Marina Mabrey Addresses Whether Chicago Sky Trade Request Is Owed to Angel Reese
The 2024 WNBA All-Star weekend was a strange few days for the Chicago Sky franchise.
This was because guard Marina Mabrey, who was at the WNBA All-Star festivities to participate in the league's three-point contest and skills challenge, had requested a trade from the Sky right before heading to Phoenix.
A July 19 article from Annie Costabile from the Chicago Sun-Times quoted Mabrey (who was eventually traded to the Connecticut Sun that same weekend) saying, “I came to play for [former Sky coach] James Wade, the system he had built and the vision he saw for me. I don’t like to jump ship, so he left and then I thought, ‘OK, let’s see what happens.’ ”
Later on in the article, Mabrey added, “I like to keep our stuff in-house,” when asked why she requested a trade.
“What happens there stays there, but I saw it as an opportunity for me to get a chance to play with veterans, people who have won a championship,” she added.
Chicago Sky superstar Angel Reese was also in Phoenix that weekend to play in the WNBA All-Star game. Given the supposed locker room turmoil that Chicago dealt with last season, perhaps some assumed that Mabrey's poor relationship with her teammates (specifically Reese) was the reason for her trade request.
Reese and Mabrey are now both in Miami for Unrivaled. And X user @AngelAndKamilla posted a video on January 12 in which Reese and Mabrey address the latter's trade request.
"Money Mabrey, we have a conspiracy," Reese said to Mabrey while the two were in the Unrivaled training room. "People wanna know... Marina, did you leave Chicago because of me?"
"No. I love Angel," Mabrey responded while making a heart with her hands before the two continued to laugh together.
Marina Mabrey debunks rumors that she left the @ChicagoSky because of Angel Reese.😭#WNBA pic.twitter.com/o8zQdjo1Fy
— Angel And Kamilla👯♀️ (@AngelAndKamilla) January 12, 2025
So if there was any speculation about how Reese and Mabrey feel about each other after the trade request, that can now come to an end.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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