CHICAGO — If you want to know how quickly the WNBA is changing, just look at Angel Reese’s week.

On Monday, her 22nd birthday, the Chicago Sky rookie made an unusual trip after practice in suburban Deerfield.

Typically when people leave the Sachs Center, a park district health club in a strip mall, they might get some ramen at Jimmy Thai or a coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts. If they really feel like ruining their workout, they go across the street to Portillo’s.

Reese, who is a bit different than the average player, rookie or not, went to the Met Gala.

“These new kids,” veteran guard Diamond DeShields said with a laugh and a sigh. “They got it made.”

Happy Birthday, @Reese10Angel ! The basketball superstar is making her first #MetGala appearance tonight wearing @16Arlington.

See more @TheMarkHotelNY departures here: https://t.co/dCcxppu9YC pic.twitter.com/pnNtFCOHpA

— WWD (@wwd) May 6, 2024

Reese rocked a custom dress from British label 16Arlington, enjoyed the night among the glitterati and then flew back to Chicago to be ready to put in some work Tuesday. She scored 13 points and added five rebounds in 19 minutes as the Sky blew out the New York Liberty in a 101-53 preseason victory.

“I went to the Met Gala, slayed the Met Gala in New York, came back, slayed against New York,” she said. “It’s what I do.”

“Angel is unique,” DeShields said. “She’s incredibly unique. I think that is really cool that she got that opportunity to go to the Met Gala. I mean, I’m still waiting on my invite.”

And for a meaningless preseason game, the Sky — who aren’t expected to be anything close to contenders and will be missing their top draft pick Kamilla Cardoso for four to six weeks because of a shoulder injury — legitimately had Chicago buzzing.

Reese has lent the team her shine. While No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark is the undisputed leader in WNBA rookie celebrity — she killed on Saturday Night Live before the draft — Reese is no slouch. It’s not why they drafted her No. 7 overall — she’s a ferocious rebounder and skilled inside scorer — but it doesn’t hurt to have some star power for a team looking for its share of the attention economy in a crowded market. The Sky were led by hometown legend Candace Parker when they lit up the city and won the WNBA title in 2021, but that glow quickly faded.

Now, it’s a new team and a new time. It’s Reese’s time.

On Tuesday, her viral trip to New York added some intrigue — How would she play? — and then Chicago Bears Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen showed up and sat courtside, making a game otherwise only open to season ticket holders a scene.

That Chi-Town love hits different 🤝

Keenan Allen, Caleb Williams, & Rome Odunze of the @chicagobears and Coby White of the @chicagobulls pulled up to support the Sky! pic.twitter.com/UKgWiUY608

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— WNBA (@WNBA) May 8, 2024

Chicago athletes showing up to Sky games is normal — Williams, as the Bears’ No. 1 pick, adds a little extra pop to wherever he goes — but Reese, who is always thinking big, predicts this will be a recurring story here and on the road.

“Everybody is going to be courtside,” she said. “The celebrities are going to be courtside. Just know, the who’s who’s is going to be courtside. I was at the Met Gala and Usher (said he) is going to try to come up to a game in Vegas, and Cardi B. I know some people that y’all might not think I know, but I know.”

The big news in the league right now is the surprise announcement from commissioner Cathy Engelbert (seriously, even the teams didn’t know it was coming) that the WNBA will start traveling on chartered flights. The money is coming, and it’s time for the WNBA to invest in its game. No more travel delays that wipe out a day off.

A private plane, of course, is how Reese got to New York so quickly. Again, she’s different.

“I did all my hair and makeup on the plane,” she said. “Both of my girls and one of my friends got on the plane with me. We’re doing hair and makeup on a plane, blow drying and flat ironing, which is crazy, but it turned out great, as you can see.”

With young celebrities like Reese and Clark in the league and the attention they bring, perhaps that’s one reason why the WNBA is finally acting on the players’ long-held request for chartered flights.

“I am glad that the league was proactive,” veteran Sky forward Elizabeth Williams said. “We’re in a time where, I mean, Angel has 3 million followers. She has a spotlight on her that none of us have and we don’t have anything to compare it to. And rather than having an incident occur, I think this is a proactive take.”

After all that hoopla, Reese said that if she had a bad game against the Liberty, she would’ve heard her ex-coach at LSU, the forever-piqued Kim Mulkey, in her head, if not her current Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. So she made sure she was ready to play, even if it was just a preseason game. Reese could make a serious living as a social media influencer, but this is her career.

“I already knew the expectations going into it, like I needed to be locked in and focused on my matchups,” she said. “I took my matchups seriously. I watched film when I was on the plane. I wanted to get back. People at the Met Gala were like, ‘Are you partying after this?’ I said, no, I got a game tomorrow. I gotta watch film. I prioritize everything. I’m still in school as well, so I got a busy schedule of a lot going on. But like I said, you’ve got to maximize your 24 hours.”

Weatherspoon, one of the greatest women’s basketball players of all time, hasn’t coached a real WNBA game yet, but she’s obviously comfortable enough to let her players be themselves. It bodes well for her as she shepherds a mostly new roster with limited outside expectations of winning.

As for Reese’s trip, she loved it. Weatherspoon said Reese “earned that opportunity to go and me as her head coach, I’m not going to take that away from her.”

“How did I know I could trust Angel Reese?” she said. “Angel does angelic stuff, so I know that she understands how to prioritize.”

At the Sky’s media day Wednesday, Reese talked about the duality of her life and her image on and off the court.

“I always felt like I wanted to be the cute, pretty girl on the court, but I wanted to also be a dog and have that dog mentality,” she said. “So I want to continue to let women understand and know, like, you can do both.”

The idea that women’s basketball players peak in college is foolish. At 22, Reese’s career and life are just beginning. Her WNBA career hasn’t started yet, but it’s fair to expect that we will be talking about her for a long time.

(Photo of Angel Reese: Ilya S. Savenok / Getty Images for The Mark Hotel)

Luka Doncic was all smiles during his postgame presser on Thursday night after the Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder to even the Western Conference semifinals series at one game a piece. 

That was until he was interrupted by a lewd sound that appeared to be coming from inside the room. 

Doncic, who had 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to help the Mavericks beat the Thunder 119-119, was explaining what the difference in their game was when a loud moaning sound interrupted his train of thought. 

Doncic stared around the room in disbelief as the sound continued. 

“Okay, moving on,” one reporter quickly responded. 

Doncic bowed his head and covered his face in disbelief, before saying with a laugh, “I hope that’s not live.” 

Luka Doncic, #77 of the Dallas Mavericks, reacts during the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Two of the Western Conference Second Round Playoffs at Paycom Center on May 9, 2024 in Oklahoma City. (Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)

SHAQ TELLS NUGGETS STAR NIKOLA JOKIC HE DIDN’T DESERVE MVP AWARD DURING LIVE INTERVIEW: ‘NO DISRESPECT TO YOU’

The origin of the audio was not clear. WFAA reported that the sound appeared to be coming from someone’s laptop in the media room. 

The conversation eventually refocused on the Mavericks Game 2 victory. Doncic battled through a sprained right knee and a bloodied left knee after being held to 19 points in Game 1.

Luka Doncic, #77 of the Dallas Mavericks, shoots the ball during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder during Round Two Game Two of the 2024 NBA Playoffs on May 9, 2024 at Paycom Arena in Oklahoma City. (Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images)

 “I think that was one of the hardest games I’ve had to play,” Doncic said Thursday. “I’m battling out there trying to do my best to help the team win.”

The series returns to Dallas on Saturday with a 3:30 p.m. ET tip off. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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The comeback was supposed to have happened months ago.

By now, the Dodgers once hoped, Blake Treinen’s return would be old news.

Entering spring training, the shoulder injuries that sidelined Treinen much of the past two years finally seemed fixed. And even at 35 years old, the veteran reliever still flashed electric stuff seemingly capable of late-game dominance.

Then, in one unfortunate, unavoidable stroke, Treinen’s patience was tested anew. After suffering two fractured ribs in a spring training game, his return to the mound was delayed all over again.

On March 9, a line-drive comebacker drilled Treinen in the right side of his rib cage. He lost his breath and crumbled in pain. Initial medical scans showed an internal bruise, with bleeding in his lung. Then doctors subsequently diagnosed the pair of rib fractures, forcing Treinen to remain on the injured list until the club’s homestand this past week.

“It was a long road,” manager Dave Roberts said, “in the sense of … feeling like you’re making some headway, and then to have to regress.”

“Just one of those weird things you can’t explain,” Treinen added of his unforeseen detour. “You can get caught up in every little frustration.”

Now, however, with Treinen back at full health and finally on the active roster, the timing of his return feels somewhat serendipitous.

At the moment the Dodgers needed him most — amid a wave of other reliever injuries to Evan Phillips (hamstring), Brusdar Graterol (shoulder), Ryan Braiser (calf), Joe Kelly (shoulder) and Connor Brogdon (plantar fasciitis) — Treinen is being thrust back into the high-leverage situations he has long enjoyed best.

“Blake could close the game out today,” Roberts quipped ahead of Treinen’s season debut last Sunday.

Close. Treinen pitched a clean eighth inning with a three-run lead that day, then repeated the task the very next evening, registering a pair of late-game holds in his first major league action since the 2022 playoffs.

“Really good,” Roberts said of Treinen, who retired all six batters he faced with a pair of strikeouts. “Anyone coming back from injury, you want to make sure you’re still able to compete at a high level, the level you expect to compete at. And he does a back-to-back. [Looked] very efficient. The stuff was teethy. He’s doing well.”

Treinen’s outlook seemed different a couple months ago, when the line drive cracked his ribs.

Up to that point, the right-hander had looked sharp in spring camp. The shoulder injuries that limited him to five appearances in 2022, and that then required surgical repairs of his labrum and rotator cuff that cost him all of 2023, were finally healed. Back at long last were his mid-90s mph fastball velocity and sweeping wipeout slider, the same pitches that keyed the former All-Star’s career resurgence with the Dodgers in 2021, when he posted a 1.99 ERA in 72 outings.

“His stuff is in a great place right now,” general manager Brandon Gomes said in March. “There are a lot of outcomes where he’s an elite pitcher, whether it’s the 2021 form or not.”

Then the comebacker threw an unexpected wrench into his recovery process — causing a new injury that took time to be accurately diagnosed.

In the days after getting hit, Treinen thought he had avoided anything serious. An X-ray and CT scan initially only showed bruising of his lung, an ailment that sounds bad but can be relatively minor. A successful bullpen session in the final days of camp kept him on track to pitch in South Korea, where Treinen accompanied the team for its international season-opening series.

“It was sore, but not painful,” Treinen said of his ribs at the time of the trip. “I was like, ‘I’m in a great place to either help in Korea or help on opening day.’”

Instead, upon arriving in Seoul, the pain in Treinen’s side only worsened.

The pitcher started to feel “locked up,” unable to get loose or throw with full intensity. He was quickly ruled out of the Korea games and scheduled for an MRI exam when the team returned home — one that ended up revealing fractures in the Nos. 5 and 6 ribs.

“It was frustrating,” Treinen said. “You don’t want to be on that roster, take a spot from somebody else. But I genuinely thought I was gonna be fine. I think we all did.”

“It’s really hard for my personality,” he added, “trying not to live that roller-coaster.”

Indeed, it was only the latest setback in Treinen’s path back to full health.

After initially getting hurt in April 2022, Treinen returned for four outings at the end of that season, including a postseason appearance in which he gave up a home run, before undergoing shoulder surgery at the end of that season.

After some early hope last season of a return in 2023, Treinen’s recovery again was pushed back to 2024, after a brief minor-league rehab stint was ended in August.

“I tried hard not to let my mind get there [with the frustration of the injuries],” said Treinen, who also faced potential free agency last winter with the Dodgers holding a club option in his contract.

“God’s got a plan, though,” Treinen added. “As you move along [through your career], you don’t ride the wave as long. You just relax and let things be as they will. If God wants me to play baseball, I’ll keep playing baseball and doors will continue to open. If I’m supposed to move on, then doors will close.”

In the end, the Dodgers kept Treinen’s door open, making the relatively easy decision to pick up his $1-million salary.

And now, they are happy to see him finally walking back through it, returning to health — and, they hope, form — at a time when their bullpen’s depth was in dire, desperate straits.

“I wasn’t really too concerned about the stuff,” Roberts said of Treinen, who along with Daniel Hudson, Alex Vesia and Michael Grove make up the back end of the Dodgers’ current bullpen orientation.

“For me, it was hoping he could trust his stuff, whatever he had, in the strike zone; betting on the stuff to play and get major league hitters out,” Roberts added. “And that’s what I’m seeing.”