2024 Chicago Sky End of Season Awards
Celebrating the best and brightest from the first year of a brand new era in the franchise's history.
Despite missing out on the WNBA Playoffs after a disappointing second-half heavily marred by injury, the Sky should still come away from the 2024 season with plenty to look forward to in the years ahead as a young core built around April’s draft picks Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese and coached by Teresa Weatherspoon appears well positioned to improve in the years ahead. Before looking too far into the future, let’s start to close the book on the campaign by handing out awards for the biggest moments and standout individuals of 2024.
Biggest Disappointment: Elizabeth Williams’ Injury
The Sky made the most of Williams’ injury by getting Kamilla Cardoso plenty of time on court (especially with fellow rookie Angel Reese), but the injury to the 2023 all-defense selection still registers as the biggest “what could have been” for Chicago’s 2024 season. Isabelle Harrison did a respectable job of filling the third slot in the Sky’s front court rotation after her own year out due to injury, but I’d hazard a guess the Sky would’ve found minutes for all of Williams, Harrison, and the rookies if the four had been available. Again, that might have stunted the development of Cardoso in the short term, and the Sky could profit massively in the years ahead from the minutes she got this year, but Williams’ world-class defense, pick-and-roll ability and veteran presence would have paid dividends on court. If the Sky were strictly focused on rebuilding this season, Williams’ absence would have been less felt, but the desire to compete right away means there was moments where Williams’ calm demeanor was definitely missed.
Breakout Player of the Year: Michaela Onyenwere
This breakout took a while (and considerable pleas from myself, other members of the media and the Sky’s fanbase), but the Sky’s midseason trade with the Sun forced Teresa Weatherspoon into finally using one of her most-dynamic players on a more regular basis. After getting 6 DNPs and playing just six minutes per game between May 28th and July 11th, Onyenwere’s performances after sliding into the starting five following the Olympic break made her one of the team's key offensive players. She demonstrated an ability to score at all three levels, was the team’s most efficient three-point scorer, and added exceptional energy and versatility at the defensive end. I’ve consistently said since the preseason that someone in the W would pay Onyenwere this offseason for her tools alone, but her play in the second half of the season means it’s production—not just tools—that the Sky and others will be willing to pay top dollar for in free agency.
Best Game: Sky 90 Liberty 81, May 23
If you’re going strictly for excitement, you could pencil in any of the Sky’s three June meetings with the Fever or the narrow loss to the Aces on 8/25, but none of those games made a statement quite like this early season win over the Liberty at Barclays Center. Fresh off the back of a dominant 48-point preseason win over the same New York team, Chicago led 63-59 after thirty minutes only to see the lead slip away within a couple of possessions at the start of the fourth when Jonquel Jones made it 68-67 with just under eight minutes to play. From there, the Sky finished the game on a 22-13 wave—easily one of their most impressive closing performances of the season. Given the Liberty’s Finals berth in 2023 and the season they went on to have, this goes down as one of the most impressive games of the season, no doubt, but it was also an exciting moment for the locker room and the fan base given the lack of preseason expectations surrounding the team. Honorable mention also goes to the Sky’s 88-84 win at Seattle on July 5th which had many similar themes.
Biggest Surprise: Reese’s Record-Breaking Rebounding
If you rewind all the way back to before last season’s draft, I was in early on Reese being one of the league’s top glass cleaners. Even then, I didn’t expect one of the best rebounders in NCAA history to be a record-breaking board collector out of the gates in the W. Contending for a top 3 spot on the league leaderboard is one thing, but breaking long-standing records (2018 is a long time in the W’s short history) for total rebounds is another. A’ja Wilson eventually went past Reese on the leaderboard after the rookie’s injury, but the per game record (13.1) is still comfortably with the former LSU Tiger. To underline just how exceptional Reese was on the glass this season, she’d need just four more seasons at a pace like this to move into the Top 25 rebounders of all time. And while the dialogue around Reese’s rebounds became a messy one, her impact didn’t stop there. The Sky weren’t just better with Reese on court than without her (+19.6 net rating); they had a positive net-rating with her on court for the majority of the year (with their final net rating with Reese finishing a perfectly neutral 0.0).
Standout Single-Game Performance: Carter vs. LVA (7/16)
The Aces have had their good and bad moments defensively this season, but I can’t remember a time throughout the team’s multi-year run as WNBA title-holders where one player made their perimeter defense look so average. Carter’s first step is exceptionally explosive—and the Vegas guards weren’t the first (nor the last) to get left behind—but the speed at which Chicago’s leading scorer got by the first line of defense on this particular night made it look like she was up against amateurs—not some of the best in the world. In the end, Carter finished with 34 points on 14/24 FG—making her one of the few players to outscore A’ja in a head-to-head this season. Even more importantly, Carter’s standout showing ended with Chicago getting the win over Wilson’s Aces.
Most Under Appreciated: Lindsay Allen
Allen picked up a reputation as the Sky’s most under appreciated player as the season went on; so, this feels a little played out. Even then, it still felt as if her impact was sometimes taken for granted by some local and national media. As I said dozens of times, the Sky were a better team when Allen was aggressive at the offensive end, but the offense also struggled to stay afloat without her ability to organize and provide direction in the half-court—with the veteran acting (as per the cliche) as the coach on-court. If the Sky acquire a high-profile guard in free agency or the draft, it’s almost certain that Allen would have to slide to the bench to make room for the new arrival, but (as we saw this season) there’s extreme value in the specific skills she brings compared to others on the roster.
Most Valuable Player: Chennedy Carter
Carter’s performance could’ve easily registered as the Sky’s biggest surprise, but her play is simply deserving of bigger awards like this one. Compared to others, I was more conservative on my preseason predictions for Carter’s role in Chicago, but it became clear pretty quickly that aligning Carter with a coach like Teresa Weatherspoon was going to pay huge dividends. When the rookie head coach finally pulled the trigger and moved Carter into the starting five, her play took off exponentially—including stand out performances against the Storm (33 pts on 7/5), Aces (both in the aforementioned 7/16 game and with her late heroics on 8/25), and Wings (28 pts on 9/8). Her offense, of course, drew plenty of (justified) positive reviews, but her defensive performances were also significant during the course of the season. Admittedly, some high-profile match-ups probably drained Carter of more energy than was ideal given her high-usage offensive role, but her willingness to bury herself at both ends for the good of the team underlines why she was the Sky’s MVP in 2024.