Candace Parker was indeed the final piece to the puzzle for the Chicago Sky and what a story as Parker came home to help lead the Chicago Sky to its first ever WNBA Championship. What a journey this Chicago Sky team took to get to the WNBA Championship. When Parker joined the Sky, the team didn’t have the best regular season as they were battling injuries and team was trying to gel together as a team. Sky at one point had a 7 game losing streak while CP3 was out with an ankle injury and then they went on a 7 game winning streak once she got back in the lineup. The Sky and the whole WNBA were playing under a 32 game regular season rather than 36 games and there was an Olympic break as well. Despite facing a tough schedule after the Olympic break, the Sky finished at 16-16 and that was good enough for the 6th seed in the WNBA Playoffs.
The Sky won two single elimination games first against the very young Dallas Wings at home and then beat a very underrated seasoned Minnesota Lynx team on the road which set a date with the Connecticut Sun who had the top record in all of the WNBA where they came in on a hot streak. The Sky took care of the Sun in 4 games where it was a best of 5 series and it setup a rematch with the Phoenix Mercury who swept the Chicago Sky 3-0 in the 2014 WNBA Finals. Sky won game 1 91-77 on the road in Phoenix while they lost in overtime in game 2 in the Phoenix but glad the Sky at least got a 1-1 split on the road as the series shifted to Chicago for games 3 and 4. The Sky won game 3 last Friday night at Wintrust Arena in front of a sellout crowd where the Sky won a by 36 points which is a WNBA Finals record. The Sky held the high powered Phoenix Mercury to 25% shooting from both the field and 3 point range. The great Diana Taurasi had only had 5 points and one made field goal which is so unlike her. Sky won 86-50 which put them one win away from their first WNBA Championship.
The Sky entered game 4 last Sunday one win away from it’s first WNBA Championship, I knew the Phoenix Mercury would give the Chicago Sky everything they can handle after their embarrassing game 3 loss. It looked like for about 3 quarters the Mercury would force a deciding game 5 back in Phoenix as the Chicago Sky didn’t quit. At one point in the 3rd quarter the Sky were down 14 points and at one point in the fourth quarter the Sky were down 11 points. Joliet native and DePaul Alum Allie Quigley scored 11 of her 26 points in the 4th quarter which included three 3 pointers. Courtney Vandersloot had a near triple double with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 15 assists. Candace Parker hit a key three pointer to tie the game at 72 which made Wintrust Arena go crazy. After a key Vandersloot assist where she found Stefanie Dolson for a key layup to put the Sky up 4, the Sky almost got into disaster as they fouled WNBA Goat Diana Taurasi on a three pointer, but Diana T only made 2-3 foul shots as the lead remained on the Sky side but only by 2 points. On the next possession Courtney Vandersloot made a key 2 point shot to give the Sky a 4 point lead which now means it is a 2 possession game. How fitting that Naperville native Candace Parker who came home to bring a Championship for the Chicago Sky gets the final rebound of the game as she as able to dribble out the clock and hug her family once the buzzer had sounded as the Sky win their first WNBA Championship 80-74. Sky outscored the Phoenix Mercury 26-11 in the 4th quarter. Parker finished the game with 16 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Candace Parker did win a ring in 2016 with the LA Sparks and now one with her hometown Chicago Sky.
Congrats to Owners Michael Alter and John Rogers along with HC/GM James Wade on pushing the right buttons to get the Sky in this position. Yes the Sky made a mistake drafting Australia point guard Shyla Heal where she didn’t last very long but they traded for rookie Dana Evans who was more experienced coming out of Louisville and she helped in a big way. The MVP of the 2021 WNBA Finals was Kahleah Copper who had an amazing playoffs and WNBA Fianls, she may of only scored 10 points in the final game but she without a doubt deserved the WNBA Finals MVP and showed how deep the Chicago Sky are. I knew the Sky had a chance against the Phoenix Mercury because the Sky came in with a lot of momentum and the Mercury had some key injuries with some of there bench players and I give them a lot of credit for getting to the WNBA Finals despite facing adversity. speaking of Kahleah Copper she was part of the Elena Delle Donne trade where EDD was traded to Washington for Copper and Dolson as Elena wanted to live closer to her family especially her sister Lizzie who has cerebral palsy. Give former Sky HC/GM Amber Stocks credit for trading for Kahleah Copper and now looked what she did with the Sky during this magical playoff run. and she was an All Star With Copper about to become a free agent, the Sky need to sign her to a super max deal and lock her up for a long time. With the Chicago Sky winning the WNBA Championship as a 6th seed they are the lowest seeded team to win a WNBA Championship under this current playoff format which shows regular season means nothing despite your win loss record but it all counts when the playoffs begin and the Sky were on a whole another lever during the postseason. Congrats to the entire organization, the players and coaches and the fans who have waited for this moment for a franchise that began in the WNBA in 2006 while the WNBA itself launched in 1997. How cool the Sky won the WNBA Championship during the 25th season of the WNBA where this league is so bright in the future. Hopefully the Sky can win more Championships for many years to come.