They say don’t let childhood grudges stop you from discovering life’s greatest gifts. Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, once fierce and hated competitors on the college basketball court, are now teammates on the rebuilding Chicago Sky.
The most unlikely pairings ended up in Chi-Town, with the 6-foot-7 Cardoso, who came to America from Brazil at the age of 15 with no family and no grasp of the English language and the girl from Baltimore who beat the odds and became a star.
Both won national championshipa during their times in college and continued the tradition of elite post players that have always been a staple of the women’s game from Lisa Leslie to Sylvia Fowles to Tina Charles, A’ja Wilson and Brittney Griner.
Cardoso and Reese have had some contentious matchups. Reese pulled Cardoso’s hair during an SEC championship match between LSU and eventual national champion South Carolina. A contest that involved Cardoso pushing LSU guard Flau’Jae Johnson onto the floor, where a melee then ensued.
The dueling post forces were often engaged in some very physical battles in the SEC and both were sparks of energy and intimidation for their respective teams.
So it’s no surprise that people found it very interesting, if not awkward, that both would end up on the same team, when their history is taken into consideration.
In fact, social media had a ball, calling Reese and Cardoso the new “Twin Towers.”
Both players were complimentary of each other and ready to go after it in practice, steel sharpening steel, also lifting the Aces out of their second-to-last-place ranking in WNBA team rebounding.
I think it’s gonna be great,” Cardoso said. “She’s a great player, I’m a great player, so two great players together. Nobody is going to get any rebounds on us.”
Both player profiles are similar with their defensive and rebounding attributes being the staple of their games. There’s room for improvement on the offensive end for both players, who at the very least are very effective as well on the offensive boards. Reese took just 32 3-pointers in college and Cardoso probably took less.
Tim Duncan-David Robinson Twin Tower Memes Were Flowing
The NBA has had its notable twin tower combinations from Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon to Patrick Ewing and Bill Cartwright and most recently Tim Duncan and David Robinson, both Hall of Famers who led the San Antonio Spurs to championship glory and sparked a dynasty.
The Duncan-Robinson memes were flowing on X.
With NBA fans so invested in these WNBA draft picks and flooding social media with Tweets and memes on draft night, it’s possible that this wave is sustainable.
The women’s game wants to be seen on par with the men’s game, so when comparisons to past NBA greats start preceding draft picks who haven’t even stepped on the court, then that’s a great sign for the league.
A 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-3 frontcourt in the WNBA isn’t common, it’s as unique as two 7-footers continue to be in the NBA after all of these years. Something for the basketball fan to buy into, celebrate and create anticipation for the future.
Both players will provide the grit that new head coach WNBA legend Teresa Weatherspoon will build hes team culture upon.
“This is a chess match,” Weatherspoon said, after the Sky traded up with Minnesota for the seventh pick to take Reese. “And we actually got every player that we had designed to get. This is (an) exciting moment for us, exciting moment for the city, and this is (an) exciting moment for the Chicago Sky organization.”
The Sky, who won the championship in 2021 with Candace Parker and the crew, went 18-22 last year and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Former coach and general manager James Wade bounced midseason to take an assistant coaching job with the Toronto Raptors.
The Sky hired Naismith Hall of Famer T-Spoon as coach in mid-October.
The friendship that will most likely develop between these two fierce competitors and champions will permeate the Sky’s locker room and immediately create a new culture, Not to mention both women are growing in celebrity status, so Angel Reese will bring her celebrity affiliates as well as her 2.9 million Instagram followers to tune in and watch “Bayou Barbie” do her thing. The Brazilian Bombshell Cardoso can add her 500,000 followers and her international crowd, and it’s a party in the Chi.
