Angel Reese just wrapped up an extraordinary 10-day stretch that most young girls in America could only dream about.
On July 24, Mattel unveiled a Barbie doll made in her likeness. The doll wore a pink jersey featuring Reese’s No. 5, the number she wears with the Atlanta Dream, and included details such as her headband, leg sleeve, necklace, pink nails and signature Reebok shoes.
Angel Reese received her own Mattel Barbie doll in her Atlanta Dream uniform and a matching signature shoe edition, but her comments about representation drew scrutiny. (Getty Images)
On July 25, she competed in her third consecutive WNBA All-Star Game.
On Aug. 3, a matching Barbie edition of the Angel Reese 1, her signature sneaker, went on sale.
That same night, the Dream held “Barbie Game Day” at State Farm Arena, complete with special ticket packages and limited-edition merchandise. Reese’s doll sat beside her during media availability.
In 10 days, Reese received her own Barbie, a matching version of her signature shoe and an entire WNBA promotional event tied to the collaboration.
Yet even that wasn’t enough to keep Reese from returning to her favorite subject: what the world had denied her.
“Honestly, I didn’t have a lot of dolls because I didn’t have dolls that really looked like me much,” Reese said when asked what dolls she played with growing up.
“That’s why I kind of really wanted to make sure this was super intentional, because now that they have a doll that looks like you, nails and hair, but also you can be a killer on the court as well.”
Reese didn’t say Black dolls never existed, but she clearly framed her childhood doll options as a failure of representation.
So, it’s worth noting that Mattel introduced Christie, a Black character in Barbie’s world, in 1968. The first doll officially named Black Barbie arrived in 1980, more than two decades before Reese was born. American Girl introduced Addy Walker in 1993.
And in 1998, Mattel sold officially licensed African-American NBA Barbie dolls wearing authentic team uniforms and packaged with basketballs.
WNBA star Angel Reese sits beside a Barbie doll made in her likeness during media availability ahead of the Atlanta Dream’s “Barbie Game Day” at State Farm Arena. (Getty Images)
That was four years before Reese was born, meaning that a Black basketball-playing Barbie existed before Angel Reese did. Somehow, that didn’t qualify as a doll that “looked like her” and could be a “killer on the court.”
Her new doll doesn’t mark the arrival of representation that had never existed. It marks another lucrative commercial opportunity for one of the most heavily promoted athletes in women’s sports.
Last month, I wrote about how frequently Reese presents herself as overlooked or unfairly treated, even as attention has helped make her one of the most famous and commercially successful players in women’s basketball.
ANGEL REESE’S LATEST WNBA CONTROVERSY SHOWS HOW VICTIMHOOD BECAME CENTRAL TO HER BRAND
Here’s the truth: Angel Reese is incredibly privileged.
Reese attended St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, a private school where high school tuition is currently $15,000 per year. She was a McDonald’s All-American and one of the top college recruits in the country.
Angel Reese celebrated a Barbie doll, signature Reebok shoe and WNBA theme night, but her comments about representation raise questions about her brand. (NBAE via Getty Images)
She then played basketball at Maryland before transferring to LSU on a full scholarship, earning a free four-year college education and a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.
Now, she’s a professional athlete with major endorsements, millions of social-media followers, a podcast, a signature shoe and a Barbie doll. She walked in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and attended the Met Gala for the third consecutive year in May.
And the preferential treatment hasn’t been limited to corporate America.
The Dream acquired Reese from Chicago in April for two first-round picks. The deal came only months after Reese publicly ripped the Sky’s roster, questioned her teammates and warned that she might have to “move in a different direction” if the organization didn’t improve.
Chicago suspended her for comments it deemed “detrimental to the team.”
Yet, rather than suffer any real consequence for publicly bashing the organization that drafted her in the first round of the 2024 WNBA Draft, Reese landed with a ready-made contender willing to pay a premium price.
That team then made her the centerpiece of a major marketing campaign, including an entire game-night promotion built around her personal brand.
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Most athletes never receive any one of those opportunities, let alone all of them.
Yet, sitting beside a doll made in her image during a night built around celebrating her brand, Reese focused on what the world had failed to give her.
At this point, victimhood no longer seems like an occasional theme in the Angel Reese story.
It looks like the brand.