Looking Back on Key Members of First Chicago Sky Team

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The WNBA has closed up the 2025 season crowning a new champion. Four years ago, that was the Chicago Sky.

Before the 2006 season, the team didn’t even exist. David Stern, who was the commissioner of the NBA at the time, announced that the Sky would enter the league as an expansion team.

It took a few seasons for Chicago’s new WNBA team to find their footing. However, by 2013, the Sky made their first trip to the postseason.

Twenty seasons ago, the Sky broke into the league with a former NBA champion as their head coach. Chicago also drafted Candace Dupree in the first round of the 2006 WNBA Draft. Jia Perkins and Bernadette Ngoyisa joined the team for their first year.

Fast forward to 2025, we take a look where their former coach and first set of players are today.

Dave Cowens, the 1971 NBA Rookie of the Year, was the first ever head coach of the Chicago Sky in 2006. He was there one year

Nov. 3, 1973; Atlanta, GA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Atlanta Hawks center Walt Bellamy (8) defends Boston Celtics center Dave Cowens (18) during the 1973-74 season at The Omni. Mandatory Credit: Manny Rubio-Imagn Images / Manny Rubio-Imagn Images

The Rookie of the Year winner from 1971 led Chicago to a 5-29 record in their inaugural season. Dave Cowens is also a former NBA champion with the Boston Celtics in 1974 and 1976.

The 2006 WNBA season was the only year that Cowens was the coach of the Sky. He left the WNBA altogether after Chicago’s first season wrapped up.

Cowens went on to join then-head coach Flip Saunders and the Detroit Pistons coaching staff from 2006 to 2009. Today, he is retired and enjoying life with his wife Derby, along with their two children and multiple grandkids.

Before Candace Parker, the Chicago Sky had another Candace. Drafted in 2006, Candace Dupree played four seasons for the Sky.

Jul 18, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Phoenix Mercury forward Candice Dupree (4) is fouled by Los Angeles Sparks forward Candace Parker (3) at the Staples Center. The Mercury defeated the Sparks 90-84. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Before the Sky had Candace Parker, Chicago’s first player named Candace was a former Temple University standout. Dupree entered the league the same year Chicago did. Together, the rookie and the Sky shared four seasons together.

The sixth overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft ended up leaving Chicago and went on to play for both the Phoenix Mercury and the Indiana Fever. Dupree married former teammate DeWanna Bonner and have twin daughters together, Cali and Demi.

Dupree took after current Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon. They both retired from the WNBA to join the San Antonio Spurs’ coaching staff under Gregg Popovich in the NBA. Today, Dupree is preparing for her second season as the head coach of Tennessee State’s women’s basketball team.

Jia Perkins played for the Chicago Sky from 2006 to 2010. The guard won a WNBA title in 2017 with the Minnesota Lynx.

June 19, 2010; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Mystics guard Katie Smith (right) and Chicago Sky guard Jia Perkins battle for a loose ball during overtime at the Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images / Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

This former Texas Tech Red Raider played with the now-defunct Charlotte Sting for two seasons before being one of the nearly dozen players that joined the Sky in the 2006 WNBA Expansion Draft.

Perkins did earn an All-Star selection with Chicago in 2009. She left the Sky in 2011 and finished her WNBA career with the Minnesota Lynx. Perkins won a her fit and only WNBA championship with the Lynx in her last her in the league (2017).

Two years later, the former Sky guard became an assistant coach for the Cal State Los Angeles Lady Golden Eagles. Perkins is now an assistant coach of an NBA G League team, the Salt Lake City Stars. She moved back to the town of Granbury, Texas where she attended high school.

Another player taking in the 2006 WNBA Expansion Draft, Ngoyisa played just one season for Chicago. The former Sky center is originally from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ngoyisa left the WNBA to join the Union Hainaut in France for the 2008-2009 season. She became a Euro Basketball champion in her first year overseas. Ngoyisa, just like Dupree, Perkins, and even Cowens will be remembered for being a part of the inaugural season for the Chicago Sky.

Make sure you bookmark the Chicago Sky on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns, and so much more!

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