First-year coach criticized for tailoring game plan to benefit Reese.

The Chicago Sky shocked the WNBA world nearly three weeks ago when they fired first-year head coach Teresa Weatherspoon after a 13-27 season that included a 3-13 record after the Olympic break to close out the year.

The decision was met with some resistance from star rookie Angel Reese, who posted a lengthy thank-you message to Weatherspoon on her X account, in which she credited the former five-time WNBA All-Star for playing a key role in her career.

But the affinity Weatherspoon had for Reese may have led to her own demise, as Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times recently reported that Weatherspoon tailoring the Sky’s game plan around a one or two players led to some serious dysfunction inside the locker room.

“Weatherspoon’s inability to keep the team schematically prepared was evidenced by her rotations and poor late-game play-calls,” Costabile wrote. “Her failure to maximize rookie Kamilla Cardoso, the No. 3 overall draft pick, on offense also came into question.

“According to league sources, Weatherspoon had lost the locker room because of a culture that catered to the needs of a few players.”

Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) talks with head coach Teresa Weatherspoon during a time out in the fourth quarter against the New York Liberty at Barclays Center.

Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Weatherspoon took plenty of heat down the stretch for running a game plan that seemed to benefit Reese more than anyone else.

The numbers seem to support that belief as well as Reese averaged 13.8 points and 16 rebounds per game after the Olympic break compared to 13.5 and 11.9 before.

Weatherspoon was also criticized for her mishandling of Cardoso’s role. The rookie center saw an uptick of only 0.2 minutes per game in her 14 outings after the Olympic break (28.9) compared to the 14 directly before (28.7 per game) despite the Sky being without leading scorer Chennedy Carter for four of those games and Reese for six.

In her recent exit interview, former Sky guard Marina Mabrey, now with the Connecticut Sun, also took a shot at her former team, insinuating there was a discipline problem with the organization.