Teresa Weatherspoon Named Head Coach Of the Chicago Sky
The Chicago Sky announced that WNBA legend Teresa Weatherspoon will be the team’s new head coach, CBS Sports reported.
Weatherspoon is taking over the reins of a team that posted a record of 18-22 and was swept in the first round by the Las Vegas Aces.
In a statement, Weatherspoon expressed gratitude for her new role and is looking forward to restoring the Sky to prominence in the league.
“I’m excited to be a part of the Chicago Sky Family,” Weatherspoon said. “To be the leader, as head coach, of an organization in a city with so much history and culture is a dream come true. The things that we are about to do as a team, a business, and in the community will be rooted in excitement, excellence, and hard work. I am thankful to the entire Chicago organization for going through this process and selecting me. I can’t wait to get to work!”
“We are thrilled to welcome Teresa Weatherspoon as the new head coach of the Chicago Sky,” Sky Co-Owner & Operating Chairman Nadia Rawlinson said. “A WNBA legend and five-time All-Star, Olympian, and college national champion, Teresa brings a wealth of NBA and college coaching experience to the Sky. Her standard of excellence and history of winning at all levels, coaching expertise, knowledge of the game, passion, energy, and skill in player development make Teresa the perfect choice to build on our championship culture and usher in an exciting new era.”
Weatherspoon brings a wealth of coaching experience to the Chicago Sky. In 2019, she became a member of the New Orleans Pelicans staff as a two-way player development coach and was an assistant on the coaching staff until 2023.
In the collegiate ranks, Weatherspoon joined the coaching staff at Louisiana Tech, her alma mater, and was promoted to head coach in 2009. She led Lady Techsters
back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (2010-11). She posted a 99-71 record as a head coach at Louisiana Tech.
Her first coaching position was in 2007 as head coach of the Westchester Phantoms of the American Basketball Association.
As a player, Weatherspoon led Louisiana Tech to an NCAA Championship in 1988 and is the No. 1 All-Time Assist leader in the history of the school (958). Her No. 11 jersey is now retired at LA Tech, and on September 20, 2023, Weatherspoon became one of six LA Tech recipients to be honored with a statue at the university.
On the international level, Weatherspoon won Gold in 1988 and Bronze in 1992 with the USA Women’s National Basketball Team. She was named to six all-star games in the Italian League (1989-94) during her six seasons playing professional basketball in Italy and was a two-time Russian League Champion (1995-96).
At the inaugural WNBA Draft in 1997, Weatherspoon was drafted by the New York Liberty with the number 10 overall pick. In her seven seasons with the Liberty, Weatherspoon led the team to the WNBA Finals in 1997 and 1999. She finished her career in her final season with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2004.
Regarded as one of the best players in WNBA history, she was named to the league’s Top-20 best and most influential players in WNBA history, the first WNBA player ever to be named DPOY in 1997, was a WNBA All-Decade Team Honorable Mention (2006) and named to WNBA Top-15 players (2011).
Weatherspoon was inducted into the Louisiana Tech Athletic Hall of Fame (1995), Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (2010), Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (2010), Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame (2020).
The Sky will formally introduce Weatherspoon as head coach on Oct. 24.
