Angel Reese Silences Chicago: A Historic Run, a Revenge Win, and a Franchise in Turmoil

Dropping 17 points and 17 rebounds on your former teams is one thing. Doing that while securing WNBA history is a complete statement.

Image courtesy of YouTube

Revenge is one of those things that we hold onto.

Unleashing it on the people that treated you wrong makes dessert one of the best tasting things ever. When it is done in sports, it sends a message to both parties involved that you are a force.

The buildup for the matchup at Wintrust Arena on June 9, 2026 was completely centered around the story of revenge. This was forward Angel Reese’s very first time returning to Chicago to play the Sky since being traded to the Atlanta Dream in the offseason for a pair of first rounders.

ESPN Stats and Information dropped a wild stat right before the game. Reese entered the contest as one of only four players in both WNBA and NBA history to record 50 double-doubles in their first 75 professional games, putting her alongside players like Blake Griffin.

She completely lived up to her standard. She silenced the crowd, opposing players and Sky management and led the Dream to an 82–75 victory. Surely the win was one thing.

But today, we are going to dive into her performance and the aftermath of both teams.

Image courtesy of Roundtable.io

Angel Reese’s Performance vs. Sky

Reese was relentless, imposing her will on her former team. Sky center Kamilla Cardoso was at the mercy of WNBA’s Barbie. She continued to show off her expanding game under Dream head coach Karl Smesko. Her stats for the game:

17 points, 17 rebounds, and four assists in 35 minutes of playing time.

The game was a back-and forth slugfest. Newly acquired Sky guard Natasha Cloud had 18 points off of the bench and hit a late jump shot to give the Sky a 58–57 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

But the last frame belonged to Reese and Atlanta’s stellar execution on both sides of the ball. With the game on the line, Reese drew defensive attention and found Naz Hillan for a huge layup to put Atlanta up 73–70.

She then sealed the game herself, hitting a bucket with 56.1 seconds left to kick off a 9–0 run that pushed the lead to 80–70. With her performance, Reese grabbed her eighth double-double of the season with six minutes left in the third quarter.

This marked her 57th career double-double, the most by any player though 75 games in league history, according to the Washington Post.

Image courtesy of the Chicago Tribune

Atlanta Dream (8–3): Elite Status in the East

The Dream continue to look like title contenders in coach Smesko’s second season. They are currently keeping pace near the very top of the WNBA standings alongside Las Vegas and Minnesota. But there are more reasons that the move to sign Reese was elite:

• The Trade That Paid Off: Sending away two future first round draft picks for Reese was a huge risk. But performances like this proved exactly why the team did it. Reese is averaging a league-leading 11.7 rebounds per game and gives Atlanta an inside toughness they so desperately needed.
• The Dream System: Smesko’s offensive philosophy focuses on high efficiency and spatial awareness. Reese’s expanding playmaking (four assists vs. Chicago) shows she is buying into what the Dream are trying to do.
• WNBA Title Hopes: The Dream are one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They made a deep postseason run in 2025, but with Reese, they are more like title contenders than postseason contenders.

Image courtesy of ClutchPoints

Chicago Sky (4–8): Sounding the Alarm

On the other side, the loss plunged the Sky into deeper trouble. After the loss, they were 3.5 games back in the Eastern Conference standing. They are trying to search for answers after such a promising 3–1 start to the year. But numerous problems are in many areas:

• Gabriela Jaquez: The team had the fifth overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft and used it to grab UCLA champion Gabriela Jaquez. Although her story of how she got into the WNBA was incredible and she has proven to be one of the top five rookies in her class, she clearly is not Angel Reese. In fact, she ended up missing time due to a knee injury and is trying to get back into a consistent rhythm.
• The Rickea Jackson Injury: The Sky have also been reeling ever since All-Star forward Rickea Jackson went down with a season-ending knee injury. The Sky started 2026 hot with her. But they have gone a brutal 1–7 since losing her firepower.
• Inconsistency on the Boards: Reese completely exposed her old team’s biggest weakness. Chicago entered the game dead last in the WNBA in rebounding rate (45.7%) and letting a single player grab 17 boards against them underscores how much they missed her presence in the paint.
• Frustrations Boiling Over: With key veterans like Courtney Vandersloot and DiJonai Carrington sidelined with injuries, the pressure had fallen squarely on guard Skylar Diggins. Following a recent blowout loss to the new Toronto Tempo, Diggins did not hold back. She called for ‘more maturity and leadership’ from both the roster and staff. Dropping this highly emotional game to their former star only added fuel to an already damaging fire.

Image courtesy of Yardbarker

Reflection

The gap between these two teams right now comes down to identity. Atlanta knew exactly who they were and how to close out basketball games with Reese anchoring the paint. Chicago was (and still is) desperately searching for an identity amidst injuries and a depleted frontcourt.

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