Angel Reese and her former coach Teresa Weatherspoon

Teresa Weatherspoon, one of the most prominent players in WNBA history, has landed a new head coaching position just two months after being laid off as the head coach of Angel Reese at the Chicago Sky.

Her dismissal took place on September 27, following a disappointing season in which the team posted a 13-27 record and missed the playoffs. This marked the end of her first head coaching job in professional basketball, after four years as an assistant in the NBA.

Weatherspoons new job

However, last Friday, Weatherspoon was announced as one of the six head coaches of Unrivaled, a new 3×3 league set to debut in January 2024. While it has not yet been revealed which team she will coach, more information about teams and rosters is expected next week.

Unrivaled was founded by WNBA players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, and its goal is to provide players with an alternative to supplement their WNBA salaries during the offseason.

With promises of the highest salaries in women’s professional sports and equity stakes for founding players, Unrivaled has attracted prominent figures from the basketball world.

Angel Reese’s admiration for Weatherspoon

The announcement of Weatherspoon’s new role had a significant impact, especially among players who have admired her over the years. One of them, Angel Reese, who was selected by Chicago in the first round and is known for leading LSU to its first national championship, publicly expressed her sadness over Weatherspoon’s firing.

“I’m literally lost for words knowing what this woman meant to me at such a pivotal point in my life. She was the only person who believed in me. The one who trusted me,” Reese wrote in an emotional social media post.

Reese went on to highlight the difficulty of being a Black woman in sports, especially when facing a lack of support.

“Many don’t even know what it’s like to be a Black woman in sports when nobody believes in you. You had a tough job. All the crazy circumstances we went through this year and, when your back was against the wall, you always believed,” she added.

Reese, who announced in June that she would play for Unrivaled in its inaugural season, also spoke about the importance of Weatherspoon in her journey. She credited Weatherspoon’s belief in her as a major factor in her decision to join the league.

“I came to Chicago because of YOU,” Reese wrote, emphasizing the profound impact Weatherspoon had on her career and life.

With her return as a head coach in Unrivaled, Weatherspoon has the opportunity to continue making an impact on women’s basketball, helping to develop talent, and providing players with a platform to thrive both on and off the court.