WATCH: Courtney Vandersloot Receives Liberty Championship Ring
BROOKLYN — The Chicago Sky's final visit to Barclays Center of the season to face the New York Liberty had a bit of a ring to it.
Before the Liberty and Sky tipped off for the penultimate of four meetings, Chicago point guard Courtney Vandersloot was bestowed the championship ring she earned last fall as a New Yorker.
View the full ceremony below:
Courtney Vandersloot Ring Presentation#WNBA #LightItUpNYL https://t.co/5TUc4p5Gbw
— Geoff Magliocchetti (@GeoffJMags) August 21, 2025
Vandersloot, 36, spent the past two seasons with the Liberty after coming over in the famed transactional class of 2023 that also welcomed in Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart. The historically-talented trio united with fellow All-Stars Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton to bring the Liberty the first postseason championship in franchise history with a six-game victory over the Minnesota Lynx.
While partaking in Stewart's Unrivaled three-on-three league, Vandersloot opted to return to Chicago, which hosted her first 13 WNBA seasons before her transfer to New York. Vandersloot has played in only seven games this season after tearing her ACL in June but did manage to become the Sky's all-time leading scorer, surpassing her wife Allie Quigley.
Vandersloot reflected on her metropolitan tenure as the Sky engaged in a shootaround for Thursday's game. Her time in New York ended on a bittersweet note, as she was removed from her usual posting in the starting five prior to the playoffs. Vandersloot nonetheless served as a vital depth star on the run to the title and many have been quick to note that there would be no trophy hoist without her contributions.
"I knew that it was my time to kind of put my money where my mouth was. It was my time to sacrifice and that's the direction they went," Vandersloot said of her championship sacrifice prior to Thursday's game. "As hard as that was for me, because I didn't necessarily agree with it, I still felt like I was bought in, and that was what we preached from the moment I got here, with sacrifice and all of that. So it was just my time to do that."
"I'm grateful for the {New York] experience. I still get a ring. Of course, I wish things ended a little bit different, or I wish my role was different. But, you know, that's just, that's basketball, and that's part of it."
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.