Published: 03:45 BST, 29 August 2026 | Updated: 05:51 BST, 29 August 2026
Angel Reese received an automatic one-game suspension from the WNBA after picking up her eighth technical foul of the season – only for the league to waste no time rescinding the decision.
Reese was left in disbelief as she was penalized by officials after a tangle with Carla Leite under the basket.
Officials deemed that Reese had shoved her opponent in the tangle, that occurred with her Atlanta Dream team trailing 76-61 to the Portland Fire with 8:46 minutes remaining in the game.
Reese spread her arms wide in protest as she remonstrated to officials: 'She pushed off on me!'. Referees controversially still decided to give her a technical foul, her eighth of the season.
It meant she faced being suspended for Sunday's game against the Minnesota Lynx and receiving a $1,500 fine.
But the league quickly decided to rescind the foul, following the precedent set when it rescinded Caitlin Clark's eighth technical foul of the season less than two hours after last weekend's Indiana Fever win over the Chicago Sky.
Angel Reese was in disbelief after picking up her eighth technical foul of the WNBA season
She faced a one-game suspension and $1,500 fine before a successful appeal
Reese arrived at the game after setting a new WNBA rebound record and made more history
Head coach Karl Smesko voiced his frustration with the officials at the time and confirmed their plans to try and appeal to get the call rescinded, a move which was ultimately successful.
'Yeah, I'm sure that we'll appeal it,' he said. 'From my vantage point, it didn't look like something that was tech-worthy, so hopefully it'll be rescinded.
'But, I haven't had the benefit of watching it on film yet or anything like that. But I think that's probably something that we're going to try to get rescinded.'
Just moments before being penalized, Reese made WNBA history as she tied Alyssa Thomas' league record for most double-doubles in a season.
The former LSU standout, who was traded to Atlanta from Chicago Sky on April 6 in a shock move, has tied Thomas' 2023 mark with her 28th double-double of the season.
