Angel Reese can’t seem to stay out of the spotlight, whether for the right (or wrong) reasons.
Fresh off her eighth technical foul of the season—and a one-game suspension after striking Connecticut Sun forward Aaliyah Edwards in the head—Reese is being compared to none other than Dennis Rodman.
Sports commentator Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson says the Chicago Sky star’s mix of relentless hustle and headline-making moments echoes the Hall of Famer’s reputation for toughness, chaos, and impact.
Robinson points to Reese’s willingness to do the things that don’t show up in highlight reels. “I watched Dennis Rodman,” Reese told Robinson. “You always need a player that’s on a team that’s willing to do the dirty work and I’m always willing to do the dirty work however I got to get it.”
That “dirty work,” she explained, means chasing rebounds, setting hard screens, and taking physical punishment. “I’m willing to go in there and get a black eye. I mean, I’ve been injured a lot so obviously, I’m in there banging for sure,” she said.
Like Rodman, those qualities have made Reese indispensable—and polarizing. Her suspension will keep her out of Chicago’s September 5 game against the Indiana Fever, but it hasn’t silenced her.
Earlier this week, she challenged the Sky to raise the bar heading into the offseason. “I’m not settling for the same s*** we did this year,” she said. “We have to get good players. We have to get great players. That’s a non-negotiable for me.”
But Reese’s story now extends beyond the hardwood. She just made her feature film debut in A House of Dynamite, the latest Netflix thriller from Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow. Premiering at the Venice Film Festival to a standing ovation, the film stars Idris Elba as the President of the United States during a nuclear crisis.
Reese appears in the climactic final act, playing herself in a scene where sports become a symbol of resilience. She shares the screen with Elba, as well as Rebecca Ferguson, Anthony Ramos, Greta Lee, Jared Harris, and Tracy Letts.
For Robinson, the parallels with Rodman are hard to miss: a player who thrives on physicality, isn’t afraid to spark controversy, and still finds a way to define her team’s identity.