July 20, 2022 

Locked on Women’s Basketball: Has James Wade locked up Executive of the Year?

Howard and James discuss all things Chicago Sky, including whether or not James Wade has already locked up the WNBA's Executive of the Year honors.

It’s time for another episode of the Locked on Women’s Basketball podcast. This episode features host Howard Megdal and The Next‘s Chicago Sky beat writer James Kay as they discuss James Wade, the Ricketts family considering an ownership stake and more.

Continue reading with a subscription to The Next

Get unlimited access to women’s basketball coverage and help support our hardworking staff of writers, editors, and photographers by subscribing today.

Join today

James on the common theme that allowed James Wade to construct the 2022 Sky roster:

Allie Quigley took a $59,000 pay decrease this year, this team has been all about sacrifice. That has been the constant theme throughout this season. Even Courtney Vandersloot could have gone out and gotten herself a supermax contract if she wanted … or sat out.


The Next, a 24/7/365 women’s basketball newsroom

The Next: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.


James on his reporting on Sky principal owner Michael Alter exploring new ownership investors, including Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts:

During the WNBA offseason, Sky principal owner Michael Alter told the Chicago Sun-Times that he wa slooking into adding investors. … One of the things that came through the reporting I was able to do is that Chicago Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts and her wife Brooke Skinner are looking into being a part of the Sky’s ownership potentially.

One of the things that I was surprised people didn’t pick up on in the story is that they’re not just looking at Laura Ricketts, the situation has progressed to the point where Alter is looking for other investors as well.

Make sure to subscribe to Locked on Women’s Basketball, where we have new shows every weekday.

For more of James’ coverage of James Wade and his growth as an executive, click here.

For more information on James’ reporting for the Chicago Tribune, click here.

Written by The Next

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.