Angel Reese said she's not afraid of being the 'bad guy' if it helps women's basketball

Chicago Sky rookie forward Angel Reese said she’s not afraid to be the “bad guy” in the WNBA if that boosts the sport.

As she and Caitlin Clark have taken the WNBA by storm as two of its brightest stars in ages, she talked about her reputation on Monday that largely stems from playing Clark in the women’s NCAA tournament championship game in 2023.

In that game, Reese and LSU defeated Clark and Iowa for a title, and she flashed Clark’s signature tournament taunt back at her to complete the victory. To Reese, that game started the narrative we’re still discussing today about who the good and bad guys are on the court, as shallow as that is.

She said she’s willing to embrace the bad guy role if it benefits the sport and cements her legacy.

“Negative things have probably been said about me, but honestly, I’ll take that because look where women’s basketball is,” Reese told reporters on Monday. “People are talking about women’s basketball that you’d never would think would be talking about women’s basketball.”

To Reese, her legacy will be just like Clark’s as expanding the sport to a wider audience. Just looking at where the WNBA is now, she’s right.

"I'll look back in 20 years and be like, the reason why we're watching women's basketball is not just because of one person. It's because of me, too. I want ya'll to realize that." – Angel Reese

(via @GNSportsTV) pic.twitter.com/dfn2LiuMrY

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 4, 2024

While both Reese and Clark still have their whole careers ahead of them to forge their legacies in the WNBA, their impact on the game cannot be ignored.

As much as we discuss Clark’s undeniable impact, we must talk about Reese’s with the same gravity. Without those two, where would we be?