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Angel Reese Sweeps Dream to Finals: 'I'm Supposed to Be Here'

Reebok signed her before she could shoot from three. Smesko made her earn it in training camp. She hit those exact shots in Game 3 ... and now the Atlanta Dream are in the Finals.

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By Jude Marlow, Editor Published October 10, 2026 at 1:30 PM PST
Angel Reese in a Chicago Sky jersey during an NBA game, looking focused, contained on an ink-speckle textured field
Angel Reese during her time with the Chicago Sky, September 2024 (John McClellan, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons). Presented by Ad Watch News.

Angel Reese scored 22 points and nine rebounds in Atlanta's 85-83 Game 3 win over the New York Liberty on October 9, 2026 ... sweeping the Dream into the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013.

She said she called it: "I posted and tweeted, 10/10/25, that I was manifesting the finals, and this is my moment. I'm supposed to be here."

The Drill She Had to Earn

In training camp under head coach Karl Smesko, Smesko stopped a team drill and told Reese she had to make two consecutive three-pointers before practice could resume, in front of the whole group.

"I didn't want to let the team down, I didn't want to feel embarrassed and in how long it coulda took me to make them," Reese said. "But now it's like so easy."

In Game 3 against the Liberty, she hit those shots in a clutch late moment. The drill that made her "upset with him that day for sure" paid off when it mattered most.

Reebok's Bet

In October 2024, Reese signed a multi-year extension with Reebok, becoming the first athlete signed under Shaquille O'Neal's presidency of Reebok Basketball. The deal included a signature shoe.

Reebok SVP of product Portia Blunt said: "Angel is one of those athletes who is one in a million. There are really none like her."

At that point, Reese's three-point shooting was a known weakness. Reebok understood that and signed her anyway. The bet was on personality, cultural moment, and controversy: three things she already had in full supply.

A Shoe and a Finals, Landing Together

Reese is one of six active WNBA players with a signature shoe deal. The others: Breanna Stewart (Puma), Sabrina Ionescu (Nike), Caitlin Clark (Nike), A'ja Wilson (Nike), and Sydney Colson (Creative Control). Four of those five signed after they had already proven themselves on the court. Reebok signed Reese before the proof arrived.

After the Liberty clincher, sports journalist Jemele Hill wrote: "Let the apologies be as loud as the disrespect. Whole 'lotta people owe Angel Reese an apology."

The critique against Reese as a brand asset was always about the gap between her personality and her game. Smesko forced her to close that gap publicly, in front of her team, under pressure. She did. The signature shoe now has a Finals appearance as its marketing backdrop. That is either the best-planned brand story in women's basketball this decade, or the luckiest.

The Finals are next. Reebok's campaign for the shoe couldn't buy a better moment to land.

Ad Watch News is an independent commentary site with no affiliation with Angel Reese, Reebok, the Atlanta Dream, or any brand mentioned here. We cover the business of celebrity advertising.

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