LSU legend Angel Reese to represent Team USA in return to 3-on-3 basketball

Angel Reese, the former LSU Tigers women’s basketball star and two-time WNBA All-Star, is set to represent Team USA and return to 3-on-3 competition.

On Wednesday, the Unrivaled league announced that Reese has rejoined her previous team, Rose BC, and will play with the club for the rest of the season. She sat out the final two games of the 2025 season with the Chicago Sky because of a back injury.

After Chicago’s season concluded, Reese said she would not participate in Unrivaled this winter. The 3-on-3 offseason league was co-founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. During its inaugural 2025 season, Reese earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Rose BC captured the championship. However, she missed the postseason after re-injuring her hand.

Now she returns following a packed offseason that included business ventures, walking in a Victoria’s Secret runway show, and supporting her boyfriend, Wendell Carter Jr. of the Orlando Magic, during games in Berlin and London.

Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) flashes the LSU L sign following the game against the Brazil National Team on Friday, May 2, 2025 at the PMAC in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

“Good morning to my Rosebuds, and my Rosebuds ONLY!” Reese wrote on X after the news broke.

She was also named Wednesday to the Team USA roster for World Cup qualifying. Reese will make her senior national team debut alongside Paige Bueckers. Kara Lawson, head coach at Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball, will lead the team in San Juan during the March 11–17 qualifying tournament.

WNBA faces potential lockout

Reese’s return comes as the WNBA’s future remains unsettled.

The league and its players’ union have yet to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement. Players are seeking a greater percentage of league revenue; they currently receive 9.3%, compared to the NBA, where athletes earn between 49% and 51%. Although team schedules for the 2026 season have been released, other activities — including the expansion draft for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo — are paused until a deal is finalized. Player unions from other major U.S. leagues have publicly backed the WNBPA in negotiations.

If no agreement is reached, the WNBA could experience the first lockout in its 29-year history.

Reese and fellow 2025 All-Stars wore shirts reading “Pay Us What You Owe Us” during warmups ahead of the midseason exhibition game.

A lockout would also delay the professional debut of Flau’jae Johnson, the LSU senior guard expected to be a first-round pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft.

Unrivaled’s second season has drawn strong interest, adding high-profile players such as Bueckers, now with the Dallas Wings. The league also traveled from its Miami base to Philadelphia on Jan. 30, where 21,490 fans attended a game at Xfinity Mobile Arena, setting a regular-season women’s basketball attendance record.