The Chicago Sky have fired head coach Teresa Weatherspoon less than a year after her appointment.
“After careful consideration, we have decided it is in the best interest of the organization to part ways with head coach Teresa Weatherspoon,” the Sky announced in a statement shared on social media Friday.
Weatherspoon was hired as Chicago’s head coach in October 2023 following the departure of James Wade, who left in July 2023 to take an NBA assistant coaching position after leading the Sky to a championship in 2021.
In her lone season as coach, the injury-plagued Sky finished with a 13-27 record, narrowly missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018, partly due to Angel Reese’s season-ending wrist injury.
“We are deeply appreciative of Coach TSpoon’s contributions to the Chicago Sky and the energy and passion she brought to the head coaching role.
We thank her for inspiring a competitive, resilient spirit across the team,” the Sky’s statement continued. “TSpoon will always be part of the Skytown family, and we wish her the very best.”
Reese, who was drafted by the Sky out of LSU with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, expressed heartbreak over Weatherspoon’s dismissal, stating that she “didn’t deserve this.”
“I’m literally lost for words knowing what this woman meant to me at such a pivotal point in my life. She was the only person that believed in me. The one that trusted me,” Reese wrote in an emotional social media post on Thursday.
I’m heartbroken. I’m literally lost for words knowing what this woman meant to me in such a pivotal point in my life. She was the only person that believed in me. The one that trusted me. Many don’t …
“Many don’t even know what it’s like to be a Black woman in sports when nobody believes in you. You had a tough job. All the crazy circumstances 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.”
Reese further reflected: “We built a relationship in a short amount of time that will last forever. I’ll never question why God brings people into my life and takes them away in ways I don’t expect, but I believe everyone is in your life for a reason and a season. You were the best reason & season. You didn’t deserve this, but I can’t thank you enough. I love you, TSpoon.”
Weatherspoon, a former player for the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks from 1997 to 2004, was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
She previously coached at Louisiana Tech from 2009 to 2014 and served as an assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans from 2020 to 2023.
Angel Reese ‘heartbroken’ after Sky fire coach Teresa Weatherspoon after one season.