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The Chicago Sky have reportedly found their next head coach, and it will be a familiar name for basketball fans.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the Sky are “finalizing a deal” to make Basketball Hall of Famer Teresa Weatherspoon the head coach. While Weatherspoon is best known as a WNBA legend, she has also been an assistant coach for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans the past four years.
Chicago won the WNBA championship in 2021 and finished with a 26-10 record in 2022, but the 2023 campaign was a tumultuous one for the franchise.
Franchise icons in Candace Parker (Las Vegas Aces) and Courtney Vandersloot (New York Liberty) signed elsewhere before the season, while sharp-shooter Allie Quigley decided to take the year off.
What’s more, James Wade stepped down as head coach and general manager after 16 games to join the Toronto Raptors in an assistant coaching role. The Sky turned toward Emre Vatansever in an interim capacity.
The end result was a disappointing 18-22 record and first-round exit in the postseason.
Now the hope is WNBA greatness can turn things around as soon as the 2024 season.
Weatherspoon played for the Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks from 1997 through 2004 and was a five-time All-Star who helped usher in the start of a new league. She was a defensive star and excellent ball-handler who was a leader for the Liberty for much of her career.
Following her playing career, Weatherspoon became the head coach of Louisiana Tech’s women’s basketball team and then the director of player and franchise development for the Liberty.
New Orleans then hired her as a member of the coaching staff in 2019.
She has plenty of coaching experience at this point and will look to lead the Sky back into title contention after a disappointing season.
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