On Friday night, the Atlanta Dream struggled at home against the Portland Fire, and Angel Reese drew her eighth technical foul of the WNBA season, which typically means an automatic one-game suspension and a $1,500 fine, if upheld. As of Saturday morning, the league rescinded the technical, according to ESPN's Alexa Philippou. That means Reese won't be fined $1,500 or be forced to sit out for her team's upcoming game against the Minnesota Lynx.
The technical foul was initially called in the fourth quarter of Friday's 101-83 loss to Portland. As Reese's team trailed, she battled against the Fire's Carla Leite for a rebound. As Leite was working to box out Reese, the two got tangled up.
The Dream's shot went in, and Leite seemed to take exception to Reese's contact from behind. Reese pushed away from Leite and started backpedaling up the court on defense, but was soon whistled for a technical foul. After the game, Atlanta's head coach Karl Smesko said from his viewpoint, "it didn't look like anything that was tech-worthy" and that the team would likely appeal.
More news: Fever Make Emphatic Statement About Caitlin Clark’s MVP Candidacy Reese is the second WNBA player this season to have a potential eighth technical foul rescinded by the league. Several weeks ago, Caitlin Clark was called for a technical after she inadvertently bumped into a game official while running out of bounds. Clark gave a light push-off, not realizing it was a referee, and immediately drew a technical foul.
Soon after the game, the WNBA rescinded the technical foul, so Clark remains at seven technical fouls for the season. Reese and Clark remained tied with the Phoenix Mercury's Kahleah Copper with seven technical fouls apiece, leading the league this season. It's good news that Reese is available for her team's huge clash with the Lynx on Sunday afternoon, as the Atlanta Dream are still fighting for playoff positioning.
The Dream are 25-14 and fifth in the standings. As of this writing, they sit a half-game behind the Fever for fourth place and 1.5 games below the Las Vegas Aces for third place. Reese is averaging 16.1 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.8 steals per game in her third season in the WNBA.
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