Angel Reese made a big return to the hardwood Thursday night after the slam dunk of a win for Louisiana State University (82-64) against Virginia Tech. Her first game back follows a two week absence, where she missed four in-season games.
According to ESPN, Reese came into the post-game press conference ready to speak with reporters. “How happy are you all to see me? I know y’all are. Let’s go. Let’s have some fun,” she said.
Against the backdrop of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Reese put up 19 points, with nine rebounds in 30 minutes, a nice comeback for LSU’s star junior forward.
Much speculation has swarmed why Reese was absent, and head coach Kim Mulkey shared in a presser that she’s always going to “protect her players,” and that the team dynamic is like that of a family. “Those kids are like my children, and I’m not going to tell you what you don’t need to know. That’s just the way I address things,” Mulkey said.
In the midst of the news that Reese would not be on the road with the team, she shared on X, (formerly known as Twitter) on November 19, “don’t believe everything you read.”
“When you’re up, everybody loves you. And when you’re down is when you see who really loves you. Being able to have such supportive people for me here through a tough time for me was really important,” Reese said during the conference.
While Reese’s absence from the Lady Tigers last few games has been undisclosed, she’s shared that she spent the time resetting and refocusing. “It felt great (to be back),” Reese said. “It was a long two weeks to be away from the team. Taking time to yourself is really important, I feel like that was something that was important to reset and refocusing within the team.”
Now that she’s back from her brief hiatus, she’s ready to be back with her team. What added a touch of humanity to her post-game interview was that the 2023 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, shared that she experiences things just like the next person.
“I want people to realize that I’m not just an athlete, I’m a human. I go through things, we all go through things. Being able to have so many people that are super supportive to me over this past week-and-a-half really showed me a lot and who really cares for me,” Reese said.