Courtney Vandersloot didn’t think it would be this hard to sit on the sidelines.
At this stage of her career, the Chicago Sky point guard is used to missing training camp. Vandersloot spent years logging winter seasons in Europe, flying back to Chicago with just enough time to reintegrate into the roster before diving into the WNBA regular season. But this is different.
Vandersloot sat out for the entirety of the first day of training camp Sunday at the UIC Athletic Center. On day two, she insisted on completing her personal workout while the team scrimmaged, simulating a normal practice day even as she was separated from the rest of the Sky roster.
This is the status quo for Vandersloot at the start of her 14th year in the WNBA. After suffering a torn ACL in a June 7 game last season, the guard is still completing a lengthy rehabilitation process. She won’t be available for the May 9 season opener and has not set a target date for a return. But even from the sidelines, Vandersloot clearly commands the team’s center of gravity in training camp.
Younger players like Jacy Sheldon and Maddy Westbeld check in for input and advice. New veteran point guard Skylar Diggins teases her about when they can square off for a 1-on-1. Coach Tyler Marsh and general manager Jeff Pagliocca join her on sideline seats for lengthy discussions about the team.
The return is coming. Soon, Vandersloot hopes. But for now, the guard is trying her best to embrace the struggle that precedes the completed comeback.
“I’m finding joy in having a goal and striving for that again,” Vandersloot told the Tribune. “Being around the people that believe in me, being back to where it’s home for me, Jeff and Tyler pouring into me every single day, Skylar telling me, ‘You need to come back, you need to come back’ — I find joy in that.”
Despite her veteran status, injury recovery was a novelty for Vandersloot. She had never undergone major surgery, never missed the majority of a season. For a self-described “gym rat,” everything about this process has been frustrating.
In an early rehabilitation session, Sky director of health and human performance Jess Cohen instructed Vandersloot to attempt a simple mobility test by standing against a wall, raising onto the balls of her feet and attempting to squat down a few degrees. The guard was shocked by the immediacy of her own reaction: No. There’s no way. I’m never doing that again.
“I’ve never not been able to do something,” the 37-year-old said. “If you’re healthy, certain things may be hard, but you can do it. But there were things I couldn’t do — and I felt like I was never going to be able to do them again. You’re so used to having all that strength. After surgery, you feel like you can never bend your leg again. I’d never had surgery. I wasn’t expecting that. I wasn’t prepared for that.”
Months later, those wall squats are only one part of a daily routine that Vandersloot runs through while activating her knee for a workout. She’s been cleared for most non-contact drills and exercises, which means she can once again log hours in the gym putting shots up.
Over the next month, Vandersloot will begin to ease back into contact drills. And once she is cleared to scrimmage with practice players, the Sky will be able to set a realistic timeline for her return to practice — and live action games.
The process is still too slow for Vandersloot. Most days, she said she feels like her body and her brain aren’t fully connected. But each day, she feels closer to the court and to herself.
“I’m starting to feel like a basketball player again,” Vandersloot said.
This return is a welcome relief to Vandersloot after a tumultuous offseason dominated by the fallout after then-Sky forward Angel Reese made a series of comments criticizing the team’s ownership, coaching staff and roster construction in a late-season interview with the Tribune.
In that interview, Reese specifically highlighted the point guard position as a concern while stating the Sky could not “rely on Courtney to come back at the age that she’s at.” Vandersloot made a veiled response to Reese’s comments later that day during a televised pregame interview, quipping that “contrary to what people say or think, my age is actually not a factor” and asserting she would return to the Sky for the 2026 season. But Vandersloot opted out of exit interviews with the media, which meant the guard never publicly addressed her own feelings on Reese’s statements.
Months later, Vandersloot said any hurt feelings caused by Reese’s comments have faded into the background. But that hasn’t changed her outlook on the impact of the language used by the young star to publicly criticize the Sky.
“I’ll say it didn’t feel good,” Vandersloot said. “I think at first it was an emotional thing, you know? There was an emotional response to it. And the more I think about it, I understand what she was trying to say. Do I think that it was necessary she said that? No. I think that was the biggest thing for me. But it was more big picture for me because I didn’t even really know the comments that she said about me until way later in the day. I just thought that it could have been handled differently.”
The reaction to Reese’s falling out with the Sky surprised Vandersloot. Contention within a locker room isn’t new to the veteran, but the scope of public backlash reached a different pitch due to Reese’s popularity as a viral sensation in college.
After Sky ownership suspended Reese for the first half of a Sept. 7 game, fans held up posters during the team’s home finale on Sept. 11 and at one point broke out in a “Fire Jeff” chant aimed at Pagliocca. This response remained fervent on social media for months after the season ended, then exploded once again when the team traded Reese to the Atlanta Dream shortly before free agency opened.
“Listen, this kind of stuff happens — I wouldn’t say frequently — but it happens in sports,” Vandersloot said. “It’s not unheard of. We were just under a microscope because of Angel and her following. It just is what it is.”
Vandersloot said she never had a conversation with Reese about her comments or the fallout. The point guard has not reached out. To Vandersloot, that chapter of the Sky’s history is closed.
Still, those comments forced the Sky’s leadership to reassess their approach to roster building. And in Chicago, that leadership includes Vandersloot. The guard is included in most planning conversations with Pagliocca and Marsh about the team’s future. And by recruiting free agents — from longtime competitor Skylar Diggins to longtime friend Azurá Stevens — Vandersloot helped to shape the next iteration of the team’s identity.
“The biggest thing in our conversations was we wanted people that were 100% bought in on the Chicago Sky,” Vandersloot said. “That’s how we addressed free agency. Whether it was a free agent or making a trade, we wanted to make sure that this was a place they wanted to be long-term. It wasn’t ‘if this, if that,’ one foot in, one foot out. That’s how the conversation shifted, understanding that we’re trying to build something and to do that we need complete buy-in from everyone.”
Vandersloot, a key part of the Sky’s 2021 WNBA title run, understands that fans want another championship. She does, too. But she also remembers what preceded the last one. Failed playoff runs. Trades that didn’t work. Trades that did. Consistency from a coaching staff. A roster that fundamentally believed in itself.
All of this encapsulates her pitch — to fans, to potential free agents — for how to build a future while looking toward the past.
“This is a great organization to play for, regardless of what social media or anyone else says,” Vandersloot said. “There’s a lot of frustrating, false narratives. Do we have it all figured out? Absolutely not. That’s not what I’m saying. But this is a great place to play. It’s a great city to play for. The love that we felt during that championship run after the years building up to it — it’s just such a special place to play.”
“Taking pride in that and having that identity as a team is what we’re trying to get back to. It’s not about winning championships. Everyone’s trying to chase a championship, right? But it’s about the culture that we’re creating and the pride that we have for putting on this jersey and playing in front of those people that are ride-or-die for Chicago.”
