“I came to Chicago because of YOU,” Angel Reese wrote in an emotional note on X after the Chicago Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon was fired last week. The latter played in the WNBA from 1997 to 2004 and before being hired by Chicago Sky as HC, she was the New Orleans Pelicans’s assistant coach. Under her coaching, Sky finished 2024 with a 13-27 record and missed out on the playoffs by a whisker, which was worse than their 18 wins in 2023. This took place despite the addition of Reese, who set the WNBA single-season rebounding record in her rookie year.

Coming into the season, Reese was drafted as the seventh overall pick. As is the want of emerging players, the rookie, fortunately, got a team that was suitable for her playing style. T-Spoon made the LSU alumna the chief player of the Sky around whom the team was built. So, when the 58-year-old was fired just after one season, fans speculated that Reese too might leave the team. However, a recent claim by the player has put cold water over those rumors.

Reflecting on her journey with the Sky, Angel Reese made quite a bold claim about her future. What did she say?

“I came to Chicago to be a [WNBA] champion and that’s what I want to achieve — hopefully, by the end of my career, I’ll have an MVP award under my belt too,” Reese stated in an interview with Business Off Fashion on Thursday. Well, this year, A’ja Wilson was crowned as MVP and with this, she became the second player in WNBA’s history to win it unanimously.

She had 451 rebounds—a new single-season record—in 38 games while Reese had 446 rebounds in 34 games—just five less than Wilson, and that too because of a season-ending wrist injury.

Additionally, Reese eclipsed Candace Parker’s record of most consecutive double-doubles in a single regular season with 15 back-to-back double-doubles. All this made her a prime contender for the ROTY award, which was later clinched by Caitlin Clark. Overall, the Chi-Town Barbie was fearless on the court and collected 13.1 rebounds per game. A big reason for her exceptional rookie season is linked to her coach T-Spoon, who trusted her.

Angel Reese is heartbroken by Teresa Weatherspoon’s firing

T-Spoon was hired in place of the interim head coach, Emre Vatansever, in October 2023. She was given the task of rebuilding the team as, within a span of two years, two head coaches had been replaced. Therefore, the Texas-born did the trial-and-error method with the Sky, which apparently didn’t go down well with many players and the management.

She built the team around Reese before making Chennedy Carter the chief offensive scorer for the team. A lot of fans opined that it was these changing strategies that ultimately hurt the Sky. But T-Spoon can also not be blamed because the team didn’t have their main players from the previous seasons.

Starting the year on a positive note, the Chicago-based franchise suffered multiple losses in a go despite Reese trying to balance it up. By the beginning of the Olympic break, the Sky had a 10-14 tally, which deteriorated once the team traded one of their veterans, Marina Mabrey, to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Rachel Banham and Moriah Jefferson. Plus, a series of health issues and late-season injuries ultimately culminated in the Sky losing their claim to the playoffs and ending the season with an abysmal 13-27 tally. 

So when Weatherspoon was fired late in September, Reese couldn’t control her emotions and tweeted her gratitude to the coach for believing in her. “I’m heartbroken. I’m literally lost for words knowing what this woman meant to me in such a pivotal point in my life. She was the only person that believed in me. The one that trusted me. Many don’t even know what it’s like to be a black women in sports when nobody believes in you. You had a tough job. All the crazy circumstances that we went through this year & when your back was against the wall, you always believed. I came to Chicago because of YOU,” Reese wrote on X.

“You were an unsung hero in my life. We built a relationship in a short amount of time that will last forever. I’ll never question God why he brings people in my life and takes them away from me in the capacity that I need them but i’ve always believed everyone is in your life for a reason and a season. You were the best reason & season. You didn’t deserve this but I can’t thank you enough. I love you Tspoon.”

Hopefully, the Sky will get themselves a new coach soon. And under the new coach, Reese will once again get the spotlight she deserves. Plus, it could also materialize her dreams of making it to the Championship title and winning the MVP. What do you think?