Angel Reese celebrates 23rd birthday with Met Gala and 'maximizing time' as Chicago Sky star

The day before Angel Reese returned to Wintrust Arena with the Chicago Sky, she returned to another stage she was familiar with.

She took to the Met Gala, where she wore Thom Browne with the same confidence and vigor that Sky fans came to adore last season during her record-setting rookie season.

Reese said she met Thom Browne at last year's Met Gala and planted the seed of the two collaborating. One year later, it came to fruition.

"I manifest literally everything," Reese said before the Chicago Sky's preseason game against the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday. "Luckily and weirdly, it happened."

It goes beyond the highest-profile fashion for Reese, one of the most popular players last season as a rookie in the 2024 WNBA season. Luck doesn't have anything to do with it. Reese made it happen.

Much like her basketball career, Reese identifies where she needs to be and gets there. That's a "when" and not an "if." It begs the question of what she'll do in Year 2 in Chicago as the face of the franchise.

Whatever Reese does, she'll make sure it gets her full attention.

"I can't half-ass things," Reese said. "I can't give half-ass to basketball and then give everything to something else. I give my all to everything."

Reese the Fashion Icon:

Reese's outfit at the Met Gala was inspired, literally. The Gala has an annual dress code which makes it an iconic pop culture trend to follow.

This year's theme was Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. The dress code was meant to be an exploration into the history and influence of Black Dandyism in Western culture. It specifically focused on how much power clothing has, and how that style shaped Black identities. 

Reese shined at the Gala with a flowing black dress. The dress lent itself to somewhat of a mirage, as what looks like a white collar from a white dress shirt wrapped around the top to give the appearance of a black suit. A cutout separated the top and a sleek corset, the latter connected to the dress which flowed behind Reese on the carpet behind her. Above it all was a shorter hairstyle and diamond jewelry that provided subtle layers of shine.

"The dress was unique to myself – I'm tall," Reese said Tuesday. "The corset was just something that I loved."

The short hair was something Reese was not accustomed to, but she expressed the excitement she had in trying something new.

"I never worn my hair like that before," Reese said. "It just like came all together. So I was excited."

In her second Gala appearance, she arrived as a Host Committee Member. Reese took the time to advance her standing at the Met Gala, which was another example of how she aims to maximize the time she spends with all her ventures on and off the court.

"We all got the same 24 hours," Reese said. "It's just how you maximize them."

Reese the Basketball Star:

If there are any criticisms of Reese doing too much, they're just as easily dispelled by those who see her daily.

Sky first-year head coach Tyler Marsh has only been on the job for seven months, and has seen how Reese consistently dedicates time and energy to basketball.

"She always finds a way to get to the gym and that's been since I met her, from the day that I got this job," Marsh said. "No matter what she's got on her table off the course, she always makes sure to make it a priority to work on her game and find a way to do so wherever she's at."

Reese's rookie season with the Sky set records. She set the league single-season record for double-doubles, the league rookie record for rebounds in a single season and even the WNBA single-season rebounding record. WNBA MVP candidate A'ja Wilson eclipsed Reese's league-wide single-season rebounding record later in the season, but this was after Reese's season ended prematurely due to a wrist injury.

So far, Marsh has been impressed with her ventures off the court. What keeps impressing him is how she finds ways to manage all of her ventures, including basketball.

While the off-the-court parts are widely shown on social media, the basketball part of it all isn't shown as much. Marsh knows this, but understands Reese still keeps improving all the same.

"How she's able to balance the schedule that she has on and off the court, her willingness to maintain and create time to get better at her craft, something that doesn't get talked about a whole lot," Marsh said. "You see her in all these different areas, but you never see to see her in the gym online too much, but she's there."

After averaging 13.6 points, 13.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, Reese is primed to improve in Year 2 with a reshaped roster of players that can help her. Point guard Courtney Vandersloot can feed her the ball accurately, Ariel Atkins and Kia Nurse offer perimeter shooting that can help space the offense and pull defenders out of the paint and Kamilla Cardoso remains as her fellow post star that commands attention.

With the season beginning on May 17, the work done in quiet will shine when Reese takes the court.

"I've always done that, no matter how tired I am," Reese said. "I may be tired right now, but you wouldn't know. Just pushing through and giving my all, every single thing."

SkySports