Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese sent a clear message to those claiming she’s faking her wrist injury.

Aug 25, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) looks on during the first half of a basketball game against the Las Vegas Aces at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images.

The women’s basketball community has been buzzing ever since Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese announced on Saturday that she would be missing the remainder of her first WNBA season due to a wrist injury.

While most people have been expressing sympathy for the 22-year-old and showing her support, there have also been some who’ve expressed doubt about Reese’s injury, and even claimed she was faking it.

Reese posted a TikTok on Sunday where she explained that she suffered a hairline fracture in her wrist during Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Sparks. Doctors presented her with the option to either have surgery or don’t have it. Yet, if she elected against doing so, there could have been potential consequences like arthritis or a worse break.

So the Sky icon is getting surgery to fix her broken wrist, which will take place on Tuesday. She will then be in a hard cast for four weeks and should be able to resume normal basketball activities in six weeks’ time — which means she’ll be cleared to play in Unrivaled.

In addition to explaining her injury, Reese sent a clear message to anybody who believed she was faking the injury.

“Did I fake an injury?” Reese asked. “Let’s be real. I have literally played with my ankle like a golf ball when we played against Iowa… You know I’m hurt when I can’t play. They gonna have to tell me like, ‘You shut down. You can’t play.’ That’s what they was telling me yesterday.

“Obviously they gave me the options to play, and deal with the pain as tolerated,” Reese continued. “But it’s not worth it… I want to have a long career in the league, I want to play basketball for a while. So it’s not worth it.”

Reese also posted a tweet calling her haters as “B*stards”, however fans discovered she deleted the tweet soon later.

It’s interesting that Reese was given an option to play through the injury. But considering that the Sky aren’t true championship contenders, her prioritizing her long-term health was a wise choice.