Five Local WNBA Legends Who Played with Sky
There are a number of famous athletes from the city of Chicago. The biggest city in Illinois and third biggest in the nation has certainly turned out some household names in the sports world.
Star baseball players from MLB such as Ricky Henderson and Kirby Puckett were born in Chicago. So were former NBA stars Dwayne Wade and Derrick Rose.
Thank you to everyone who not only wore the @chicagosky jersey on the court or coached on the sidelines but also #SkyTown who cheered loudly all season long! pic.twitter.com/WOp4gnf1fm
— Wintrust Arena (@WintrustArena) September 28, 2024
The WNBA is no stranger to successful females from the Windy City, either. For instance, the wife of current Chicago Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot is from Chicago. Allie Quigley and Vandersloot played together on the Sky during the 2021 WNBA championship team.
Including Quigley, here is a look at some of the better known players who have roots with Chicago that wore a Sky uniform.
Allie Quigley
This Chicago Sky legend is from Joliet, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Quigley even played collegiate basketball near Wintrust Arena as she attended DePaul University.
The Joliet Catholic Academy graduate broke into the WNBA during the 2008 regular season with the Phoenix Mercury. Quigley was a part of the 2021 WNBA champions that beat her original team.
A two-time winner of the WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year early in her career, Quigley is also a three-time WNBA All-Star. Her No. 14 jersey was retired by the Sky during the 2025 regular season at Wintrust Arena.
Candace Parker
This athletic specimen captured people's attention while playing for Naperville Central, a high school near the city of Chicago. Parker went on to play four seasons for then-head coach Pat Summitt and the University of Tennessee Volunteers.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, the former Sky legend grew up outside of Chicago. Parker is the only WNBA player to this date to have won the Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player of the Year award in the same season.
A three-time WNBA champion, Parker averaged 13.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game during the 2021 regular season. That's the same year that the Sky won their only WNBA title. It would be Parker's second as she won her first with her original team, the Los Angeles Sparks.
Cappie Pondexter
Though this athlete was born in Oceanside, California, she was also raised in Chicago, Illinois. Pondexter joined the WNBA in 2009 with the Mercury, sharing that in common with Quigley.
Pondexter attended John Marshall Metropolitan for high school and played basketball for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. She won two WNBA titles with Phoenix before playing three seasons for the Sky (2015-2017).
A seven-time WNBA All-Star, Pondexter averaged 12.5 points per game during her tenure with Chicago. She appeared in eight playoff games for the Sky while never missing a free throw in the postseason for them.
Dominique Canty
Before joining the Sky, this Chicago native played for two WNBA teams that don't even exist anymore (technically). Canty began her professional basketball career with the Detroit Shock. After relocating to Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Shock are now the Dallas Wings.
Canty also played for the defunct Houston Comets. The former Alabama Crimson Tide guard spent nine seasons between the Shock and the Comets before joining the Sky.
In her five seasons playing for Chicago, Canty played nearly 150 games for the Sky. The graduate of Whitney Young High School played and started in all 34 regular season games during the 2009 and 2010 WNBA regular seasons.
Lindsay Wisdom-Hilton
Just like Parker, Wisdom-Hilton grew up in Naperville, Illinois. The Neuqua Valley High School graduate played collegiate ball for Purdue.
Wisdom-Hilton was drafted to the Los Angeles Sparks one season after Parker was. However, the former Boilermaker forward joined the Sky before Parker did.
In 29 games during the 2011 WNBA regular season, Wisdom-Hilton averaged 1.7 points and 1.9 rebounds a game. Unfortunately her two best games for Chicago (both where Wisdom-Hilton scored six points) resulted in losses.
For the 2026 WNBA regular season, the Sky hope to cut down on those. The team has missed the playoffs in back-to-back years, and ever since both Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso joined the team.
feed
My name is Scott Conrad and I am a Contributor for the Chicago Sky with Sports Illustrated.com. I am also a Contributor with FanSided on NinerNoise, as well as Da Windy City. In addition, I am the Site Editor/Expert for The View from Avalon. I spent two seasons (2015 & 2016) with the Tampa Bay Times as a Correspondent covering high school football. I am a two-time published author with more work to come. In my teenage years, I started watching both MLS and WNBA start in 1996 and grow to be the juggernauts they are in their respective sports. Much love to the career on and off the court for fellow-Napervillian and former Sky forward Candace Parker. Outside of the sports journalism world, I am a travel volleyball coach. I accepted the Head Coach position with Greater Cincinnati Volleyball Club for their U13-2 team. In terms of active sports, I play volleyball, soccer, softball, kickball and train in mixed martial arts.