Chicago Sun-Times: All posts by Annie Costabile

Routine is key for Ayo Dosunmu in Year 3 of his development

2023-12-06T23:54:54.215-06:00

Guard Ayo Dosunmu has a distinct memory from the 2010-11 Bulls season.

Of course, back then, he was just an 11-year-old fan at the United Center watching the franchise that would one day draft him 38th overall. But that memory was of a team that had the arena packed with enthralled fans for a first-round playoff game against the Pacers. Derrick Rose would soon be named MVP.

“I remember the atmosphere,” Dosunmu said. “That was something I thought I definitely wanted to be a part of.”

Last week, Dosunmu got his first start of the season in the Bulls’ 120-113 victory over the Bucks in overtime. He had 14 points, six assists, six rebounds and five steals. The atmosphere during the game stood out to him and reminded him of that playoff game he attended.

“[The win over the Bucks] was a crazy game,” Dosunmu said. “I would definitely say it was similar. When we play the right way, the United Center, they cheer.”

The Bulls haven’t played the right way much this season.

But as the team has navigated recent injuries — Zach LaVine missed his third consecutive game Wednesday night with a sore right foot — Dosunmu has had increased opportunities to shine. His efforts in the Bulls’ previous two games were pivotal in securing the team’s first winning streak this season, averaging 14.5 points, 4.5 assists, three rebounds and 2.5 steals.

Each season of Dosunmu’s three-year career has presented a new challenge. Each time, Dosunmu has risen to meet it.

“The biggest adversity he faced his rookie year was that his legs were tired,” coach Billy Donovan said.

Thrust into running the Bulls’ offense after Lonzo Ball went down, Donovan credited Dosunmu with “saving us in a lot of ways.”

He struggled shooting the ball in his second year — specifically on the move. His field-goal percentage dipped slightly from 52% to 49.3%. His three-point shooting percentage dropped from 37.6% to 31.2%. He was selected for the league’s Rising Stars Challenge in both seasons.

What has impressed Donovan most is his ability to withstand difficulty.

The lesson in his third year is how to bring the most value to his team despite seeing a dip in his minutes.

“Whether you’re in the rotation, not in the rotation, playing 30 minutes or five minutes, [it’s about] always having the same routine,” Dosunmu said. “One thing I built this year is having a routine.”

Dosunmu signed a three-year, $21 million contract in July, signifying that he’s a valued piece in the Bulls’ future plans.

The roster changes on the horizon for the organization will undoubtedly push them further from Dosunmu’s dream of bringing playoff basketball back to the United Center. But his continued development is an indication of his potential to be a key piece in ensuring those days return.

Williams way

Hornets center Mark Williams is familiar with Chicago.

Elizabeth Williams, his sister, finished her first season with the Sky in September, playing a pivotal role in helping the team secure its fifth consecutive playoff appearance.

Williams was out with a lower back injury, but that didn’t stop him from elaborating on how his older sister has influenced his game.

“For as long as I can remember, I was watching her play basketball,” Williams told the Sun-Times.

“She’s always been a smart player. She makes a lot of reads offensively and defensively — defensively especially.”

Who is the better basketball player now?

“Me,” Mark, who’s averaging 13.2 points and 10.1 rebounds in his second season, said with a smirk.

Curious crowd

Wednesday’s game was a late addition to the Bulls’ schedule as a result of their failing to qualify for the league’s first In-Season Tournament knockout round.

Tickets went on sale after the game was scheduled last week, and the attendance reflected the last-minute add. The United Center’s lower level was left with gaping holes, leaving open red seats where fans would be.

Bulls notch third straight win; Zach LaVine will miss another 3-4 weeks

2023-12-06T23:49:43.482-06:00

Coby White had 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists. He said he “tweaked” his shooting hand after an awkward fall, but an X-ray came back negative.

Nam Y. Huh/AP

The Bulls did it again.

With their max player — Zach LaVine — out for a third consecutive game, they proved they could get it done without him, notching their third straight win, a 111-100 victory against the Hornets on Wednesday.

“It wasn’t coming down to the wire like it did against Milwaukee and even New Orleans a little bit,” coach Billy Donovan said.

But they still allowed the Hornets to cut their 22-point lead in the fourth quarter to eight even though Charlotte was without leading scorer LaMelo Ball (ankle) and leading rebounder Mark Williams (back).

The Bulls will have to continue to prove they can win without LaVine, who will be out an additional three to four weeks to continue treating his sore right foot. The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 8. The majority of the league becomes tradable on Dec. 15, when free-agent contracts signed in the summer are able to be moved, so it’s possible that LaVine has played his last game with the Bulls.

Similar to their previous two victories, the Bulls were able to regain momentum after some lapses. They answered the Hornets’ runs with their own and didn’t allow a poor first-half performance — specifically in the second quarter — to derail them.

Their first time stringing together three victories this season might be cause for celebration internally, but they’re far from a team that has figured it out. So what is sustainable from this hot streak?

DeMar DeRozan’s response to that question had more to do with what still needs to be improved.

“We still have to clean up a lot of things,” DeRozan said. “Rebounding. We still have a lot to clean up defensively. Rotations, helping our guys a little bit now. We can get better offensively on our execution.”

DeRozan led the Bulls with 29 points, and Nikola Vucevic added 20. Coby White had 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

White is riding a hot streak that hasn’t shown any signs of cooling off.

Over the Bulls’ last eight games, White is averaging 21.4 points and 3.9 assists, and he had a 31-point performance against the Pelicans on Saturday. But what Donovan said he wants to continue seeing from White are the game-changing plays. Against the Pelicans, those plays happened with White on the receiving end of two charges from Zion Williamson.

Against Charlotte, Donovan got the playmaker and a decent scoring effort from White, who went 6-for-16 from the field and 3-for-7 from three-point range.

In the third quarter, the Bulls worked the ball around the perimeter, getting it to White, who shook Ish Smith with a fake to the hoop before stepping back for a three. On the next play, he hit a fadeaway jumper from the free-throw line to put the Bulls up by 17. He took two more charges against the Hornets and is currently fifth in the league in drawing charges with seven.

“The scoring is important, but there’s going to be nights he’s not going to score,” Donovan said.

“He really impacted the game with the charges and the extra passes. He’s really focusing on each possession instead of worrying about if I’m missing or making shots, which is a lot of growth from where he was three years ago.”

White came into the locker room after the game with his shooting hand wrapped and said he “tweaked it” after an awkward fall in the first half.

An early X-ray came back negative, White said.

Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo cast shadow over Bulls that comes down to ‘culture’

2023-12-02T11:12:55.764-06:00

There was a moment of foreshadowing during the 2015 first-round playoff series between the Bulls and the Bucks. With under two minutes to play in the second quarter of Game 6 and the Bucks trailing by 30 points, Bulls guard Mike Dunleavy, the future Warriors general manager, went up for a three-pointer and was sent to the floor by Giannis Antetokounmpo, the future two-time NBA MVP, as the shot fell through the net.

The Bulls won the game and the series, but it was the last of their seven consecutive postseason appearances — and the beginning of a power shift between the two teams.

“Coach [Tom Thibodeau] was just masterful,” recalled Bucks first-year coach Adrian Griffin, who was a Bulls assistant at the time under Thibodeau, having previously been an assistant for the Bucks as well. “We had guys that played extremely hard.”

He was referring to Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and a young Jimmy Butler.

“We fell short of our ultimate goal,” Griffin added. “But there was a lot of winning those five years [2010-2015] with the Bulls. So, a lot of special moments.”

Those moments have long since passed. In the seven-plus seasons since that 2015 postseason run, which ended with the Bulls losing to LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the next round, the Bulls have made just two postseason appearances, falling to the Celtics in the first round in 2017 and the Bucks in the first round in 2022, followed by a losing effort in the Play-In Tournament this past spring.

Today, the Bulls are largely uncompetitive and, in the minds of some, irrelevant. The Bucks, on the other hand, are favored by a number of analysts to return to the NBA Finals. It would be the Bucks’ eighth straight postseason, a stretch that includes an NBA title in 2021.

“Culture is a big deal, when you establish a winning culture and have guys that buy into winning, sacrifice in their roles and sacrifice for the bigger picture,” said Bucks forward Bobby Portis Jr., a former Bull who made his way to Milwaukee three years ago after stints with the Wizards and Knicks. “Kudos to the guys who started it and have been here, Khris [Middleton] and Giannis. They started that culture, and guys followed suit.”

Antetokounmpo and Middleton are the only players left from that 2015 Bucks-Bulls series. The Bulls cleaned house over the next few seasons, starting with firing Thibodeau with two years left on his contract and a 255-139 record. The dysfunction continued with the hiring of Fred Hoiberg, the signing of an aging All-Star and NBA champion in Dwyane Wade and the 2017 draft-night trade of Butler, who at the time was already a three-time All-Star.

Now, guard Zach LaVine — one of the players acquired for Butler — is on his way out with just one postseason appearance to his credit, and the Bulls are bracing for what could be a total teardown.

On Thursday night, without LaVine or veteran forward DeMar DeRozan, the Bulls snapped a five-game skid and stole a game from the bigger and better Bucks, winning 120-113 in overtime. They also snapped Antetokounmpo’s streak of 13 wins against them from 2018 to 2022.

But don’t be fooled — the Bucks still have the Bulls’ number. And the reason goes back to what was being established eight years ago, when the Bulls were on their last leg.

“I don’t think [they] have established [that culture] over the last five or six years,” Portis said.

Zach LaVine sits out Bulls’ loss to Thunder

2023-11-22T20:04:59.102-06:00

OKLAHOMA CITY — Wednesday was the same tired story for the Bulls: Another slow start, compounded by another poor shooting performance in the first quarter, which led to a double-digit deficit. They trailed by 18 in their 116-102 loss to the Thunder.

“It’s a struggle when you lose, but I do think that, you know — I see them trying,” coach Billy Donovan said.

Trying has the Bulls sitting at 5-11 with three games left on their four-game trip, which includes the league-leading Celtics on Tuesday.

“We have not been consistent enough, quite honestly,” Donovan said.

The Bulls’ slow starts are just about the only things that have been consistent.

They scored 14 points in the first quarter, shooting 17.4% from the field. They improved in the second quarter, outscoring the Thunder by one point, and went into the locker room trailing by 11.

A Patrick Williams dunk late in the third tied the game at 69. A few plays later, he added a three-pointer to keep the Bulls' deficit in single digits.

They trailed by seven entering the fourth quarter. Errors in the closing minutes, including a Coby White foul on Isaiah Joe, who drained a three-pointer and the ensuing free throw, cost them the game.

“We had a couple of miscues on the defensive end,” White said. “I think they just made a couple of plays down the stretch and we didn’t, honestly.”

DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 25 points and six assists. White finished with 23 points, and Nikola Vučević had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was met with MVP chants as he stepped to the line in the final 30 seconds. He led all scorers with 40 points and added 12 assists and five rebounds.

“Some of our rotations were a little bit slower,” Donovan said. “Joe made a couple of threes that probably hurt, but we could have done a better job of not fouling him.”

Bulls guard Zach LaVine missed his first game of the season with a sprained right foot after being listed as probable. There was a brief miscommunication before the game that led to Donovan telling the media he was available. Minutes later, Bulls PR notified reporters that LaVine would not play.

Donovan attributed the miscommunication to his being told by the medical staff “we think he’s gonna go,” as LaVine started his pregame warmups. Afterward, Donovan said LaVine felt like he couldn’t play.

LaVine said he’s been dealing with what he described as a mid-foot sprain since the Bulls’ victory Saturday against the Heat.

‘‘I cut my tape off at halftime because it was bugging me to play through it,’’ LaVine said. ‘‘Felt the same way the next game. Two [games] in a row, the same thing. You don’t want to get to that third [game].”

Donovan said LaVine would be monitored on a day-to-day basis.

Amid trade rumors and the scrutiny attached to them, LaVine said he wasn’t concerned about how his decision to sit out would be perceived.

‘‘I don’t like sitting out of basketball,’’ LaVine said. ‘‘I missed enough basketball in my career. I try to play through everything. I could care less if it’s looked at or not.’’

Billy Donovan reflects on departure from Thunder as Bulls brace for possibility of rebuild

2023-11-22T19:41:38.031-06:00

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

OKLAHOMA CITY — This can’t be what Billy Donovan had in mind for himself when he accepted the Bulls’ coaching job in 2020.

‘‘This’’ being coaching a below-.500 team that’s staring down a roster overhaul and might be on its way to a full-on rebuild. It couldn’t possibly be where Donovan envisioned himself, right? One would imagine not, considering that’s what he left with the Thunder after the 2019-20 season.

A quick look at the stories from his hiring supports the fact that Donovan was brought in to lead the Bulls back to consistent playoff contention. Instead, Donovan has added only one playoff trip to his résumé.

‘‘It was more about who I’m working with,’’ Donovan said in answering a question about his vision when he joined the Bulls. ‘‘The vision was, ‘Who am I connected with? Who am I sharing every single day with?’ Those kinds of things.’’

The team, he said, wasn’t a huge factor in his decision because ‘‘that can always change.’’ Now Donovan is facing the reality of that.

The Bulls entered their game Wednesday against the Thunder with a 5-10 record, trade rumors swirling, a franchise player who hasn’t denied he wants out and the very real possibility of a rebuild looming. Continuity was offered as the answer for the Bulls’ failures last season, but it appears to have made things worse.

Meanwhile, the team Donovan left in 2020 is now surging. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander entered play Wednesday seventh in the NBA in points per game (29.6) and first in steals per game (2.5). The Thunder were eighth in offensive rating and had the fourth-best defense in the league. Their 8.5 net rating was the second-best in the NBA to that of the Celtics.

The Bulls, in comparison, didn’t have a player among the top 20 in scoring and had an offensive rating better than only three teams in the league.

After coaching the Thunder to a 243-157 record and five playoff appearances in five seasons, Donovan left when the team opted to rebuild. Less than four years later, the Thunder are reaping the rewards of general manager Sam Presti’s work and the Bulls are in the same place they were when Donovan was hired.

Fifteen games into Jim Boylen’s final season with the Bulls, they sat at 5-10. The Bulls finished that COVID-shortened season 22-42, 11th in the Eastern Conference.

Chicago is supposed to be bigger, better and brighter than the small-town lights of Oklahoma City. It is a sports market that, by all accounts, should add to a person’s relevance in the national sports landscape.

But for Donovan, who signed a contract extension before the 2022-23 season, the last three-plus seasons have been more of a disappearing act.

It hasn’t necessarily been a result of his efforts, either. Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas continued to preach continuity despite all signs pointing to the core not working. The knee injury to guard Lonzo Ball in January 2022 — with the Bulls atop the Eastern Conference — was devastating on multiple fronts. But it has been nearly two years since Ball suited up, and the Bulls haven’t gotten past it.

The Bulls continue to say they have the talent to be in a better position than they are, but their inability to improve on issues such as slow starts, subpar three-point shooting and inconsistency on defense says otherwise.

In the midst of the problems he unwittingly signed up for when he became the Bulls’ coach, Donovan says he’s focused on the day-to-day.

‘‘We’re in the middle of the season,’’ he said. ‘‘I just focus on what we can do with this group each and every day to try and help them get better.’’

DeMar DeRozan remains calm in storm of trade rumors surrounding Bulls

2023-11-22T16:40:42.128-06:00

Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

OKLAHOMA CITY — Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan is no stranger to the chaos that is the business of basketball.

He learned the hard way that even when an organization feels like family, a player is dispensable.

‘‘Being traded from a place that was home was everything for me,’’ DeRozan told the Sun-Times. ‘‘I never even considered the business of basketball until I got traded.’’

His trade from the Raptors, the team that drafted him with the ninth overall pick out of USC in 2009, to the Spurs after the 2017-18 season left DeRozan with thick scar tissue. Enough that the trade rumors and chatter surrounding him and teammate Zach LaVine now is nothing but child’s play.

‘‘People have to make decisions however they see fit,’’ DeRozan said. ‘‘You may agree with them, you may not, but it’s part of being in this game.’’

DeRozan is in the last year of his three-year deal with the Bulls and has been in talks with the organization about an extension since the beginning of the season. Multiple reports, however, have said the sides remain apart on multiple fronts.

As the commotion surrounding the Bulls heightens between now and the trade deadline Feb. 8, DeRozan remains anchored in the present. He credits that to the veterans he played with early in his career and to that first taste of the business side he experienced.

‘‘If you’re at home in your house and there’s a bunch of commotion outside, somebody is going to start up some type of rumor about what’s happening outside,’’ DeRozan said.

So there’s no bringing that commotion into the house?

‘‘No, you can’t,’’ DeRozan said. ‘‘You can look out the window every now and then, but you can’t bring it inside.’’

As far as his conversations with LaVine and guard Alex Caruso, who are being mentioned in trade rumors with him, DeRozan said they don’t talk about it. He said the focus remains on controlling what they can.

Addicted to the grind

LaVine might be getting most of the headlines in terms of trade rumors, but multiple reports say Caruso is drawing most of the interest.

It’s easy to understand, too. Caruso has been a bright spot in what has been a tough early season for the Bulls, who were sitting at 5-10 heading into their game Wednesday against the Thunder to start a four-game road trip.

Caruso entered play Wednesday shooting a career-high 50% from three-point range and is the Bulls’ best defender, punching way above his weight class in taking on assignments such as Suns star Kevin Durant and Magic forward Paolo Banchero.

He likens his development over his seven-year career to an addiction.

‘‘I love the feeling of putting in the work and seeing the results from it,’’ Caruso said. ‘‘There’s a sense of pride that comes that I think is more beneficial than any kind of noise or getting your name in the highlights.’’

Another aspect fueling the trade interest in Caruso is his team-friendly $9.9 million, partially guaranteed contract next season. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2025.

When it comes to the uncertainty about what the 2œ months before the trade deadline might bring, Caruso said his focus remains on what he can control, and that always has been his effort.

‘‘At the end of the day, two years from now, I’m gonna be up for another contract,’’ Caruso said. ‘‘I want to make sure what I’m doing now is working to go toward me having a further NBA career.’’

Red Stars hire former U.S. Soccer chief legal officer Karen Leetzow as club president

2023-11-15T13:02:46.75-06:00

Leetzow begins her role with the Red Stars on Dec. 4.

provided photo

The Red Stars have a number of hires to make in their front office, and Wednesday they started from the top with the announcement of their new president, Karen Leetzow, who is the former chief legal officer of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

For years, Leetzow, who was hired by the federation in 2020, has had her attention on the Red Stars’ organization as she oversaw former U.S. Justice Department official Sally Q. Yates’ independent investigation into systemic abuse and sexual misconduct in the NWSL. Now, she’ll have an opportunity to be a key decision-maker in ensuring the club’s vision of establishing a championship culture becomes a reality.

“The things I’ve learned at U.S. Soccer over the years is that generally, there’s been a lack of understanding of what the players have needed to be successful,” Leetzow said. “In this particular case, we can take that on.”

Along with her role in Yates’ investigation, Leetzow contributed to the negotiations that led to the landmark equal-pay agreement for the U.S. women’s national team. Before her tenure with U.S. Soccer, Leetzow spent 20 years at NASCAR and was the first woman to serve as general counsel.

The move comes a little over a month after the dismissal of Chris Petrucelli as coach.

Petrucelli was hired last February after former coach Rory Dames resigned amid reports of abusive behavior, which were later corroborated in Yates’ report. Dames received a lifetime ban from the NWSL in January.

Finding the right coach and general manager is imperative to the club’s success as free agency officially began on Sept. 22. The NWSL expansion draft is scheduled for Dec. 16.

The Red Stars currently have nine free agents, including Tierna Davidson, whom the team drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, Mallory Swanson and Casey Krueger. All three players are unrestricted free agents. Players can begin signing new contracts Monday.

The Red Stars are well underway in their search for a new coach and general manager, but Leetzow had nothing to provide as far as a timeline for when those roles will be filled. She did say that owner Laura Ricketts is working in collaboration with current employees to make free-agency decisions.

“We have already been working hard to maintain the players that we want to keep and are working hard to supplement where we can,” Leetzow said.

Kahleah Copper has her eyes on Olympic gold

2023-11-11T07:00:00-06:00

Kahleah Copper of the United States drives to the basket during the 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Quarterfinal against Serbia on Sept. 29, 2022, in Sydney, Australia.

Matt King/Getty Images

Kahleah Copper is a little crazy.

At least, that’s how the three-time All-Star described herself when asked to explain her drive during a Team USA media session.

“Sometimes I get in the car, set up my GPS and see the time,” Copper said. “It’ll say 6:21, and I’m gonna try and get there at 6:18. It’s been that way since I was a kid, just wanting to be better.”

Copper went on to describe a recent photoshoot with a young basketball star who asked her what motivates her after all that she has accomplished. Copper responded: “There’s so much more out there.”

At 29, Copper is a three-time All-Star, WNBA champion, Finals MVP and FIBA World Cup gold medalist. Her overseas accolades require another page on her resume.

Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Still, Copper is running a race toward greatness, and her self-defined finish line continues to change. At one point in her life, she might have thought all the aforementioned accolades would satisfy her. But Copper appears to realize there always will be something worth pursuing.

Right now, her wish list includes making an All-WNBA team, being named Defensive Player of the Year and winning an Olympic gold medal.

“It never ends for me,” Copper said.

Copper can recall being wide-eyed, searching for a way to leave an impression during her first camp with U.S. basketball. The formula for success — she realized — is finding the right balance between not doing too much while also playing with the confidence that’s earned every time you’re named to a roster.

There was a noticeable turning point in Copper’s career, according to U.S. basketball coach Cheryl Reeve, that came when she was named 2021 WNBA Finals MVP. The player who stepped on the floor after that season lacked hesitation and had no shortage of confidence.

“That seemed to catapult her into a different mentality about how she felt about herself and what she was capable of doing,” Reeve said.

To be named Finals MVP on a roster that included future Hall of Famers such as Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley undoubtedly launched Copper into a new stratosphere. But according to Sabrina Allen — Copper’s first coach — it wasn’t that award that turned her into “Philly Kah.” It was the preparation ahead of the 2020 WNBA season that redefined her as a player, allowing her to step into that persona and, subsequently, a role in the U.S. player pool.

Allen worked Copper out ahead of the 2020 WNBA season, utilizing any outdoor space due to gym closures during the pandemic.

Provided photo

“We practiced on the strip of pavement in the back of the house,” Allen said.

“We practiced on so many ball-handling drills, conditioning and ran miles and miles on this street out here called ‘the Boulevard.’ ”

Copper and Allen turned Roosevelt Boulevard into their conditioning route. When Copper wasn’t running miles with Allen, she was biking them. Her training became a family affair. Everyone from Copper’s nieces to her mother, Leticia, and older sister, Letia, joined her on rides.

This week in Atlanta, she fell down a rabbit hole, revisiting old photos and videos of that spring she spent preparing for the opportunities that were ahead.

Copper’s nieces and family joined her on biking workouts on more than one occasion ahead of the 2020 WNBA season.

Provided photo

“I knew I was ready for that 2020 season,” Copper said. “We go into it and that’s when everybody said I had the breakout season. From there, it was about being consistent.”

Copper already earned one gold medal with Team USA, playing on Reeve’s World Cup team that beat China 83-61 to win its 11th title. She averaged 9.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in six games before a hip injury suffered in the quarterfinal sidelined her for the semifinal and final.

The Olympic roster for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris will be even tougher to crack, a fact she knows well.

She was a casualty of Team USA’s final roster cuts ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. That team won its seventh consecutive gold medal.

Copper was selected to participate in Team USA’s November camp, which concludes Sunday with a game against Duke. Between now and June, when the Olympic roster likely will be announced, Copper will have opportunities to make the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament roster in February and another training-camp roster during the Final Four.

An opportunity is all she has ever really needed.

“I know I have the blueprint on what it takes for me to have success at the level I want,” Copper said. “It’s about continuing to build on that and hound on it times 10.”

Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Hirings of coach Teresa Weatherspoon, GM Jeff Pagliocca solidify Sky’s new direction

2023-11-07T18:59:45.431-06:00

The Sky introduced Jeff Pagliocca as the team’s next general manager Tuesday in a Zoom press conference.

Chicago Sky

For a long time, it was unclear in which direction the Sky would be headed after the midseason departure of championship-winning coach/general manager James Wade.

Franchise ownership didn’t want to commit to the separation of the coach and GM roles, despite the Sky being the last pro basketball team in the United States operating that way. In fact, things were so uncertain that three-time All-Star Kahleah Copper was ready to explore the free-agent market until the Sky’s last-ditch effort to persuade her to sign an extension was successful.

The reason for that success was the Sky’s commitment to a new direction. Now that coach Teresa Weatherspoon and GM Jeff Pagliocca are in place, that direction is coming into focus, and it’s centered on player development.

‘‘We have an advantage,’’ Copper said. ‘‘We have someone like [Pagliocca] who is our general manager but can also help [develop players]. When people come into organizations, they want to continue to get better. For me, that’s very big.’’

Copper used the progression of her own career — coming, in part, from her experience working directly with Pagliocca — as an example about what other players can expect if they sign with the Sky.

Pagliocca was promoted from director of skill development to GM and Weatherspoon joined the Sky after spending four years in the NBA with the Pelicans, for whom she served as a two-way player-development coach before being promoted to assistant coach. She played seven of her eight seasons in the WNBA with the Liberty and served as their first director of player development in 2015.

Pagliocca said that when it comes to roster construction, he will rely on his 15 years of experience in player development to identify talent. He also clarified that major roster decisions will be made by committee, with the help of Weatherspoon and CEO Adam Fox.

‘‘My hope is that it’ll be collaborative and collective the majority of the time,’’ Pagliocca said. ‘‘What made it so attractive to accept the role is working with so many like-minded people. Especially right now, working directly in a partnership with Teresa and Adam and everybody else is something that made a lot of sense and will continue to for some time.’’

Ownership repeatedly has shared its commitment to putting the franchise in the best possible position to succeed by investing in player support, resources and marketing strategy.

Pagliocca’s move from director of skill development to GM left a vacancy. Whether the Sky will fill it or have him operate in a new iteration of a dual role will be another indication of their commitment to their new direction.

Sky’s Kahleah Copper says new coach Teresa Weatherspoon matches her energy

2023-11-04T08:00:00-05:00

New Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon (right) listens to Kahleah Copper.

Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times

Kahleah Copper hasn’t lacked bulletin-board material as she has moved up in her WNBA career.

When the guard/forward was tapped for her first starting role with the Sky in 2020 after four seasons in the league, skeptics questioned whether she belonged. She responded with career highs in every statistical category, only for naysayers to wonder whether she could do it again.

The next season, she not only made it happen but was left holding the WNBA Finals MVP trophy as confetti rained down at Wintrust Arena.

This offseason, after the Sky’s first-round playoff elimination by the two-time champion Aces, the three-time All-Star’s fire is being fueled by her omission from both All-WNBA teams and by a new coach, Teresa Weatherspoon, who was hired last month.

“Seeing the All-WNBA teams, why rest?” Copper said.

For a second straight year, she has opted not to play overseas, but that in no way means she’s relaxing. After the Sky’s postseason exit, her individual workouts began. And this week, she rejoined the U.S. women’s national team for training camp and exhibition games coming up Sunday against Tennessee and Nov. 12 against Duke as staff evaluate the player pool ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Copper won a gold medal with the group in 2022 at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Australia.

As she keeps chasing new firsts, she now has Weatherspoon squarely in her corner.

“We connected over energy,” Copper said. “I’ve never had a coach that could really match my energy. That was something that really hit me.”

And Weatherspoon’s expectations for her star player go much further than an All-WNBA team.

“The energy is there,” Weatherspoon told the Sun-Times at her official introduction. “[Copper] can do so many things. She is so gifted in so many ways. As tough as she is and as good as she is, she could very well have her name spoken as an MVP candidate.”

Last season, Copper showed she’s capable of shouldering the load, averaging a career-best 18.7 points and leading the Sky to an 18-22 record and a fifth straight postseason appearance. But those results weren’t satisfying, and Copper has new confidence in the Sky’s direction after front-office additions that included Nadia Rawlinson as operating chairman and co-owner in January and Jeff Pagliocca as general manager on Tuesday.

“We talk about the vision and what we want to do, and everybody has to be on board,” Copper said. “Everybody has to hold each other accountable to be able to get to that vision. Having former players who have done it at the highest level really helps.”

That includes not just Weatherspoon, a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, but former NBA great Dwyane Wade, who joined the Sky ownership group this summer.

In seven seasons with the team, Copper has seen three coaching changes, the dismantling of a championship roster and now a rebuild. She acknowledged there’s a different feeling this time with these changes and promises from ownership about more to come.

“[When] we talk about player experience, what’s important and what we need to be successful, they know,” Copper said of Weatherspoon, Rawlinson and Wade. “So, it’s a different look and it’s a different mindset. Like ’Spoon said, we’re saying, ‘Gear up,’ and we mean everybody. It’s not just the players. It’s ownership. Everybody has to step to another level.”