2022 Chicago Sky season | |
---|---|
Coach | James Wade |
Arena | Wintrust Arena |
Attendance | 7,180 per game |
Results | |
Record | 26–10 (.722) |
Place | 1st (Eastern) |
Playoff finish | 2nd seed; Lost in Semifinals to Connecticut Sun |
Team Leaders | |
Points | Kahleah Copper – 15.7 ppg |
Rebounds | Candace Parker – 8.6 rpg |
Assists | Courtney Vandersloot – 6.5 apg |
The 2022 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 17th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and their fourth season under head coach James Wade. They were the defending league champions after defeating the Phoenix Mercury in the 2021 WNBA Finals.
Entering the offseason, the Sky only had four players from the previous season under contract. [1] The team re-signed Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, and Kahleah Copper and added Emma Meesseman via free agency. [2] [3] [4] Free agent Stefanie Dolson departed the team and signed with the New York Liberty. [5] In a sign-and-trade deal, free agent Diamond DeShields was traded to the Phoenix Mercury and the Sky added Julie Allemand. [6] [7]
The defending champions lost the first game of the season, in overtime. However, they recovered and won their next two games. They finished the month winning three of five and with a 5–3 overall record. The Sky started June strongly, winning five of their first six, before losing to Indiana, on June 19. On June 21, the Sky broke the record for largest comeback win in WNBA history in a 104–95 win over the Las Vegas Aces after being down by 28 points. [8] They used that momentum to win their next three games and finish the month with a 9–2 record. In July the team kept the hot streak going, winning six games in a row from July 7 to July 22. Four players were named to the All-Star Game: Candace Parker, Vandersloot, Copper, and Meesseman. [9] They hosted the Commissioner's Cup, but lost to the Aces. The finished the month 9–2 and secured a playoff berth on July 20. After having secured the berth, their momentum slowed and they finished August with a 3–3 record. Their overall record of 26–10 was a franchise-best. They ended as the second seed in the playoffs.
As the second seed in the playoffs, they hosted a First Round series against the New York Liberty. They lost Game One of the series at home 91–98. They followed that up with a dominant 38 point win at home in Game Two. They Sky had to travel to New York for Game Three, and won by eighteen points to advance to the Semifinals. There, they faced off against the third seed Connecticut Sun. As the higher seed, they again had home court advantage in the series. As in the first round, they lost the first game at home. The Sky followed that up with a home win and a road win. They lost Game Four on the road by 24-points and could not finish the series at home in Game Five, losing 63–72 to end their season.
The Sky do not have any picks in the 2022 WNBA Draft, having traded their second- and third-round picks to the Dallas Wings and their first-round pick to the Indiana Fever. [10] [11] [6]
Date | Transaction | |
---|---|---|
January 2, 2022 | Extended Qualifying Offers to Diamond DeShields and Lexie Brown [12] | |
January 12, 2022 | Extended a Core Qualifying Offer to Kahleah Copper [13] | |
January 25, 2022 | Hired Ann Wauters as assistant coach [14] | |
February 3, 2022 | Traded Diamond DeShields to Phoenix in exchange for Julie Allemand (from Indiana) and 2023 1st round pick (from Phoenix) [6] [7] | |
February 5, 2022 | Signed Crystal Bradford to a one-year deal [15] | |
February 9, 2022 | Signed Kysre Gondrezick and Kamiah Smalls to a training camp contracts [16] [17] | |
February 10, 2022 | Signed Rebekah Gardner to a training camp contract [18] | |
February 17, 2022 | Re-signed Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley to one-year deals [2] | |
Re-signed Kahleah Copper [3] | ||
February 18, 2022 | Signed Emma Meesseman [4] | |
February 25, 2022 | Signed Kathleen Doyle and Tina Krajišnik to training-camp contracts [19] | |
March 9, 2022 | Waived Crystal Bradford [20] | |
March 11, 2022 | Signed Anneli Maley to a training-camp contract | |
March 15, 2022 | Signed Kaela Davis and Imani McGee-Stafford to training-camp contracts [21] | |
March 30, 2022 | Traded Lexie Brown to Los Angeles in exchange for the rights to Li Yueru [22] | |
Signed Li Yueru to a rookie-scale contract | ||
April 13, 2022 | Signed Lexie Held and Kayla Wells to training-camp contracts [23] | |
April 14, 2022 | Signed Sparkle Taylor and Emmanuelle Tahane to training-camp contracts [24] | |
April 15, 2022 | Signed Masseny Kaba to a training-camp contract [25] | |
April 16, 2022 | Signed Lindsey Pulliam to a training-camp contract | |
April 28, 2022 | Waived Kayla Well and Kamiah Smalls [26] | |
April 29, 2022 | Waived Imani McGee-Stafford and Lexi Held [27] | |
May 2, 2022 | Waived Lindsey Pulliam | |
May 4, 2022 | Waived Kaela Davis, Kysre Gondrezick, Tina Krajišnik, Anneli Maley, and Sparkle Taylor [28] | |
May 5, 2022 | Waived Kathleen Doyle, Masseny Kaba, and Emmanuelle Tahane | |
Temporarily Suspend Julie Allemand, Rebekah Gardner, Kahleah Copper, and Li Yueru due to Overseas Commitments | ||
May 6, 2022 | Signed Sparkle Taylor, Anneli Maley, Tina Krajišnik, and Kaela Davis to Hardship Contracts | |
May 9, 2022 | Released Kaela Davis and Anneli Maley from their Hardship Contracts [29] | |
Activated Rebekah Gardner from her Temporary Suspension | ||
May 10, 2022 | Signed Anneli Maley to a Hardship Contract | |
May 13, 2022 | Released Sparkle Taylor from the Hardship Contract | |
Exercised the 4th Year Team Option on Ruthy Hebard and Julie Allemand | ||
May 20, 2022 | Activated Kahleah Copper from her Temporary Suspension | |
Released Tina Krajišnik from her Hardship Contract [30] | ||
May 24, 2022 | Activated Li Yueru from her Temporary Suspension | |
Released Anneli Maley from her Hardship Contract | ||
August 24, 2022 | Signed Head coach James Wade to a Contract Extension [31] |
2022 Chicago Sky roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pos. | Starter | Bench |
---|---|---|
C | Candace Parker | Ruthy Hebard Li Yueru |
PF | Emma Meesseman | Azurá Stevens |
SF | Kahleah Copper | Rebekah Gardner |
SG | Allie Quigley | Dana Evans |
PG | Courtney Vandersloot | Julie Allemand |
2022 pre-season game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
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2022 pre-season schedule |
2022 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Round vs. New York Liberty Won Series: 2–1
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Semifinals vs. Connecticut Sun Lost Series: 2–3
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2022 playoff schedule |
# | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 26 | 10 | .722 | – | 15–3 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 9–1 |
2 | x – Chicago Sky | 26 | 10 | .722 | – | 15–3 | 14–4 | 12–6 | 9–1 |
3 | x – Connecticut Sun | 25 | 11 | .694 | 1.0 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 5–5 |
4 | x – Seattle Storm | 22 | 14 | .611 | 4.0 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 6–4 |
5 | x – Washington Mystics | 22 | 14 | .611 | 4.0 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 5–5 |
6 | x – Dallas Wings | 18 | 18 | .500 | 8.0 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–5 |
7 | x – New York Liberty | 16 | 20 | .444 | 10.0 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–4 |
8 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 15 | 21 | .417 | 11.0 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 3–7 |
9 | e – Minnesota Lynx | 14 | 22 | .389 | 12.0 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 4–6 |
10 | e – Atlanta Dream | 14 | 22 | .389 | 12.0 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 3–7 |
11 | e – Los Angeles Sparks | 13 | 23 | .361 | 13.0 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 3–7 |
12 | e – Indiana Fever | 5 | 31 | .139 | 21.0 | 2–16 | 3–15 | 2–16 | 2–8 |
Notes
Round One: Best-of-3 | Semifinals: Best-of-5 | Finals: Best-of-5 | ||||||||||||
1 | Las Vegas Aces | 2 | ||||||||||||
8 | Phoenix Mercury | 0 | ||||||||||||
1 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 | ||||||||||||
4 | Seattle Storm | 1 | ||||||||||||
4 | Seattle Storm | 2 | ||||||||||||
5 | Washington Mystics | 0 | ||||||||||||
1 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 | ||||||||||||
3 | Connecticut Sun | 1 | ||||||||||||
2 | Chicago Sky | 2 | ||||||||||||
7 | New York Liberty | 1 | ||||||||||||
2 | Chicago Sky | 2 | ||||||||||||
3 | Connecticut Sun | 3 | ||||||||||||
3 | Connecticut Sun | 2 | ||||||||||||
6 | Dallas Wings | 1 |
Bold Series winner
Legend | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader |
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kahleah Copper | 31 | 31 | 28.7 | .481 | .356 | .775 | 5.7 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 15.7 |
Candace Parker | 32 | 32 | 28.3 | .468 | .311 | .816 | 8.6 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.2 |
Emma Meesseman | 36 | 36 | 28.6 | .571 | .342 | .887 | 5.5 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 12.4 |
Courtney Vandersloot | 32 | 32 | 26.5 | .481 | .367 | .765 | 3.9 | 6.5 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 11.8 |
Allie Quigley | 34 | 34 | 26.3 | .428 | .355 | .950 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 11.4 |
Azurá Stevens | 35 | 8 | 21.9 | .472 | .362 | .744 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 10.6 |
Rebekah Gardner | 35 | 2 | 21.7 | .542 | .357 | .800 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 8.4 |
Sparkle Taylor ‡ | 2 | 0 | 12.5 | .833 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.5 |
Dana Evans | 33 | 1 | 11.5 | .377 | .328 | .880 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 4.3 |
Julie Allemand | 25 | 4 | 16.1 | .417 | .290 | .833 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 3.0 |
Ruthy Hebard | 24 | 0 | 9.7 | .510 | .000 | .750 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.3 |
Anneli Maley ‡ | 4 | 0 | 11.0 | .500 | .667 | .000 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.0 |
Li Yueru ≠ | 16 | 0 | 5.1 | .444 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.8 |
Kaela Davis ‡ | 1 | 0 | 10.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Tina Krajišnik ‡ | 2 | 0 | 2.5 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kahleah Copper | 8 | 8 | 30.5 | .452 | .346 | .795 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 16.8 |
Candace Parker | 8 | 8 | 29.4 | .438 | .333 | .759 | 10.8 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 14.8 |
Courtney Vandersloot | 8 | 8 | 28.3 | .481 | .261 | .800 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 11.5 |
Emma Meesseman | 8 | 8 | 29.6 | .470 | .300 | .833 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 11.1 |
Allie Quigley | 8 | 8 | 29.0 | .338 | .319 | .714 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 9.6 |
Azura Stevens | 8 | 0 | 18.8 | .472 | .188 | .667 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 7.4 |
Rebekah Gardner | 8 | 0 | 17.9 | .389 | .000 | .857 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 5.0 |
Dana Evans | 4 | 0 | 5.8 | .600 | .600 | 1.000 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 4.3 |
Julie Allemand | 8 | 0 | 11.5 | .500 | .300 | .500 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.5 |
Ruthy Hebard | 4 | 0 | 4.3 | .200 | .000 | .000 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Kahleah Copper | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | June 21 | [32] |
WNBA All-Star Selection | June 28 | [33] | |
Candace Parker | WNBA All-Star Starter | June 22 | [34] |
All-WNBA First Team | September 15 | [35] | |
Courtney Vandersloot | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | June 27 | [36] |
August 1 | [37] | ||
WNBA All-Star Selection | June 28 | [33] | |
Emma Meesseman | WNBA All-Star Selection | June 28 | [33] |
James Wade | WNBA Coach of the Month - June | July 5 | [38] |
WNBA Coach of the Month - July | August 2 | [39] | |
WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year | August 22 | [40] | |
Rebekah Gardner | WNBA All-Rookie Team | August 25 | [41] |
The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2006 season. The Sky experienced a period of success from 2013 to 2016, making four playoff appearances and playing in the 2014 WNBA Finals. They experienced a second period of success starting in 2019 and won their first championship in the 2021 WNBA Finals.
Kahleah Copper is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the seventh overall pick by the Washington Mystics in 2016, and was traded to the Chicago Sky the next year.
The 2020 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 15th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). This was the second season under head coach James Wade. The Sky did not improve on their previous season's record of 20–14, but entered the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
The 2021 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 16th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and its third season under head coach James Wade. In the postseason, the Sky won their first WNBA championship.
The 2021 WNBA Finals, officially the WNBA Finals 2021 presented by YouTube TV for sponsorship reasons, was the best-of-five championship series for the 2021 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The finals featured the fifth-seeded Phoenix Mercury facing off against the sixth-seeded Chicago Sky, a rematch of the 2014 Finals. The Sky defeated the Mercury in 4 games, winning their first WNBA Championship, as well as Chicago's first professional basketball championship since 1998.
The 2022 WNBA season was the 15th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began the season on May 14, 2022, on the road against the Dallas Wings.
The 2022 WNBA season was the 24th season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the Women's National Basketball Association. It also was the 20th season for the franchise in Connecticut after relocating from Orlando. The season began on May 7, 2022, at the New York Liberty.
The 2022 Dallas Wings season was the franchise's 25th season in the Women's National Basketball Association and the 7th season for the franchise in Dallas - after relocating from Tulsa and Detroit. This was second season under head coach Vickie Johnson.
The 2022 Las Vegas Aces season was the franchise's 26th season in the Women's National Basketball Association and the 5th year the franchise is based in Las Vegas - after relocating from San Antonio and Utah. The regular season began on May 6, 2022, at the Phoenix Mercury.
The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on May 6, 2022, versus the Chicago Sky.
The 2022 WNBA season is the current and 24th season for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began on May 6, 2022, versus the Seattle Storm.
The 2022 New York Liberty season was the 26th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA. The Liberty opened the regular season on May 7, 2022, versus the Connecticut Sun.
The 2022 WNBA season was the 25th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began on May 6, 2022, against the Las Vegas Aces and ended in the 1st round of the WNBA Playoffs against the same team. The season was marred by a number of issues, including injuries and the absence of Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia on drug charges.
The 2022 Seattle Storm season was the franchise's 23rd season in the Women's National Basketball Association. This was the first season back in the newly renovated Climate Pledge Arena.
The 2022 Washington Mystics season is the franchise's 25th season in the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season will tip off versus the Indiana Fever on May 6, 2022.
The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions.
The 2022 WNBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on July 10, 2022, at Wintrust Arena. The Chicago Sky hosted the game and related events for the first time.
The 2022 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2022 season. This postseason ended with the Las Vegas Aces winning their first championship.
The 2023 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 18th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and their fifth season under head coach James Wade. In the offseason, the team saw the departures of several key players in free agency including Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, and Azurá Stevens.
The 2023 New York Liberty season was the 27th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA, and their second season under head coach Sandy Brondello.