Pillow talk means basketball talk for new Sky coach and his wife
Pillow talk quickly evolves into basketball strategizing at the Wade house.
For two people who are paid for their basketball minds, basketball is, well, always on their minds.
Even at bedtime.
"It'll be midnight, and we are talking to each other, about this idea and that idea," James Wade said. "It's nice. Two general managers in the same house in pretty cool."
James Wade is the first-year head coach and general manager of the Chicago Sky, which is 1-2 on the young 2019 WNBA season and plays its second home game on Sunday (5 p.m.) against the Seattle Storm at Wintrust Arena.
His wife, Edwige Lawson-Wade, is a native of France and a former WNBA player. She is now the director of basketball operations for BLMA, a professional basketball club in France that recently reached the finals of the 2019 EuroCup Women.
"It's not that I always ask her (for advice), she'll just tell me, 'You know, this would be a good idea, that would be a good idea. What about this, what about that?'" Wade said with a laugh. "But I do the same with her. I tell her, 'You know, this might be a good idea if you did this with your team.' I think we both actually appreciate that. I know I need it. I think she needs it too."
The Wades, who have a 3-year-old son James Wade III, whose nickname is "Jet," had a lot to talk about heading into Sky season. James Wade needed to make an important choice with the fourth pick in April's WNBA Draft and then was faced with trying to finalize the roster before the season opener.
Wade drafted popular Connecticut star Katie Lou Samuelson in the draft and then before trimming his roster to the final 12, he added veteran center Jantel Lavender, a star at Ohio State who has spent the last eight years with the Los Angeles Sparks, by trading away a future draft pick.
Wade, in his first role ever as a head coach and general manager, spent a lot of time thinking about how to arrange all the pieces, new and old, of his Sky puzzle.
"I like it that she (Edwige) gets that about me," Wade said. "We like talking about that kind of stuff. We both like our jobs a lot.
"For me, this job is very exciting. It's a dream. You work a long time and you say, 'One day, if I get the opportunity, I just want to take advantage of it.' So that's where I'm at now. I just want to get us better and winning games."
Bandits get going: The Bandits, Chicago's professional softball team, opened the 2019 season on Thursday with a win over the Cleveland Comets.
The home series continued on Friday and will also include games on Saturday (7:35 p.m.) and Sunday (3:05 p.m., doubleheader).
The Bandits, who have won four NPF championships since 2008, including 2015 and 2016, play home games at Parkway Bank Sports Complex, 27 Jennie Finch Way in Rosemont.
World Cup kicks off: The Women's World Cup got its start on Friday and will run through July 7 in France.
The United States women's national team, a favorite to defend its 2015 World Cup title and win again in 2019, doesn't play its first group game until Tuesday, against Thailand.
Women's World Cup coverage can be found on Fox and FS1.
Tuesday's game between the U.S. and Thailand will be broadcast at 2 p.m. on Fox.
pbabcock@dailyherald.com
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