Stefanie Dolson is wrapping up her second season with the Liberty while her and the team have sights set on capturing the 2023 WNBA title. But, the former Chicago Sky player shared thoughts on her old team making headlines this week.
Months after coach James Wade surprisingly bolted out of Chicago and landed onto the NBA’s Toronto Raptors staff as an assistant, the Sky hired Hall of Famer and former Liberty guard Teresa Weatherspoon to be the team’s next coach, the Athletic reported Tuesday.
What will she bring to a Chicago Sky team that finished the regular season 18-22 and suffered a quick first-round exit in the postseason?
“Everything,” Dolson said before Game 2 of the WNBA Finals against the Las Vegas Aces. “I’m excited for her. I’m excited for the Chicago Sky.”
Weatherspoon will lead the Sky after spending four seasons as an assistant coach with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans from 2020-23.
She was the head coach at her alma mater Louisiana Tech from 2009-14 years before landing her gig in New Orleans. The five-time All-Star played eight seasons in the WNBA with the Los Angeles Sparks and Liberty. All her All-Star appearances came as a member of the Liberty. She was also named to the league’s 15th Anniversary Team in 2011 and 20th Anniversary Team in 2016.
Weatherspoon is now currently the sixth WNBA head coach that was a former player. That list includes both coaches that are leading their teams in the 2023 Finals — New York’s Sandy Brondello and Las Vegas’ Becky Hammon.
In her short Liberty tenure, Dolson said she’s been around Weatherspoon “a little bit,” when the Hall of Famer comes around the team’s facility, but the center noted the coach’s “experience.”
“She has great intensity, knowledge about the game, experience,” Dolson said Wednesday. “Former players, I think, make some of the greatest coaches because they just have that playing experience and know what the players need and want.”
Fiifi Frimpong
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