Chicago Sky star Angel Reese is currently hooping in the inaugural season of the “Unrivaled” league; a league where players play full court 3-on-3 and make an average of $220,000 per player. In many ways it dwarfs the money she makes in the WNBA by nearly three times, and because of that and her endless brand deals she was able to pay off her mom’s mortgage as a gift for her most recent birthday.
Angel Reese and AAU Team Tagged For Travel Money
But, it wasn’t always this good for Reese, who was raise by a single mother on the tough and gritty streets of Baltimore City. While Reese played AAU travel basketball most of her young life, it wasn’t easy, in fact she and her teammates had to do what they call “tagging” in order to raise money to attend out of town tournaments. Tagging is pretty much the team members standing on corners asking the community for money to help them raise enough to attend a tournament.
During a recent episode of her hit “Unapologetically Angel” podcast, Reese and her mother reminisced on those days which helped shape her into the player and young woman she’s become.
Reese Not A Fan Of Tagging
“I hated tagging,” the rebounding savant told her mom. Reese’s mom echoed those same sentiments but in her own way.
“It was a little embarrassing. But also, it was humbling and it paid off because you all got a lot of support from the community.”
Reese started for Team Takeover and even led them to the Nike EYBL championship in her final year of AAU ball. For her it was a rewarding experience that helped lay the groundwork for the player you see today.
The team’s head coach Ron James had this to say about the travel ball opportunities:
“It’s such a movement and such a need.”
Angel Reese Former Teammate Says She’s An Inspiration To Community
Reese’s former AAU teammate Zhen Craft calls Reese’s rise to stardom nothing but inspiration.
“It’s really inspiring … to see someone grow and potentially seeing myself being able to do similar things as that,” Craft said.
In not forgetting where she came from Reese makes it her civic duty to use her platform to promote fairness for girls and underrepresented groups via her foundation.
“I want girls everywhere to know they’re in charge of their own athletic journey and that they can do anything.”
Reese Becomes First Ejection In Unrivaled Game
If one word describes Reese is intense, and it doesn’t take much to get her riled up either. During Saturday’s Unrivaled game Reese became the first player in the league to be ejected …. In the aftermath of her disqualification Reese shared an article talking about her ejection with this caption.
“Clickbait. Everything I do keep going viral.”
Reese isn’t lying when she says that, but it’s part of what her who she is, and she does move the meter.