Delle Donne earns MVP as Sky opens WNBA playoffs
It's ironic what has happened at the UIC Pavilion in the last year.
For four summers, from 2006 to 2009, the Pavilion was the home of the Chicago Sky, then the newest and often the worst team in the WNBA.
Last year, when there was a conflict at Allstate Arena, the Sky's home since 2010, the WNBA Finals were moved to the Pavilion. That the Sky, the Pavilion and the WNBA Finals made it into the same sentence was shocking by historical standards.
But the Chicago Sky, now in its 10th year as a franchise, has continued its upward trajectory. Having placed second in the Eastern Conference this summer, the Sky will open its third straight (and third-ever) playoff run, hoping to win the WNBA championship after finishing as the runner-up to the Phoenix Mercury last year.
This new playoff run will begins Thursday (7 p.m., ESPN2) at the UIC Pavilion, due to another conflict at Allstate Arena. And while the Sky moved through its practice there on Wednesday, yet another monumental event took place that could have never been fathomed at the Pavilion in the early years.
The Sky has an MVP.
Sky star forward Elena Delle Donne was presented with the WNBA's most valuable player award for the 2015 season and posed with her new hardware after practice.
"I always just let my game speak for itself," Delle Donne said after a recent game. "And if the numbers and the accolades come, then great. But I'm worried about this team and that's all I care about."
The Sky (21-13) will open the best-of-three Eastern Conference semifinals against its rival, the Indiana Fever, which is 20-14 and finished the season on a two-game win streak. Once owned by Indiana, pre-Delle Donne, the Sky swept the Fever 4-0 during the regular season after having beaten the Fever in the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
Delle Donne is excited for a return trip to the UIC Pavilion.
"We loved it. We said that after last year (in the Finals)," Delle Donne said. "It was fun having the fans right there on top of us. It kind of gave you that old college vibe."
Delle Donne often played like a pro among college players this summer. She topped the WNBA in scoring with a 23.4-point average while finishing third in rebounding (8.4 rpg) and blocks (2.1 bpg). She also shot a WNBA-best 95 percent from the free throw line. Delle Donne scored 40 points in a game twice, 30 points five times and at least 20 points 21 times. She had a career-high 45 points against Atlanta.
When asked recently if Delle Donne was the MVP of the league, Sky coach Pokey Chatman didn't hesitate.
"Yes," Chatman declared. "The numbers. The efficiency. The team. Well-rounded. The scoring and rebounding, free throws, elevation. And there's no stat for the points that Elena gets for others because she's a utility player."
Delle Donne received 38 of 39 first-place votes from a national panel of sports writers and broadcasters. Minnesota Lynx forward Maya Moore, the 2014 MVP, got the only other first-place vote and finished in second place in the overall voting. New York center Tina Charles, Phoenix center Brittney Griner and Los Angeles forward Candace Parker rounded out the top five vote-getters.
The New York Liberty, which won the Eastern Conference, will be taking on the Washington Mystics in the other Eastern Conference semifinals. Meanwhile, the conference champion Minnesota Lynx, the Phoenix Mercury, the Tulsa Shock and the Los Angeles Sparks are the four playoff teams in the West.
More hardware: Expect the WNBA to announce on Thursday that Sky reserve guard Allie Quigley, a native of Joliet and former star at DePaul, has won the league's Sixth Woman of the Year award for the second straight season.