Angel Reese pulled off the ultimate surprise for her mom’s birthday: She paid off her mortgage.
The WNBA rookie, 22, revealed the news to her mom, Angel Webb Reese, about an hour into the Jan. 30 episode of her YouTube show, “Unapologetically Angel.”
“Well it’s your birthday today,” Reese said as someone handed her mom a birthday cake.
“You said that if your mortgage was paid off that you would retire … or you can pick if you want to work still. So your mortgage today has been paid,” Reese told her mom, who was so shocked she nearly dropped her cake.
“Today your mortgage has been paid, you ain’t got to worry about your mortgage no more and if you want to still work and keep yourself busy, you can keep yourself busy,” said the Chicago Sky star as her stunned mother put her head in her hands.
“Are you serious?”responded Webb Reese.
After revealing to listeners her plan to buy a house in Chicago, Reese added to her mom, “You can come stay with me whenever you want to.”
“Oh, Lord Jesus,” said Webb Reese as she began to cry.
The two women then shared an embrace as Reese cried out, “Happy birthday!”
Reese has long credited her mother’s support and encouragement for the success of her college and pro basketball career.
The former Louisiana State University star forward has said Webb Reese, a former college basketball star herself, showed her how to play the game at an early age.
“She taught me how to play,” the younger Reese said of her mom. “Most of my family plays basketball, so I kind of had to play. I tried ballet, gymnastics, and things like that, but nothing worked except for basketball.”
In April 2023, Webb gushed about Webb Reese’s strength to ESPN First Take.
“My mom is a single mom. She’s really independent. She raised me and my brother by herself,” she said.
“Looking at her and seeing how she never backed down to anything. She always stood her ground for everything. She worked super hard for me and my brother to get in this position,” the athlete continued.
“Being able to just look at her and say ‘Mom, you showed me. You paved the way for me,’” she added.
The following year, Reese told Women’s Health that her college tuition being completely paid for through a basketball scholarship was her way of honoring her mom for all her sacrifices.
“My mom worked hard (when I was growing up), raising us by herself,” she said. “So that was my payback to her.”