's playoff action.
Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve earned an ejection and suspension for attempting to confront referees during the Lynx's Game 3 semifinals loss on Friday, with the WNBA later handing her a $15,000 fine for lambasting officials in her postgame interview.
"The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff worth is f—ing malpractice," Reeve told reporters last Friday.
Following Reeve's suspension, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White and Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon voiced public support for Reeve and her concerns, with sources saying they each received a $1,000 fine for their comments.
"[Reeve] made a lot of valid points," White said on Sunday. "A lot of the same kind of conversations are happening. It's happening from every team, from every franchise, from every coach, from every player."
"From what I heard, she did not tell a lie," Hammon said of Reeve. "She said the truth. I think something has to change."
Officiating problems aren't new for the WNBA, but as the league's popularity explodes, refereeing disparities are now under an unprecedented spotlight.
"Every part of our league has gotten better, and that part has lagged behind, for whatever reason," White continued. "Oftentimes, it's infrastructure in terms of training, oftentimes, it's financial. And it's really investing in who we have as officials.... How do we keep them growing and getting better?"
Minnesota competed without their sideline leader in Sunday's 86-81 Game 4 semifinals loss, as the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury ousted the No. 1 Lynx while head coach Cheryl Reeve served a one-game suspension following her ejection from Friday's Game 3.
In the dying seconds of Friday's 84-76 loss, a collision caused Minnesota star Napheesa Collier to collapse with an ankle injury.
In reaction, Reeve ran onto the court as her staff worked to restrain her, earning the Lynx boss her second technical foul of the game for confronting the officials.
"The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinal-playoff worthy, it's f—ing malpractice," Reeve said after the game.
In a Saturday statement, the league said that Reeve's suspension stemmed from "aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing a game official on the court, [and] failure to leave the court in a timely manner upon her ejection," as well as "inappropriate comments made to fans when exiting the court, and remarks made in a post-game press conference."
Officiating has been under fire throughout the 2025 WNBA Playoffs, with coaches like Golden State Valkyries' boss Natalie Nakase and Las Vegas Aces leader Becky Hammon expressing concerns about the quality and consistency of postseason calls.
"If this is what the league wants, okay, but I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating," said Reeve.
With support from the National Basketball Referees Association, the three-person officiating crew from Friday's Game 3 in Minnesota also oversaw Sunday's Game 4 between the No. 2 Aces and No. 6 Fever in Indiana.
Sky star Angel Reese watched from the sidelines as No. 12 Chicago fell 92-61 to the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday night, ruled out with a back injury after serving a half-game suspension on Sunday for making "statements detrimental to the team" last week.
Back pain that has troubled the forward throughout the second half of the 2025 WNBA season, with Reese opting to sit out Tuesday's clash despite earlier expectations that she would take the court.
"After warm-ups, she communicated that she just wasn't feeling it physically," Chicago Sky head coach Tyler Marsh said, after previously telling reporters he expected Reese to play. "She reported that pain, and so we wanted to hold her back."
Reese's relationship with the organization has been under a microscope since the 23-year-old criticized team leadership in last week's Chicago Tribune interview, prompting high-profile reactions from both within the league and beyond.
"Chicago is probably the worst-run organization in the league. You're gonna suspend your best player just because she's putting pressure on you to get better? That was embarrassing to see," an anonymous WNBA exec told the Dallas Hoops Journal in response.
"She got in trouble for telling the truth. And I feel like women, especially Black women, are over-policed in this league," Sports Are Fun guest co-host Greydy Diaz said on this week's episode. "If you really look at Chicago and its history, ownership, front office — it's been a disaster for years. You've had star players leave over and over…. I think they need to clean house in Chicago."
How to watch the final 2025 game for the Chicago Sky
Should her pain subside, Reese will suit up for the Chicago Sky's season finale on Thursday — though the league sophomore has already hit the requisite minimum number of game appearances to officially qualify as the WNBA's rebounds-per-game leader this year.
The No. 12 Sky will close out their 2025 campaign against the No. 5 New York Liberty at 8 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage airing on WNBA League Pass.
No. 12 Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese rode the bench against the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces on Sunday night, serving a team-issued half-game suspension levied in the wake of the WNBA sophomore's controversial Chicago Tribune interview last week.
"The Chicago Sky values the safety, respect, and well-being of every player. We are committed to accountability so our players can stay focused on playing basketball," the team said in a statement, sanctioning Reese for making what they dubbed "statements detrimental to the team."
Reese served her suspension during the first half of Sunday's 80-66 loss to Las Vegas, before remaining sidelined for the game's second half due a lingering back injury.
Sunday marked Chicago's second straight matchup without the star forward, as Reese previously missed the Sky's Friday clash with the No. 7 Indiana Fever due to technical foul accumulation.
In the aforementioned Tribune interview, Reese criticized the franchise's roster construction, point guard development, and ability to attract free agents in the article, causing a stir across the Chicago Sky organization and beyond.
Chicago Sky head coach Tyler Marsh said on Friday that the decision to issue Reese a suspension came from the "top down," and that the team was "just going to handle it internally."
"She has a big influence, whether she says something good or bad, people like to interpret it a certain way," Sky center Elizabeth Williams told the Chicago Sun-Times last week. "I think she understands she just has to be mindful of the language she uses."
How to watch Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky this week
Reese has two more chances to suit up for the Sky this year, with Chicago closing out their 2025 WNBA season by facing the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces again before hosting the reigning champion No. 5 New York Liberty.
The Sky will tip off against the Aces at 10 PM ET on Tuesday, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.
Thursday's season finale vs. the Libs will begin at 8 PM ET, airing live on NBA TV.
Embattled ex-Canada women's national team coach Bev Priestman has officially left the country, relocating to New Zealand to manage A-League Women's side Wellington Phoenix FC.
"We're really pleased to be able to welcome Bev back to football," Phoenix chairman Rob Morrison said in the club's announcement. "We all know she's had a period of time away from the game, but we understand the circumstances and we're really comfortable with this appointment."
In addition to her firing from Team Canada, Priestman served a one-year suspension from all football-related activities, finishing that mandatory moratorium this month.
FIFA issued the suspension after determining that Priestman was guilty of spying on opponents via illegal drone use during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"For me, I didn't feel safe, that's being brutally honest," she told reporters this week, commenting on the drone scandal's local fallout. "It was very difficult for my family and I have to live with that. I have to wear that."
The Wellington Phoenix — the lone New Zealand club competing in the top-flight Australian league — finished the 2024/25 season ninth out of 12 teams, with the young club soon setting their sights on a deeper run in their fifth season behind Priestman.
"It feels like Christmas Day to me to come back," said Priestman, whose wife, Wellington Phoenix FC academy director Emma Humphries, is a former New Zealand national team player. "I know I have to earn the trust of everybody. And I'll be working hard to do that."