2023 Chicago Sky season

The 2023 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 18th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and their fifth season under head coach James Wade. In the offseason, the team saw the departures of several key players in free agency including Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, and Azurá Stevens.

2023 Chicago Sky season
Coach	James Wade (until July 1) Emre Vatansever (after July 1)
Arena	Wintrust Arena
Attendance	7,242 per game
Results
Record	18–22 (.450)
Place	5th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	8th seed; Lost 1st Round 0–2 to Las Vegas
Team Leaders
Points	Kahleah Copper – 18.7 ppg
Rebounds	Alanna Smith – 6.6 rpg
Assists	Courtney Williams – 6.3 apg
← 2022 season 2024 season →

On July 1, 2023, Wade stepped down as the head coach of the Sky to become an assistant coach of the Toronto Raptors in the NBA, so he was replaced by Emre Vatansever for the rest of the season. ^[1]

The Women’s National Basketball Association announced that the first WNBA Canada Game would feature the Minnesota Lynx and the Sky on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON. It was the first-ever WNBA preseason game in Canada.^[2]

The Sky started the season well, winning their first two games. However, they lost two of their last three in May to finish the month 3–2. The Sky won two of their first three games in June before going on a six-game losing streak. They defeated Los Angeles twice to finish the month and ended June with a 4–7 record. July began with a win before the team lost four straight games. Wins book-ended two losses to finish the month and the Sky finished with a 3–6 record in July. August started with two back-to-back wins in Dallas, but then the Sky lost five straight games. They finished the month winning three of their last five games to finish August with a 5–6 record. The Sky were battling with Los Angeles for the eighth and final playoff spot entering September. The Sky lost their first game of September, but won the last three to clinch the eighth seed on September 8, after defeating Minnesota.

As the eighth seed in the 2023 WNBA Playoffs, the Sky faced off against the first seed Las Vegas Aces in the First Round. The Sky lost the first game in Las Vegas 59–87. Needing a win in the second game, the Sky lost 70–92 in the second game and were eliminated from the playoffs. Their .450 winning percentage was the worst since 2018 and this was their fifth straight year qualifying for the playoffs.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2023 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
2	23	Kayana Traylor	United States	Virginia Tech
3	35	Kseniya Malashka	Belarus	Middle Tennessee

Transactions

Date	Transaction
January 11, 2023	Extended a Qualifying Offer to Rebekah Gardner[3]
February 3, 2023	Signed Elizabeth Williams[4]
February 4, 2023	Signed Courtney Williams[5]
February 5, 2023	Signed Isabelle Harrison[6]
	Signed Feyonda Fitzgerald and Robyn Parks to Training Camp Contracts[7]
February 7, 2023	Signed Astou Ndour-Fall to a 1-Year Deal[8]
February 11, 2023	Acquired Marina Mabrey and a 2024 Second-Round Pick (from Phoenix) in a 4-Team Trade involving the Dallas Wings, Phoenix Mercury, and the New York Liberty[9]
February 13, 2023	Signed Rebekah Gardner to a Reserved Qualifying Offers[10]
February 14, 2023	Signed Alanna Smith to a 1-Year Deal[11]
	Suspended the contract of Julie Allemand for the full season due to her commitments with the Belgium National Team this summer[12]
February 16, 2023	Signed Anneli Maley to a Training Camp Contract
February 21, 2023	Claimed Kristine Anigwe off of Waivers
April 12, 2023	Suspend the contract of Astou Ndour-Fall for the full season due to a personal decision[13]
	Signed Angel Baker to a Training Camp Contract[14]
April 17, 2023	Signed Morgan Bertsch to a Training Camp Contract[15]
April 29, 2023	Signed Kayana Traylor to a Rookie Scale Deal
May 10, 2023	Waived Angel Baker[16]
May 14, 2023	Exercised 4th-Year Team Option on Dana Evans
May 17, 2023	Waived Feyonda Fitzgerald and Kayana Traylor
May 18, 2023	Suspended the contract of Li Yueru for the Full-Season due to Non-WNBA Injury
	Claimed Sika Koné off Waivers[17]
	Waived Anneli Maley[17]
	Placed Ruthy Hebard on the Inactive List due to Pregnancy/Child-Birth[17]
June 5, 2023	Temporarily suspend the contract of Kristine Anigwe due to Overseas Commitments
June 9, 2023	Signed Khaalia Hillsman and Taylor Soule to Hardship Contracts[18]
June 17, 2023	Released Khaalia Hillsman from the Hardship Contract[19]
June 22, 2023	Activated the temporarily suspended contract of Kristine Anigwe due to Overseas Commitments
July 1, 2023	Head Coach James Wade resigned as Head Coach and GM to take an Assistant Coach position with the Toronto Raptors[20]
	Promoted Assistant Coach Emre Vatansever to Interim Head Coach/GM[20]
July 3, 2023	Activated Ruthy Hebard from the Inactive List due to Pregnancy/Maternity Leave[21]
	Waived Kristine Anigwe
July 27, 2023	Temporarily suspend the contract of Sika Koné due to Overseas Commitments
August 8, 2023	Activated the temporarily suspended contract of Sika Koné due to Overseas Commitments
September 10, 2023	Signed Kahleah Copper to a Contract Extension[22]
October 12, 2023	Hired Teresa Weatherspoon as Head Coach[23]

Roster Changes

Additions Personnel Signed/Trade Former Team Elizabeth Williams Free Agency Washington Mystics Courtney Williams Free Agency Connecticut Sun Isabelle Harrison Free Agency Dallas Wings Marina Mabrey Trade Dallas Wings Alanna Smith Free Agency - Morgan Bertsch Free Agency - Robyn Parks Free Agency - Sika Koné Waiver Claim New York Liberty Taylor Soule Free Agency Minnesota Lynx

Subtractions Personnel Reason New Team Candace Parker[24] Free agency Las Vegas Aces Courtney Vandersloot[25] Free agency New York Liberty Allie Quigley[26] Free agency Sitting out 2023 season Azurá Stevens[27] Free agency Los Angeles Sparks Emma Meesseman Belgium National Team commitment - Julie Allemand Belgium National Team commitment - Li Yueru Non-WNBA Injury -

Roster

2023 Chicago Sky roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs F 25 Bertsch, Morgan 6' 4" (1.93m) 173 lb (78kg) 1997-04-20 UC Davis R G/F 2 Copper, Kahleah 6' 1" (1.85m) 165 lb (75kg) 1994-08-28 Rutgers 7 G 11 Evans, Dana 5' 6" (1.68m) 145 lb (66kg) 1998-08-01 Louisville 2 G 35 Gardner, Rebekah  6' 1" (1.85m) 130 lb (59kg) 1990-07-09 UCLA 1 F 20 Harrison, Isabelle  6' 3" (1.91m) 183 lb (83kg) 1993-09-27 Tennessee 6 F 24 Hebard, Ruthy 6' 4" (1.93m) 190 lb (86kg) 1998-04-28 Oregon 3 F 23 Koné, Sika (S) 6' 4" (1.93m) 180 lb (82kg) 2002-07-13 Mali R G 4 Mabrey, Marina 5' 11" (1.8m) 170 lb (77kg) 1996-09-14 Notre Dame 4 F 21 Parks, Robyn 6' 1" (1.85m) 170 lb (77kg) 1992-07-19 VCU R F 8 Smith, Alanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 180 lb (82kg) 1996-09-10 Stanford 4 F 7 Soule, Taylor 5' 11" (1.8m) 186 lb (84kg) 2000-01-05 Virginia Tech R G 10 Williams, Courtney 5' 8" (1.73m) 133 lb (60kg) 1994-05-11 South Florida 7 C 1 Williams, Elizabeth 6' 3" (1.91m) 200 lb (91kg) 1993-06-23 Duke 8	Head coach Emre Vatansever (Marmara University) Assistant coaches Tonya Edwards (Tennessee) Ann Wauters Yoann Cabioc'h Athletic trainer Meghan Lockerby Strength and conditioning coach Ann Crosby (Western Michigan) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth

Pos.	Starter	Bench
PG	Marina Mabrey	Dana Evans
SG	Courtney Williams	Rebekah Gardner
SF	Kahleah Copper	Robyn Parks Taylor Soule
PF	Alanna Smith	Morgan Bertsch Sika Koné Isabelle Harrison
C	Elizabeth Williams	Ruthy Hebard

Schedule

Preseason

2023 game log Total: 2–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–1)
May: 2–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 5 @ Dallas L 70–75 Kahleah Copper (16) Rebekah Gardner (7) Dana Evans (3) College Park Center 2,004 0–1 2 May 7 Indiana W 81–56 Isabelle Harrison (15) Rebekah Gardner (5) Courtney Williams (4) Wintrust Arena 2,024 1–1 3 May 13 vs. Minnesota W 82–74 Kahleah Copper (18) Kahleah Copper (9) Dana Evans (5) Scotiabank Arena 19,800 2–1
2023 season schedule

Regular Season

2023 game log Total: 18–22 (Home: 7–13; Road: 11–9)
May: 3–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 19 @ Minnesota W 77–66 Kahleah Copper (20) Copper C. Williams (7) Kahleah Copper (5) Target Center 8,024 1–0 2 May 21 @ Phoenix W 75–69 Kahleah Copper (15) Elizabeth Williams (8) Courtney Williams (7) Footprint Center 14,040 2–0 3 May 26 Washington L 69–71 Marina Mabrey (19) Courtney Williams (9) Courtney Williams (5) Wintrust Arena 7,304 2–1 4 May 28 Dallas W 94–88 Marina Mabrey (23) Alanna Smith (12) Marina Mabrey (8) Wintrust Arena 6,042 3–1 5 May 30 @ Atlanta L 65–83 Dana Evans (11) Sika Koné (8) Dana Evans (5) Gateway Center Arena 2,562 3–2
June : 4–7 (Home: 3–3; Road: 1–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 6 June 2 New York L 76–77 Kahleah Copper (20) Kahleah Copper (9) Courtney Williams (7) Wintrust Arena 7,188 3–3 7 June 4 @ New York W 86–82 Kahleah Copper (27) Courtney Williams (9) Courtney Williams (6) Barclays Center 7,225 4–3 8 June 6 Indiana W 108–103 (OT) Marina Mabrey (28) Elizabeth Williams (7) Dana Evans (7) Wintrust Arena 5,201 5–3 9 June 9 @ Los Angeles L 62–77 Alanna Smith (19) Alanna Smith (9) Marina Mabrey (4) Crypto.com Arena 5,431 5–4 10 June 11 @ Las Vegas L 80–93 Marina Mabrey (20) Alanna Smith (8) Dana Evans (8) Michelob Ultra Arena 9,786 5–5 11 June 15 Indiana L 90–92 Marina Mabrey (36) Alanna Smith (11) Courtney Williams (10) Wintrust Arena 6,323 5–6 12 June 18 @ Washington L 69–77 Morgan Bertsch (16) Alanna Smith (13) Courtney Williams (6) Entertainment and Sports Arena 4,009 5–7 13 June 22 Washington L 59–80 Alanna Smith (13) Alanna Smith (8) Courtney Williams (9) Wintrust Arena 6,158 5–8 14 June 25 @ Connecticut L 72–96 Kahleah Copper (29) Kahleah Copper (7) Evans Mabrey C. Williams (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,517 5–9 15 June 28 Los Angeles W 80–63 Courtney Williams (21) Courtney Williams (9) Marina Mabrey (4) Wintrust Arena 8,810 6–9 16 June 30 Los Angeles W 86–78 Alanna Smith (18) Courtney Williams (11) Courtney Williams (13) Wintrust Arena 7,272 7–9
July : 3–6 (Home: 1–5; Road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 17 July 2 @ Indiana W 89–87 Courtney Williams (28) Elizabeth Williams (9) Courtney Williams (8) Gainbridge Fieldhouse 4,004 8–9 18 July 7 Atlanta L 68–82 Kahleah Copper (16) Copper Smith (6) Courtney Williams (7) Wintrust Arena 7,911 8–10 19 July 9 Atlanta L 77–88 Kahleah Copper (28) Elizabeth Williams (9) Courtney Williams (7) Wintrust Arena 7,325 8–11 20 July 12 Connecticut L 72–84 Kahleah Copper (22) C. Williams E. Williams (8) Courtney Williams (6) Wintrust Arena 9,025 8–12 21 July 20 @ Phoenix L 62–80 Kahleah Copper (17) Elizabeth Williams (8) Elizabeth Williams (5) Footprint Center 11,292 8–13 22 July 22 @ Seattle W 90–75 Kahleah Copper (29) Alanna Smith (17) Marina Mabrey (6) Climate Pledge Arena 8,655 9–13 23 July 25 Las Vegas L 95–107 Kahleah Copper (37) Alanna Smith (8) Courtney Williams (11) Wintrust Arena 9,025 9–14 24 July 28 Seattle L 74–83 Kahleah Copper (17) Kahleah Copper (8) Courtney Williams (5) Wintrust Arena 7,213 9–15 25 July 30 Phoenix W 104–85 Kahleah Copper (24) Mabrey E. Williams (5) Courtney Williams (9) Wintrust Arena 8,914 10–15
August : 5–6 (Home: 1–3; Road: 4–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 26 August 4 @ Dallas W 104–89 Copper C. Williams (25) Courtney Williams (6) Courtney Williams (6) College Park Center 3,762 11–15 27 August 6 @ Dallas W 104–96 Marina Mabrey (32) Courtney Williams (8) Courtney Williams (8) College Park Center 4,057 12–15 28 August 8 Minnesota L 79–88 Kahleah Copper (23) Elizabeth Williams (9) Courtney Williams (6) Wintrust Arena 5,099 12–16 29 August 11 New York 73–89 Alanna Smith (19) Courtney Williams (10) Courtney Williams (6) Wintrust Arena 8,070 12–17 30 August 13 @ Washington L 76–83 Kahleah Copper (17) Elizabeth Williams (12) Courtney Williams (7) Entertainment and Sports Arena 3,796 12–18 31 August 18 @ Atlanta L 67–78 Dana Evans (18) Alanna Smith (12) Elizabeth Williams (5) Gateway Center Arena 2,957 12–19 32 August 20 Connecticut L 73–79 Kahleah Copper (15) Alanna Smith (8) C. Williams E. Williams (6) Wintrust Arena 6,901 12–20 33 August 22 Seattle W 102–79 Dana Evans (23) Alanna Smith (7) Dana Evans (8) Wintrust Arena 4,822 13–20 34 August 24 Las Vegas L 87–94 Marina Mabrey (22) Elizabeth Williams (9) Courtney Williams (6) Wintrust Arena 8,084 13–21 35 August 27 @ Seattle W 90–85 Elizabeth Williams (23) Kahleah Copper (12) C. Williams Evans (6) Climate Pledge Arena 9,893 14–21 36 August 29 @ Los Angeles W 76–75 Kahleah Copper (22) C. Williams E. Williams (9) Courtney Williams (7) Crypto.com Arena 6,041 15–21
September : 3–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 37 September 3 New York L 69–86 Kahleah Copper (23) C. Williams E. Williams (7) Courtney Williams (6) Wintrust Arena 8,223 15–22 38 September 5 @ Indiana W 96–69 Kahleah Copper (25) Courtney Williams (8) Marina Mabrey (6) Gainbridge Fieldhouse 2,450 16–22 39 September 8 Minnesota W 92–87 Kahleah Copper (20) Sika Koné (10) Courtney Williams (10) Wintrust Arena 7,994 17–22 40 September 10 @ Connecticut W 102–91 (OT) Courtney Williams (23) Courtney Williams (16) Courtney Williams (13) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,377 18–22
2023 season schedule

Playoffs

2023 playoff game log
First Round vs. Las Vegas Lost Series: 0-2 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 13 @ Las Vegas L 59–87 Kahleah Copper (15) Courtney Williams (11) Courtney Williams (6) T-Mobile Arena 12,927 0–1 2 September 17 @ Las Vegas L 70–92 Kahleah Copper (25) Copper E. Williams (10) Elizabeth Williams (5) Michelob Ultra Arena 9,000 0–2
2023 playoff schedule

Standings

#	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Conf.	Home	Road	Cup
1	x – Las Vegas Aces	34	6	.850	–	18–2	19–1	15–5	9–1
2	x – New York Liberty	32	8	.800	2	16–4	15–5	17–3	7–3
3	x – Connecticut Sun	27	13	.675	7	14–6	13–7	14–6	7–3
4	x – Dallas Wings	22	18	.550	12	11–9	11–9	11–9	6–4
5	x – Atlanta Dream	19	21	.475	15	11–9	11–9	8–12	6–4
6	x – Minnesota Lynx	19	21	.475	15	12–8	9–11	10–10	5–5
7	x – Washington Mystics	19	21	.475	15	9–11	12–8	7–13	5–5
8	x – Chicago Sky	18	22	.450	16	5–15	7–13	11–9	3–7
9	e – Los Angeles Sparks	17	23	.425	17	9–11	10–10	7–13	5–5
10	e – Indiana Fever	13	27	.325	21	5–15	6–14	7–13	2–8
11	e – Seattle Storm	11	29	.275	23	8–12	4–16	7–13	4–6
12	e – Phoenix Mercury	9	31	.225	25	2–18	8–12	1–19	1–9

Notes

(#) – League Standing

x – Clinched playoff berth

e – Eliminated from postseason contention

Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings

Playoffs

See also: 2023 WNBA Playoffs

	First round Best-of-3					Semifinals Best-of-5					Finals Best-of-5
	1	Las Vegas Aces	2
	8	Chicago Sky	0
						1	Las Vegas Aces	3
						4	Dallas Wings	0
	4	Dallas Wings	2
	5	Atlanta Dream	0
											1	Las Vegas Aces	3
											2	New York Liberty	1
	2	New York Liberty	2
	7	Washington Mystics	0
						2	New York Liberty	3
						3	Connecticut Sun	1
	3	Connecticut Sun	2
	6	Minnesota Lynx	1

• Bold – Series winner
• Italic – Team with home-court advantage

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	38	38	31.2	.448	.404	.770	4.4	2.0	0.9	0.3	18.7
Marina Mabrey	39	39	30.0	.411	.390	.836	3.7	3.6	0.7	0.5	15.0
Courtney Williams	40	40	30.1	.437	.443	.600	6.0	6.3	1.0	0.3	10.4
Elizabeth Williams	40	40	29.7	.514	.000	.630	5.8	2.5	1.3	1.5	9.8
Alanna Smith	38	35	26.5	.498	.294	.679	6.6	1.8	1.3	1.3	9.2
Dana Evans	39	1	21.5	.360	.294	.854	1.2	3.0	0.7	0.1	9.0
Rebekah Gardner	3	0	19.7	.429	.600	1.000	3.7	2.3	2.0	0.3	7.0
Morgan Bertsch	28	5	14.2	.456	.444	.750	1.7	0.7	0.4	0.3	4.4
Robyn Parks	37	2	13.6	.381	.368	1.000	1.6	0.4	0.3	0.1	3.9
Ruthy Hebard	19	0	9.2	.585	.000	.650	2.4	0.4	0.3	0.4	3.9
Sika Koné≠	20	0	9.3	.532	.333	.769	3.0	0.5	0.2	0.1	3.6
Kristine Anigwe‡	10	0	8.3	.455	.000	.625	2.1	0.4	0.3	0.5	2.5
Taylor Soule≠	15	0	3.5	.143	.000	.625	0.5	0.2	0.0	0.1	0.6
Khaalia Hillsman‡	1	0	1.0	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	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	2	2	34.5	.406	.455	.750	7.5	1.5	0.5	0.0	20.0
Dana Evans	2	0	22.5	.417	.250	1.000	0.5	3.5	1.5	0.0	14.5
Marina Mabrey	2	2	32.5	.348	.222	1.000	3.5	1.5	0.0	1.5	9.5
Courtney Williams	2	2	32.5	.316	.286	.000	8.0	4.0	0.5	1.0	7.0
Elizabeth Williams	2	2	33.0	.286	.000	.000	10.0	3.0	0.5	2.0	4.0
Alanna Smith	2	2	18.0	.300	.000	1.000	4.5	0.5	0.0	1.0	4.0
Robyn Parks	2	0	13.0	.333	.333	.000	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.5
Sika Koné	2	0	4.5	.667	.000	.000	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	2.0
Ruthy Hebard	2	0	7.0	.250	.000	.000	1.0	0.0	1.0	0.5	1.0
Morgan Bertsch	1	0	5.0	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Taylor Soule	1	0	1.0	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Kahleah Copper	WNBA All-Star	July 1	[28]
Courtney Williams	Eastern Conference Player of the Week	July 5	[29]
Elizabeth Williams	All-Defensive Second Team	September 22	[30]