Angel Reese earned the Bayou Barbie nickname back at LSU for her glamorous on-court appearance: eyelash extensions and long pink nails. Now, after leading the Atlanta Dream to the WNBA finals, she has earned another recognition, now across sports, courtesy of Atlanta Hawks star CJ McCollum. And for her part, the so-called ‘Queen of the South’ seems more than happy to embrace it.
“Shout out to CJ McCollum,” she told USA Today reporter Meghan L. Hall.
“I appreciate the support from the Hawks. It is really cool when your men’s team shows love to us and shows a lot of support to us. I guess he’s saying it because I played at LSU too, and now I’m here in Georgia, in Atlanta, so I appreciate the name. I guess that’s my new nickname- Queen of the South.”
McCollum coined the nickname ‘Queen of the South’ during an interview following Hawks practice on October 15, where he praised Reese for turning around the team’s fortunes.
“Obviously, the Atlanta team changed when the Queen of the South got here, so happy for her, happy to see them doing well, happy to see the team in the city kind of surrounding them,” McCollum told reporters.
Reese has accomplished a lot to earn that nickname. After starting her collegiate career at the University of Maryland, she transferred to LSU for her final two seasons, helping lead the team to the national championship in her first season as part of the Tigers. She followed that up with an Elite Eight appearance in her final season, but lost to Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes.
LSU is where Reese first became known as Bayou Barbie, a nickname, according to her, coined by a fan from Baton Rouge. She later attempted to trademark the nickname during her first season, but was denied. Fortunately, that nickname later led to a collaboration with the Barbie brand.
During this year’s All-Star Weekend, Reese and Mattel released a Barbie doll modeled after the forward, along with a Barbie-themed pink colorway of her signature Reebok Angel Reese 1 shoes. That made her the second WNBA player after Sue Bird to have a Barbie doll in her likeness.
What Reese also explained was that she’s not concerned with settling on one nickname. During the interview, she was asked what nickname would headline her era in Atlanta, having previously been known as Bayou Barbie and Chi Barbie, the latter for her two years with the Chicago Sky.
“I’m just going by the day, whatever people call me. Junior, Queen of the South, Barbie, whatever it is,” she replied.
Regardless of her opinion on nicknames, she has given fans plenty of reason to come up with one. After joining the Dream via trade right before the 2026 season, Reese has helped the franchise reach their first WNBA finals since 2013, and her run in the postseason has been dominant. The Dream have swept both the Washington Mystics and the New York Liberty, and enter the finals against the Golden State Valkyries undefeated.
To top that off, she has also earned the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year award, becoming the first player in Dream history to receive those honors. She capped off her regular season with a league-record 521 rebounds and 32 double-doubles, establishing herself as perhaps the most important figure in Atlanta’s rise.
Reese also set the record for most rebounds grabbed in a single game, beating a record set by Chamique Holdsclaw back in 2003.
Now, with the Dream entering the finals, McCollum’s nickname has added another layer of connection to Reese’s growing bond with the city of Atlanta. If her response is any indication, ‘Queen of the South’ might be joining the growing list without pushing any of her other nicknames to the wayside.
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