2023 Chicago Sky season | |
---|---|
Coach | James Wade (until July 1) Emre Vatansever (after July 1) |
Arena | Wintrust Arena |
Attendance | 7,242 per game |
Results | |
Record | 18–22 (.450) |
Place | 5th (Eastern) |
Playoff finish | 8th seed; Lost 1st Round 0–2 to Las Vegas |
Team Leaders | |
Points | Kahleah Copper – 18.7 ppg |
Rebounds | Alanna Smith – 6.6 rpg |
Assists | Courtney Williams – 6.3 apg |
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.
On July 1, 2023, Wade stepped down as the head coach of the Sky to become an assistant coach of the Toronto Raptors in the NBA, so he was replaced by Emre Vatansever for the rest of the season. [1]
The Women’s National Basketball Association announced that the first WNBA Canada Game would feature the Minnesota Lynx and the Sky on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON. It was the first-ever WNBA preseason game in Canada. [2]
The Sky started the season well, winning their first two games. However, they lost two of their last three in May to finish the month 3–2. The Sky won two of their first three games in June before going on a six-game losing streak. They defeated Los Angeles twice to finish the month and ended June with a 4–7 record. July began with a win before the team lost four straight games. Wins book-ended two losses to finish the month and the Sky finished with a 3–6 record in July. August started with two back-to-back wins in Dallas, but then the Sky lost five straight games. They finished the month winning three of their last five games to finish August with a 5–6 record. The Sky were battling with Los Angeles for the eighth and final playoff spot entering September. The Sky lost their first game of September, but won the last three to clinch the eighth seed on September 8, after defeating Minnesota.
As the eighth seed in the 2023 WNBA Playoffs, the Sky faced off against the first seed Las Vegas Aces in the First Round. The Sky lost the first game in Las Vegas 59–87. Needing a win in the second game, the Sky lost 70–92 in the second game and were eliminated from the playoffs. Their .450 winning percentage was the worst since 2018 and this was their fifth straight year qualifying for the playoffs.
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 23 | Kayana Traylor | ![]() | Virginia Tech |
3 | 35 | Kseniya Malashka | ![]() | Middle Tennessee |
Date | Transaction | |
---|---|---|
January 11, 2023 | Extended a Qualifying Offer to Rebekah Gardner [3] | |
February 3, 2023 | Signed Elizabeth Williams [4] | |
February 4, 2023 | Signed Courtney Williams [5] | |
February 5, 2023 | Signed Isabelle Harrison [6] | |
Signed Feyonda Fitzgerald and Robyn Parks to Training Camp Contracts [7] | ||
February 7, 2023 | Signed Astou Ndour-Fall to a 1-Year Deal [8] | |
February 11, 2023 | Acquired Marina Mabrey and a 2024 Second-Round Pick (from Phoenix) in a 4-Team Trade involving the Dallas Wings, Phoenix Mercury, and the New York Liberty [9] | |
February 13, 2023 | Signed Rebekah Gardner to a Reserved Qualifying Offers [10] | |
February 14, 2023 | Signed Alanna Smith to a 1-Year Deal [11] | |
Suspended the contract of Julie Allemand for the full season due to her commitments with the Belgium National Team this summer [12] | ||
February 16, 2023 | Signed Anneli Maley to a Training Camp Contract | |
February 21, 2023 | Claimed Kristine Anigwe off of Waivers | |
April 12, 2023 | Suspend the contract of Astou Ndour-Fall for the full season due to a personal decision [13] | |
Signed Angel Baker to a Training Camp Contract [14] | ||
April 17, 2023 | Signed Morgan Bertsch to a Training Camp Contract [15] | |
April 29, 2023 | Signed Kayana Traylor to a Rookie Scale Deal | |
May 10, 2023 | Waived Angel Baker [16] | |
May 14, 2023 | Exercised 4th-Year Team Option on Dana Evans | |
May 17, 2023 | Waived Feyonda Fitzgerald and Kayana Traylor | |
May 18, 2023 | Suspended the contract of Li Yueru for the Full-Season due to Non-WNBA Injury | |
Claimed Sika Koné off Waivers [17] | ||
Waived Anneli Maley [17] | ||
Placed Ruthy Hebard on the Inactive List due to Pregnancy/Child-Birth [17] | ||
June 5, 2023 | Temporarily suspend the contract of Kristine Anigwe due to Overseas Commitments | |
June 9, 2023 | Signed Khaalia Hillsman and Taylor Soule to Hardship Contracts [18] | |
June 17, 2023 | Released Khaalia Hillsman from the Hardship Contract [19] | |
June 22, 2023 | Activated the temporarily suspended contract of Kristine Anigwe due to Overseas Commitments | |
July 1, 2023 | Head Coach James Wade resigned as Head Coach and GM to take an Assistant Coach position with the Toronto Raptors [20] | |
Promoted Assistant Coach Emre Vatansever to Interim Head Coach/GM [20] | ||
July 3, 2023 | Activated Ruthy Hebard from the Inactive List due to Pregnancy/Maternity Leave [21] | |
Waived Kristine Anigwe | ||
July 27, 2023 | Temporarily suspend the contract of Sika Koné due to Overseas Commitments | |
August 8, 2023 | Activated the temporarily suspended contract of Sika Koné due to Overseas Commitments | |
September 10, 2023 | Signed Kahleah Copper to a Contract Extension [22] | |
October 12, 2023 | Hired Teresa Weatherspoon as Head Coach [23] |
Additions
| Subtractions
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2023 Chicago Sky roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2023 game log Total: 2–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 2–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–1)
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2023 season schedule |
2023 playoff game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Round vs. Las Vegas Lost Series: 0-2
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2023 playoff schedule |
# | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 34 | 6 | .850 | – | 18–2 | 19–1 | 15–5 | 9–1 |
2 | x – New York Liberty | 32 | 8 | .800 | 2 | 16–4 | 15–5 | 17–3 | 7–3 |
3 | x – Connecticut Sun | 27 | 13 | .675 | 7 | 14–6 | 13–7 | 14–6 | 7–3 |
4 | x – Dallas Wings | 22 | 18 | .550 | 12 | 11–9 | 11–9 | 11–9 | 6–4 |
5 | x – Atlanta Dream | 19 | 21 | .475 | 15 | 11–9 | 11–9 | 8–12 | 6–4 |
6 | x – Minnesota Lynx | 19 | 21 | .475 | 15 | 12–8 | 9–11 | 10–10 | 5–5 |
7 | x – Washington Mystics | 19 | 21 | .475 | 15 | 9–11 | 12–8 | 7–13 | 5–5 |
8 | x – Chicago Sky | 18 | 22 | .450 | 16 | 5–15 | 7–13 | 11–9 | 3–7 |
9 | e – Los Angeles Sparks | 17 | 23 | .425 | 17 | 9–11 | 10–10 | 7–13 | 5–5 |
10 | e – Indiana Fever | 13 | 27 | .325 | 21 | 5–15 | 6–14 | 7–13 | 2–8 |
11 | e – Seattle Storm | 11 | 29 | .275 | 23 | 8–12 | 4–16 | 7–13 | 4–6 |
12 | e – Phoenix Mercury | 9 | 31 | .225 | 25 | 2–18 | 8–12 | 1–19 | 1–9 |
Notes
Round One: Best-of-3 | Semifinals: Best-of-5 | Finals: Best-of-5 | ||||||||||||
1 | Las Vegas Aces | 2 | ||||||||||||
8 | Chicago Sky | 0 | ||||||||||||
1 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 | ||||||||||||
4 | Dallas Wings | 0 | ||||||||||||
4 | Dallas Wings | 2 | ||||||||||||
5 | Atlanta Dream | 0 | ||||||||||||
1 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 | ||||||||||||
2 | New York Liberty | 1 | ||||||||||||
2 | New York Liberty | 2 | ||||||||||||
7 | Washington Mystics | 0 | ||||||||||||
2 | New York Liberty | 3 | ||||||||||||
3 | Connecticut Sun | 1 | ||||||||||||
3 | Connecticut Sun | 2 | ||||||||||||
6 | Minnesota Lynx | 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 | 38 | 38 | 31.2 | .448 | .404 | .770 | 4.4 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 18.7 |
Marina Mabrey | 39 | 39 | 30.0 | .411 | .390 | .836 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 15.0 |
Courtney Williams | 40 | 40 | 30.1 | .437 | .443 | .600 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 10.4 |
Elizabeth Williams | 40 | 40 | 29.7 | .514 | .000 | .630 | 5.8 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 9.8 |
Alanna Smith | 38 | 35 | 26.5 | .498 | .294 | .679 | 6.6 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 9.2 |
Dana Evans | 39 | 1 | 21.5 | .360 | .294 | .854 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 9.0 |
Rebekah Gardner | 3 | 0 | 19.7 | .429 | .600 | 1.000 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 7.0 |
Morgan Bertsch | 28 | 5 | 14.2 | .456 | .444 | .750 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 4.4 |
Robyn Parks | 37 | 2 | 13.6 | .381 | .368 | 1.000 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 3.9 |
Ruthy Hebard | 19 | 0 | 9.2 | .585 | .000 | .650 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 3.9 |
Sika Koné ≠ | 20 | 0 | 9.3 | .532 | .333 | .769 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 3.6 |
Kristine Anigwe ‡ | 10 | 0 | 8.3 | .455 | .000 | .625 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
Taylor Soule ≠ | 15 | 0 | 3.5 | .143 | .000 | .625 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.6 |
Khaalia Hillsman ‡ | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 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 | 2 | 2 | 34.5 | .406 | .455 | .750 | 7.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 20.0 |
Dana Evans | 2 | 0 | 22.5 | .417 | .250 | 1.000 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 14.5 |
Marina Mabrey | 2 | 2 | 32.5 | .348 | .222 | 1.000 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 9.5 |
Courtney Williams | 2 | 2 | 32.5 | .316 | .286 | .000 | 8.0 | 4.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 7.0 |
Elizabeth Williams | 2 | 2 | 33.0 | .286 | .000 | .000 | 10.0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
Alanna Smith | 2 | 2 | 18.0 | .300 | .000 | 1.000 | 4.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
Robyn Parks | 2 | 0 | 13.0 | .333 | .333 | .000 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
Sika Koné | 2 | 0 | 4.5 | .667 | .000 | .000 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
Ruthy Hebard | 2 | 0 | 7.0 | .250 | .000 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
Morgan Bertsch | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Taylor Soule | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Kahleah Copper | WNBA All-Star | July 1 | [28] |
Courtney Williams | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | July 5 | [29] |
Elizabeth Williams | All-Defensive Second Team | September 22 | [30] |
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 of the 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 from 2019 to 2022 and won their first championship in the 2021 WNBA Finals.
James Wade, known as Coco, is an American-French basketball assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Courtney Vandersloot is an American basketball point guard for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Fenerbahçe in the EuroLeague Women. Drafted by the Chicago Sky with the third pick in the 2011 WNBA draft, she was selected as an All-Star and named to the All-Rookie Team in her rookie year. She was named an All-Star again in 2019, 2021 and 2023, and led the Sky to their first WNBA Championship in 2021. She led the WNBA in assists in 2014 and for five consecutive seasons during 2017–2021, and holds the all-time WNBA records for highest assists-per-game in a season (9.1) and highest career assists-per-game (6.7).
Astou Ndour-Fall is a Spanish professional basketball player for the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Emlak Konut of the Turkish Women's Basketball League. Born in Senegal, she represents Spain internationally.
The 2019 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 14th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The regular season tipped off on May 25 and concluded on September 8. On August 22, the team clinched a playoff berth for the first time in three seasons.
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 Dallas Wings season was the franchise's 24th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the 6th season for the franchise in Dallas. This was the first season under new head coach Vickie Johnson, after she was hired on December 9, 2020.
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.
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 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 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions.
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.
The 2023 Minnesota Lynx season was the 25th season for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association, and the fourteenth season under head coach Cheryl Reeve.
The 2023 WNBA season was the 27th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The defending champions, the Las Vegas Aces, repeated as champions after defeating the New York Liberty 3 games to 1 in the Finals.
The 2024 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 19th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and their first season under head coach Teresa Weatherspoon.