DEERFIELD, IL — The Chicago Sky are starting the 2024 WNBA season under the leadership of new head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. Weatherspoon brings a wealth of coaching and playing experience to a Sky team looking to reclimb the Eastern Conference standings. With Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, and a plethora of new faces at the helm, Weatherspoon is wasting no time motivating the squad.

Weatherspoon and the Sky staff had to make some tough decisions on roster cuts for the May 13th deadline. 2024 lottery picks Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso took two of the team's top spots.

Coach Weatherspoon emphasized that the two stars and the rest of the team do not have anything easy coming their way. She explained her point when asked about the impact Reese and Cardoso will have with their earned opportunity.

“You just said the key word: earned. I said from the very beginning, ‘Anything you get, you earn it'. It’s all about the hard work, paying attention to the details, doing what’s asked of you, and being consistent,” Weatherspoon said after practice on Monday.

Weatherspoon reiterated her stern “earned” message when speaking on former 2021 WNBA lottery pick Kysre Gondrezick earning one of the final roster spots.

“It was earned, nothing given. One thing I tell all of them, every single one of them is that we all cannot become complacent. Because you have to sustain this…you gotta want more, to give more, to do more, to be hungrier. When you walk into camp hungry, you have to remain hungry,” Weatherspoon added.

The Sky will surely take Teresa Weatherspoon's advice to heart. Yet, as tough as Coach Weatherspoon can be, she is just as empathetic.

Teresa Weatherspoon prepares Sky for 2024 WNBA season amid intense training camp

When news broke of Chicago waiving former Gonzaga guard and 13th overall 2024 draft pick Brynna Maxwell, fans were shocked. Maxwell suffered a knee injury that prevented her from fully participating in training camp. Still, she came to practice on the day she was waived and supported the team until the end.

Several players and coaches hugged Maxwell as she prepared to leave the facility, and Coach Weatherspoon delivered a heartfelt message about the guard's brief training camp stint.

“I love people,” an emotional Weatherspoon said. “And how they feel means something to me. I let her know how much I respect who she is, how much I love the effort she gave. I have a lot of respect for the way she presented herself and conducted herself every single day as a professional. I have a great deal of respect for who Brynna Maxwell is.”

Like Maxwell, Taya Reimer was cut from the team shortly before the May 13th deadline. Hopefully, the two respectable players will find an opportunity elsewhere.

The Sky have their work cut out for them ahead of the 2024 WNBA season. With the influx of talent coming into the league in addition to what is already there, Chicago needs to bring its best. Nevertheless, Teresa Weatherspoon has her team ready to earn all the potential success that awaits them.