Former Liberty Guard’s 2024 WNBA Championship Ring Will Have to Wait
By Noah Zimmerman
noah@queensledger.com
Just days before her return to the Barclays Center, Chicago Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot tore her ACL, ending her 2025 season. The 2011 Sky draft pick and franchise star went down after just five minutes in Chicago’s Saturday contest with the Indiana Fever, with an MRI confirming the tear shortly after.
It was the first WNBA game hosted at Chicago’s United Center, home to the Bulls and Blackhawks, and despite the Sky’s troubles this season a record 19,496 fans filled the arena to watch them take on Caitlin Clark and the Fever. Without their star playmaker, offense was stagnant as the Sky only managed 11 assists in a 79-52 loss.
The injury comes at a heartbreaking time for Vandersloot, who was set to receive her 2024 WNBA Championship ring this Tuesday as the Sky visited the Liberty. “Sloot” helped lead the Liberty to back-to-back WNBA Finals in her two seasons in New York. The 2024 title was her second, also leading Chicago to their first franchise championship in 2021.
Vandersloot is the WNBA’s active leader in assists with 2,886. She is Chicago’s all-time leader in games, points, assists, and steals. Just a month ago she and her partner, former Sky teammate Allie Quigley, welcomed their first child. Quigley made her official retirement announcement on Tuesday after sitting out the previous two WNBA seasons.
