Former coach and general manager James Wade built the Sky up to levels the franchise hadn’t reached since being founded in 2006.
His hasty departure — four games before the midpoint of a rebuilding season — for an assistant coaching position with the Toronto Raptors marks the team’s descent to a new low. Wade bears the brunt of that reality, leaving the 7-9 Sky to pick up the pieces left by his failings as general manager.
Hired by the Sky in 2018, Wade took the team from a 13-21 regular-season finish under Amber Stocks to a 20-14 regular-season record and a second-round playoff exit in his first year. Entering his third season in the dual role of coach and general manager, Wade made one of the most significant moves in WNBA free-agency history, signing Candace Parker to a two-year contract.
The move paid instant dividends when the Sky, after going 16-16 during the regular season in 2021, won their first WNBA title. But not even two years removed from that title, the Sky are in a worse position than they were when Wade was hired.
The struggles began with an 18-0 run by the Sun in Game 5 of the semifinals last season, ending the Sky’s title defense.
Wade failed to re-sign three of the Sky’s remaining championship starters following that exit, signaling he had lost the locker room, and ownership had not invested enough to entice them to stay. Parker signed with the Aces as an unrestricted free agent; the Sky’s longest-tenured player, Courtney Vandersloot, signed with the Liberty; and Allie Quigley decided to sit out the 2023 season.
Wade attempted to fill the holes left by the Sky’s former champions with free agents Elizabeth Williams, Courtney Williams and Isabelle Harrison.
The biggest mess Wade left for the franchise to clean up was his trading away two first-round draft picks and five picks total for guard Marina Mabrey, whom he signed to a three-year deal.
Wade informed Sky players of his departure Saturday afternoon with team ownership, including operating chairman Nadia Rawlinson. According to Rawlinson, Wade’s pursuits of other opportunities weren’t ongoing. The Raptors’ position came “out of the blue,” Rawlinson said.
“[The players] didn’t know why we were there talking,” Rawlinson said. “So, I’m sure that was a shock like, ‘Why is everyone coming into the room to talk to us?’ People cried. The first words that were spoken were, ‘We are so excited for you.’ That was from a player.”
Lead assistant coach Emre Vatansever will take over both positions on an interim basis beginning with the Sky’s game against the Fever on Sunday. Vatansever was hired in 2017 and remained when Wade was hired in 2018. In 2022, Vatansever led the Sky to back-to-back wins in June while Wade was absent with COVID-19. Rawlinson said the team is considering splitting the dual role of coach and general manager into separate positions, but they are not predetermining any outcomes right now.
Wade coached the Sky to an 81-59 overall record and was 13-8 in the playoffs.
Last season Wade signed a contract extension through the 2025 season that would have made him the longest-tenured coach/general manager in Sky history. His early departure maintains Pokey Chatman’s status as the longest-running coach/general manager, with six seasons at the helm from 2011-2016.
As recently as last month, Wade was confidently discussing the future of the franchise, which includes the development of a new practice facility. In one interview with the Sun-Times, Wade said he planned to be in Chicago as long as the Sky would keep him and hoped to bring another WNBA championship to the city.
“I want to be like [Heat coach Erik] Spoelstra and [Spurs coach Gregg] Popovich,” Wade told the Sun-Times in May. “I want to, but that’s up to Michael [Alter]. I want to be an old man with white hair like Pop going bald and people will say, ‘That’s the dude from the Chicago Sky with a sandwich named after him.’
“I love Chicago. I wouldn’t be anywhere else. It’s my favorite city in the entire world.”
Wade’s leaving without a namesake sandwich or a second WNBA title.
NOTE: Kahleah Copper was announced as an All-Star reserve — her third All-Star nod.
