CHICAGO — Rookies are not known for being consistent.

It’s not a fair expectation. A debut season is built for growing pains, for breathless highs and brutal lows. Yet in the first 24 games of her WNBA career, Angel Reese is building her name and her fame on consistency.

Reese hasn’t finished a game with fewer than 10 rebounds since May 30. She broke Candace Parker’s record for consecutive double-doubles (13 games) before the streak ended at 15 last week. And this steady success is what paved the way for Reese to be named one of two rookies on the WNBA All-Star roster, which will face Team USA in the Saturday’s All-Star Game in Phoenix.

Even after multiple record-setting performances, Reese shrugged off her own accolades: “I just let my game speak for itself.”

But for the Chicago Sky — coaches and players and fans alike — Reese is providing a steady foundation for a future the franchise has been attempting to build for nearly two decades.

“I never have to question what I’m gonna get when I’m out there with Angel Reese,” guard Chennedy Carter said. “You’re always gonna get a dog. An athlete who’s gonna fight, that’s gonna compete. When we’re out there on the court together, I feel as comfortable as ever.”

It’s hard to define what makes Reese unique as a rebounder. That’s because rebounding isn’t a singular action. There isn’t a shooting form to study; it’s a mix of footwork, verticality, anticipation and sheer will.

Elite rebounding goes something like this: a player looks at their opponent and says “no.” And then they say it again. And again. And again.

Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon described Reese’s rebounding as a firm state of stubbornness: “She does not accept the box out.”

“It’s a want,” Weatherspoon told the Chicago Tribune. “If you can’t keep her off the glass, she’s gonna go to the glass. And she’s not gonna stop going.”

For Reese, rebounding starts with anticipation. Her knack for rebounding has been honed by studying shots, but often it’s just instinctual – when the shot goes up, Reese knows where it’s going to land.

Getting to the ball is a different challenge. Fighting for rebounds on the low block is a mix between a two-step and a fistfight. Reese begins her box out before the shot even goes up. She rarely fronts in the post, keeping herself between the opponent and the rim, using her hands to keep her angle when she’s looking off in help defense.

Reese knows when to go low, dig into her legs to knock a defender off balance. Other times, it makes more sense to use her speed to dodge around a defender, sticking out a hand to prevent a clean rebound, then scrapping for the loose ball.

At 6-foot-3, Reese isn’t always the tallest player in the paint. But more often than not, she’s the one coming down with the ball.

“She’s playing against elite athletes, and they know it’s what she does and she still finds a way to get herself in there to get a second chance opportunity because of her movement, because of understanding where that ball might come off,” Weatherspoon said. “There’s a science behind what she does.”

Weatherspoon starts many conversations with Reese by asking a question.

What did you find? What did you see? How did you get better? What is your lesson?

Weatherspoon doesn’t want to give Reese all the answers. Sometimes the coach doesn’t even have them herself. Provoking this internal questioning is a key to Weatherspoon’s approach to growing Reese as a player on and off the court — instilling a curiosity, a drive to find details big and small that can be improved upon. Weatherspoon sees contentment as the ultimate enemy of a young player. No matter the scoreline or statline or the record set on any given night, Weatherspoon doesn’t want Reese to ever feel satisfied.

This isn’t just about basketball, although for someone like Reese or Weatherspoon, everything is at least a little bit about basketball. When Weatherspoon first met the rookie, she didn’t want to just talk ball. She asked Reese about her background, about the “why” that drove her to Maryland and then LSU before landing in Chicago.

Weatherspoon already knew part of Reese’s story from afar. She remained close with LSU coach Kim Mulkey after years of overlapping through their shared alma mater of Louisiana Tech. While the pair did not discuss Reese during her transition from college to the WNBA, Weatherspoon understood the type of player she was getting by watching how Reese worked in her collegiate system — and how Mulkey coached her.

Almost upon her arrival in Chicago, Weatherspoon knew the rookie was the right fit. Reese wants to be coached. And she wants to be coached hard. And that hunger for improvement defines how the entire Sky organization approaches her development.

For player development coach David Simon, most days with Reese start with the same question, chirped in a teasing tone: “You got my clips?”

Some rookies have to be prodded to go into the film room. Not Reese. She’s watched every shot she’s missed this season. More than once. Simon spends hours with Reese poring over her film, comparing past losses and wins to upcoming matchups with a goal of making visible progress each week in key areas, like restricted area shooting.

The breakneck pace of a rookie season doesn’t leave time for Reese to make some of the large-scale improvements that will elevate her game — most notably her shot, which will be a major focus of the offseason. So Simon focuses on fundamentals to get the most out of Reese in her first year with the Sky.

“As a rookie — as any player — she has a really strong ability to watch something and be able to apply it very quickly,” Simon told the Tribune. “We’re not repeating a lot of stuff. If she gets something wrong, she knows it and she’s going to do everything possible to not do it again.”

For Reese, learning the game goes beyond studying her own tape. Reese can easily rattle off the list of players after whom she models herself: Sylvia Fowles, A’ja Wilson, DeWanna Bonner, Breanna Stewart.

Reese is quick to track down veteran stars after games — or, in the case of former MVP Tina Charles, in breaks between plays — to talk through footwork or positioning in the post. And these experienced players are seeking her out in kind, see themselves in the rookie.

“She wants to get better,” Simon said. “She never lets it mentally affect going into the next possession or going into the next game. But she knows when something isn’t right and she wants to figure it out. Like, ‘show me where I made a mistake, what could have happened, how I could have stopped that.’ ”

Life is never slow for Reese. And that’s just how she wants it.

The month-long break in the WNBA season won’t be much of a rest. Shortly after the All-Star Game, Reese will travel to Paris for the Olympics, where she will sit courtside to watch one of her next goals: making Team USA for the 2028 Games. But while she continues to up the ante for her own expectations, Reese is still trying to learn how to sit with her own accomplishments.

Reese is a perfectionist. At times, she struggles to give herself grace, to lift her head and look around. It’s easy to focus on the work, to get lost in the misses and the mistakes. When she speeds up too much, Reese relies on Sky coaches — along with a slew of support from her teammates and family — to slow things back down.

“I can get antsy,” Reese said. “I want to get it done now — all of it. It relieves a lot of pressure, having your coaches believe in you and tell you all the time, ‘You’re doing fine, you’re doing great’ even when I feel like I’m not. It gives me a lot of confidence because I do have a lot of expectations for myself.”

For now, Reese is trusting the formula that has gotten her this far. Show up. Put in the work. Memorize every mistake. Celebrate every accomplishment.

The rest will come with time.

©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.