LAS VEGAS — Former Sky coach/general manager James Wade was in town for the WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday, but it wasn’t in connection with the league. He was finishing up his first assignment with his new team, the Raptors, at the NBA Summer League.
It has been two weeks since he resigned from his position at the helm of the Sky, leaving a day after the team’s victory June 30 against the Sparks, and many questions have loomed over his abrupt exit. Maybe none has been more heavily scrutinized than why he departed at midseason.
Wade told the Sun-Times it was about putting himself in a position to be most successful with his new team.
‘‘After being here with [the Raptors], I can see that if I didn’t join them right away, I would have been behind the 8-ball,’’ he said.
Wade’s sudden exit required him to say goodbye to a roster of players who had signed with the Sky — some of them to multiyear deals — under the impression they would be playing for him.
That brings to mind another question: How did Wade make peace with leaving the players he encouraged to commit to him?
‘‘It’s a tough situation,’’ he said. ‘‘You can’t please everybody; they’re not all going to be happy. It’s probably the only time in my career that I was put in a situation where I had to be selfish.’’
Wade’s exit gives the Sky an opportunity to separate the coach and GM roles, but management has maintained its stance that it won’t commit to any decision on separating the roles at this time.
Wade said he still thinks success can be found in one person operating in both roles, but the consensus among players, executives and even WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert is that they are two jobs for two people.
‘‘What happened is, in our last collective-bargaining-agreement cycle, free agency opened up,’’ Engelbert said. ‘‘The general manager job became a lot more strategic, and we needed a full-time person to focus on it. But, again, it’s up to the owners to decide what the structure is because we still have it together in some places.’’
The Sky are the last remaining team in the WNBA or NBA with one person operating in the dual role. Cheryl Reeve operates as coach and president of basketball operations with the Lynx.
When Aces coach Becky Hammon was hired in 2021, she was rumored to be taking on both job titles. Ultimately, she became the highest-paid coach in the WNBA, signing a contract worth $1 million per year.
‘‘I didn’t want to do [both jobs],’’ Hammon said. ‘‘I don’t want to read contracts, and I don’t want to talk to agents. It’s been done multiple times by different people. It would never be done in the NBA. But I think sometimes organizations use it as a way to save money.’’
Wade always maintained he enjoyed operating in both roles. Interim coach/GM Emre Vatansever already has said he thinks the roles should be separated.
The ball is in Sky ownership’s court. And with the recent additions to the ownership group, including Dwyane Wade and Laura Ricketts, saving money shouldn’t be an issue.
