Angel Reese puts the Chicago Sky on blast

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Angel Reese interview puts the Chicago Sky on blast

Chicago star Angel Reese is speaking her mind, making waves on Wednesday after detailing improvements she’d like to see from the already-eliminated No. 11 Sky in a Chicago Tribune tell-all.

• “I’m not settling for the same s—t we did this year,” Reese told basketball reporter Julia Poe, calling out Chicago’s back-to-back losing seasons. “We have to get good players. We have to get great players. That’s a non-negotiable for me.”

• “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,” she added.

Big picture: One of five WNBA teams operating under independent ownership unaffiliated with an NBA team, the Sky have struggled to keep up with free agency demands in recent years, falling to a 10-30 record this season under new head coach Tyler Marsh.

• “I’m willing and wanting to play with the best,” Reese said. “So it’s going to be very, very important this offseason to make sure we attract the best of the best because we can’t settle for what we have this year.”

• “Honestly, it would be a leap of faith for a great, great player to come here and show that this is something that they want to be a part of.”

Walking it back: Chicago managed to drown out the noise on Wednesday, dominating Connecticut 88-64 to better the team’s complicated lottery odds — and prompt Reese to walk back some of her earlier criticisms.

• “I probably am frustrated [with] myself right now,” Reese said after registering 18 points and 13 rebounds in the win — her 23rd double-double this year. “I really didn't intentionally mean to put down my teammates, because they’ve been through this with me throughout the whole year.” (Watch clip)

Up next: Leading the Sky in points and rebounds per game, Reese will miss Friday’s matchup against Indiana (7:30 PM ET, ION) due to technical foul accumulation.

Naomi Osaka advances to US Open semifinals

World No. 24 Naomi Osaka is climbing the ranks, cruising to her third-career US Open semifinal last night after taking down No. 11 Karolína Muchová 6-4, 7-6 (7) to extend her WTA comeback run.

• “There’s been so much hard work that you guys haven’t seen, but I’m just really grateful to my team, and I’m just happy to be healthy,” she said afterwards. (Watch full highlights)

• “Last year was really, really tough for me,” she later told ESPN, addressing her previous stumbles. “I wished I had results, and it just kind of got into my head a lot. And this year I kind of just stopped caring if I won or lost.”

Big picture: While the four-time Grand Slam winner continues to work her way back from the 2023 birth of her daughter, Osaka also has a notable streak on the line.

• The Japanese fan favorite has never lost a Grand Slam where she’s advanced past the Round of 16, including two US Open titles and two Australian Open titles — all played on hardcourt.

• “It’s been a while since I’ve been in this position, but I think you play the best players in the world towards the end of a Slam, and we all are hoping to achieve the same thing,” she added after Wednesday’s victory. “So it’s kind of like boxing with a tennis ball.”

• Osaka now faces stiff semifinal competition, taking on No. 9 Amanda Anisimova after the US ace avenged her recent Wimbledon loss by silencing No. 2 Iga Swiatek in straight sets yesterday.

Tune in: Osaka squares off against Anisimova tonight at 8:30 PM, live on ESPN.

Alyssa Thompson transfer looms over WSL kick-off

USWNT star Alyssa Thompson is London-bound, with Angel City and WSL side Chelsea FC hammering out the 20-year-old’s reported near-£1 million transfer ahead of the UK league’s season kick-off on Friday.

• The verbal agreement was reached today within hours of the WSL’s 6 PM ET transfer window closure, with reigning league-winners Chelsea set to open their 2025/26 campaign against Manchester City tomorrow night.

Big picture: Chelsea has been aggressive in the transfer market this year, as the WSL titan fields mounting pressure from clubs eager to upend the top of the table.

• Second-place 2024/25 finishers Arsenal enter the season as UWCL champions, tacking on Canadian star Olivia Smith’s splashy £1 million transfer while also signing Smith’s former Liverpool teammate Taylor Hinds.

• Man City will also be looking to better their fourth-place 2024/25 run, hoping for a healthy Bunny Shaw to combine with Dutch phenom Vivianne Miedema while adding ex-Arsenal defender Laura Wienroither and decorated German midfielder Sydney Lohmann to their ranks.

Top-flight debut: This weekend’s WSL action will also feature the newly promoted London City Lionesses, set to kick off the top-flight season against Arsenal on Saturday at 8:30 AM ET.

• Backed by US-based multi-team owner Michele Kang, London City has also been busy, bringing on a laundry list of talent including Daniëlle van de Donk (OL Lyonnes) and Nikita Parris (Brighton) plus their own Angel City finds in Katie Zelem and Alanna Kennedy.

Tune in: The WSL kicks off tomorrow with Chelsea vs. Man City at 2:30 PM ET, likely live on YouTube, though an official US media partner has not yet been announced.

Alex Morgan talks equal pay on Call Her Daddy

Retired USWNT superstar Alex Morgan hit up Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast this week, talking motherhood, soccer stardom, and the fight for equal pay.

• “Fast forward to 2019, and we were owning our s—t,” she said, referencing the USWNT’s campaign to achieve financial equity. “We’re going to win, we filed an equal pay lawsuit against US Soccer, we know that winning [the World Cup] is going to help our case, and we are the best.”

• “We likely won’t reap the benefits of what we’re fighting for, but our kids will,” she recalled thinking. “I hope my daughter knows nothing other than equal.”

Changing the game: Morgan also opened up about life as a high-profile soccer celebrity, discussing how she juggled becoming a new mother while also navigating her career for both club and country.

• “It was very difficult because there was no rules — there was no standard for moms in the NWSL, or even on the national team,” she said. “I was trying to be a great mom, and I was trying to be a great soccer player, but I was also now having to write new rules and advocate for all moms in the future in soccer.”

Tune in: Catch Alex Morgan on this week’s Call Her Daddy.

Chicago Stars announce move to Northwestern

The Chicago Stars are moving out of Bridgeview, the NWSL club announced on Wednesday, signing a one-year deal to play at Northwestern University’s Martin Stadium next season.

• Currently home to the Big Ten school’s lacrosse and football teams, the turf-field venue accommodates 12,000 — a steep drop from the 20,000-capacity SeatGeek stadium, which the Stars often struggled to fill in recent years.

• “What began as a temporary lakefront home for Northwestern football has quickly become a unique venue that has welcomed collegiate, professional, and international competition,” said Northwestern director of athletics Mark Jackson in a statement.

Suburban shuffle: The Stars have never had a full-time home inside Chicago’s city limits, making their 2011 debut at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois, before moving to Bridgeview ahead of the 2016 season.

Aces take on Lynx in tonight’s WNBA MVP showdown

Minnesota and Las Vegas might have the playoffs on lock, but the league’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams still have plenty to play for as MVP frontrunners Napheesa Collier and A’ja Wilson gear up for Thursday’s final regular-season clash.

• Collier’s 23.5 points per game average is nearly identical to Wilson’s 23.4, while Wilson sits Top-5 in both rebounds and blocks per game and Collier ranks third in steals. (See full stats)

• The Aces now look to dish out some revenge, riding a 12-game winning streak into tonight’s attempt to bounce back from early August’s 53-point blowout loss to the Lynx.

Tune in: Minnesota takes on Las Vegas tonight at 10 PM ET, live on Prime.

Quote of the day

Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles
posting to social media after Dancing with the Stars tapped her to star in the competition’s upcoming season.