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It is understandable if one of the flash-point moments of Angel Reese’s WNBA season might be described as a failure. In the waning seconds of an Atlanta Dream matchup with Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, an errant jump shot falls into Ms. Reese’s hands. Her putback falls short, and the Dream eventually lose the game in overtime.
Detractors attacked the moment with glee, but that viewpoint ends up being shortsighted. After the missed layup, the regret on Ms. Reese’s face was palpable, as was the spirit of sisterhood emanating from her teammates. The proverb “Fall down seven times, get up eight,” a tenet of NBA star Dwyane Wade’s career, applies to Ms. Reese and the Dream – and in some important ways, to the league broadly. Perseverance, not failure, is the defining factor.
Ms. Reese challenged herself in a postgame press conference a day later: “Why would I let that moment dictate everything else that I have going on that’s possible?”
Two months later, the Dream find themselves in the WNBA Finals, aiming to win the franchise’s first title. Across from them is a team looking to make its own history, the Golden State Valkyries, only in their second year of existence.
The Valkyries had to overcome adversity, too, seeking to escape the shadow of the Las Vegas Aces, the league’s defending champions and a paragon of excellence. During the regular season, the Aces won each of their three matchups. The playoffs were a different story, however, with Golden State sweeping the series in three close-fought wins.
Golden State Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton (5) controls the ball while being defended by Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray (12) during Game 2 of the WNBA basketball semifinals, Oct. 7, 2026, in San Francisco.
Perseverance is a characteristic that defines the WNBA itself. In its 30th season, the league is enjoying newfound success, not only because of rising viewership and a crop of young talent, but because of a hard-won collective bargaining agreement that changed its players’ earnings overnight. One of the champions of that agreement was Nneka Ogwumike, a 15-year WNBA veteran and league ambblockador.
A certain symmetry binds her career and the league – 15 years, half of the league’s existence. During a June matchup against the New York Liberty, which represented the league’s 30th anniversary game, Ms. Ogwumike caught a pblock from Erica Wheeler with the game on the line and her team down two points. She calmly swished a game-winning 3-pointer as time expired, and the player known as “Madam President” was overcome with the gravity of the moment.
“It’s emotional seeing all these legends in the building,” she said. “People that didn’t get paid their value, and they’re still coming here and supporting us. I’m so grateful.”
The league has separated itself from its male counterpart in its progressive stances and social justice movements. One of the league’s biggest stars, Maya Moore, famously retired to pursue activism in criminal justice reform. Atlanta Dream players’ endorsement of Raphael Warnock not only helped lift him to become the state’s first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction, but also led to his opponent and team co-owner Kelly Loeffler selling the team.
Those culture clashes are still a part of the league’s fabric, for better or worse. The WNBA’s transgender inclusion “controversy” ended up being a misnomer because there are no transgender players in the league, though conversations about acceptance and diversity are still relevant, and raw at times. Those debates aren’t nearly as loud as the WNBA’s youth movement, which includes players such as Ms. Reese, Ms. Clark, Paige Bueckers, and Sonia Citron, who all competed for the gold-winning Women’s National Team at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin last month.
This year’s WNBA Finals will have something for everyone. For defensive purists, the finals will feature the league’s best defensive team in the Valkyries, while the Dream have two first-team, all-defense selections in Rhyne Howard and Ms. Reese, along with a second-team pick in Jordin Canada. As far as star power, there are two big names. One is Golden State’s Gabby Williams, who was on the cusp of a gold medal in her native France back in the 2024 Olympics, and who has a chance to taste basketball glory.
The second, of course, is Ms. Reese, who has seemed to be on this trajectory since she was traded to the Dream in April. It was the marriage of a hardworking star with a nose for defense and rebounding, plus a win-now team that was a possession away from a postseason run last year.
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Since her college days, Ms. Reese was portrayed in the media as a foil or rival to Ms. Clark, and it was a disservice to both parties, mostly the former. Overcoming adversity – and trolling – has become part of her brand to the point where she trademarked the term “mebounds,” which was meant to be derisive but has only fueled Ms. Reese’s drive.
The star power has been undeniable from the promotional sense, as Ms. Reese’s “Barbie” branding has captured everything from young girls’ imaginations to her likeness on her popular namesake’s doll. Up next, she might be capping off a dream season with a long-awaited title for the city of Atlanta.
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