2022 Chicago Sky season
The 2022 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 17th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and their fourth season under head coach James Wade. They were the defending league champions after defeating the Phoenix Mercury in the 2021 WNBA Finals.
2022 Chicago Sky season | |
---|---|
Coach | James Wade |
Arena | Wintrust Arena |
Attendance | 7,180 per game |
Results | |
Record | 26–10 (.722) |
Place | 1st (Eastern) |
Playoff finish | 2nd seed; Lost in Semifinals to Connecticut Sun |
Team Leaders | |
Points | Kahleah Copper – 15.7 ppg |
Rebounds | Candace Parker – 8.6 rpg |
Assists | Courtney Vandersloot – 6.5 apg |
Entering the offseason, the Sky only had four players from the previous season under contract.[1] The team re-signed Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, and Kahleah Copper and added Emma Meesseman via free agency.[2][3][4] Free agent Stefanie Dolson departed the team and signed with the New York Liberty.[5] In a sign-and-trade deal, free agent Diamond DeShields was traded to the Phoenix Mercury and the Sky added Julie Allemand.[6][7]
The defending champions lost the first game of the season, in overtime. However, they recovered and won their next two games. They finished the month winning three of five and with a 5–3 overall record. The Sky started June strongly, winning five of their first six, before losing to Indiana, on June 19. On June 21, the Sky broke the record for largest comeback win in WNBA history in a 104–95 win over the Las Vegas Aces after being down by 28 points.[8] They used that momentum to win their next three games and finish the month with a 9–2 record. In July the team kept the hot streak going, winning six games in a row from July 7 to July 22. Four players were named to the All-Star Game: Candace Parker, Vandersloot, Copper, and Meesseman.[9] They hosted the Commissioner's Cup, but lost to the Aces. The finished the month 9–2 and secured a playoff berth on July 20. After having secured the berth, their momentum slowed and they finished August with a 3–3 record. Their overall record of 26–10 was a franchise-best. They ended as the second seed in the playoffs.
As the second seed in the playoffs, they hosted a First Round series against the New York Liberty. They lost Game One of the series at home 91–98. They followed that up with a dominant 38 point win at home in Game Two. They Sky had to travel to New York for Game Three, and won by eighteen points to advance to the Semifinals. There, they faced off against the third seed Connecticut Sun. As the higher seed, they again had home court advantage in the series. As in the first round, they lost the first game at home. The Sky followed that up with a home win and a road win. They lost Game Four on the road by 24-points and could not finish the series at home in Game Five, losing 63–72 to end their season.
Transactions
WNBA draft
The Sky do not have any picks in the 2022 WNBA Draft, having traded their second- and third-round picks to the Dallas Wings and their first-round pick to the Indiana Fever.[10][11][6]
Trades and Roster Changes
Date | Transaction | |
---|---|---|
January 2, 2022 | Extended Qualifying Offers to Diamond DeShields and Lexie Brown[12] | |
January 12, 2022 | Extended a Core Qualifying Offer to Kahleah Copper[13] | |
January 25, 2022 | Hired Ann Wauters as assistant coach[14] | |
February 3, 2022 | Traded Diamond DeShields to Phoenix in exchange for Julie Allemand (from Indiana) and 2023 1st round pick (from Phoenix)[6][7] | |
February 5, 2022 | Signed Crystal Bradford to a one-year deal[15] | |
February 9, 2022 | Signed Kysre Gondrezick and Kamiah Smalls to a training camp contracts[16][17] | |
February 10, 2022 | Signed Rebekah Gardner to a training camp contract[18] | |
February 17, 2022 | Re-signed Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley to one-year deals[2] | |
Re-signed Kahleah Copper[3] | ||
February 18, 2022 | Signed Emma Meesseman[4] | |
February 25, 2022 | Signed Kathleen Doyle and Tina Krajišnik to training-camp contracts[19] | |
March 9, 2022 | Waived Crystal Bradford[20] | |
March 11, 2022 | Signed Anneli Maley to a training-camp contract | |
March 15, 2022 | Signed Kaela Davis and Imani McGee-Stafford to training-camp contracts[21] | |
March 30, 2022 | Traded Lexie Brown to Los Angeles in exchange for the rights to Li Yueru[22] | |
Signed Li Yueru to a rookie-scale contract | ||
April 13, 2022 | Signed Lexie Held and Kayla Wells to training-camp contracts[23] | |
April 14, 2022 | Signed Sparkle Taylor and Emmanuelle Tahane to training-camp contracts[24] | |
April 15, 2022 | Signed Masseny Kaba to a training-camp contract[25] | |
April 16, 2022 | Signed Lindsey Pulliam to a training-camp contract | |
April 28, 2022 | Waived Kayla Well and Kamiah Smalls[26] | |
April 29, 2022 | Waived Imani McGee-Stafford and Lexi Held[27] | |
May 2, 2022 | Waived Lindsey Pulliam | |
May 4, 2022 | Waived Kaela Davis, Kysre Gondrezick, Tina Krajišnik, Anneli Maley, and Sparkle Taylor[28] | |
May 5, 2022 | Waived Kathleen Doyle, Masseny Kaba, and Emmanuelle Tahane | |
Temporarily Suspend Julie Allemand, Rebekah Gardner, Kahleah Copper, and Li Yueru due to Overseas Commitments | ||
May 6, 2022 | Signed Sparkle Taylor, Anneli Maley, Tina Krajišnik, and Kaela Davis to Hardship Contracts | |
May 9, 2022 | Released Kaela Davis and Anneli Maley from their Hardship Contracts [29] | |
Activated Rebekah Gardner from her Temporary Suspension | ||
May 10, 2022 | Signed Anneli Maley to a Hardship Contract | |
May 13, 2022 | Released Sparkle Taylor from the Hardship Contract | |
Exercised the 4th Year Team Option on Ruthy Hebard and Julie Allemand | ||
May 20, 2022 | Activated Kahleah Copper from her Temporary Suspension | |
Released Tina Krajišnik from her Hardship Contract[30] | ||
May 24, 2022 | Activated Li Yueru from her Temporary Suspension | |
Released Anneli Maley from her Hardship Contract | ||
August 24, 2022 | Signed Head coach James Wade to a Contract Extension [31] |
Roster
2022 Chicago Sky roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Depth
Pos. | Starter | Bench |
---|---|---|
C | Candace Parker | Ruthy Hebard Li Yueru |
PF | Emma Meesseman | Azurá Stevens |
SF | Kahleah Copper | Rebekah Gardner |
SG | Allie Quigley | Dana Evans |
PG | Courtney Vandersloot | Julie Allemand |
Schedule
Preseason
2022 pre-season game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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April: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
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2022 pre-season schedule |
Regular Season
Playoffs
2022 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Round vs. New York Liberty Won Series: 2–1
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Semifinals vs. Connecticut Sun Lost Series: 2–3
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2022 playoff schedule |
Standings
# | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 26 | 10 | .722 | – | 15–3 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 9–1 |
2 | x – Chicago Sky | 26 | 10 | .722 | – | 15–3 | 14–4 | 12–6 | 9–1 |
3 | x – Connecticut Sun | 25 | 11 | .694 | 1.0 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 5–5 |
4 | x – Seattle Storm | 22 | 14 | .611 | 4.0 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 6–4 |
5 | x – Washington Mystics | 22 | 14 | .611 | 4.0 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 5–5 |
6 | x – Dallas Wings | 18 | 18 | .500 | 8.0 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–5 |
7 | x – New York Liberty | 16 | 20 | .444 | 10.0 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–4 |
8 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 15 | 21 | .417 | 11.0 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 3–7 |
9 | e – Minnesota Lynx | 14 | 22 | .389 | 12.0 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 4–6 |
10 | e – Atlanta Dream | 14 | 22 | .389 | 12.0 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 3–7 |
11 | e – Los Angeles Sparks | 13 | 23 | .361 | 13.0 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 3–7 |
12 | e – Indiana Fever | 5 | 31 | .139 | 21.0 | 2–16 | 3–15 | 2–16 | 2–8 |
Notes
- (#) – League Standing
- x – Clinched playoff berth
- e – Eliminated from playoff contention
- Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings
Playoffs
Round One: Best-of-3 | Semifinals: Best-of-5 | Finals: Best-of-5 | ||||||||||||
1 | Las Vegas Aces | 2 | ||||||||||||
8 | Phoenix Mercury | 0 | ||||||||||||
1 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 | ||||||||||||
4 | Seattle Storm | 1 | ||||||||||||
4 | Seattle Storm | 2 | ||||||||||||
5 | Washington Mystics | 0 | ||||||||||||
1 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 | ||||||||||||
3 | Connecticut Sun | 1 | ||||||||||||
2 | Chicago Sky | 2 | ||||||||||||
7 | New York Liberty | 1 | ||||||||||||
2 | Chicago Sky | 2 | ||||||||||||
3 | Connecticut Sun | 3 | ||||||||||||
3 | Connecticut Sun | 2 | ||||||||||||
6 | Dallas Wings | 1 |
Bold Series winner
Statistics
Legend | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader |
Regular Season
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kahleah Copper | 31 | 31 | 28.7 | .481 | .356 | .775 | 5.7 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 15.7 |
Candace Parker | 32 | 32 | 28.3 | .468 | .311 | .816 | 8.6 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.2 |
Emma Meesseman | 36 | 36 | 28.6 | .571 | .342 | .887 | 5.5 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 12.4 |
Courtney Vandersloot | 32 | 32 | 26.5 | .481 | .367 | .765 | 3.9 | 6.5 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 11.8 |
Allie Quigley | 34 | 34 | 26.3 | .428 | .355 | .950 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 11.4 |
Azurá Stevens | 35 | 8 | 21.9 | .472 | .362 | .744 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 10.6 |
Rebekah Gardner | 35 | 2 | 21.7 | .542 | .357 | .800 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 8.4 |
Sparkle Taylor‡ | 2 | 0 | 12.5 | .833 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.5 |
Dana Evans | 33 | 1 | 11.5 | .377 | .328 | .880 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 4.3 |
Julie Allemand | 25 | 4 | 16.1 | .417 | .290 | .833 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 3.0 |
Ruthy Hebard | 24 | 0 | 9.7 | .510 | .000 | .750 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.3 |
Anneli Maley‡ | 4 | 0 | 11.0 | .500 | .667 | .000 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.0 |
Li Yueru≠ | 16 | 0 | 5.1 | .444 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.8 |
Kaela Davis‡ | 1 | 0 | 10.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Tina Krajišnik‡ | 2 | 0 | 2.5 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season
Playoffs
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kahleah Copper | 8 | 8 | 30.5 | .452 | .346 | .795 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 16.8 |
Candace Parker | 8 | 8 | 29.4 | .438 | .333 | .759 | 10.8 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 14.8 |
Courtney Vandersloot | 8 | 8 | 28.3 | .481 | .261 | .800 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 11.5 |
Emma Meesseman | 8 | 8 | 29.6 | .470 | .300 | .833 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 11.1 |
Allie Quigley | 8 | 8 | 29.0 | .338 | .319 | .714 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 9.6 |
Azura Stevens | 8 | 0 | 18.8 | .472 | .188 | .667 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 7.4 |
Rebekah Gardner | 8 | 0 | 17.9 | .389 | .000 | .857 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 5.0 |
Dana Evans | 4 | 0 | 5.8 | .600 | .600 | 1.000 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 4.3 |
Julie Allemand | 8 | 0 | 11.5 | .500 | .300 | .500 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.5 |
Ruthy Hebard | 4 | 0 | 4.3 | .200 | .000 | .000 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
Awards and honors
Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Kahleah Copper | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | June 21 | [32] |
WNBA All-Star Selection | June 28 | [33] | |
Candace Parker | WNBA All-Star Starter | June 22 | [34] |
All-WNBA First Team | September 15 | [35] | |
Courtney Vandersloot | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | June 27 | [36] |
August 1 | [37] | ||
WNBA All-Star Selection | June 28 | [33] | |
Emma Meesseman | WNBA All-Star Selection | June 28 | [33] |
James Wade | WNBA Coach of the Month - June | July 5 | [38] |
WNBA Coach of the Month - July | August 2 | [39] | |
WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year | August 22 | [40] | |
Rebekah Gardner | WNBA All-Rookie Team | August 25 | [41] |
References
- Kay, James (January 13, 2022). "5 predictions for the Chicago Sky as WNBA free agency opens, including Allie Quigley and Diamond DeShields moving on". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- "Chicago Sky re-sign Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
- "Chicago Sky Re-Sign WNBA All-Star and WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
- "Chicago Sky Sign WNBA Champion, WNBA All-Star, 2019 WNBA Finals MVP Emma Meesseman". Chicago Sky. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
- Ward, Zack (January 31, 2022). "Stefanie Dolson heading home to New York". Swish Appeal. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- Merchant, Sabreena (February 3, 2022). "Three-team trade sends Diamond DeShields to Phoenix". Swish Appeal. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- "Chicago Sky acquire Julie Allemand in three-team trade". Chicago Sky. February 3, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- "Sky make WNBA-record 28-point comeback in win over Las Vegas; Rebekah Gardner braces for LA homecoming". Chicago Sun-Times. June 22, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
- Pickman, Ben (June 28, 2022). "2022 No. 1 Pick Rhyne Howard Among 12 WNBA ASG Reserves". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
- "Sky Acquire 2021 Second-Round Draft Pick". Chicago Sky. February 9, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- "Chicago Sky Acquire Dana Evans From Dallas". Chicago Sky. June 2, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- "Rachel Galligan Tweet". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
- Costabile, Annie. "Sky put core designation on WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper". chicago.suntimes.com. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
- "CHICAGO SKY HIRE ANN WAUTERS AS ASSISTANT COACH". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
- "Chicago Sky Sign Crystal Bradford". Chicago Sky. February 5, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
- "Chicago Sky sign Kysre Gondrezick". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
- "Rachel Galligan Tweet 2". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
- "Chicago Sky add Kamiah Smalls, Rebekah Gardner to training camp roster". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- "Chicago Sky Add Two to Training Camp Roster". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- Galligan, Rachel (March 9, 2022). "The Chicago Sky have waived Crystal Bradford. @Winsidr". Twitter. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- "Sky Sign Davis, McGee-Stafford, and Maley Ahead of Training Camp". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
- Costabile, Annie (March 30, 2022). "Sky acquire center Li Yueru in sign-and-trade sending Lexie Brown to Sparks". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
- "Chicago Sky Adds Two Players Ahead of Training Camp". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
- "Chicago Sky Continues to Build Training Camp Roster with Addition of Emmanuelle Tahane". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
- Rachel, Galligan. "The Chicago Sky have signed Masseny Kaba to a training camp contract out of UCF. @Winsidr". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
- "We have waived Kamiah Smalls and Kayla Wells". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- "We have waived Imani McGee-Stafford and Lexi Held". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
- "We have waived Kaela Davis, Kysre Gondrezick, Tina Krajisnik, Anneli Maley, and Sparkle Taylor". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
- Costabile, Annie. "Sky have waived Kaela Davis to make room for Rebekah Gardner". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
- "We have activated Kahleah Copper and released Tina Krajišnik". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
- Taylor, Ryan. "Sky extend head coach James Wade through 2025". nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
- @WNBA (June 21, 2022). "Slight work for the former MVP & Finals MVP! @_ajawilson22 earns her third Player of the Week honors, and @kahleahcopper earns her first 👏" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- "Chicago Sky Trio of Kahleah Copper, Emma Meesseman, Courtney Vandersloot Highlight Reserves for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
- "AT&T WNBA All-Star Starters Announced With Seattle Storm's Sue Bird Extending Record-Number of All-Star Selections to 13". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
- "Kia WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson Leads 2022 All-WNBA First Team" (Press release). WNBA. September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
- @WNBA (June 27, 2022). ".@nnekaogwumike & @Sloot22 are your WNBA Players of the Week 👏" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- @WNBA (August 1, 2022). "Players of the Week are in! ⤵ Kelsey Plum (@Kelseyplum10) and Courtney Vandersloot (@Sloot22) were straight-up balling last week! 👏" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- @WNBA (July 5, 2022). ".@coachjameswade is your #WNBA Coach of the Month after leading the @chicagosky to a 9-2 record 🤩👏" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- @WNBA (August 2, 2022). "Another WNBA Coach of the Month honor for @coachjameswade 🎉" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- Poe, Julia (August 22, 2022). "Chicago Sky coach/GM James Wade named WNBA's Basketball Executive of the Year after team's best regular-season record ever". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
- Maloney, Jack (August 25, 2022). "2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year: Dream's Rhyne Howard wins honor, highlights All-Rookie team". cbssports.com. CBS. Retrieved August 25, 2022.