Ahead of do-or-die Game 3, Sky coach/GM James Wade wins WNBA Executive of the Year
NEW YORK - In the WNBA, a league with 12 teams, one would think establishing a franchise in the third-largest city in the country would immediately make it a destination.
For the simple fact alone that Chicago has one of the richest basketball cultures in the world, you'd think it would be at the top of the list for free agents considering a change of scenery. You'd think that, and you'd be wrong.
For over 12 years, 13 WNBA seasons and through the hiring and firing of five coaches/general managers, the Sky failed to create an environment that the league's top talent wanted to be part of.
Until the hiring of James Wade.
"You can be the best coach, but you have to have players," Courtney Vandersloot said.
Wade brought those players to the Sky through a series of moves that earned him the 2022 WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year award, becoming the first Black executive to do so.