Sky's Angel Reese Says It's 'Super Important' to Be 'Big Sister' to Hailey Van Lith

Few people would know what it is like to arrive in Chicago as a highly anticipated rookie with plenty of expectations on their shoulders better than Angel Reese, and she is ready to help her former teammate navigate the same situation in 2025.

"I know a lot of pressure is probably on here from the outside," Reese said Monday of new Chicago Sky teammate Hailey Van Lith, per Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times. "I know how it is just being the big name coming to town expected to do big things. … Just being that 'big sister' I guess kind of to her this year is super important for her."

Reese was the No. 7 overall pick of the 2024 WNBA draft and was an All-Star who led the league with 13.1 rebounds per game during her first season.

While she struggled at times offensively with a 39.1 shooting percentage, she was a walking double-double who finished second only to Caitlin Clark in Rookie of the Year voting. Her presence is one reason there is optimism for the future in the Windy City, and she will be joined by another high-profile playmaker during the upcoming season.

Chicago selected Van Lith with the No. 11 overall pick of the 2025 WNBA draft after a collegiate career that included stops with Louisville, LSU and TCU.

Van Lith was a guard on the 2023-24 LSU team that reached the Elite Eight with Reese leading the way. They will be back together again at the professional level, which had the forward fired up on draft day:

As for Van Lith, she told reporters when speaking about Reese, "Mostly, I'm just excited to get to be around her again. I think we have a lot of similarities on how we carry ourselves and our mindset on what's important to us.

"And she's a dog, man. She turns up the intensity of everybody around her, so I'm excited to be in that environment again where she can pull more out of me than I think I have."

The pair will immediately be thrown into the spotlight, as the Sky open their 2025 campaign on the road against Clark and the Indiana Fever on May 17.