Angel Reese avoids automatic suspension after technical foul quickly rescinded

The Atlanta Dream’s worries about not having Angel Reese to face the first-place Minnesota Lynx on Sunday were short-lived.

The league quickly overturned the technical foul Reese picked up Friday night against the Portland Fire, which would have been her eighth of the season and resulted in an automatic suspension. The Dream immediately appealed the technical in the 101-83 loss to the Portland Fire, and the league office said the call was overturned within three hours of the game ending.

The sequence of events was similar to earlier this season when he was eighth technical foul on Caitlin Clark was quickly overturned after the game following an appeal by the Indiana Fever.

Reese was called a technical foul with 8:45 left in the fourth quarter for briefly tangling with Portland guard Carl Leite in the penalty box. Reese and her teammates seemed surprised by the call. The Atlanta All-Star left the call saying, “I didn’t do anything.”

Reese is trying to avoid a second straight season with eight technicals. Last year, she served a 41-game suspension for the Chicago Sky. Atlanta’s next game is the 40th of the season.

Unlike 2025, Reese’s team is in the postseason picture this year. However, the Dream dropped to fifth in the WNBA standings after Friday’s loss to Portland and face an uphill battle against the Lynx without Brionna Jones, who has already been ruled out of Sunday’s contest with an injury.

Reese and Dream will soon be on hiatus from the WNBA for the FIBA ​​World Cup (August 31-September 16), during which he will represent Team USA. Technical results do not carry over to the playoffs.

Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper and Clark also have seven technical fouls and could face a potential suspension before the end of the 2026 campaign.