From asking the NBA legend Kobe Bryant to carry the equipment during practice in his rookie season to having Max Christie decide the music on the plane for the Los Angeles Lakers, rookies are asked to carry out tasks for the veterans. And the case was no different for the Chicago Sky star Angel Reese who had to do an unexpected task for her team that she recently revealed in an interview with Dwyane Wade.

Wade was present on Reese’s podcast Unapologetically Reese when both of them recounted their rookie season. When the Chi-Town Barbie reflected on a special task she had to do despite having vets on her team, Wade didn’t shy away from expressing that in the NBA, the rookies don’t have to do any such duty, which came as a surprise for many fans.

“You paying for dinners?” Reese asked Wade. “We vets, we paying for all dinners. Our rookies never have to pay for anything,” Wade replied. To which a surprised Reese remarked, “My vets didn’t pay for one dinner this year.” 

“We don’t play those games you… The rookies don’t have enough money to be playing these games. I like that you can’t do like understand your… your rookie pocket was a little something. About me yeah, your bread was a little different coming in but how we did it how I did it as the leaders the rookies never pay for anything,” Wade concluded.

Wade was the fifth overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. At that time the Miami Heat were in a rebuilding phase and he was one of the better players for the team. In the first season itself, Wade played 61 games and started in 56 of them. Plus, he also spent substantial time on the court to prove his worth, which resulted in him not getting major tasks from the vets. Overall, he averaged 16.2 points with 4.5 assists per game. 

The Windy City-born decided to invest in the Chicago Sky in 2023. As per him, he was always a fan of the web’s league but made a move in this direction due to his then 5-year-old daughter Kaavia who admires the Sky. He reflected that his son Zaire wanted to be in the NBA and have role models around him. Hence, he wanted to give the same environment to his daughter, who might have found idols in the Sky team. But Reese had to pay for dinners, unlike Wade. Meanwhile, it wasn’t just off the court that Reese had to perform her duties.

Angel Reese performs her on-court duties up to the mark

“Coming into it, I knew my motor for offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds is something that I know I can always do,” Reese stated in September. Her head coach Teresa Weatherspoon, into her first season much like Reese, decided to give the 22-year-old the onus of helping her team win games. T-Spoon had her squad built around Reese who knew that she had to score her double-doubles.

The Maryland-born broke Candace Parker’s record of most consecutive double-doubles in a singular season apart from having the most rebounds in a season until the MVP A’ja Wilson surpassed her. But when the season ended, Reese had 13.1 boards per game which is the highest average in the league this year. However, one of the most disappointing criticisms she faced was that she wasn’t the offensive player that the Sky needed, and had poor three-pointer skills.

But Reese proved her critics wrong when she ended the season with a three-pointer before falling prey to a wrist injury. Once she knew she was out of the season, Reese expressed that she “never would have imagined the last bucket of my rookie season would be a 3 but maybe that was God saying give them a taste of what they will be seeing more of in Year 2 lol.” And hopefully, she will prove her statements right once she comes back in the next year.

As of now, fans can look back on the season and crack themselves up with Reese’s unexpected task. As for Wade, he can only wish that the Sky perform up to their potential in the next season.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.