WNBA Faces Coaching Shake-Up As Sky, Sparks Lead Postseason Firings

As the WNBA playoffs enter the second round, the teams out of the hunt are already making moves.

On Friday, the Chicago Sky announced the release of head coach Teresa Weatherspoon less than a year after she was hired. Under Weatherspoon, who is in the WNBA Hall of Fame as a player, the Sky finished with a 13–27 record, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

Weatherspoon was hired after spending four years as an assistant coach with the NBA’s Pelicans—though she joined the Sky before the team traded 2021 Finals MVP Kahleah Copper, the last remaining core piece of the franchise’s championship team that included Candace Parker. Losing Copper prompted a rebuild for the Sky, who then drafted Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese in April.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, which broke the news Thursday night, Weatherspoon had the support of her players throughout the season—though there was some tension later in the year surrounding playing time and scheme changes. However, Reese, the team’s lone All-Star, posted her support for Weatherspoon on X shortly after the news dropped.

“I’m heartbroken. I’m literally lost for words knowing what this woman meant to me in such a pivotal point in my life. … You didn’t deserve this but I can’t thank you enough. I love you Tspoon,” Reese wrote. 

W’s Coaching Conundrum

Weatherspoon’s release came just days after two-time WNBA Coach of the Year Curt Miller was fired by the Sparks, who parted ways with him following an injury-riddled year that saw the team finish dead last.

One thing Weatherspoon and Miller had in common is they were both hired before the team appointed its current GM. The Sky promoted Jeff Pagliocca to GM weeks after Weatherspoon was hired, while the Sparks hired Raegan Pebley as GM in January. It’s not uncommon for GMs in sports to want to hire a coach they are able to vet.

The Indiana Fever announced Monday that Kelly Krauskopf will return as team president and there is growing speculation that coach Christie Sides—who has faced a lot of criticism, particularly early in the season—could experience a similar fate as Weatherspoon and Miller. 

Krauskopf held the same role with the Fever from 2000 to 2018 before moving to the Pacers as assistant GM. The Fever won the WNBA title in 2012 and captured three Eastern Conference championships in 2009, 2012, and 2015.  

Pay Structure

But the position of WNBA head coach is odd given the league’s nascent status.

Coaches’ salaries currently top out at $1.2 million for the Phoenix Mercury’s Nate Tibbetts and $1 million for the Aces’ Becky Hammon, but mostly hover around a half million dollars. That’s a lot more than the max salary of a WNBA player—which is just over $250,000.

In the NBA, there are assistant coaches who make more than the highest-paid WNBA coach, though Hammon was reportedly paid $750,000 a year as an assistant coach for the Spurs.