Angel Reese has denied speculation that she “faked” her season-ending wrist injury.
The Sky rookie explained that he injured his wrist in Friday's game between Chicago and the Sparks and will undergo voluntary surgery on Tuesday to repair a small crack in the bone in his wrist.
“When I got the and-one, I fell on my hands. When I fell backwards, [and] “It fell on my hand and I had a little crack in the bone,” said Reese, the Sky's No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. He said in the video The video was posted to TikTok late Sunday night.
“The doctors basically told me I could either not have the surgery or have it. The risk of not having the surgery is that 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 just a hairline cut. We're going to put in a small screw. We didn't want to make it any bigger.”
“Long term, there was a chance that I literally couldn't play anymore because it's a very hard place to heal because there's very little blood flow,” the All-Star forward explained, pointing to his wrist, which was wrapped in a soft, black cast.
“You'll have a hard cast for four weeks, then a soft cast that's removable for two weeks, and then you're back on your feet. So in six weeks you're back doing what you love and living your normal life.”
Rees went on to explain that he did not fake the injury, addressing online speculation.
“Did I fake an injury? Honestly, against Iowa I literally played with my ankle like it was a golf ball. [in college, when she was at LSU]”The pain. I know I'm hurt when I can't play,” she said.
“They said, 'If it's closed, we can't play.' [the Sky] “Told me yesterday…obviously they gave me the option to play and endure the pain, but it's not worth it.
“I want to have a long career in the league. I want to play basketball for a while, so it's not worth it.”
Reese also denied speculation that she was pregnant.
“That has never happened… I want to be very clear: I don't have a man to have children with, I don't have a ring to have children with. I'm 22 and I don't have children, and I don't intend to have children,” Reese said.
“So it's not going to happen anytime soon. I just want you guys to be aware of it, because I know you guys love to click.”
Reiss said he will continue training and conditioning while he recovers, as well as remaining active off the court.
“So in the meantime, I'll be in a cast for four weeks… during that time, I'll just be lifting weights, running, conditioning, shooting with my non-dominant hand, dribbling, working with my non-dominant hand and nutrition,” Reese said.
“[I’ll be] I'll continue my modeling, I'll continue my podcast, I'll continue my villain role… and I'll be cheering on my teammates from afar. Not from afar, but from the bench… I still believe we can make the playoffs.
“… Of course I wanted more, but God's timing isn't always my timing, so I have to understand that. That's why I'm so energized, because I've been through it and I've been through it, literally everything from little things to giant things.”
“I'm looking forward to seeing this little setback lead to a big comeback. Year 2 is going to be a scary time. That last bucket is crazy.” [of my rookie year] Going into our second year, even going into the Unrivaled League, we knew we were going to finish third.”
Reese, along with Fever rookie Kaitlyn Clark, are the only rookies selected to the 2024 WNBA All-Star team.
Reese averaged 13.6 points, 13.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game during his rookie season.
The Sky (13-22) will try to defend the WNBA's final playoff spot when they host the Mystics (11-24) in Chicago on Wednesday.
