Angel Reese’s hairstylist explains the WNBA superstar’s look

By Leah Asmelash, CNN

(CNN) — Angel Reese has always known the power of an image.

For as long as the basketball star has been in the public eye — as the LSU “Bayou Barbie” and now as the “Queen of the South” for the Atlanta Dream — she has always glammed up for games: nails done, face beat, edges laid, and long hair pulled back and secured with a headband. (“I have a hair stylist in every city,” she once said.)

While Reese has played with her look over the course of the season — see her bright pink wig during this year’s All-Star weekend, or her braids during September’s FIBA World Cup — her ever-changing hair has become a signature, enough to make headlines on its own.

During Reese’s first two years in the league, while playing with the Chicago Sky, she’d graced magazine covers and rubbed elbows with A-listers at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and the Met Gala. On the court, though, despite her leading the league in rebounds per game, the Sky had two losing seasons and zero playoff appearances, and her exit from the team wasn’t exactly on the best terms.

But in her debut season with Atlanta, she’s won Defensive Player of the Year, a career-defining honor, and led her team to the WNBA Finals against the Golden State Valkyries. Her work at both ends of the court — including dropping a shocking 30 points in Game 2 against the league’s best defense — has led the Dream to a dominant start in the series.

And even as she bullies the Valkyries, her hair remains soft. When she runs, the locks bounce against her back, floating behind her when she kicks up the speed. When she jumps for a block or rebound, her hair jumps, too, momentarily creating a wavy halo around her head. Even when she briefly lost her headband during Game 3 in Atlanta, giving the top of her head a slight pouf, the result was less messy Elizabeth Holmes and more a statement of her hair’s power. It can’t — shouldn’t! — be tamed.

A month ago, the Atlanta-based stylist Jamal Brice installed her current look: a black, wavy sew-in with raw Cambodian hair, from a hair brand owned by one of her close friends. (For sew-ins, the natural hair is braided down against the scalp and the added hair is sewn into the braids.) “She wanted to keep it in the playoffs,” said Brice. He added, “And the Finals.”

Styling hair for athletes comes with challenges. In a scramble for the ball, opponents might pull hair. Players fling themselves across the floor or are hit in the head. Wigs have fallen off mid-game. On Thursday, between Game 3 and Game 4, Brice explained how he got Reese ready for the sport’s biggest stage.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

How does the way you style Reese’s hair for the season differ from non-basketball events?

Different events call for different things. For basketball season — whether she’s getting a ponytail or whether she’s getting a traditional sew-in — she always gets the sew-in for security purposes. She rarely wears wigs during the season. She has worn wigs, like the pink one for the Barbie game, that one was a wig. But she doesn’t really keep those in as long as she would wear a sew-in.

Most of the collabs that we’ve done, as far as Reebok, the CFDAs, the Met Gala, most of those were wigs.

What makes a sew-in better for athletes?

A wig is held down by an adhesive, so with sweat and makeup and whatever else, it’s more likely for a wig to slide back or move or readjust. That can be tricky. Typically, people who work out don’t wear wigs. They typically wear sew-ins or braids, because it’s not likely for a sew-in to just come out of your head because you’re sweating or anything like that.

With Angel playing games, a wig probably would last maybe two or three days, because of sweat, oils and things like that, which doesn’t really work well with the glue.

When’s the last time you guys did a touch-up?

Typically, Angel gets her hair touched up weekly or maybe three times a month. I just touched up her hair today.

She does not get her hair done on game days. I know a lot of athletes that want to stick to a certain routine so that they’re focused during the game or on game days. I think it’s just one of those rituals where she doesn’t want to do anything. She wants to chill and just be focused.

What do you do during these touch-ups?

She can change the style sometimes. Sew-ins do get loose, the threading could get loose, so sometimes you can get a touch-up and you can get it tightened back up. That’s what we did today.

She has this loose wavy hair in right now, so she could either wear it wet or she could wear it blown out and curled or pressed, whatever she decides. So it’s changing the style, and fixing things about it, like if it needs to be tightened, or her roots or something like that need to be cleaned.

And how long does that take?

Maybe like an hour.

In the WNBA, I see a lot of locs, a lot of braids, but I don’t see as many sew-ins. Have you noticed that, too?

Yes, for sure. People have personal preferences, so whatever fits the player, I feel like that’s what they go with.

For Angel, I would say she has more of this feminine energy, this super girly energy, on and off the court. She loves her weaves. She loves to keep her hair done. She also takes very good care of her natural hair. Angel has always been a hair girl, even before me. I think that that’s why she loves her sew-ins, or quick weaves, or weaves, or ponytails.

I’ve noticed during the playoffs, she has her ends tied a lot. Why?

It’s mainly so that the hair doesn’t go into her face. That’s also why she wears the headbands, so that the hair isn’t in her face. Because ideally, if she took her hair out of the hair tie, or if she took the headband off, it does lay toward her face.

You mentioned she embraces this super girly energy. With her look now, what do you think it says about where she is as a player or in her career?

I feel like she always gave this feminine energy. She always felt like she’s that girl, because she is. I feel like she exudes that, on and off the court. Angel knows exactly who she is, and that’s something that I love about her. Hair is always evolving, so I feel like she’s always evolving. She’s always growing.

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