Angel Reese Greets Terence Crawford at Alvarez-Crawford Fight as Chicago Sky Dispute Lingers

Angel Reese visited Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and posed with Terence Crawford in his locker room before Crawford’s highly anticipated bout with Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night, a meeting that drew attention amid Reese’s ongoing dispute with the WNBA’s Chicago Sky.

Photographs from the arena show Reese towering over Crawford as the two posed for a picture prior to Alvarez’s undisputed middleweight title defense, a fight streamed live on Netflix as part of Turki Alalshikh’s “Riyadh Season.” Alvarez and Crawford have both ranked near the top of recent pound-for-pound lists, and Crawford moved up three weight classes for the matchup.

Reese has been at the center of a controversy with the Chicago Sky after comments she made in an interview with the Chicago Tribune that the team deemed "detrimental to the team." The Sky suspended her for one half of a game in response. In the Tribune interview, Reese said she would not be "settling for the same s–t we did this year" and acknowledged she might do "what’s best for me" if conditions did not change. Following the suspension, she did not appear in the Sky’s final three regular-season games, with the team listing her as sidelined by a back injury.

Sky head coach Jeff Pagliocca described Reese as "an ascending young talent in this league who’s had two very, very good seasons here in Chicago," and said the organization had sought to move past the incident. "Obviously, we went through what we did. I feel like we closed the chapter on it. She spoke to her teammates. She spoke publicly. We moved on as a team," Pagliocca said, adding that he maintains "good conversations with Angel daily, with her team daily. They’re constant, and they’re productive."

The timing of Reese’s public appearance at a marquee boxing event drew scrutiny because she remains listed on the Sky’s injury report and did not play in the club’s season finale. The team has not provided further comment beyond Pagliocca’s remarks. Reese’s absence capped a second strong campaign in Chicago, during which she emerged as one of the franchise’s leading players.

The Alvarez-Crawford fight itself was billed as a major clash between two of boxing’s top stars, and its high-profile setting underscored the crossover attention elite athletes can attract. Reese’s presence at the event highlighted the continuing interest in her status with the Sky and the broader conversation about player-team relations in the WNBA.

The Sky will begin offseason planning in the coming weeks, and decisions about roster configuration and Reese’s role will likely be part of those discussions. Neither the team nor Reese has announced a timetable for her return to game action beyond the season-ending injury designation.

Crawford’s move up three weight classes for the bout and the fight’s streaming distribution through Netflix and the Riyadh Season presentation ensured significant exposure for everyone involved, making Reese’s locker-room visit a widely noted moment in the postfight coverage and on social media.