Reese explains injury, says she will have surgery

Angel Reese took to social media to explain her season-ending injury — a small crack in a bone in her wrist that will require surgery, which she is having Tuesday.

“I fell on my hand when I got the and-1, when I fell back [and] fell on my hand, and it is a small crack in my bone,” Reese said in a video posted to her TikTok account late Sunday night.

“Basically, the doctors told me that I could either not get surgery or have surgery. The risk of not having surgery — I could literally have arthritis at 22 years old. That wasn’t an option. The bone could literally crack and completely shatter. Right now, it’s like a hairline. … They’re going to put a small screw in it. And I wasn’t going for it getting any bigger.”

Reese said she’ll be in a hard cast for four weeks and then a soft cast for two.

“Long term, I literally could have not played anymore because this is a very hard place to heal because the blood flow is little to none,” she said while pointing to her right wrist, which was wrapped in a black soft cast.

Reese, the No. 7 pick in the draft, finished the season averaging 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds. It’s the highest rebound average in the history of the WNBA. Reese also set the rookie record with 26 double-doubles — her last coming in a 92-78 win over Los Angeles on Friday night that is now her last game of the season.

Reese has been intertwined with Indiana rookie Caitlin Clark since the pair faced off in the NCAA championship two years ago. Reese’s LSU squad came away with the win. They have lifted the WNBA in television ratings, attendance and merchandise sales this season.

“It’s definitely sad whenever you see anyone go down with an injury, especially people that you came into this league with,” Clark said Sunday. “You want to see her finish out this year. Obviously, she’s had a historic year, and she’s done some incredible things.

“For me, getting to play against her, her motor is up there — if not the best in the league. She just doesn’t stop working. I thought she had a tremendous year. I thought she came into the league and really did what she’s done well her entire career as long as I’ve known her. It’s really devastating. It’s never anything you want to see from a player.”

Reese said she’ll continue to train and participate in off-court ventures during her recovery.

“So in the meantime, I will just be in my hard cast for four weeks. … During that time I’ll just be lifting, running, conditioning, shooting with my off hand, dribbling and doing stuff with my off hand, working on my nutrition,” Reese said. “[I’ll be] modeling still, podcasting still, being a baddie still… and supporting my teammates from afar. Well, not afar but on the bench. … I still believe we’re still making the playoffs.”

Reese responded in the video to social media suggestions that she was pregnant, saying it was untrue.

“That was never a thing. … I want to make this crystal clear, I don’t have a man to have kids; I don’t have a ring to have kids, I am 22 with no kids. And I’m not coming to kids,” she said. “So that’s not going to be a thing anytime soon. I just want y’all to know that. because I know y’all like to have some clicks.”

Chicago is currently in the final playoff position, one game ahead of Atlanta. The Sky face Washington on Wednesday.