No one has a closer link to the Chicago Sky than Courtney Vandersloot. The 36-year-old is the franchise leader in minutes with 10,145, more than 2,500 minutes above second-place Allie Quigley, who happens to be her wife.
So when Vandersloot signed back with the Sky this offseason after two years with the New York Liberty, it was a welcome homecoming for Chicago.
However, aside from sentimental value, Vandersloot’s decision, on paper, seemed odd. She left the Liberty—the defending champions with a very well-regarded ownership group—to join a young team that missed the playoffs last year and practices in a shared recreational facility an hour’s drive from its home arena.
When Vandersloot was still with the Liberty, Chicago did announce a $38 million practice facility that, despite a delay, is expected to be ready by next season. For the five-time All-Star, the investment shows the team is undeserving of its reputation around the league as a franchise unwilling to shell out funds.
“Chicago has always had a reputation of being the cheap team, or whatever it may be, but I’ve known from the inside that isn’t the case,” Vandersloot told reporters, including Front Office Sports, on Monday. “They just want to do it the right way. They want to do it their way. And I think the practice facility is coming at the right time.”
The Sky’s reputation, however, has some legitimate basis. Two-time MVP Candace Parker, Vandersloot’s former teammate in Chicago in 2021 and 2022, said two years ago that she never had a locker in her career (which also included 13 seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks) before joining the Las Vegas Aces in 2023.
“I’ve never had a practice facility where I could just go get shots up at night. We’ve always shared a practice facility,” Parker said on The Draymond Green Show.
The Sky are one of the WNBA’s five “independent” organizations, teams whose ownership group does not also own another professional team in the city. Three of the other four teams—the Atlanta Dream, Connecticut Sun, and Dallas Wings—have faced similar criticisms and challenges as the Sky. As of Monday, the Sun are also reportedly for sale.
Practice facilities are among the key investments players and coaches search for when choosing organizations. Even WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has stated that state-of-the-art facilities are a key barometer in choosing expansion franchises.
While the Sky are still about a year from the opening of their facility, Vandersloot is happy to wait—and so is her star teammate Angel Reese.
“As long as we have a hoop. For me, it’s a hoop and a goal. I’m just happy to be where we are right now,” Reese said Monday.
Sky GM Jeff Pagliocca said the team is in “win-now” mode after adding veterans like Vandersloot, Ariel Atkins, and Kia Nurse in the offseason. Reese knows, however, that more free agents—and fans—should come once the team’s facilities are up and running.
“Everybody’s going to want to come to Chicago. But I don’t know if they’re going to be able to get in,” Reese joked.
