Angel Reese isn’t going to let this criticism travel.
Reese stunned at her first Met Gala with a custom 16Arlington mint-green sequin gown, leaving many in awe of the professional athlete’s beauty and versatility.
Although the 22-year-old received much praise on the latter, others criticized her for attending the invite-only event, a night before playing against the New York Liberty on May 7. Following the Chicago Sky’s second game of the season — where they dominated with 101-53 — Reese addressed the backlash she received over the soirée during a press conference.
“A lot of people told me I shouldn’t have went to the Met Gala — ‘I wasn’t gonna be focused playing against the runner up.’ I went to the Met Gala. I slayed in New York. Came back, slayed against New York. It’s what I do,” she said. “Obviously I give confidence to so many different people. I’m not one-dimensional. Women don’t have to be one-dimensional, they don’t have to do one thing.”
Reese has appeared in Vogue and has been pulled for a plethora of brand endorsements including Beats, Raising Cane’s, and more.
She continued, “I think that’s what’s growing the game. People love me off the court, too. They love me because I am who I am and I speak on things that a lot of people may be scared to speak on or stand up on. Continuing to do that even on the bad days; on the days that people may hate me, I’m just going to continue to keep being me.”
Ahead of this year’s Gala, which saw the theme “The Garden of Time,” the former Louisiana State University star was overall No. 7 pick by the Sky at the 2024 WNBA draft.
The “Bayou Barbie” who’s now being called the “Chi-town Barbie,” debuted in the professional women’s league last week against the Minnesota Lynx. In that game, Reese scored 13 points and nine rebounds, although the team took a L. In the Sky’s game against the Liberty, Reese dropped 13 points and had five rebounds, assisting the team to their first win of the preseason.
“The group of young ladies that we have, it’s a deserving thing for them to be seen,” Teresa Weatherspoon, the Sky’s head coach stated to the Chicago Tribune. “It’s good to know that it changed and for us to be seen and for us to play the game of basketball the way that we love and to have fun doing it with the world being able to watch.”
See highlights of Reese from the Chicago Sky’s home preseason debut game against the New York Liberty below and watch her speak on her Met Gala backlash above.
via: Vibe
