Quick Three: Teresa Weatherspoon’s Introductory Press Conference
Reflecting on Spoon’s electric introductory press conference with the Chicago Sky.
Just under two weeks on from the Sky making it official that Teresa Weatherspoon would be the franchise’s next head coach, Spoon was introduced to the press at Wintrust Arena on Tuesday. Spoon’s skill as a speaker is unquestionable, and her energy — contagious as always — left a considerable impression. Actions always speak louder than words, but we’ll have to wait until next May to see what actions Spoon’s team can bring to the floor. In the meantime, let’s dig into three big takeaways from her official unveiling:
“Your Voice is Credible”
The primary focus of Spoon’s basketball-related thoughts was that the development of relationships would be a large part of her success as the Sky’s new head coach. She called X’s and O’s the “easy part” of the job but said that building relationships and helping players to “knock walls down” personally would be far more impactful. Unsurprisingly, Spoon cited her experience playing the point guard position as the origins of her proficiency in crafting relationships with others. As far as building new relationships, she explained that she’d meet with each of the Sky players to understand the “walls” in their career/life and suggested film study would offer her a chance to understand what makes specific players tick.
Most poignantly, she emphasized — as the header quote suggests — the importance of making players feel heard. In terms of support, Weatherspoon was also careful to highlight that — even in the team’s existing practice facility — every effort would be made to give the players the resources they need to be successful. In other words, Spoon’s focus seems to be on giving the players the best of the best now — even if plans for the future practice facility are still coming together. From a player perspective, all of this has to sound like music to the ears, and it creates an expectation that Spoon will be able to deliver on the promise she has as a developmental coach. From her experience at the collegiate level and her role in player development with the Liberty and Pelicans, we could’ve expected this to be a focus, but her opening remarks only reaffirmed that getting the most from whatever is provided to her should not be an issue.
2. “Fire”
Kahleah Copper — joining Nadia Rawlinson and Spoon on stage — found one word sufficient for describing the energy Spoon would bring to the franchise in the years ahead. And from the sheer quantity of passion and enthusiasm displayed in this first press conference, it would be difficult to disagree with Copper’s assessment. The crucial piece for me, however, was Kah’s presence on the stage. It’s not normal procedure for players to be involved at a press conference of this nature, but her attendance speaks to (1) her importance in the franchise’s decision making and (2) the alignment she has with Weatherspoon as coach.
From watching their style of play, you wouldn’t be stunned to find out that Spoon and Kah had quickly clicked, but the bond already seems to be deeper. We frequently see teams hire coaches that they think align with their star player’s identity, but the Sky have left nothing to chance in that department. From day one, Copper and Weatherspoon are aligned on what they expect from everyone in the franchise — including themselves. Spoon also highlighted that, having achieved so many things in the game of basketball, she now saw Copper as the perfect apprentice to pass that knowledge on to. Spoon will, no doubt, look to build similar relationships with every player, but the hierarchy of a professional locker room means that the instant trust between coach and star can only help the Sky get up to speed more quickly next season
3. “Be Different, Do Different, Look Different”
From an identity perspective, Spoon delivered a couple of brilliant one liners as far as what she’ll look for from her team. On chasing Vegas and New York, Spoon said she “doesn’t play catch up to anyone” and stressed that establishing a unique identity would be key to her Chicago tenure. While she didn’t specify exactly what that identity would be, we can only assume it’s a defensively oriented one — especially given she pointed to Kah when asked what the team’s identity would be. From an organizational perspective, Spoon and co-owner Rawlinson both spoke to the ongoing GM search and suggested that Spoon has and would continue to play an integral role in the decision making process. I’d expect to see the Sky recruit a new GM very shortly, but Spoon’s involvement in the recruitment process suggests there won’t be too many issues meshing ideologies whenever the new exec arrives.
Despite wanting to do things differently, Spoon still highlighted the fact that she feels the existing roster is “absolutely” aligned with the vision she has for the team moving forward. Given Kah spoke to sharing an identity with the 2023 roster previously and she’s in lockstep with Spoon, this comes as no great surprise. What it does say, though preliminarily, is that the Sky may not look to turn over as much of the roster this winter as some had been anticipating. Several players without a contract for 2024 — especially Courtney Williams — seem too good of a fit for what Spoon wants to do to be allowed to walk out the door. Alongside Spoon on the bench, I’d expect that we may see a blend of old and new faces. She said there are “a few names on board that I think I’ll take a look at,” which shouldn’t come as a great surprise given this was a championship winning staff just two years ago. Unless a better offer comes along elsewhere, Tonya Edwards would seem likely to return while Emre — as I’ve previously said — still seems a valuable resource to have onboard.
