With 17 NIL deals, almost 3 million online followers and being one of the most anticipated rookies in WNBA history, Angel Reese wasted no time spending some of her pro bag by copping a brand-new Mercedes-Benz after the Chicago Sky selected her with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft earlier this month.
The former LSU All-American forward and Reebok poster child became a pioneer in the NIL era, reaching a valuation of $1.8 million.
WNBA salaries might only be in the $75,000 range for rookies, but Reese enters the league with a bag of her own.
She unveiled the spoils of her colossal college achievements, including winning Most Outstanding Player while leading LSU to a National Championship in 2023 over Iowa and Caitlin Clark.
Angel Reese Cops New $183,000 Benz Truck After Draft
The 6-foot-3 post player, now known as “Chi Barbie,” (according to a recent IG post) unveiled her AMG G-Class SUV in a post on her Instagram Story while in Illinois on Tuesday. She will be cruising the streets of her new city, Chi-Town, in style.
The luxury vehicle features Nappa leather red interior and black rims, with a starting price of $183,000, per Mercedes-Benz.
“New city. New beginnings. New big body Barbie Benz,” Reese captioned the post, tagging Champion Motoring in San Diego, CalifOrnia, which has worked with a number of pro athletes.
Being a celebrity and burgeoning brand has its perks. Reese didn’t simply use her money to buy Benzo. The walking double-double, who will team with South Carolina star Kamilla Cardoso to form the WNBA’s version of the “Twin Towers” signed an NIL deal with Mercedes-Benz of Baton Rouge, and initially Reese worked with Mercedes-Benz to get her first car in the NIL era, received ahead of her 21st birthday in May 2023.
That was a sports car.
Reese stepped it up with this latest purchase.
“Getting my dream car at 21 in my new favorite city,” she wrote in a post on TikTok that featured her behind the wheel while her teacup Yorkie, Tiago, sat in the passenger’s seat.
As previously mentioned, despite Caitlin Clark’s historic $28 million deal with Nike, Reese is probably the brand collab queen of women’s hoops with a total of 17 different NIL deals, according to a March 2023 report by Sponsor United, which includes ZOA Energy drink, Raising Cane’s, Coach, PlayStation, McDonald’s, Wingstop, Outback Steakhouse and Amazon.
Mike Freeman Calls Out WNBA For Unequal Treatment Of White and Black WNBA Players
So while some journalists and Black voices argue that the money, attention and superstar treatment companies are lining up to throw at Caitlin Clark is unfair and a product of systematic disparities when it comes to race and wealth in this country, Reese isn’t complaining, and she also knows that slow and steady wins the race.
USA today reporter Mike Freeman says the WNBA isn’t treating black and white players equally.
“The fact that only white women hold the power of the signature shoe now, as the WNBA enters its most high profile and prosperous phase, shows how black women are being ignored in a league that they dominate,” he said.
Freeman argued that it was unfair that players like Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson, who is Black, doesn’t have her own shoe.
“Wilson is one of the greatest stars of our time. Any athlete of her caliber should already have a signature shoe. It is the order of things. In fact, it should have happened years ago,” Freeman said.
WNBA Players With Shoe Deals Have Traditionally Been Black
Caitlin Clark is one instance. The fact that the other three players who currently have signature shoes are also white could be purely coincidental. Especially, when you consider Freeman’s point that up until recently, almost every player who had a signature in the WNBA was Black.
“There’ve only been 12 players in the history of the WNBA with their own signature shoe. In the past, almost every signature shoe from 1995-2011 belonged to a black woman,” he said.
Some would take offense to Freeman’s implication that the players who do own signature shoe deals are inferior to the Black ones that don’t. Again, he never said Clark didn’t deserve hers, and we all know that getting deals and endorsements has a lot to do with the individual athlete’s marketing and management team and how they market and enhance that player’s public and corporate value.
This could very well be a race issue, but Angle Reese isn’t sweating it.
There’s more than enough money to go around and the pot is getting bigger for those who can capitalize on it.
Reese continues to cultivate her social media following and connect with people and start to embrace her new fans, while others complain.
