3 reasons why Angel Reese deactivating her 4.6 million Instagram handle could be a good sign for WNBA star

WNBA superstar Angel Reese deactivated her Instagram handle a couple of days after posting her New Year's Eve outfit.

3 reasons why Angel Reese deactivating her 4.6 million Instagram handle could be a good sign for WNBA star

WNBA superstar Angel Reese has shut down her Instagram handle

The year 2024 has been quite an eventful one for WNBA superstar Angel Reese. After completing college on a high, she went on to break records in her debut season in the pros. Then in the offseason, she went all in on building her brand.

Angel Reese started a podcast which quickly rose in popularity. Then she attended some live shows with celebrities and was also a part of elite fashion shows. All of that along with signing endorsement deals helped her accelerate her growth.

All of that resulted in her Instagram handle growing to a staggering 4.6 million followers. That made her one of the most popular women athletes in the world. Those followers helped her surpass Caitlin Clark in terms of a social profile and even the WNBA.

The most recent post on her Instagram handle was her showing off a New Year’s outfit that broke the internet. However, a couple of days later, she deactivated her account. Fans were left stunned with that move, especially when she worked all offseason to build it up.

Some started speculating on the reasons for this drastic development. For a 22-year-old who is that active on social media to bring it to a halt led many to bring up wild theories. Those wild theories aside, recent developments suggest she is taking a novel approach.

Unrivaled Basketball is about to start

One of the first moves the Maryland native did before her WNBA season ended was to sign up for the upstart Unrivaled Basketball League. With promises of a much higher pay as well as equity, she was one of the first players to sign the dotted line.

The league’s debut season will tip off on January 17th, making it just around two weeks left for its launch. As they are looking towards garnering fans, it could be that Angel Reese has decided to shut her account down so that all her content on Instagram goes to the league.

With her holding equity, it could be a smart business move. Her TikTok and X accounts are still active. So, it could be that it was mutually agreed upon to allow traffic associated with her to flow into the Unrivaled, and especially her Rose Basketball Club’s social media pages.

Stopping modeling career hate on Instagram

However, that Unrivaled Basketball logic does not explain why she still runs her X and TikTok accounts. But her activity on those platforms could give a glimpse into what she is trying to do. The Chicago Sky star has not directly posted anything on her X account.

The only exception is when she shared a snippet of her interview promoting rapper Lil Baby‘s WHAM album. Along with the repost of that snippet, she posted one that just said ‘WHAM’, suggesting it was part of the promotion. Other than that, she reposted one message from way back in October.

They hate you online but love you in person.

Angel Reese wrote

This repost could suggest she is currently shielding herself from online haters. Her New Year’s party outfit did draw a lot of flak. Many were pointing at her increasingly sizzling outfits, suggesting she was taking it too far in her modeling career.

She has already faced some backlash in the past due to her racy lingerie shoots. After the New Year’s one dropped, the haters went on a tirade. Comments about her choices in fashion and questions about her interest in modeling probably went far enough for her to deactivate the account.

Angel Reese shielding herself from hate

Along with shielding herself from haters taking shots at her modeling career, this move to deactivate her Instagram handle could be a way to give herself a break from hate. Her IG account is the most popular social media page she owns.

With the WNBA discourse continuing surrounding Caitlin Clark, many of her fans are targeting Reese when comparing the two. Clark’s recent podcast episode with the Kelce brothers showed her in a more positive light.

Invariably, fans are comparing the Indiana Fever star’s humility and kindness to Reese who openly declared that hate pays. Reese has not backed down from that approach as she has used that notion all throughout her career.

But in light of Unrivaled Basketball taking off and the negativity of her modeling stints as well as the comparisons to Clark, it all might have become a bit too much for her. Taking a break could shut down the noise for a while.

Rapper Joe Budden gave her this exact piece of advice a while ago. He wanted her to slow down as he knew it would get too hot to handle. Maybe now she is taking that approach, giving herself time to rethink and reset.