Sky ownership's failures reflected in decision to fire Teresa Weatherspoon
The Sky are once again at the center of a WNBA firestorm.
This time, it resulted from their decision to fire Teresa Weatherspoon — which most players were not notified of by ownership before news broke on Thursday evening — after less than 11 months on the job.
Weatherspoon's inexperience was visible throughout the season, exemplified by her mismanaged rotations, in-game play calls and late-game decision-making. The Sky finished the season 10th in a 12-team league with a 13-27 record and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2018. Following the Olympic break — during which the Sky were the only team without an Olympian, giving them ample time to practice collectively — the Sky had a better record than only the Sparks, going 3-13 in their final 16 games.
Of course, Marina Mabrey's trade demand was a factor. She was the Sky's only reliable three-point threat, taking 46% of the Sky's attempts from behind the arc. In a one-on-one with the Sun-Times, Mabrey said she'd prefer to keep her exact reasons for requesting out "in-house." However, she said playing for the Sun was "a better situation."
Health was another considerable factor in the Sky's on-court failures. They played just two games all season with a healthy roster. By the end of the regular season, they had eight available players, and a disconnect within the locker room was evident.
In the team's final postgame interview, guard Dana Evans detailed how social media contributed directly to in-house distractions.
"Overall, in the WNBA, we had more eyes, attention, and a lot of stuff going on that we weren't all used to," Evans said. "It was a lot of outside noise, where now I feel like we're used to that. We know how to handle that. We don't want to allow anything to distract us. We don't need any distractions on top of just not causing stuff in the locker room. Sometimes, you can read stuff and that can affect people in the locker room.
Just making sure we stay together as a whole and knowing we got each other's back. I think that was a lesson for this whole year."
One of Weatherspoon's greatest attributes is her ability to rally her team. She is an effective motivator and highly skilled at making players feel supported. However, even that skill needed balance.
"I think it starts from the top," Angel Reese said in her exit interview when asked what she felt the team's biggest need was to address ahead of 2025. "I told [Spoon] you were too nice this year. I know she's going to be more stern on things."
The Sky's coaching search, which began last July, was limited. According to multiple sources, there may have been as few as two candidates: Weatherspoon and former Grizzlies assistant Sonia Raman, who quickly determined she was not interested in the job.
‘‘We’re looking to make the most informed and best decisions possible to make sure we have the right people,’’ Sky CEO Adam Fox told the Sun-Times last August when asked about their coach and general manager search.
Touting Weatherspoon as the right person to lead the franchise through a rebuild last October should have earned her at least two years to try. Firing her after one season was Sky ownership's admission of failure after willingly hiring a coach with no prior head coaching experience in the WNBA.
According to multiple league sources, impending free agents have felt skeptical of considering the Sky as a destination because of apparent dysfunction. However, that dysfunction is not rooted in Weatherspoon's failings. After all, she was only with the franchise for 11 months.
The Sky have garnered a league-wide reputation for being pervasively inept. That responsibility does not fall on Weatherspoon despite Sky ownership's attempt to paint it as such by firing her after one season. The 2024 season merely reflected what the Sky ownership has allowed to permeate: visible instability. As a result, their coaching search and attempt to attract free agents who will help them be a "championship contender every year" will remain a pipe dream.