Chicago Sky appear to be happy with losing controversial star Chennedy Carter after opting against offering her a contract for the WNBA 2025 season.
Sky GM Jeff Pagliocca made offers to restricted free agents Dana Evans, Michaela Onyenwere and Nikolina Milic but Carter, who had the same status as that trio, did not get one, according to Chicago Sun Times.
Carter, who has been playing in China during the offseason, was one of Sky’s standout players in 2024 but grabbed headlines for her shocking clash with Caitlin Clark earlier in the season.
She appeared to yell ‘yo b****’ at Clark before bodychecking her to the ground off the ball during the June 2 game between Sky and Indiana Fever. Sky’s rivalry with Clark was tense enough before the incident with Chicago drafting her college rival, Angel Reese.
Reese appeared to be a big admirer of Carter’s, describing her as one of the best guards in the WNBA when she was absent through illness last August.
And if she is cut by Chicago, it risks upsetting Reese once again in what has been a bit of tumultuous offseason for one of the biggest names in the WNBA.
Chicago Sky appear set to lose Chennedy Carter – a close ally of Angel Reese on the team
Carter went viral in the 2024 WNBA season for her brutal bodycheck on Caitlin Clark
Sky fired head coach Teresa Weatherspoon in October after the team failed to make the WNBA playoffs – a decision that Reese was quick to publicly disagree with.
‘I can’t imagine playing for the Sky without (Weatherspoon),’ Reese said to Chicago Sun Times. ‘She’s the one reason I wanted to come here.’
She then said on X: ‘I’m literally lost for words knowing what this woman meant to me in such a pivotal point in my life.
‘She was the only person that believed in me. The one that trusted me. Many don’t even know what it’s like to be a black women in sports when nobody believes in you.’
The Sun Times says that Carter could eventually follow Weatherspoon out the exit door because GM Pagliocca and new coach Tyler March looking to rebuild their locker room spirit.
Carter averaged 17.4 points for the team last year but she has had difficulties in the WNBA before.
She was suspended, and later traded, by Atlanta Dream when she allegedly wanted to fight Courtney Williams in a dispute.
Atlanta sent her to Los Angeles Sparks, where she ended up being benched and wave for ‘poor conduct’, according to reports at the time.
Reese was fuming when Sky fired former coach Teresa Weatherspoon last October
Reese, meanwhile, missed the end of the season with a wrist problem that needed surgery.
She will return to the court on Friday night, the first night of the 3×3 Unrivaled league.
The WNBA season starts May 16, with Sky’s season starting a day later against Clark and the Fever.
