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Whether past or present, Unrivaled will feature a number of players who have donned the Chicago Sky’s blue and white during their WNBA tenures.
It rounded out its 48-player roster with the announcements of Aari McDonald, Rebecca Allen and Dominique Malonga. Along with Allen, guard Rachel Banham will be the Sky’s only other representative from their 2025 campaign.
They’ll have several familiar faces from days gone by, including a trio of champions in Kahleah Copper, Azura Stevens and Dana Evans. Guard Marina Mabrey, who last suited up for Chicago in 2024, will be one of the handful of returning representatives for the Sky after taking her talents to South Beach for Unrivaled’s inaugural season. Sky star Angel Reese, who won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award and its championship with Rose BC, will not participate in this year’s run.
Two new squads mean a dozen more contenders and two more coaching slots. Former Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon will again take point for Vinyl BC after ending last season with a spot in its Finals. Rena Wakama, who was brought on to Sky head coach Tyler Marsh’s staff last March, will head Hive BC as she takes up yet another lead coaching role. She saw her work as an assistant for Manhattan College pay off with a head coaching role for the Nigerian National Team and short assistant stints with Stony Brook and Tulane before making her leap to the WNBA.
What can Allen bring to a newer league with a new format?
Allen, a long-time basketball veteran with about a decade of WNBA experience, started in 17 games and played in 44 for the Sky last season. She ended the year with averages of 5.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in just under 19 minutes per game.
The 6-foot-2 guard first joined the Sky in a trade with the Connecticut Sun that sent guard Lindsay Allen to Uncasville. She took on roles with Australian basketball teams before earning her first shot in the WNBA with the New York Liberty, where she remained until she was included in a three-team trade in 2023. She has been up and down from the 3-point line during her WNBA career, but landed on an average of just below 32% in her first year with the Sky.
Allen looked more comfortable when driving to the basket with the ball in her hands and as an off-ball shooting threat for the Sky last season. While she could create her own space every so often, she seemed to find more success when given extra room while moving off the ball or with a screen or two. She by far attempted her most tries from 20-24 feet, where she earned a 34.6% clip on just under 110 tries. She went off for a season-high 27 points in a July win over the Dallas Wings, where she finished her lights-out shooting night with five made 3-pointers on seven tries.
If she can be paired with solid playmakers and find her moments as a supplementary player, she may be able to find her fit in a new format. Guard Lexie Hull seemed to play in a similar role for Rose BC last season. She averaged 6.4 points and three rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game as she played alongside Chelsea Gray, who led the league in assists per game while earning All-Unrivaled First Team honors.
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