The Chicago Sky fired head coach Theresa Weatherspoon after less than a year on the job.
“After careful consideration, we have decided that it is in the best interest of the organization to part ways with head coach Teresa Weatherspoon,” Sky reported. announced in a statement shared on social media on Friday.
Weatherspoon was hired as Chicago’s head coach in October 2023, following in the footsteps of James Wade, who left to take an NBA assistant coaching position in July 2023 after leading the Sky to a championship in 2021. It was done. Weatherspoon had 27 RBIs in his only season as coach, narrowly missing out on the playoffs for the first time since 2018, due in part to Angel Reese’s season-ending wrist injury.
“We deeply appreciate Coach TSpoon’s contributions to the Chicago Sky and the energy and passion she brings to her role as head coach. She inspires a competitive and resilient spirit throughout the team. Thank you to her for that,” Skye said in a statement. “TSpoon will always be part of the Skytown family and we wish her all the best.”
Reese, who was selected by the Sky with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft out of LSU, said he was “heartbroken” by Weatherspoon’s firing. Mr Rees added that Wetherspoon “didn’t deserve this”.
“I was literally speechless when I realized what this woman meant to me at such a pivotal time in my life. She was the only person who believed in me. She was the one who gave it to me,” Reese said. I wrote he said in a lengthy social media post on Thursday. “There are a lot of people who don’t even know what it’s like to be a Black woman in sports when no one believes in you. You’ve had a tough job. In all the crazy situations I went through and when my back was against the wall, you were always you.” You were the unsung hero of my life, and that’s why I came to Chicago. ”
Reese continued, “We formed a relationship that lasted forever in a short period of time. I question God, why He brings people into my life and then takes them away from me when I need them.” “It never happens, but I’ve always done it that way,” he added. Everyone believed there was a reason and season for your life, you didn’t deserve this but I love you. ”
Weatherspoon played for the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks from 1997 to 2004. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Weatherspoon was the head coach at Louisiana Tech from 2009 to 2014 and was an assistant with the New Orleans Pelicans from 2020 to 2023.