Angel Reese expressed her excitement after joining Napheesa Collier's All-Star team. Following Tuesday’s draft, where team captains finalized their rosters for the All-Star Game, Reese wrote on X:
“nah team PHEE is STACKEDDD”
Despite earning the fifth-most fan votes among all frontcourt players, Reese was not named an All-Star starter. She just missed the top-six cutoff, landing at #7 with a weighted score of 7.75, after finishing 12th in both the media and player voting.
Reese was the fifth overall reserve selected and the third pick by Collier. She’ll be joining a talented frontcourt that includes Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike and Alyssa Thomas, while the team also features six guards.
Allisha Gray and Paige Bueckers will be starting in the backcourt for Team Collier. The remaining reserve guards chosen include Courtney Williams, Skylar Diggins, Kelsey Plum and Rhyne Howard.
Reese will look to replicate her strong performance from the 2024 All-Star Game, when she helped her side win 117-109 over Team USA with a double-double performance (12 points and 11 rebounds).
Reese is in the midst of a dominant stretch, averaging 15.7 points and 13.4 rebounds over her last 11 outings, including nine double-doubles during that span.
Caitlin Clark hilariously reveals why she didn’t draft Angel Reese among many other bigs
Caitlin Clark approached the All-Star draft with a clear vision to entertain fans by building a team that could shoot 3-pointers. Hence, she prioritized adding sharpshooting guards to the roster.
Meanwhile, Napheesa Collier took a different approach, opting to counter with dominant frontcourt players.
Midway through the draft, Clark couldn’t resist poking fun at Collier’s strategy, especially after she selected Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike and Angel Reese.
“It’s an All-Star game it’s supposed to be fun, supposed to launch threes,” Clark said. “Not gonna be much rebounding when we make a lot of shots so go ahead.”
Ironically, Clark’s final roster ended up featuring more bigs than Collier’s. Team Clark will start with Aliyah Boston, A’ja Wilson and Satou Sabally in the frontcourt, while Gabby Williams, Kiki Iriafen and Kayla Thornton will provide size and energy off the bench.