Due to her husband, the former all-time favorite player of the Chicago Sky has officially announced her return.
Due to her husband, the former all-time favorite player of the Chicago Sky has officially announced her return.
the players with the longest contracts on the club declared they would not be going back to the team they helped create ten years ago. Vandersloot thanked the Sky’s supporters, players, coaches, and ownership in an Instagram post yesterday. Quigley, according to ESPN’s Holly Rowe, will not participate in the WNBA in 2023.
“I would not be the player I am today without the support, care, and love I have received,” Vandersloot stated, addressing everyone of his teammates, coaches, and staff along the way. “I appreciate you making my stay in Chicago memorable.”
The pair, popularly known as The VanderQuigs, changed the course of the brand due to shifting arenas, superstars coming and going, and poor working conditions. Before turning into a full-time starter, Quigley revived her career in Chicago, where she went on to earn two consecutive sixth woman of the year awards and three all-star selections. The team’s all-time leading scorer, Quigley, hasn’t formally retired, according to Rowe.
After Sylvia Fowles and Elena Delle Donne left the league, Quigley’s wife, Vandersloot, emerged as one of the league’s top point guards. From 2017 to 2021, she topped the league in assists per game. Before Vandersloot, whose record-setting 2020 season concluded with an All-WNBA first-team nod in addition to her 10 APG, no WNBA player had averaged 9 APG in a single season.
The pinnacle of Vandersloot and Quigley’s Sky tenure arrived in 2021. The squad’s first championship that season was the result of the groundwork the two helped establish, which eventually led to Candace Parker joining with Chicago. Quigley and Vandersloot scored or assisted on 24 of the 26 points the Sky scored in the fourth quarter after trailing by nine points at the beginning of the quarter.
after leading the series 2-1, Chicago lost to the Connecticut Sun in the playoffs of the previous year after winning a franchise-record 26 games in 2022. When the Chicago Sky squad left the court, Vandersloot waved to the audience one last time in her Chicago Sky uniform.
In addition to losing Parker to the Las Vegas Aces, the Sky only had Kahleah Copper, a starter from the previous season, contracted until 2023. With Ruthy Hebard, Julie Allemand (should she choose to rejoin the WNBA), Dana Evans, and Copper as their core players, the team has $931,801 in cap space to try and rebuild. Li Yueru has a rookie-scale contract as well, although it’s unclear if she’ll be back for the following season. The Chinese National Team’s choice to have Yueru leave the Sky in order to be ready for the 2022 World Cup was criticized by coach and general manager James Wade, although she was not included in the Sky’s overseas report that was distributed to the media.
Although the future of The Sky is uncertain, it does involve new ownership eventually joining the fold. The group stated that Nadia Rawlinson, a former chief people officer of Slack Technologies, will take over as its next operating chairman. She will finally finish a formal process and become a co-owner of the sky.
