Angel Reese Takes The Highway Responding to Viral Candace Parker Criticism

Candace Parker stoked controversy when she ranked Chicago Sky star forward Angel Reese in the C tier of WNBA players.

Angel Reese Takes The Highway Responding to Viral Candace Parker Criticism

Angel Reese does not want to talk about Candace Parker criticism (Image via FirstSportz)

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Ever since becoming a star, Angel Reese has been courting criticism for various reasons, and has become matured enough to know how to handle them. The Chicago Sky star is either deft with it, or becomes blunt when necessary.

Whenever trolls went after her, she responded when her on-court performances were enough to counter their attacks. The forward has clapped back on numerous occasions and knows that she will continue to face criticism.

She has also learned how to slither around questions posed by seasoned journalists. Before this season started, Reese deftly sidestepped a question that would have brought back her rivalry with Caitlin Clark to the forefront.

The Maryland native missed 7 games due to a back injury. She returned to play against the Seattle Storm on Aug. 19th. Before the Sky’s game against the New York Liberty, journalist Andrew Jerell Jones caught up with her.

He asked for a reaction to WNBA legend Candace Parker claiming Angel Reese is a C-Tier player at best. To this, the Chicago Sky forward replied.

I’m not answering that.

Angel Reese replied

Her answer continues on the reaction she had when Parker initially made those comments. At the time, Reese, without mentioning names, claimed that some people are out for clout.

It seems the LSU star has not taken those criticisms lightly, and her attitude suggests she does not even want to talk about it. Quite the situation considering the 3-time champion is great friends with her mentor, Shaquille O’Neal.

Candace Parker’s jersey retirement might be an awkward situation for Angel Reese

Ironically, Candace Parker calls Chicago her home after being raised near the city and being a fan of the Bulls franchise. After her stint with the Los Angeles Sparks, she joined the Sky in an effort to bring a championship to the city.

She did that in 2021, playing alongside current Sky point guard Courtney Vandersloot and her wife, Allie Quigley, Stefanie Dolson, Kahleah Copper, and Diamond DeShields, all players who are close to Angel Reese as well.

The franchise has thus decided to retire Candace Parker’s No. 3 jersey on August 25th, when they will take on the Las Vegas Aces, another of her former teams. This will be the 2nd jersey retirement for the 39-year-old, after the Sparks retired hers on June 29th. That time, the Chicago Sky was playing the Sparks, and their star forward went up to congratulate Parker.

This time, unless the two clear their differences, the ceremony could become awkward for Angel Reese. The McDonald’s brand ambassador might not be that forthcoming as she was at the Sparks ceremony.

Angel Reese has a nonchalant reaction to NBA 2K rating

One of the highlights of Angel Reese‘s 2025 season has been her adaptation to the point forward role. She used that to power her Chicago Sky to an impressive victory over the New York Liberty.

Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso in their win over the Liberty
Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso in their win over the Liberty (Image via Elli22Cu/X)

All of these performances are helping her develop her game. Last season, it was all about her rebounds and scoring inside the paint. This time, fans are witnessing her pull up on shots outside the restricted area, as well as her passing.

The NBA and WNBA’s official game, NBA 2K, felt Reese’s last season performances were good enough to make her their cover star for the upcoming 2K26 edition.

Since they take those performances as well as the current season stats into consideration, they also ranked her 10th overall among WNBA players with a 90 overall rating. Andrew Jerell Jones asked her if she was satisfied with her rating.

Reese first replied that she did not know her rating. Here, Jones replied (incorrectly) that the game awarded her a 93 rating. Hearing this, the 6′ 3″ rebounding phenom replied:

Oh ok. Does that mean something?

Angel Reese replied

The Reebok signature athlete was unmoved by this and then proceeded to shrug her shoulders when Jones informed her that she was one of the top players in the game. It seems these things did not matter to her as much as the cover did.

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