Angel Reese has a message for Atlanta Dream fans: ATL Barbie is here to stay.
The two-time WNBA All-Star told People on Tuesday that she was excited when she learned she had been traded to the organization after spending her first two seasons with the Chicago Sky.
“The team has welcomed me so much, the atmosphere, the culture. … I’m so excited to be in A-Town,” Reese told the outlet. The two teams announced the trade Monday, the first day of free agency following the ratification of a new, historic collective bargaining agreement between the WNBA and its players union in March.
The excitement appears to be mutual. Shortly after the trade was announced, the Dream online store had made Reese’s new jersey available for purchase. They sold out so quickly that Reese’s mother posted on social media that even she was unable to snag one in time. (Don’t worry, the Dream’s social media team has her covered).
Reese is a bonafide star on and off the court. A known fashion icon, the Dream forward was in New York on Tuesday to help launch Victoria Secret’s new “The Season of Strapless” campaign. It’s the first time the lingerie and loungewear brand has tapped a WNBA player to star in one of its campaigns.
The collaboration follows Reese’s runway debut at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in October, where she was the first professional athlete ever to walk the show. She’s also set to appear in the second season of “The Hunting Wives.”
At the Tuesday event, Reese had a message for Dream fans.
“Atlanta, what up? ATL barbie is in town and I am here to stay,” she told People.
Reese was selected seventh overall in the 2024 WNBA draft by the Sky after a standout college career that included winning the NCAA championship title with Louisiana State in 2023. She has led the WNBA in rebounding in both of her seasons so far and has averaged 14.1 points and 12.9 rebounds overall.
Reese also shared a message to Chicago fans on Instagram on Monday after her trade was announced.
“To the city of Chicago, you showed me real love from day one,” Reese says over a video montage of highlights of her time as a Sky player. “Thank you Chicago. Always, Chi-Town Barbie.”
The Sky went 23-61 after drafting Reese, including 10-34 last season (1-13 in games without Reese) and missing the playoffs for a second straight year.
After spending her first two seasons with the Chicago Sky, the two-time All Star has been traded to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for first-round picks in 2027 and 2028, the teams announced Monday morning. Atlanta also receives the option to swap second-round picks with Chicago in 2028.
“An Angel’s DREAM,” Reese posted on X. “ATL WHAT UP?!”
Reese was already a star before coming to the WNBA after helping Louisiana State win the national championship over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in 2023 and leading the Tigers back to the Elite Eight the following year.
Selected by Chicago with the seventh overall pick in the 2024 draft, Reese finished as runner-up to Clark in rookie-of-the-year voting and led the league in rebounds per game in each of her first two seasons. Overall, she has averaged 14.1 points and 12.9 rebounds a game.
The Sky have gone 23-61 and missed the playoffs both seasons since drafting Reese. On Sept. 3, the Chicago Tribune published quotes from the star player that indicated her frustration with the team’s inability to build a winning roster and an inclination to leave if the organization isn’t able to get it right.
“I’d like to be here for my career, but if things don’t pan out, obviously I might have to move in a different direction and do what’s best for me,” Reese told the Tribune.
After the Sky’s 88-64 victory over the Connecticut Sun that night, Reese told reporters she had apologized to her teammates about the article.
“I think the language is taken out of context,” she said, “and I really didn’t intentionally mean to put down my teammates, because they’ve been through this with me throughout the whole year. They’ve busted their ass, just how I bust my ass, they showed up for me through thick and thin, and in the locker room when nobody could see anything.”
Reese did not play for Chicago again. She was suspended half a game for her comments, which were deemed “detrimental to the team,” served a separate mandatory one-game suspension by the WNBA for receiving eight technical fouls during the season and missed the final three games of the season with what was listed as a back injury.
The Sky said in a statement Monday that the “trade is designed to achieve roster balance and represents a great opportunity for all parties.”
“Angel has achieved many record-breaking milestones in her first two years in the WNBA and has been a competitive force for the Sky,” the team wrote. “We are thankful for her many important contributions to this league and this game, and we know she will continue to have a big impact on the court and beyond.”
Reese joins an Atlanta team that went 30-14 and finished first in the Eastern Conference before losing to the Indiana Fever in the first round of the playoffs. The roster includes Allisha Gray, who finished fourth in the MVP voting last season, as well as sixth player of the year Naz Hillmon and All-Star Brionna Jones.
“Angel is a dynamic talent and a perfect fit for what we are building in Atlanta,” Dream general manager Dan Padover said in a statement. “She has already proven herself as one of the most impactful players in the league, and her competitiveness, production and drive to win align seamlessly with our vision. This is an exciting moment for our organization and our fans.”
In less than two months, six UCLA women’s basketball players might be working out with WNBA teams. The draft is April 13, a week after the NCAA national championship game, and the season starts less than a month later.
One of the most consequential pieces of the new WNBA collective bargaining agreement for current college players, including the UCLA super senior class, is expanded rosters.
Not only are two new teams — Portland and Toronto — entering the WNBA this season and adding 24 roster spots, but the new CBA will allow each team to have 12 traditional roster spots and two developmental player spots.
The new developmental players will get housing assistance and can practice and travel with their respective WNBA squads.
UCLA’s Charlisse Leger-Walker, left, and Angela Dugalic, back, swarm California Baptist forward Grace Schmidt during an NCAA tournament game at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Across the country during the NCAA tournament, players and coaches have noted how much the new WNBA CBA changes the future for the next generation of players.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley noted to reporters last week that it’s one of the first times many women’s basketball players will be able to accumulate generational wealth. And they can do so without necessarily having to play in other leagues around the world during the WNBA offseason.
“The WNBA will make you make a choice because you have to be on time in training camp.” Staley said. “It’s worth it now. It’s worth it to actually have your body recover and just play in the WNBA season.”
Last season, just 20 rookies made rosters out of training camp. The fight for those spots might get more competitive for some young players now that the league offers higher salaries and some high-end international players might find it more worthwhile to sign in the WNBA.
Teams are now required to roster 12 players, compared with the option to have 11 instead of 12 under the previous CBA, which allowed franchises to spend more on top players and have less of a cap hit by triming their roster size.
But likely, more players who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten looks or would have been cut during past training camps will now have a realistic shot a developmental player spot.
“I just feel a lot of pride,” said UCLA sixth-year forward Angela Dugalic. “Because of them, I’m able to have a lot of things that they maybe weren’t able to have at the start of their career. And some of them, like, they’re either at the end of their career or they’re even finished right now, they’re still fighting for us.”
Kneepkens or Leger-Walker (though she was recovering from an ACL injury) would have been WNBA draft-eligible after last season. Their rookie salaries would have been around $70,000, depending on where they were selected. This year, the rookie minimum will be $270,000, and top picks, which Betts and Rice are projected to be, will make as much as $500,000.
“Just like the growth we’re even experiencing now in college, we have so many people before us to thank that. [They] fought for better exposure and TV rights … fought for Title IX and resources to be allocated appropriately,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “I think it’s similar right now in terms of the CBA. We need to really thank the people in that room that fought hard.”
UCLA guard Kiki Rice dribbles up the floor under pressure from California Baptist guard Filipa Barros Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
UCLA players are understandably locked in on the NCAA tournament, but they haven’t ignored an important moment.
“I think it’s awesome for women’s basketball and the progress going forward,” Leger-Walker said. “I love that we have players who are willing to advocate and really stand on what they believe in. We’re making steps forward.”
Where they all fit on individual teams or in respective mock drafts will all be more clear after free agency begins in the week ahead of the draft. Around 80% of the league are free agents, so there are going to be plenty of new-look teams.
UCLA players will soon get a chance to join those roster makeovers under working conditions past players never enjoyed.
“I’m just grateful for all the women who fought for what they’ve earned,” Kneepkens said. “That’s just super cool for anyone that’s a WNBA fan and anyone that’s part of it. They made this happen.”
The WNBA will likely get an injection of UCLA talent. One of the players most equipped to make an impact right away, it turns out, might be Kiki Rice.
Some mock drafts have the senior guard as high as being picked No. 5 overall after concerns she might fall out of the first round entirely before this season.
After a career-best season, though, Rice is one of the top prospects in a loaded class. That wasn’t a given after taking a step back in all statistics other than shooting last season.
The No. 1 seed Bruins are hoping to ride that to a national title, with the next step coming Saturday against No. 16 seed California Baptist in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice shoots over Ohio State guard Jaloni Cambridge during the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament on March 7 in Indianapolis.
(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)
WNBA scouts are hoping Rice proves she can be one of the best early first-round investments in the league.
“The work she did on her mentality, film study, with leadership, using her voice, working on her handles, I just think it’s her commitment to the details,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “I’m not surprised that she’s playing this way because of the intentional work that she puts in.”
A Big Ten All-Defensive Team and unanimous All-Big Ten First Team selection this season, Rice is averaging career highs in points (15.3), rebounds (6.0) and shooting percentage (50.4%). Her assist numbers have dropped since the addition of Charlisse Leger-Walker, but that’s allowed Rice to create her own offense.
“I think one of the things that Kiki’s been able to do is have different kinds of scoring catches this year because of Charlisse’s presence on our team,” Close said. “But I do think the biggest thing has probably been her passing, her facilitation, as well as her ability to shoot.”
WNBA scouts have taken notice, too. One evaluator said her ability to play with a “group of weapons” has set herself up to be taken seriously for a larger role even as a rookie. For a long time, among those scouting in the league, she was viewed as a potential backup point guard, but her shooting ability and defensive consistency has made her a more complete prospect.
Her 2.2 defensive win shares are third in the Big Ten and her 83.0 defensive rating is seventh.
“I worked a ton of [defense] in the offseason and really stepped up to the challenge of guarding the other team’s best perimeter player,” Rice said. “I think me being challenged in that way, it’s been a really great area of growth, and that’s probably the area that I’m most proud of.”
Rice’s improvement from the three-point line is a big one for WNBA scouts. She improved her deep shot from 21.7% to 38.1% across four seasons.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice steals the ball from Washington guard Chloe Briggs at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 19.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
That, plus her defensive prowess and ability to play point guard and more of a loose guard role, have helped her WNBA stock rise tremendously.
“Defensively has been probably the most impactful growth thing that she’s had,” Close said. “But Kiki — people don’t realize she was out for six months. She had surgery on April 15th last year and was out for six months.”
Rice was injured at the start of last season and then underwent right shoulder surgery right after the Final Four. Despite the injury, she played in 34 games last season, averaging 12.8 points and 5.0 assists per game.
Rice won the Big Ten tournament’s most outstanding player award after UCLA thrashed Iowa by 51 points in the championship. She averaged 16.6 points and 5.3 assists during three Big Ten tournament games.
Her numbers might be even better if she were the team’s top offensive option, like Hannah Hidalgo with Notre Dame. Instead, she is sharing time with other top WNBA prospects such as Lauren Betts, Gianna Kneepkens and Leger-Walker.
“What I love most is she’s one of the most selfless people I’ve ever played with,” Betts said of Rice. “She really could [not] care less about all of the attention. She just wants to win games. She’s always there for her teammates. I’m so grateful I get to be her teammate and her friend. She’s amazing.”
In addition to her three-point shot improvement, around 60% of her points still come in the paint from driving to the basket, making her a threat all over the floor.
“There were lots of times in previous years where Kiki could get downhill, but we didn’t have the court spacing because we didn’t have the quality of shooting that allowed those driving lanes to take place,” Close said.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice shoots over USC guard Malia Samuels at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 3.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
The biggest question with Rice is whether her three-point shooting can scale to a higher volume in the WNBA, where guards are more likely to shoot from deep than be relied on in the post. She has never taken more than 2.7 attempts per game.
Part of that is because there are so many options from three-point range that Rice doesn’t have to be the primary shooter. Kneepkens is making 44.2% of her three-pointers and Gabriela Jaquez has hit 41.1% while Leger-Walker is shooting 36.4% from range.
That hasn’t affected Rice’s efficiency, though.
“I think this year the way that we moved the ball and everyone gets touches is so important for everyone and allows me to be successful,” Rice said.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice celebrates with teammates as she’s handed the Big Ten tournament most outstanding player trophy on March 8 in Indianapolis.
(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)
With the way the draft order falls, Rice is likely to end up with either an expansion team or a team that struggled last season, such as Washington or Chicago. That might mean she’ll need to step in and produce in her first season as a pro.
That is why her stock has risen so much this season — she’s shown she has the versatility to do what is needed.
“Kiki has been playing the best basketball of her career,” Close said. “I think she has put in the work. She knows what she’s earned, and she’s sort of ‘that girl’ for us.”
Then the Professional Women’s Hockey League was born in 2023 following many players defecting from the National Women’s Hockey League to form the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Assn., then merging with the Premier Hockey Federation until a historic bargaining agreement.
The National Women’s Soccer League announced a new CBA in the summer of 2024 that included giving players agency on where they are traded and abolishing expansion and collegiate drafts.
That momentum put considerable pressure on WNBA negotiations. Could the players set a new benchmark for future contract negotiations across women’s pro sports leagues?
The Sky’s Angel Reese and the Fever’s Caitlin Clark shake hands before a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 17.
(Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
The WNBA’s CBA was a flashpoint because of the boom in popularity in supporting women’s sports, with players such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese becoming household names. Last season, the WNBA made enough revenue to trigger revenue-sharing for the first time and this season marks the start the league’s new 11-year, $2.2-billion media rights deal.
Unlike in the NBA, where players get around 50% of the league’s revenue before expenses, the WNBA’s first revenue-sharing kicked in only after the league hit a benchmark determined by a formula of revenue targets, which had been difficult to achieve since the start of the deal was the 2020 COVID season played in front of empty stands.
The WNBA broke its single-season attendance record in 2025. As league interest grew, so did the tension between the league and the players’ union.
Many viewed this negotiating cycle as an opportunity to pounce on the increased visibility, and in a lot of ways, the union did. Players are going to be paid significantly more and they got a win in revenue sharing, earning 20% of the league’s revenue before expenses — a big jump from the previous 9% share.
The average player salary before revenue-share payments will be around $584,000.
But was it as much as they should have gotten?
Tamika Tremaglio, former NBPA executive director and advisor to the WNBPA during the 2020 CBA negotiations, said observers were less concerned about the start of training camps looming on April 19 and more focused on whether negotiations would end with a stable deal that would hold for the length of the agreement as market conditions evolve. Increased salaries are always celebrated, but both sides agreeing to a new revenue sharing model was a consequential step forward for players.
“The real story is the revenue share,” Tremaglio said. “At the end of the day, that’s what is going to drive the future.”
The fallout from the new deal will take months or years to fully understand. Free agents will be able to begin signing with teams in April, and since 80% of the players are eligible for free agency, there will be higher figures being floated around than ever.
A’ja Wilson and her Las Vegas Aces teammates celebrate while holding the 2025 WNBA championship trophy.
(Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
That might affect what talent comes to the league, too.
“More European players might come into the league,” a WNBA team consultant not authorized to speak about the league publicly told The Times. “Now that the money is better, that might knock out several college players in the draft.”
There are some WNBA-level players who have stayed in Europe due to restrictive prioritization rules that force players to participate in all WNBA practices and games even if they conflicted with international league obligations. Many WNBA players compete in international leagues during the offseason and prefer the option to keep playing in lucrative foreign leagues if there is an overlap with the WNBA season.
While the new rules for international play in the WNBA CBA are not yet clear, compensation changes could open the door for more players to choose to prioritize the league.
The general consensus among people operating within the WNBA is relief that a deal is in place.
“It’s huge,” one player agent told The Times. “They made big strides. This is important for women’s basketball.
Sparks players Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson, Azura Stevens, Kelsey Plum and Julie Allemand talk during a game against the New York Liberty at Crypto.com Arena on Aug. 12.
(Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)
“Anytime both sides don’t get everything they want,” the agent added, “that’s a good deal.”
That agent also noted that this CBA will set the precedent for the next negotiations to continue to raise the revenue-sharing if the league continues to make more money.
Under the new CBA, the 20% revenue-sharing is tied to the league’s gross revenue, a significantly different number than the net revenue, which is calculated after all expenses are taken into account. The players were fighting for a percentage of the gross revenue, even if it is a smaller percentage than the net revenue the league offered because it is guaranteed.
The NBA first reached 53% of gross revenue in their CBA in 1983 and has stayed around that number ever since.
“If it was net, you’d have all these other expenses and you sort of lose control of the actual expenses,” Tremaglio said. “You have no control from the perspective of where the players are. But now, you don’t even have to go look at the minutia of auditing every single expense line item. That’s what makes such a difference.”
More details around the CBA, including player housing, expansion draft format and roster spots, will become clearer as the deal reaches ratification.
For now, even if 20% revenue sharing is less than the 40% the players first proposed, the deal represents a significant, stable increase in player compensation.
“This will impact women’s sport globally, not just the game of basketball,” Tremaglio said. “This will impact everything, soccer, everything.”
Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike (3), president of the WNBA players’ union, said for the first time, player salaries will be tied to a meaningful share of league revenue.
(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
The league and players association have not made the terms public yet, but the salary cap will start at $7 million, up from $1.5 million in 2025, and the supermax will start at $1.4 million, up from $249,244 in 2025, a person with knowledge of negotiations not authorized to discuss them publicly told The Times. ESPN was the first to report the figures.
The total salary cap will jump by around 4.64 times the previous amount. The super maximum salary will be elevated by 5.61 times the previous amount. It means the top players will be eligible for larger raises than the league’s middle class.
The average salary will be $600,000, a bump from the previous average of $120,000, and the minimum salary will be more than $300,000, up from $66,079.
“For the first time, player salaries are tied to a truly meaningful share of league revenue, driving exponential growth in the salary cap, increasing average compensation beyond half a million dollars and raising the standard across facilities, staffing and support,” union president Nneka Ogwumike told reporters.
The main sticking point during negotiations was revenue sharing, and that number will be around 20% for the entirety of the multi-year deal. The league had previously offered 15.5%, a source told The Times, and players went down from their 40% ask to around 26% at the end of February, and then reached the agreement around 20% on Wednesday morning. The Athletic first reported the shift in revenue sharing figures.
Players had been negotiating for a percentage of overall revenue without factoring in expenses while the WNBA was seeking sharing tied to net revenue, mirroring the NBA’s structure that deducts expenses before sharing 50% of profits. The players secured a gross revenue deal, which gives them a cut of WNBA revenue without factoring in expenses, a person with knowledge of the deal not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times.
“This deal is going to be transformational, and you’ll see all the details hopefully soon,” WNBPA vice president Breanna Stewart told reporters on Wednesday. “But it’s gonna build and help create a system where everybody is getting exactly what they deserve and more from on the court and off the court aspects.”
NEW YORK — The WNBA and its players’ union met again Wednesday, hours after a marathon negotiating session over a new collective bargaining agreement.
The two sides ended a 12-hour negotiation at 5 a.m. EDT without reaching a deal. They started talking again Wednesday afternoon and discussions were ongoing at sundown.
Union executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson said Wednesday morning that there were “a lot of conversations going in the right direction.”
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert came out of the hotel where negotiations took place to talk to reporters briefly.
“It’s complex, but we’re working towards a win-win deal like we’ve been saying, transformational deal for these players. That balances all the things we’ve been trying to balance with continued investment by our owners,” she said. “So, we’re working hard towards that and still have work to do.”
Executive committee members Nneka Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, Alysha Clark and Brianna Turner once again were at the hotel with Jackson and the union staff. The league was represented by Engelbert, head of league operations Bethany Donaphin and New York Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai. Connecticut Sun president Jen Rizzotti joined the negotiating team on Wednesday.
Neither side left the hotel during the marathon bargaining session. A day later, both sides were outside during breaks enjoying an unseasonably warm mid-March day in Manhattan.
The sides have been exchanging proposals during the bargaining sessions over the last two days, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
Revenue sharing and housing are key sticking points between the sides, as well as assigning a franchise tag to a player and benefits for retired players.
The league had said that at least a handshake agreement on a labor deal would need to be done by Tuesday to start the season as scheduled.
“We’ve got to get this deal done. We’ve got to get it done soon,” said Engelbert, who didn’t take questions from reporters.
When a deal is reached in principle, the league has said it would need a few weeks to finish off the CBA. After that work is done, the expansion draft for new franchises in Portland and Toronto would be held sometime between April 1-6, according to a timetable obtained by the AP.
Free agent qualifying offers, including franchise player tags, would be sent out April 7-8. Teams would then have three days to negotiate with the more than 80% of players who are free agents. The signing period would take place from April 12-18.
Training camps would open the next day and the season would be able to start on May 8.
But for any of that to happen, the two sides have to figure out a revenue sharing model. The union’s proposal from a week ago had asked for an average of 26% of the gross revenue — revenue before expenses — over the course of the CBA. That would include only 25% in the first year. The league has said that number was unrealistic.
The WNBA’s last few proposals have offered more than 70% of net revenue, with that number going up as the league continues to grow.
