Despite a triumphant 3-1 start to the season on the road, the Chicago Sky suffered a crucial loss in their most recent win over the Minnesota Lynx.
Forward Rickea Jackson tore her ACL in the second quarter of Sunday’s game in Minnesota, the team announced Tuesday morning. Jackson will miss the rest of the season with the injury, which typically requires close to a year-long recovery window.
This is a major blow for both the Sky and Jackson.
Jackson found an immediate footing in Chicago following her acquisition via trade from the Los Angeles Sparks. The forward averaged 18 points and 1.8 blocks per game over her first four outings in a Sky jersey, an early foundation that could have set the stage for a career-best season.
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After a somewhat stilted start to her WNBA career in Los Angeles, the Sky coaching staff felt confident that this season would help to develop Jackson into the best version of herself as a versatile, high-production forward.
“We’re devastated that Rickea suffered this injury, but we are confident she will make a full recovery,” general manager Jeff Pagliocca said in a statement.
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“Rickea was playing at an All-Star and All-Defensive level early in the season. We are certain she was primed for a career year. Our world-class medical staff will work hard with Rickea, who is one of the toughest players in the league, to get her back on the court.”
Jackson entered the season as a clear offensive threat, but with a strong interest in improving her defensive standing. Her immediate burst into the season as both an offensive anchor and defensive disruptor highlighted her potential as a future tone setter for the Sky.
Teammates and coaches alike remarked on how visibly happy Jackson was in her early weeks with the Sky, showcasing a tangible optimism that she was on the brink of a career-changing season. Assistant coach Latricia Trammell — who previously coached Jackson during her time in Los Angeles — couldn’t hold back tears talking about the forward after practice Tuesday.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Trammell said. “She found a system under Tyler that put her in a situation to be successful. She can play freer. She can play the style that she likes to play and that fits to her strengths. … She was getting to a point where maybe she could be on the All-Defensive team. That’s the trajectory that she was on. I know she’ll come out stronger than ever — that’s the mentality she has — but it really hurts.”
This is the first major injury of Jackson’s professional career — and at age 25, she fits the profile of the wide swath of WNBA athletes who sustain this injury and complete a full recovery. But the Sky will have to pivot aggressively to survive the loss of their leading scorer as they attempt to navigate a sea of injuries in the early weeks of the season.
Jackson joins forward Azurá Stevens and guards DiJonai Carrington and Courtney Vandersloot on the Sky’s injury list. Stevens is expected to return first from an offseason knee injury, but the Sky have not provided a clear timeline for when she will be cleared. Carrington (foot sprain) and Vandersloot (ACL recovery) are both expected to return this season, but both recovery windows are longer term — which means the Sky could play half the season without either guard.
The return of any — and all — of these players will help the Sky to absorb the loss of Jackson. Stevens is still projected to become the team’s leading scorer, and her frontcourt presence will provide a crucial lift for the Sky, who are currently relying on development players like Aicha Coulibaly and Maddy Westbeld to rotate into the three and four slots.
But in the short term, there’s no way for the Sky to simply replace Jackson. The forward offered a rare option for isolation creativity and downhill production with the ball in her hands. And notably, Jackson took more than a quarter of the Sky’s attempts from 3-point range, a crucial piece of offensive layering for a team that lags behind most of the league in long-range shooting.
The Sky’s ability to navigate this injury — one of many already this season — will define the rest of the season.