Liberty Champion Endures Knee Injury Before Return
Former New York Liberty star Courtney Vandersloot endured a painful knee injury as she competed for the Chicago Sky in Saturday night WNBA action.
Vandersloot, 36, was injured on a first quarter drive while Chicago faced the Indiana Fever at United Center, its last game before facing the Liberty on Tuesday night at Barclays Center (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). It's the first time Vandersloot's new/old team is set to visit Brooklyn after she returned to the Sky in the aftermath of the Liberty's 2024 championship run.
"She's our engine," Sky head coach Tyler Marsh said afterward, per Michael Voepel of ESPN. "She's our captain and our leader out there, so obviously, it's a huge blow. But hopefully, it's not as serious as we may think. We're hoping she is able to bounce back, but for the time being, we all got to pick her up. We all got to lift her up; we all got to lift each other up."
Vandersloot required assistance leaving the floor and did not return to Saturday's game, a 79-52 Indiana victory. First-round rookie Hailey Van Lith rose up in defeat, playing an infantile career-best 26 minutes after Vandersloot departed.
Vandersloot has had an eventful year since hoisting the Finals trophy last fall, previously partaking in the Unrivaled three-on-three league co-founded by former Liberty teammate Breanna Stewart. She returned to a Chicago group headlined by young stars Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese when free agency opened in January, resuming a Windy City career that spanned 12 seasons and began as a first-round pick in 2011.
Through seven games, Vandersloot is averaging 10.6 points and a team-best 5.3 assists, ranking second in all-time totals in the latter category, just about 400 behind Sue Bird. She surpassed her wife Allie Quigley as the all-time leading scorer in Sky history earlier in this young season, the latest of several franchise records in her expansive collection.
Chicago (2-5), which also features the talents of other former New Yorkers like Rebecca Allen, Kia Nurse, and Michaela Onyenwere, has struggled out of the gate, dropping each of its first four games (including a 99-74 defeat to the Liberty in Chicago on May 22) before winning two prior to Saturday's defeat.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.