September 21, 2024
‘We want Dana!’: Final year of Evans’ rookie contract fraught with instability
By Alissa Hirsh
Evans struggled with 'outside noise' and an inconsistent role in Chicago
The Chicago Sky led by 12 in a must-win game against the Los Angeles Sparks on Sept. 6. In a rare night of offensive synchrony, five Sky players scored in double digits. Still, a Sky fan took advantage of the quiet around a free throw to express discontent.
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“We want Dana!” they yelled, rising angrily from their seat. But fourth-year guard Dana Evans remained on the bench, getting her first “Did Not Play” designation of the season.
Die-hard Sky fans have been chanting some version of that since 2021, when Evans arrived in a trade as a rookie. The Gary, Indiana, native quickly delighted crowds with her tenacity on defense and her boldness on offense.
During the Sky’s playoff runs in 2021 and 2022 Sky, few plays electrified Wintrust Arena more than deep threes from Evans.
But Evans’ opportunities to establish herself in Chicago came in fits and starts. Seemingly on track for a breakout season, her role ultimately stagnated under first-year head coach Teresa Weatherspoon.
Once light-hearted and optimistic, the chants for Evans now carry anxiety around the future.
“[This season] was a roller coaster,” Evans told reporters following the Sky’s final regular-season game on Thursday. “I went from starting to playing to not getting in the game.”
Evans now enters the offseason as a restricted free agent, while the Sky seem to be staking the future on other young players — namely, Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and Chennedy Carter.
And it’s not clear that new Sky leadership sees Evans the same way she sees herself.
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Evans wants to keep building around her floater
Throughout her career, Evans has made certain strengths of hers clear. She’s a pesky defender who Sky assistant coach Sydney Johnson nicknamed “94 Feet” because of her ability to hound ball-handlers the entire length of the court.
Offensively, her quickness and confidence from deep help her create open shots.
But Evans doesn’t see herself as just a “3-and-D” specialist. She wants to be a scoring point guard in the WNBA. And she believes her signature shot, the floater, can help get her there.
“I feel like that’s the best shot for me as a guard getting in the lane and getting the shot off when I need it,” Evans told reporters before a game in June.
Poet and basketball critic Hanif Abdurraqib calls the floater the most romantic shot in the game.
“The floater is beautiful for how it relies on height,” Abdurraqib wrote in “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension.” “The shot turns the ball into a bit of a show-off … pausing in the air to make sure you get its good side before it begins to twirl downward.”
Per Synergy, Evans led all guards in floater efficiency during the 2023 season. Her 44% shooting was comparable to players such as Dwyane Wade and Trae Young, who have built NBA careers around the shot.
This season, though, floater success eluded her. Like any romantic endeavor, the floater is reliant on timing and rhythm, both of which are fragile. Evans converted only 28% of her floaters this season, per Synergy.
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Overall, she struggled in the paint, shooting only 38% from there this season. That’s a troubling statistic given that Chicago’s offense runs through the paint.
Meanwhile, veteran point guard Lindsay Allen — who relies on a wider variety of finishes around the basket — shot 61% from the paint.
When Allen ultimately replaced Evans in the starting lineup, the Sky began using Evans more as an off-ball threat. The team desperately needed 3-point shooting, as Evans was one of only three Sky players shooting above the league average.
Still, Evans’ minutes declined from 30 per game in May to 13 per game in July.
“Honestly, my confidence was pretty shaken up for half the season,” Evans told reporters during exit interviews on Sept. 20.
Staying poised amid instability
After a disappointing first half of the season, Evans returned from the Olympic break feeling refreshed. She’d vacationed in Mexico. She’d talked to her biggest supporters — her parents — and looked inward.
She planned to do a better job tuning out the “outside noise.”
Though Evans is a favorite inside Wintrust Arena, she’s faced nastiness and harassment on social media. Some Sky fans alleged that there was jealousy between her and the Sky’s rookie stars.
“I challenged myself this half: Nothing should be able to get into my head and make me change as a player,” Evans told The Next at practice during the Olympic break. “This second half, I’m more focused on getting back to Dana, having fun with the game, playing fast.”
But when play resumed, distractions and unpredictable playing time continued. Facing pregame questions from reporters in August, she revealed she’d requested a trade earlier in the season.
“It’s not really much you can do,” Evans told The Next on Aug. 30 when asked about how she was handling the outside noise. “People gonna say what they want, but it’s just a matter of believing in you.”
During the roller-coaster ride, however, Evans held her own on the court. She shot 46.7% from 3-point range in September. And she finished the season with a career-best 96% free throw percentage.
“I love her poise,” former teammate and 2021 WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper told reporters before her homecoming game in Chicago on Aug. 15. “I understand what she’s going through. Her being able to stay confident in herself and navigate through playing, not playing, trying to still make an impact and still being a competitor.”
Getting back to Dana
The Sky’s regular season ended in an unceremonious blowout loss against the title-contending Connecticut Sun. After injuries and illnesses to key players, the Sky fell out of playoff contention. Against the Sun, most of the starting lineup wore street clothes.
In the starters’ absence, Evans went on a second-quarter run. First, she hit a deep three. Then she stole the inbounds pass and scored. On the next possession, she finished a floater through contact.
The creative burst felt familiar. It was Dana getting back to Dana.
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But the question remains: Is this kind of performance from Evans repeatable in the Sky’s new era?
“In this league, you need someone that’s going to trust you to run the team and that’s going to give you grace,” Evans said during exit interviews.
With veteran point guards Allen and Moriah Jefferson signed with the Sky through 2025, it’s unclear where Evans would fit on the depth chart next season. She’ll certainly explore other options in free agency.
Wherever she lands, she can count on her shooting ability, defensive intensity and, most importantly, her belief in herself to support her growth.
“I feel like a lot of people have been counting me out and saying I’m this and I’m that, but I’m just ready to prove people wrong again,” Evans told The Next. “I think that’s always been my story.”
Written by Alissa Hirsh
Alissa Hirsh covers the Chicago Sky for The Next. She is also writing a memoir about the difficulty in leaving her college basketball career behind, and co-founded The Townies newsletter. Her hometown of Skokie, Illinois is known for having the top bagel options in the Chicagoland area.
