If you follow basketball in the Midwest, you’re familiar with Lisa Byington. She’s the play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Sky and the Milwaukee Bucks.
In 2021, she became [the first female full-time TV play-by-play announcer for an NBA team](https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/lisa-byington-tv-play-by-play-bucks.html). This season, Byington has covered a WNBA team that has struggled in part due to injuries. One bright spot has been the continued emergence of Angel Reese, the league’s leading rebounder. Reese, who leads Chicago in points, rebounds, and assists, has been plagued by a back injury. We recently caught up with Byington to discuss the two-time All-Star.
_**Note:** This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity._
**Awful Announcing: How has this season been for Chicago?**
**Lisa Byington:** “I think there was optimism of this being a playoff team. The Sky have been ravaged with injuries. At times, they’re sometimes missing three, four, five players in one game. The season shifted when Courtney Vandersloot tore her ACL. It was early in the season. The two games leading into that game, the Sky were playing some of their best basketball. Since then, Ariel Atkins has been hurt, Angel Reese has been hurt, Hailey Van Lith has been hurt, you name it, Michaela Onyenwere. You can make a starting lineup based on those names I just gave you.”
**What has the season been like for Angel Reese?**
“She’s improved her numbers in a lot of different categories. She’s upped her scoring numbers from her rookie season to her sophomore season. She’s still leading the league in rebounding. The thing that I thought was encouraging is that in the first few games, when you lose your point guard in Courtney Vandersloot, Tyler Marsh gave Angel Reese a little bit more latitude in terms of handling the ball, creating some offense, playing more point forward. The result of that is she recorded her [first triple-double](https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/45518407/sky-angel-reese-second-youngest-record-triple-double) in her career against Connecticut. Moments like that are significant.”
**What areas do you think she needs to work on?**
“I think distributing and finishing from all areas of the floor is something that everyone would work on. And she would say that would be the first thing that she would want to work on as well. To continue to be and play at an All-Star-caliber level. Let’s not forget that she’s been in this league for two years. She’s been an All-Star for two years. Some people have played for over a decade and haven’t been an All-Star once. So, she’s doing all the right things in her first couple of years at the pro level.”
**Does Angel Reese remind you of another player?**
“I think she’s got her own unique skill set. I’m trying to think of fours. Certainly, Elena Delle Donne is different. Sylvia Fowles is different. I will say that I think it’s fun to see her paired up with Kamilla Cardoso. In Chicago, they have nicknamed the two of them the Skyscrapers. At the five and the four, they complement each other well.”
**How would you describe her personality?**
“I can just speak for what I see on the court. I see her drive. I see her competitiveness. I see her motor. I think all three are elite. I appreciate that when she has been sitting out, she has been a vocal leader. Angel has been one of the biggest voices on the team this year. And I love, just from a basketball standpoint, observing that from her and how she’s been able to try to lead this team.”
**Do you have an observation on the Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese rivalry?**
“The fans, I think, create the fire, honestly, between Caitlin and Angel. (Clark and Reese) have been asked about the rivalry, and they both have shut it down and pooh-poohed it. They will always be connected because of the national championship game and because of the proximity between Indiana and Chicago. Because they’re both rookies in the same year and now second-year players in the same year. But the fire of this and the controversy, that is stirred up by the fans. I don’t think it’s stirred up by Angel or Caitlin.”
**Any thoughts on the Fever vs. Sky rivalry overall?**
“The Fever and the Sky, the rivalry started way back in 2013, 2014, 2015, when Pokey Chatman was the head coach with the Sky and Lin Dunn was the head coach with the Fever. Tamika Catchings was one of the prime players for the Fever, and Sylvia Fowles and Courtney Vandersloot. They were the mainstays of the Sky. And so people don’t realize that the Fever-Sky rivalry, because of proximity, because those two teams would always end up meeting each other in the playoffs, started way before Caitlin and Angel. I think it’s important to acknowledge that. I think rivalry is a great word. I would love to see, as franchises, not an Angel-Caitlin rivalry, I would love to see the Fever and the Sky rivalry continue to be rejuvenated. I think rivalries are healthy in sports. But when you’re starting to pit players against players, I think that’s where it gets a little bit dangerous. I think some of that fuel is really fan-based.”
**What does being the first female full-time TV play-by-play announcer for an NBA team mean to you?**
“I understand the uniqueness of the hire and being a role model to men and women, to boys and girls, because it’s not just women and girls that are part of the story. So when I go into year number five, and I put on my headset and it’s game day, I’m not thinking of myself as a female broadcaster or a female announcer. I’m just thinking of myself as a broadcaster and an announcer. I think that’s how you have to approach it in the day-to-day, is how you go about being the best team announcer that you can be.”
**What will progress look like or sound like?**
“It’s my hope that female voices doing ‘men’s sports’ would eventually become background noise. Background noise to me is when you have a game on in the background, and you’re not thinking twice about who the announcers are. Because (when) we hear a female voice, I think a lot of us stop what we’re doing and we try to figure out who that female voice is. It’s my hope and dream that hires like this can eventually lead to more hires, and they have, throughout the league. Eventually, a female voice on an NBA game or a football game will become background noise. People won’t think twice about who that female announcer is.”
**Do you have a favorite broadcasting moment?**
“Giannis (Antetokounmpo’s) career-high game. It was against the Pacers (on Dec. 13, 2023), and it was the first time he had scored 60-plus points. He did it at home. I loved being there, seeing it, calling it. I love that the fans of Milwaukee got to witness it.
“And Damian Lillard had one of his Dame Time moments. He had a game-winner (against Sacramento). That was fun. It came at home, and the place just absolutely exploded.”