Angel Reese will officially become the first professional athlete to walk the Victoria’s Secret runway!

 

The Chicago Sky star announced on Instagram Thursday that she will be walking in the upcoming Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on Oct. 15 in New York City. It will be the first time a professional athlete will walk the runway in the iconic fashion show.

“Stepping into a dream: From Angel to a Victoria Secret ANGEL,” the 23-year-old Reese posted on Instagram. “I’m finally getting my wings — I’ll be walking the Victoria’s Secret 2025 runway show for the first time, and it feels like destiny. Wings on, heels ready … Catch me on the runway.”

The retailer posted a video on Instagram of the announcement showing the WNBA player in a pink robe, black lingerie and white feather wings.

“Angel Reese, welcome to the runway. The first professional athlete angel…major is an understatement,” the post reads.

The lingerie show began in 2001 and took place annually for nearly two decades. Victoria’s Secret canceled the show in 2019, but brought it back last year, with Reese attending.

Inside WNBA players’ rocky relationship with Cathy Engelbert

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WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert discusses Napheesa Collier’s comments and protocols surrounding officiating. (4:24)

NNEKA OGWUMIKE HEARD about Napheesa Collier’s exit interview before she saw it. She was at home when her phone buzzed from a text message barrage, player after player asking if she had seen Collier’s statement.

Ogwumike didn’t know what everyone was talking about.

A quick search on social media filled her in. Collier had spent four minutes criticizing WNBA leadership in general and commissioner Cathy Engelbert in particular. The Minnesota Lynx star described the WNBA’s leadership as “the worst in the world” and detailed Engelbert’s lack of relationships with players.

“My initial thoughts were, ‘I agree,’” said Ogwumike, president of the WNBA players union. “And that I was proud to be part of this union and with players like Phee who display their leadership.”

She sent Collier a congratulatory text.

The response from other WNBA players was swift and decisive. Post after post praised Collier.

“Phee speaks for me,” Elizabeth Williams, a member of the union’s executive committee, told ESPN.

The support Collier has received from across the WNBA, including from her fellow members of the executive committee of the WNBPA, points to an erosion of the relationship between Engelbert and the players in the league she leads.

Shortly after Engelbert was named the league’s first commissioner on May 15, 2019, players celebrated the signing of a collective bargaining agreement. Both the commissioner and the players described it as “groundbreaking.” Since then, Engelbert has presided over significant growth for the league, but there have been moments of turmoil as well.

Some of those moments have been funny, like the comically small All-Star MVP trophy Engelbert presented to Kelsey Plum in 2022. Some have not been funny at all, like when she mispronounced Golden State Valkyries first-year head coach Natalie Nakase’s name before presenting her with the 2025 Coach of the Year award. Some have undermined the players’ sense of professional and personal value and left scars that haven’t even begun to heal.

With the WNBA Finals continuing in Phoenix and the CBA set to expire on Oct. 31 amid contentious negotiations, attention has been diverted to the players’ skepticism of Engelbert’s ability to lead.

Their mistrust has been building for years.

Nneka Ogwumike traces the first signs of tension with Cathy Engelbert to the 2020 season in the bubble. Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
MEMBERS OF THE WNBPA executive committee sat in high chairs on a Bradenton, Florida, basketball court in front of the WNBA team logos. It was Aug. 27, 2020, and the sports world, like society at large, was grappling with the realities of COVID-19 and police brutality.

On Aug. 23, Jacob Blake, a Black man, had been shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. On Aug. 26, teams in the WNBA, NBA, MLS and MLB chose to cancel their games.

The WNBA extended its break for another night, and Ogwumike explained why in a live interview on ESPN.

“As we had such a heavy day last night, we also decided today to take games off,” she said. “The players of the WNBA use today to reflect … we will continue demonstrating our solidarity by not playing today. It is important to note that this is not a strike. This is not a boycott. This is affirmatively a day of reflection.”

Games resumed on Aug. 28.

The WNBA players were sequestered that season at IMG Academy playing in front of empty stands as a precaution against COVID.

They put activism at the core of their 2020 bubble season. The players dedicated the season to the “Say Her Name” campaign, which highlighted women who had experienced police brutality. “Black Lives Matter” decals were put on the court. Webinars led by the newly created social justice council featured speakers across the political and advocacy worlds.

“One props that I do have to give Cathy is that she always allowed the players to speak up and be their true selves,” said Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally, who was a rookie during that 2020 campaign. “I came into a league where the commissioner allowed us to speak up against police brutality, against injustices in this country and really be free-minded women.”

Earlier that summer, before the 2020 season began, U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, then co-owner of the Atlanta Dream, wrote a letter to Engelbert sharing her opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement and asking the league to put an American flag on every jersey.

In response, players organized a campaign to oust Loeffler from the Senate by wearing “Vote Warnock” T-shirts to games to show support for her Democratic opponent, Raphael Warnock. Warnock defeated Loeffler in a runoff in January 2021 and won a full term in 2022. Loeffler sold the Dream in February 2021.

When the players decided to postpone the games scheduled for Aug. 26, 2020, Engelbert publicly backed their decision.

“We absolutely support them,” Engelbert said at the time. “We are running a ‘player-first’ agenda, we’ve said that from the beginning. That’s why I was here, to listen, to talk with them, to impart some of my knowledge and experience and to think through strategically what this night meant to them.”

Players recalled that the decision wasn’t as collaborative as it appeared.

“Conversations from Cathy and leadership were kind of a little bit more skewed towards playing, and business, and numbers,” Ogwumike said Monday. “And I just really did not feel like that was the time and place to be discussing those types of matters.”

“We had to push her on all the activism we did in the bubble,” former executive committee member Layshia Clarendon said last week. “The sentiment from players was very much, ‘No, we’re doing this. I don’t care if you like it or not.’”

On Tuesday, Engelbert declined an interview request from ESPN.

In 2024, when Caitlin Clark, who is white, and Angel Reese, who is Black, brought their stardom to the WNBA, commentary about their rivalry and the league as a whole took on a racialized dynamic, particularly as it pertained to the on-court treatment of Clark. Engelbert answered a question from CNBC anchor Tyler Mathisen about online toxicity among the WNBA fan base by arguing for the need for rivalries. “But the one thing I know about sports, you need rivalry,” Engelbert said. “That’s what makes people watch. They want to watch games of consequence between rivals. They don’t want everybody being nice to one another.”

WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson released a statement condemning those remarks. “This is not about rivalries or iconic personalities fueling a business model,” she said. “This kind of toxic fandom should never be tolerated or left unchecked. It demands immediate action, and frankly, should have been addressed long ago.”

Engelbert later acknowledged that her initial comments “missed the mark,” but it was another blemish, this time publicly, on an issue deeply important to players.

But even successes have seemingly created distance between Engelbert and players.

ESCORTED BY FEVER security, Clark walked through baggage claim at a Dallas airport ahead of Indiana’s May 2, 2024, preseason game against the Dallas Wings. Teammates Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull walked right behind her.

A man kept pace alongside, holding his cellphone to capture Clark’s arrival. A local news crew walked in front of them.

Charter travel was banned by the CBA then, and despite multiple years of players complaining, nothing had changed.

Players would post on social media when their commercial flights were delayed or during tough travel days. In 2018, the Las Vegas Aces forfeited a game against the Washington Mystics after travel delays impacted the team’s readiness to play. New York Liberty owners Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai reportedly paid for multiple charter flights to away games in 2022 and also for an unsanctioned team trip to Napa, California. The league fined the Liberty $500,000 for violating league rules.

That year, Engelbert said the league couldn’t pay for charter flights for all teams without compromising league finances. “It would be more than $20 million a year to fund charter flights for an entire WNBA season,” Engelbert said. “So this is something that we’re not going to jeopardize the financial health of the league and be irresponsible about. If we can get it funded by sponsors and supporters, great, but that’s not where we are. We do not have that.”

The Liberty fine was frustrating to Sabally, who played for Dallas at the time. “That was just like ‘Why would you do that?’” Sabally said. “Why would you hold back teams that want to give resources to their players and not encourage more on the lower end to step up? That’s where my viewpoint changed a little bit.”

Leaguewide charter travel was not implemented even after YouTuber Alex Stein pushed Mercury security in an attempt to reach Brittney Griner in June 2023. Griner was imprisoned in Russia for 10 months in 2022 and was released in a high-profile prisoner swap, which some protested. (A week after that incident, the league said Griner could fly charter for Phoenix’s remaining road games that season.) But one week after Clark was greeted by cameras at that DFW airport baggage claim ahead of a preseason game against the Wings, Engelbert announced a charter flight program for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, making the Clark close encounter the final dicey entry in the WNBA’s controversial commercial flight era.

Said Williams: “[Engelbert] took all of the credit.”

Beyond charter flights, Engelbert can point to many other success stories. Television ratings are up. Merch sales are up. The league has signed new media deals beginning in 2026 reportedly worth in excess of $200 million per year.

Team owners are investing in facilities and player amenities. Mark Davis bought the Aces in January 2021, and design work on a practice facility for the team began in February. The facility opened in 2023, marking the first WNBA team-specific facility (multiple teams shared NBA facilities). The Seattle Storm opened a facility in April 2024. Phoenix followed in July. The Chicago Sky and Dallas are scheduled to open new facilities in 2026. New York, Indiana and the Los Angeles Sparks have announced plans to build.

The league also has expanded and valuations have soared. When Engelbert took over, the WNBA consisted of 12 teams. Fifteen teams will tip off the 2026 season, and by 2030, the league will have 18 teams. The Dream reportedly paid a $10 million expansion fee in 2008, while the latest three expansion teams paid $250 million.

Even that success has failed to unite the players behind Engelbert. Rather, it has sown distrust because of how that success is described. Players believe their contributions have been overlooked in favor of the commissioner touting her own success.

“Players felt like she talked like we should constantly be in a position of gratitude versus a partnership,” Williams said. “Her language and intent may have said ‘partnership,’ but unfortunately it didn’t necessarily come off that way.”

Said Plum, another member of the union’s executive committee: “It’s not just what she says but how she says it.”

Kelsey Plum thinks both sides can be winners in the upcoming CBA. “The conversation has been combative and that’s upping the frustration,” she says. Tyler Ross/NBAE via Getty Images
THE EROSION OF the players’ relationship with Engelbert spilled into public view at a moment when CBA negotiations are kicking into high gear. The Oct. 31 deadline is 22 days away, and players have repeatedly indicated that a deal is not close.

“This is not a copy-and-paste job,” one source said. “We’re not gonna just fix a few provisions. This needs to have an overhaul, because that’s what the moment demands.”

The primary sticking point is salary structure. In the 2020 CBA, the salary cap was predetermined for each year over the life of the agreement. For example, if players had not chosen to opt out of the CBA, the salary cap for 2026 and 2027 would be $1,552,300 and $1,598,800, respectively. The players want a salary cap that is tied to league revenue alongside higher salaries. The 2025 rookie scale started at $66,079, the veteran minimum was $78,831 and the maximum salary was $249,244.

Players believe they have earned a raise. A significant raise.

“We can all win this, and that frustration has been boiling,” Plum said. “This isn’t [Cathy] or [the PA], it’s both of us winning and upping our levels. The conversation has been combative and that’s upping the frustration.”

Engelbert attempted to address that frustration last week in Las Vegas ahead of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.

“I was disheartened to hear that some players feel the league and me personally do not care about them or listen to them,” she said. “And if the players in the W don’t feel appreciated and valued by the league, then we have to do better and I have to do better.”

That statement did not appease all the players.

“Honestly, no comment,” Sabally said. “Because that’s really what she gave.”

Wilson was the Las Vegas answer all night. She finished with 34 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. It’s her ninth career 30-point game in the playoffs and her fourth this postseason. Both are the most all time.

As great as Wilson was, she had help. Jackie Young played a complete game with 21 points and 9 assists. She and Wilson combined to score or assist on 72 points, tied for fifth most by a duo in WNBA Finals history.

Jewell Loyd’s four first-quarter 3-pointers got the Aces off to a good start and helped quiet a feverish Phoenix crowd. Loyd finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds.

The Aces won despite being outscored 29-14 in the fourth quarter. The defense that had dominated the entire third quarter — holding the Mercury to 16 points — fell apart in the fourth under the weight of some foul trouble and improved shooting from Phoenix. But Megan Gustafson made a stop on an Alyssa Thomas layup attempt with 19 seconds to play and the score tied, setting the stage for Wilson’s heroics.

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A’ja Wilson gets it done on both sides of the ball

A’ja Wilson drains a bucket then comes away with a block on the defensive side of the ball.

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DeWanna Bonner misses game-tying shot at the buzzer

DeWanna Bonner shot bounces off the rim as she misses a potentially game-tying jumper as time expires.

Coach Nate Tibbetts tried a different defensive strategy to open the game, employing Thomas to guard Chelsea Gray in hopes of disrupting Las Vegas’ rhythm, but it didn’t work. The Mercury allowed 55 first-half points, the most they have given up in a half this postseason.

The rally was led by Kahleah Copper and DeWanna Bonner, with the two veterans combining to score 20 of those 29 points in the final 10 minutes. Copper scored 11 straight Phoenix points at one point in the fourth quarter while Bonner tied the score twice in the final 1:41 — once on a 3-pointer and again on two free throws. Bonner led the Mercury with 25 points.

Satou Sabally had 24 points but left the game with 4:26 left to play after her head collided with Kierstan Bell’s leg, with Sabally falling to the floor. She needed considerable help to get to the locker room. Her status will be something to watch for Game 4.

Satou Sabally leaves the game after suffering an apparent head injury

Satou Sabally heads to the locker room in the fourth quarter after suffering an apparent head injury.

What could decide Game 4?

Phoenix’s ability to find a defensive answer.

Hammon primarily used a lineup of shooters surrounding Wilson, preventing the kind of double-teams that are needed to slow down the four-time MVP. Those shooters dominated the early part of the game — and Wilson dominated the rest.

The answers for Tibbetts aren’t easy, but the Mercury did find something. After the Aces’ blistering first-half performance with those nine 3s — seven of which were uncontested — on 56.3% shooting, they didn’t make a 3-pointer in the second half.

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Wilson appears too good to slow down. This was also her third career postseason game with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks, another WNBA record. She is also the first player in Finals history with consecutive games of 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Tibbetts is also up against a historically successful coach. Hammon is now 9-2 in WNBA Finals games, the highest winning percentage in league history. So far, every button Hammon has pushed — going zone in Game 1, turning Young loose in Game 2, dialing up that final play for Wilson in Game 3 — has worked.

Tibbetts has two days to devise yet another defensive strategy that might work against an Aces team that so far has had all the answers.

Sabally was hurt as she fell going after a rebound with 4:26 left in the game. Her head made contact with the leg of Aces defender Kierstan Bell. A loose-ball foul was called on the Aces’ Jackie Young on the play, but after an officials’ review there was no upgrade on the foul.

Sabally was on the floor for several minutes and appeared woozy as she left the court with help from teammates and Mercury staff. She did not return to the game, finishing with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.