*A pregame anthem became a turning point for Angel Reese during a road trip to Indianapolis that she says she will not forget.
The Atlanta Dream forward, 24, visibly moved during “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before her team took on Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Thursday. Two days later, back home in Atlanta after a Juneteenth holiday weekend, Reese addressed what that moment meant to her.
“It was just one in the moment of where I was, and how it felt, and how it hit, and the things that I’ve had to experience the last couple years, and they haven’t always been great,” Reese told reporters, Daily Mail reports.
She described the crowd’s hostility in Indianapolis as the backdrop that gave the anthem its full weight. “It’s not supposed to be easy, but I am very, very grateful for this opportunity to be a Black woman, it’s a privilege… being where I was, hearing the loud boos when I was in the arena, and then when I heard ‘Lift Every Voice,’ it just made me feel like, this is for the ones that walked for me,” she continued.
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Reese also tied the moment to something larger than herself. “Those young girls, those young boys out there, when they see a Black girl being able to run up and down the court and just have this life and have this experience, I think it’s really important. Representation is important, for me to use my voice, for me to use my platform, I’ll never stay silent for things I believe in,” she explained.
The week also produced a historic on-court achievement. Reese reached 1,000 career rebounds in her 79th game, a mark no WNBA player had ever hit that quickly. Check out what she said about the milestone in the clip below.
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