Chicago, IL (AP) – The WNBA All-Star Game returns to Chicago this weekend, and the Sky, well, they are working through some issues at the moment.
On and off the court.
The spotlight that goes along with hosting one of the WNBA’s marquee events is shining on a sputtering Chicago Sky franchise in the middle of another challenging season. The organization had no players selected for Saturday’s game at the United Center.
Chicago is 5-5 in its past 10 games and 9-17 overall going into Wednesday’s game at New York. The Sky have one of the league’s worst records after they went 10-34 last year in their first season under coach Tyler Marsh. The franchise hasn’t finished with a winning record since 2022, a year after it won the WNBA championship.
The big problem this year is finishing games. The Sky are 9-6 when they are leading or tied going into the fourth quarter. They blew a double-digit lead while losing each of their three games against Paige Bueckers and Dallas this season.
“It’s been a lot of the conversation in our locker room and in our team meetings and pinpointing the areas where we feel like we’ve come up short a little bit,” Marsh said, “but also highlighting areas where we feel like we’ve been doing pretty well to put us in position to win those games.”
Chicago was scheduled to move into a new practice facility ahead of this season, but it isn’t expected to be finished until November now. That meant shifting some of this week’s All-Star activities to the Obama Presidential Center.
Sky owner Michael Alter also is facing a lawsuit from a minority investor who alleges that he “breached his fiduciary duty to the minority investors … and unfairly deprived them of the value of their investments.” The suit also accuses Alter of running the team “with blatant disregard for the operating agreement and minimum standards of competence for business operations.”
Following a June 7 loss at Toronto, Sky guard Skylar Diggins called for more leadership and maturity from players and coaches. When Marsh made plans to use the seven-time All-Star as a reserve, Diggins posted on Instagram about her frustration with the decision.
The 35-year-old Diggins has missed the past six games with a right knee injury. She is averaging 14.2 points in her first season since signing with the team in free agency.
The addition of Diggins was part of a major offseason overhaul for the Sky. Angel Reese was traded to the Atlanta Dream in April, and the 6-foot-4 forward was selected for the All-Star Game for the third time. The Sky cut Hailey Van Lith in May, a year after the guard was the No. 11 pick in the draft.
Chicago acquired Rickea Jackson in an April trade with Los Angeles, and she got off to a fast start before tearing the ACL in her left knee in the fourth game of the season. The Sky have been hampered by several injuries this year.
“Honestly, with every team I’ve been on, we’ve dealt with that,” guard Jacy Sheldon said. “So I think that’s just something that comes with the game. … We got to figure out ways to win, find ways to win, which you know we’re going to do with whoever we have out there.”
The return of DiJonai Carrington could help. Carrington, one of the league’s top defensive players, is ramping up after missing the start of the season with a left foot injury. As she regains her form, she could be an option for Marsh for the final minutes of close games.
“I do think that we need to focus on closing games and playing to win as opposed to playing not to lose,” Carrington said. “Because in a lot of those games, we are up, and I feel like we stop playing the brand of basketball that got us to that point and try to switch it up in order to not lose. So I think we just need to focus on playing to win.”
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