Teresa Weatherspoon didn’t see it coming.
One season after the Sky hired Weatherspoon to usher Chicago into a new era with two lottery picks in tow, ownership fired Weatherspoon following an underwhelming 13-27 campaign in 2024.
Eight weeks have passed since news of her firing caught the basketball world by surprise, and Weatherspoon said she’s moved on.
Speaking publicly for the first time Wednesday since her WNBA termination, Weatherspoon made it clear that she was looking forward – not back.
“I’m excited,” said Weatherspoon on a Zoom conference call about her Unrivaled Basketball team, the Vinyl. “The one thing about me is I process things, and I let it go. I process and I let it go.”
It was a trying year for the Sky, who went 3-13 to close out the season after the Olympic break. It also didn’t help that rookie star Angel Reese’s season came to a premature end because of a wrist injury.
Weatherspoon would’ve been justified if she sulked in the stunning news, but that’s not her style.
“I can’t sit there. I can’t wonder why. I got to move,” said Weatherspoon, who spent some of October with her former team as the Liberty went on to win their first WNBA title. “This is my life, this is what I live to do. I love what I do.
“And you got to know this, and you got to stand on this – you’re not for everybody. … And I’m OK with that. I know the things that I did, I know the things that I have to change. I know the things that I had to go through, and what I took through, and I will do that again over and over and over. And in the process, you always learn a lot of things about yourself. I’m about myself first, about me first. What I learned, what I carry but at the end of the day, I’m fine. I’m great. I’m awesome.”
The Sky have since hired former Las Vegas Aces assistant coach Tyler Marsh as Weatherspoon’s successor.
In the meantime, Weatherspoon is one of six coaches who have been hired to lead the six-player teams for the inaugural season of Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 basketball league. She’s joined by Phil Handy, Adam Harrington, DJ Sackmann, Nola Henry and Andrew Wade who are aiming to lead their teams not only to a championship but also to help develop players’ skill sets along the way.
On Wednesday, several of the coaches lauded Weatherspoon for her basketball acumen and positive energy. Handy, a longtime NBA assistant coach who most recently worked with the Lakers, said he’s been a “huge fan” of Weatherspoon since her playing days.
“I love her spirit. Her spirit is so good for the game. I don’t care if it’s men or women, she has such a unique spirit,” Handy said. “Her energy that she brings every day is absolutely top notch. And so for me, that phrase of ‘you get hired to get fired’ is a real thing in all of pro sports. At some point, coaches are going to run into something where organizations feel like they want to go in another direction, and we have to be professional.
“Look, does it hurt? Is it disappointing? Is it frustrating? All of those things included, but T-Spoon is showing just like a lot of other coaches that … we got to carry on. And our love and passion for the game is what kind of continues to push us through even when you get through these pitfalls.”
Unrivaled Basketball will tip off its eight-week season on Jan. 17 in Miami.