WNBA’s Chicago Sky Fires Teresa Weatherspoon After One Season

The move left Angel Reese 'heartbroken.'

Teresa Weatherspoon, a former WNBA player, was hired less than a year ago to be the head coach of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. Less than a year later, she was terminated from her position.

According to The Chicago Sun-Times, the team fired Weatherspoon after not making the playoffs for the first time in five years. After winning the WNBA title in 2021, the Sky had three coaches and will be looking for their next one after the latest move. James Wade, the coach who led the Sky to the championship, left the franchise mid-last season before Emre Vatansever was given the interim title.

The WNBA team announced the decision via social media on Sept. 27.

The Chicago Sky announced today that Teresa Weatherspoon will not retain the role of Head Coach for the 2025 season. pic.twitter.com/A9Sc3dL9vF

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) September 27, 2024

Weatherspoon left the coaching staff of the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans in June 2023 before taking the reins in Chicago. She has worked with the team since she was initially hired as a player development coach and became an assistant coach in 2020.

The Sky had a 13-27 record this season.

The move has left its rookie player, Angel Reese, disheartened. She took to social media to express her disappointment with the move. She told her now-former coach that she was “an unsung hero” in her life, and they’ve “built a relationship” that will last forever.

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 even know what it’s like to be a black women in sports when nobody believes in…

— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) September 27, 2024

Several players reportedly spoke up about the change in play throughout the season in their exit interviews with management. It was a difficult year, as the Sky only had two games with a healthy roster, and multiple injuries, including Reese’s season-ending one, occurred.

Yahoo Sports reported that the Sky finished the regular season with their worst record since they joined the league in 2006. The team elected to trade Kahleah Taylor and Marina Mabrey while allowing Courtney Williams to leave via free agency.