‘They’ve been calling me to come back’: Angel Reese talks return to Unrivaled

Sky star Angel Reese has spent the offseason away from basketball, but basketball kept calling. And calling. And calling.

Unrivaled, the 3×3 startup league founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, wanted their megastar back.

“From the first day Unrivaled started, they’ve been calling me to come back,” Reese said after a win on Sunday night, her second game back with the club.

At first, Reese opted out of Unrivaled for the league’s second season, which began in January. But as the season has progressed, she’s fielded calls from the league’s coaches, players, and of course, her Rose BC teammates, who were champions in the league’s inaugural season.

They all wanted Reese back.

“She’s Rose basketball,” teammate Kahleah Copper said of Reese. “The culture we created was on her back.”

Reese eventually obliged. She signed a deal with Unrivaled to play the final three games of the season.

Rose BC is lucky she had the time. Reese has been everywhere this WNBA offseason, from modeling in the Victoria Secret fashion show to booking acting gigs on the popular Netflix series “The Hunting Wives.” Most recently she went on a promotional tour in Australia for her signature shoe, the AR1s.

“Literally I was in Australia and they were like ‘You want to come back?’” Reese said. “I was like, ‘alright.’ Literally I was on the beach last week, and now I’m here.”

Reese said she hasn’t played basketball in months. In her first two games back with Rose BC, it was like she never left. She’s averaging her typical double-double, including a 15-rebound performance against the Laces. With that win, Rose BC clinched the playoffs.

Should Rose BC advance to the Semifinals, they’ll play at Barclays Center on March 2 in a double-header.