Photo Courtesy of Tyler Kaufman/AP
The Chicago Sky are gearing up for change, as the organization is bringing in WNBA legend Teresa Weatherspoon as their head coach.
Weatherspoon joined the New York Liberty in 1997, which was the WNBA’s inaugural season. Before joining the WNBA, Weatherspoon played internationally for teams such as Como (in Italy) and CSKA Moscow (of Russia). Weatherspoon played for the Liberty from 1997 to 2003.
During that time, Weatherspoon was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner. She won the award in the inaugural season, then won it the year after. She added other accolades to her resume such as being a two-time steals champion (in 1997 and 1998), the assists champion of 1997, being a five-time WNBA All-Star from 1999 to 2003 and being on the WNBA’s All-Second team from 1997 to 2000. Weatherspoon is a member of the WNBA’s 15th and 20th anniversary teams. She was later inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Weatherspoon has a coaching background, as she coached the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (her alma mater where she won an NCAA national title). Prior to that she briefly coached the Westchester Phantoms of the American Basketball Association (ABA). Weatherspoon started off as the associate/interim head coach of Techsters then she became their full time head coach. She coached them from 2009 to 2014. A few years later, Weatherspoon joined the New Orleans Pelicans coaching staff as an assistant coach. She started off as a two-way player development coach before being promoted to full-time assistant coach. She stayed with the Pelicans from 2020 to 2023 when they released her from their staff.
Now, Weatherspoon joins a Sky team who lost their head coach in the middle of the season. James Wade coached the Sky but left to join the Toronto Raptors as an assistant coach. Emre Vatansever took over as interim head coach but it was reported that he would not return. So, Weatherspoon has a chance to come in and establish a culture with her team.
The future looks bright for the Sky, and Weatherspoon is ready to lead the way.
