While Angel Reese will forever be linked with Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever — and Clark has already drawn lofty comparisons to NBA icons like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan — here’s the million-dollar question: who does Reese compare to?
One possibility: James Worthy. The Hall of Famer, who won three titles with the Lakers, was often the beneficiary of playing alongside Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. While he could score as a primary option, Worthy was at his best running the floor in transition during the “Showtime” era.
Last week in Los Angeles, I caught up with Worthy during a forthcoming episode of Scoop B Radio to get his thoughts on the comparison. Worthy told me that he likes it, praised Reese’s game, and shared that he is excited for her future.
Reese, meanwhile, admitted she hasn’t studied Worthy closely but was open to diving in. “I haven’t watched much of his game, but now that I know I’ll go back and watch some clips of him,” Reese told me following the Chicago Sky’s 91-85 win over the New York Liberty.
The Sky selected Reese with the seventh overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft out of LSU, and since then she has quickly established herself as one of the league’s top players. A double-double machine, she is averaging 14.6 points and 12.2 rebounds per game this season. Against the Liberty, she posted 21 points and 10 rebounds and reflected afterward on her growth.
“I just try to perfect my own craft,” Reese told me.
“I think everybody has their own pace. Everybody wants me to do everything on their time and I do things at my own time and I don’t let anybody speed me up. I continue to work. I know I put my head down and work. I mean nobody’s giving me jump shots. It’s not like I’m passing up jump shots. Everybody’s guarding me up so I’m going to blow by them every chance that they get. The shots that I’ve taken this year when they have backed off me I have taken the shot either made it or or I missed it. So I know I’m just continuing to get better and just continue to build confidence.”
Circling back to Worthy, I had also asked Showtime Lakers teammate Michael Cooper about the comparison a couple of months ago. He sees it.
“I would say that without the dunks,” Cooper told me.
“She can get to the basket; she can get flamboyant about it. She gets out on that wing and runs the floor hard, she plays hard and she plays with an heir of determination that you don’t see or haven’t seen in a while. She and Catlin Clark are the new WNBA players that’s going to take the league to the next stratosphere.”
That’s high praise.
Chicago Sky head coach Tyler Marsh, 37, was close to six months old when Worthy won his second championship, but he was just as complimentary of his young star after the Liberty game.
“That’s a little before my time,” laughed Marsh.
“But yeah, I’m familiar with James Worthy. But I’m more familiar with Angel. I think that there’s a lot of players that possess that type of versatility and I think that’s the word and it always comes back to Angel, because there’s so much more room for growth and there’s so much progression that she’s shown from Year One to Year Two. So, I think that what she’s able to do now and what she’s continuing to be able to do in this league, she’s going to be one of the top players in this league for years to come. I think she’s realizing all the other aspects of her game in real time to be effective and she’s showing it night in and night out.”
While Reese hasn’t yet studied Worthy, she has watched another NBA legend with Chicago ties: Dennis Rodman.
“I watched Dennis Rodman,” Reese told me.
“You always need a player that’s on a team that’s willing to do the dirty work and I’m always willing to do the dirty work however I got to get it. We have great stars on our team that can do a lot of great things but I mean not a lot of times people want to do the dirty work. So I’m willing to go in there and get a black eye. I mean, I’ve been injured a lot so obviously, I’m in there banging for sure. So just continue to do whatever I can for the team, just to just to help us win.”The Chicago Sky resume play with a two-game homestand beginning tomorrow against the Connecticut Sun before heading west to face the Las Vegas Aces on Monday.
