Angel Reese, Dream unmoved by Libertys playoff stature: I dont give a damn

ATLANTA — Dream star Angel Reese didn’t balk at Liberty co-owner Joe Tsai’s declaration that his was the best team in this year’s WNBA playoffs.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.“I don’t give a damn,” Reese said after practice Saturday. There it was.

Quick and to the point. No deference. Just a very Atlanta-sized message to the Liberty: Come on down. The No.4 Atlanta Dream might be the higher seed in their semifinal matchup against the eighth-seeded Liberty, which begins Sunday.

They may have recently beaten the Libs twice to close out the regular season. But that doesn’t mean the Dream are necessarily getting the respect that should come with it. Not that Atlanta seems to care. If anything, the Dream appear perfectly comfortable being the underdogs in this setting. “Nobody wants the Atlanta Dream in it,” Reese said.“And we have that chip on our shoulder and we’re just gonna continue to fight through it.” The chip has been growing for a while — even before Reese was traded to Atlanta in April. Atlanta is already on its deepest postseason run since 2018. Prior to sweeping the Washington Mystics in the first round, the Dream experienced three consecutive first-round exits. Atlanta owned its first-round series earlier this week and shed the label as a team that couldn’t show up when the lights got bright. But the Dream are still far from satisfied. “Winning one series is not enough,” Reese said.

“Being able to turn the page, those are the teams that continue to advance.You can’t get too high, can’t get too low in these moments — just continuing to stick together.

Nobody’s gonna give you anything.Everybody’s gonna come for you and come for our heads.” That’s where the Liberty come in. Most pundits picked against the Libs making history with their first-round matchup against the top-seeded M...