Chicago Sky Fire head coach Theresa Weatherspoon after just one season

Thanks to the outstanding play of rookie stars Kamilla Cardoso and All-Star power forward Angel Reese, the Chicago Sky might have been on track to reach the WNBA postseason had Reese not suffered a season-ending injury.

Read more: WNBA star Angel Reese shockingly announces she is out for the remainder of the season

Instead, the club finished 13-27, ending up outside the playoff rankings for the first time since 2018. However, the result of this unfortunate circumstance is that Chicago now has another opportunity to build through the lottery in the WNBA in the next 2025 draft. Once again, the team is poised for two picks in the first round.

Despite clearly being in a rebuilding phase, Chicago opted to fire first-year head coach Teresa Weatherspoon, multiple sources tell Annie Constabile of the Chicago Sun-Times.

As Constabile notes, Weatherspoon has been brought in as a replacement for interim coach Emre Vatansever and is expected to help Sky return to prominence alongside 2021 Finals MVP Kahleah Copper. With Chicago unable to attract enough free agents to pair with Copper, the All-Star wing demanded a trade, and Sky dealt her to the Phoenix Mercury.

With that, the Sky opened their new era by adding both Cardoso and Reese in the first round.

Before her injury, Reese in particular proved to be a particularly explosive contributor. The standout 6-foot-10 player averaged 13.6 points, 13.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks per night in her 34 healthy games for the Sky and took home the 12th place in the MVP voting.

Read more: Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese make unique WNBA history by creating an all-star roster

The 6-foot-2 Cardoso, who was selected third overall this year, averaged 9.8 points on 52.1 percent field goal shooting and 72.6 percent foul line shooting, 7.9 rebounds, 1 .7 assists, 1.4 blocks and 0.5 steals per fight.

Guard Chennedy Carter, a recovery project, led the club with 2.8 win shares per game. She averaged 17.5 points per night, a team-high.

Constabile reveals that during the farewell discussions, “some disconnect” emerged between Weatherspoon and some of her Chicago charges, with “several players” noting that she went through several stylistic approaches as a first-year head coach. That still seems like a weak reason to replace another head coach so quickly, especially one with Weatherspoon's pedigree.

Weatherspoon, an NCAA champion at Louisiana Tech in 1988, eventually became a WNBA superstar guard when the league launched in 1997. She won the league's first two Defensive Player of the Year awards, was a five-time All-Star and four-time All-WNBA Second Team honoree, and was a member of the WNBA's 15th and 20th Anniversary Teams.

After Weatherspoon finally called a career as a player in 2004, she switched to coaching in 2007. She worked for former American Basketball Association team the Westchester Phantoms, then served as associate head coach at her alma mater from 2008-09 then as head coach from 2009-2014. She worked as an assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans from 2020 to 2023 before taking the job in Chicago. She has a 99-71 record as a head coach at the collegiate level.

Chicago is now looking for its fourth head coach since 2023. The franchise has undergone significant roster turnover since winning its first championship in 2021 with a core of Copper, future Hall of Fame power forward/center Candace Parker and five-time All-Star Courtney experienced Vandersloot. Chicago enjoyed a similarly productive run the following season, missing out on a second consecutive Finals berth after losing to the Connecticut Sun in the semifinals.

The majority of the club's core left the club soon afterwards. Starting shooting guard Allie Quigley resigned from the team after this season. Parker joined the Las Vegas Aces in free agency and retired after being injured early in the 2023 season. Vandersloot left Chicago behind and joined the New York Liberty's star-studded squad. He reached the final before losing to Parker's Aces. In 2023, Copper led the Sky to an 18-22 record and the eighth seed, but the team failed to advance past the first round.

Former head coach/general manager James Wade left the Sky just 18 games into the 2023 season to take an assistant coaching role with the Toronto Raptors. This season, Copper led the Sky to an 18-22 record and was the eighth seed, but the team failed to advance past the first round.

Be sure to follow Newsweek Sports for all your WNBA news and updates.