During the summer, the Chicago Sky faced a number of notable departures, including the loss of veteran player Courtney Vandersloot, hometown hero Candace Parker, and captain Azurá Stevens. Additionally, Allie Quigley and Emma Meesseman decided not to play for the team in 2023. Wade, a past coach and executive of the year, led the Sky to their sole championship in franchise history in 2021; therefore, his departure is simply the most recent example of the team’s declining talent pool.

Chicago has been under fire for not investing enough money in its team, even if they use a public gym for practice.

With this chance, he will have his first extended stint as a WNBA head coach (he was an interim coach for two games in June 2022, while Dwyane Wade was out for two due to COVID-19). Vatansever did, however, recently have some head coaching experience in his home nation of Turkey, when he led Çukurova Mersin from September until the team unceremoniously fired him in mid-December. Even though his time with Çukurova was brief, he did manage a team that featured some WNBA players, like Chelsea Gray, DeWanna Bonner, Tiffany Hayes, and Jonquel Jones.

Given the minimal amount of trade activity that occurs during a WNBA season, his actions as general manager will likely be

Darko Rajaković, the new coach, is still assembling a diverse team to support him. Rajaković has added UCLA’s Imo Simovic, a countryman, as well as Mike Batiste (Rockets), Pat Delany (Wizards), Vin Bhavnani (Thunder), and Jama Mahlalela (formerly of the Warriors and Raptors).

There’s still no previous NBA head coach on staff, or at least not a highly capable assistant on the front lines. We’ll see if the Raptors feel that Rajaković needs this kind of coaching support.

The goal of the Chicago Sky has always been to honor and appreciate our elite players and staff, and James’ outstanding accomplishment is

Michael Alter, the major owner of Sky, expressed the team’s excitement that James will be able to realize a longstanding dream of playing in the NBA.