Angel Reese Reveals Play That Ended Her WNBA Rookie Season

Kristen Wong | Sep 9, 2024

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese recently opened up about her wrist injury and the play that unfortunately cut her season short.

Reese, who announced on Saturday she was out for the year, provided more details about how she hurt her wrist as well as gave a loose recovery timeline.

In the Sky’s 92-78 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday, Reese apparently fell backward while making a contested shot in the paint and used her right hand to brace herself. She ended up getting the and-one and didn’t appear to be bothered by her wrist in the moment. 

“So y’all know I hurt my wrist, I’m out for the season,” Reese said in a TikTok video. “I fell on my hand when I got the and-one, when I fell back, fell on my hand. And it is a small crack in my bone.”

Angel Reese provides more details about her SEI via TikTok.

Hairline fracture incurred Friday. Technically could have played on, but elected for surgery to avoid arthritis, damage, etc.

Timeline: surgery on Tuesday, hard cast for 4 weeks, soft for 2 weeks, then into rehab. pic.twitter.com/Z8MSZbY551

— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) September 9, 2024

Here is the play where Reese injured her wrist during the game:

Here's the exact moment Angel Reese injured her wrist.

(video credit @WNBA) pic.twitter.com/3STnhHUZIa

— Kit Espina (@KeithEspino22) September 9, 2024

“Basically, the doctors told me that I could either not have surgery or have surgery, the risk of not having surgery I could literally have arthritis at 22 years old, that wasn’t an option,” continued Reese. “The bone could literally crack and completely shatter. Right now, it’s like a hairline…But they’re going to put like a small little screw in it. And I wasn’t going for it to get any bigger. And long term, I literally could have not played anymore because this is a very hard place to heal.”

Reese added that she was getting surgery on Tuesday and gave a rough timeline for her recovery process. The forward will be in a hard cast for four weeks, a soft cast for two weeks and then enter rehab.

Reese, the No. 7 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds through 34 games. In her rookie year, the former LSU standout set the WNBA single-season records for most consecutive double-doubles (15) and most rebounds (446), among other accolades.

She also earned her first All-Star nod alongside fellow rookie Caitlin Clark. The Sky (13-22) currently sit in eighth place and could still clinch a playoff berth with five games left in the regular season.

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