Sky’s Angel Reese: Missing All-Star Start But Commanding Leaguewide Respect
The announcement of the 2025 WNBA All-Star starters delivered both triumph and disappointment for Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, who despite earning massive fan support and widespread recognition throughout the league, fell just short of securing a coveted starting position in what many consider the season’s most prestigious showcase. Angel Reese finished fifth in the 2025 WNBA All-Star fan voting for frontcourt players, with voting weighted among fans (50%), players (25%) and media (25%), a result that has sparked considerable debate across the women’s basketball community about the voting process and what constitutes All-Star worthiness in today’s competitive landscape.
The numbers tell a compelling story of Reese’s remarkable popularity and impact, as Angel Reese shocked fans with 506,741 All-Star votes, joining an elite group of WNBA stars and sparking major buzz, demonstrating that her appeal extends far beyond traditional basketball metrics and into the realm of cultural influence and fan engagement that defines modern sports stardom. This substantial vote total reflects not only her on-court performance but also her ability to connect with audiences in ways that transcend simple statistics, establishing her as one of the league’s most marketable and recognizable personalities despite being in just her second professional season.
The timing of this All-Star announcement creates an interesting juxtaposition with Reese’s recent performance accolades, as Angel Reese’s stellar performance in Week 6 of the 2025 WNBA season earned her the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award, highlighting her exceptional play with the Chicago Sky, averaging 19.7 points, 17.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game, showcasing the type of dominant statistical production that many believe warrants All-Star starter recognition regardless of voting mechanics or political considerations within the league’s complex selection process.
The contrast between fan enthusiasm and professional recognition becomes even more pronounced when examining how Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese both did well in WNBA All-Star fan voting, but struggled to garner votes from their fellow players, with the rest of the All-Star starters determined by a combination of fan vote (50%), media vote (25%), and votes by WNBA players, suggesting a potential disconnect between public perception and peer evaluation that raises questions about the criteria different voting constituencies use when assessing player worthiness for such prestigious honors.
Reese’s journey to this point has been nothing short of remarkable, building upon her historic rookie campaign where she established herself as one of the league’s most dominant rebounding forces and earned recognition as a 2024 WNBA All-Star, becoming the first Sky rookie since Elena Delle Donne (2013) to do so and fourth ever in franchise history, proving that her current All-Star consideration is not merely a product of hype but rather the continuation of sustained excellence that began from her very first professional season.
The statistical foundation for Reese’s All-Star case remains absolutely undeniable, as her previous season saw her have the best rebounding season by any player in league history at the time of her final 2024 game, averaging a league-record 13.1 boards per game, establishing her as not just a good rebounder or even a great one, but as someone who redefined what was possible in terms of controlling the glass at the professional level and setting new standards for future generations of players to aspire toward.
However, Angel Reese was notably left out of the starting line-up, raising eyebrows across the women’s basketball community, with the debate heating up over who deserved a spot, who got snubbed, and what this means for the league’s future, indicating that her exclusion from the starting lineup has become a flashpoint for broader discussions about recognition, merit, and the various factors that influence All-Star selection in an increasingly complex and politically charged environment.
The broader implications of Reese’s All-Star situation extend beyond individual recognition to encompass questions about how the WNBA values different types of contributions, whether traditional statistical dominance should outweigh team success, and how the league’s growing popularity and media attention might be influencing voting patterns in ways that don’t necessarily reflect pure basketball merit or long-term player development considerations.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on a starting position, Reese’s continued excellence and the widespread discussion surrounding her exclusion actually serve to amplify her profile and reinforce her status as one of the league’s most compelling figures, someone whose impact transcends traditional accolades and whose influence on the game’s future direction seems assured regardless of any single honor or recognition she may or may not receive.
The story of Angel Reese’s near-miss for All-Star starter status ultimately reflects the WNBA’s evolution from a niche professional league to a mainstream entertainment product where fan engagement, media narratives, and peer respect all compete for influence in determining who receives the sport’s highest honors, creating a complex ecosystem where excellence must be measured across multiple dimensions rather than through any single metric or achievement.