Why Courtney Vandersloot Might Not Return to Chicago Sky

So many players will be free agents in the WNBA and available to sign once a new collective bargaining agreement is in place. Until then, one can only speculate where certain stars will go for the 2026 season.

One notable name in particular for the Chicago Sky is veteran guard and two-time WNBA champion Courtney Vandersloot. Despite playing in just a few games in 2025, the future Hall of Famer became the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. Vandersloot passed up the previous record, held by her wife, Allie Quigley.

Vandersloot isn’t the only player for Chicago that remains unsigned. Veteran guard Ariel Atkins does not have a team for 2026, yet, either. Rebecca Allen, Kia Nurse, and Rachel Batham are also free agents. As is the case with Elizabeth Williams.

However, Vandersloot is the only member of the Sky to publicly announce that she wants to return and play another season for Chicago. Which quite possibly be her last in the WNBA as she turns 37 in February and is coming off a season-ending ACL tear.

Here’s one major reason why the former New York Liberty guard wouldn’t play a second season in a row for the Sky.

After 12 seasons with the Sky, Vandersloot chose to sign with the New York Liberty after the 2022 WNBA season. Her decision paid dividends as the former Gonzaga Bulldog guard won her second championship title in the league in 2024. The first one was in 2021, when she played in Chicago alongside Quigley, Candace Parker, Kahleah Copper, and others.

James Wade, the head coach of the Sky during their championship season, is no longer employed in the WNBA. Her most recent former head coach, Sandy Brondello, could be the reason why Vandersloot leaves Chicago for the second time in her playing career.

Brondello was just fired after a first-round playoff exit with the Liberty. This came one year after she coached the Liberty to their first-ever WNBA championship since they entered the league in 1997.

One of the two new expansion teams in the league, the Toronto Tempo, made quick work to enlist Brondello’s services. She even went on to say that she expects the Tempo to compete and aim for a title in their first year.

As reported by Richard Deitsch of the New York Times, “Yes, it will be different because it is an expansion team, but that’s also exciting because now you can build from the ground up,” Brondell said. “You can bring players in that will represent this city and this team in the right way. But the goal is to bring a championship to Toronto. My narrative has not changed. I like winning.”

With a championship-focused coach who is already familiar with Brondello and her coaching style, Vandersloot may have already played her final game for the Sky.

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