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Training camps are opening around the WNBA, and few teams have as much intrigue -- or as large a spotlight -- as the Atlanta Dream.
The Dream's trade for Angel Reese earlier this month not only brought one of the league's most visible and charismatic stars to Atlanta. It also brought an elite rebounder and emerging offensive threat to a team that already was stacked with All Star-caliber talent.
MORE: Angel Reese's Dream suffer blow as All-Star has 'no timetable to return' from injury
On her first day working under new head coach Karl Smesko, Reese told the media that she is being coached in new ways that may not have been available to her during her two years as a member of the Chicago Sky.
“Being coachable isn’t just about taking it, it’s about wanting it," Reese said from Dream training camp. "I really want to be coached, I want to be coached hard and be put in predicaments I am uncomfortable with to help me get better.”
Reese said the coach Karl Smesko has been pushing her to be uncomfortable in ways she hasn’t been before, which she said she isn’t used to.
“Being coachable isn’t just about taking it, it’s about wanting it … I really want to be coached, I want to be coached hard and be put in…
Reese was challenged plenty in Chicago -- just not in the way she envisioned on draft night in 2024.
In two years with the Sky, Reese's team won only 23 games combined and missed the playoffs in both seasons. Reese nevertheless was selected to two All-Star games, but her frustration with the franchise's direction and perceived lack of accountability had reached a boiling point in the months before her trade.
Now in Atlanta, Reese has an opportunity to stand out on a bonafide contender and prove that her desire to be "coached hard" can manifest itself in a run to the WNBA Finals.
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