-
Michael Voepel, ESPN Senior Writer
The Chicago Sky fired head coach Teresa Weatherspoon after just one season with the team, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday night, citing multiple league sources.
Sky rookie star Angel Reese appeared to confirm the news on social media, saying she was “heartbroken.”
Weatherspoon was hired last Oct. 12 and led the Sky to a 13-27 record. Chicago stayed in playoff position for much of the second half of the season despite struggling to a 3-13 record after the Olympic break. Ultimately, losing Reese to a wrist injury on Sept. 7 was too much to overcome.
Reese had a strong season, setting a WNBA record with 15 consecutive double-doubles. Reese, the No. 7 draft pick out of LSU, averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds in 34 games. She thanked Weatherspoon in an emotional post on X on Thursday night.
“I’m literally lost for words knowing what this woman meant to me in such a pivotal point in my life,” Reese wrote. “She was the only person that believed in me. The one that trusted me. Many don’t even know what it’s like to be a black women in sports when nobody believes in you. You had a tough job. All the crazy circumstances that we went through this year & when your back was against the wall, you always believed.
“I came to Chicago because of YOU. You were an unsung hero in my life. We built a relationship in a short amount of time that will last forever.”
Weatherspoon played in the WNBA from 1997, the league’s inaugural year, to 2004, with seven seasons in New York and one in Los Angeles. She also has coached at the college level, at her alma mater, Louisiana Tech, and in the NBA with the New Orleans Pelicans.
This post was originally published on this site