Chicago Sky star Angel Reese has dropped a hint she is ready for the return of the WNBA after she was spotted without the hand brace she had previously been sporting for the past three weeks.
The 2025 WNBA season gets underway in May, with teams currently ramping up to training camp. Reese, whose impressive rookie season was curtailed last year after suffering a hairline fracture in her wrist, featured this offseason in Unrivaled, a new 3-on-3 league featuring some of the best in the WNBA.
But, she was ruled out of the final weekend of Unrivaled with a hand injury, meaning she missed the semifinal and final while her Rose BC teammates went on to win the inaugural 3-on-3 championship.
However, it now looks as though Reese is nearing a return to full fitness when it comes to her hand and wrist. The 22-year-old was spotted working out with Iren Rainey, who describes himself in his own words as an ‘NBA and WNBA player development specialist’.
Rainey posted a story on his Instagram of Reese in action, captioning the workout video of the Sky star shooting: “BACK AT IT W/THE @UNRIVALEDBASKETBALL CHAMP @ANGELREESE5.”
Reese, who also shared the video on her story, was noticeably not wearing a hand brace she had been sporting for weeks following her Unrivaled injury, as noted by Chicago Bulls and Sky beat writer Julia Poe. Taking to X, Poe wrote: “Angel Reese back in the gym and out of that hand brace today.
“She was ruled out of the final weekend of Unrivaled with a hand injury. Has been wearing a brace in all public appearances for the past three weeks. Good sign for Angel less than three weeks out from training camp.”
Following her hairline fracture, Reese had surgery which ended her season. “I fell on my hand when I got the and-1, when I fell back [and] fell on my hand, and it is a small crack in my bone,” Reese explained of her injury back in September 2024.
“Basically, the doctors told me that I could either not get surgery or have surgery. The risk of not having surgery — I could literally have arthritis at 22 years old.
“That wasn’t an option. The bone could literally crack and completely shatter. Right now, it’s like a hairline. … They’re going to put a small screw in it. And I wasn’t going for it getting any bigger.
“Long term, I literally could have not played anymore because this is a very hard place to heal because the blood flow is little to none,” she said while pointing to her right wrist, which was wrapped in a black soft cast.”
