Angel Reese Makes WNBA History with 500 Rebounds

Angel Reese didn’t just grab another rebound on Saturday. She grabbed a piece of WNBA history.

Midway through the first half against the Chicago Sky, the Atlanta Dream star hauled in her 500th board of the season, becoming the first player in league history to reach that mark in a single year. One whistle, one box-out, and an already record-breaking campaign climbed into an entirely different tier.

This wasn’t a surprise to anyone who has watched her work the glass all year. Reese had already shattered the WNBA’s single-season rebounding record during Atlanta’s 78–71 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 24, a night that felt like a coronation for the league’s new rebounding standard-bearer.

“Anything that goes up is mine,” Reese told USA Today’s Cydney Henderson on Aug. 24. “I want to be one of (the best) when I walk away from the game. So just being able to ... be consistent every night is something I’m looking forward to doing.”

She’s done exactly that.

Reese is stacking numbers that read more like a video game season than a 24-year-old’s second act as a pro. Heading into Saturday’s matchup, she was averaging a career-high 16.5 points and a league-leading 12.4 rebounds across 40 games, anchoring everything Atlanta does in the paint. Around those core numbers, she’s added 2.8 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.7 blocks per night, filling every gap the Dream have needed filled.

The dominance shows up in the margins, too. With Reese on the floor, Atlanta owns a plus-10.2 net rating. When she sits, that number plunges to plus-0.2 (via WNBA.com). That’s not just star impact. That’s franchise gravity.

It’s no coincidence the Dream are 27–14 and sitting fourth in the WNBA standings with the playoffs closing in. Reese has become the frontcourt heartbeat of a team that suddenly looks built for a long postseason run, turning defensive stops into transition chances, missed shots into second lives, and tight games into Atlanta wins.

The milestones have come in waves. On Aug. 30, she set the WNBA’s single-season record for double-doubles with her 29th, a staggering total that underlines how rarely she has taken a night off. Points and rebounds, again and again. Different opponents, same outcome.

Rebounding is often called a “want-to” stat. Reese has turned that cliché into a brand. Every loose ball is a challenge. Every missed shot is an invitation. Every night, she answers.

The records now belong to her. The season, and perhaps the playoffs, might as well.