Rickea Jackson was looking for a clean slate.<\/p>\n
By the end of her second season in Los Angeles, the 6-foot-2 forward felt it was time for a change. The Sparks won only 29 games over those two years. Jackson, the No. 4 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, averaged nearly 15 points last season yet still felt uncertain of her role in the team\u2019s future. Both sides agreed a change was needed.<\/p>\n
When trade negotiations began during a whirlwind week of free agency, Jackson was offered the opportunity to provide a list of preferred landing spots \u2014 and a voice in a final deal. By the time the Sparks had a deal in place to swap Jackson for Ariel Atkins<\/a>, Jackson felt she was choosing Chicago as much as the Sky were choosing her.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to be somewhere where I\u2019m prioritized from the beginning,\u201d Jackson told the Tribune. \u201cIt\u2019s no secret that I basically had a different coach almost every year of my career, so I know how to adjust. But I just wanted to be somewhere that, from the jump, they got it right. From the jump, I felt prioritized. They know my game. They get who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtney Vandersloot says Chicago Sky \u2014 \u2018under a microscope\u2019 with Angel Reese \u2014 can return to winning identity<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Still, having agency in that decision didn\u2019t make the change any easier. Jackson thrives in a stable environment. Moving halfway across the country a week before training camp began didn\u2019t exactly provide that consistency.<\/p>\n Jackson brought some familiarity to her new home \u2014 she\u2019s a Detroit native and her mother, Caryn, grew up in Chicago \u2014 but she hadn\u2019t visited the city outside of games in more than a decade, when she drove down to watch her godsister Betnijah Laney debut with the Sky in 2015.<\/p>\n With only a few days to find an apartment, get a new car and make a plan for her dogs to move out to Chicago, Jackson still is feeling off balance. But the easiest antidote is to lean heavily into basketball. She emphasized professionalism from the first day of training camp<\/a>, waking up earlier and tracking her diet more closely to prepare herself for the season.<\/p>\n Jackson is leaning this season on a central teaching from Nikki McCray-Penson, her former coach at Mississippi State: Don\u2019t let anyone put you in a box. Jackson sees McCray-Penson \u2014 a founding legend of the WNBA who died in 2023 after a long battle with breast cancer \u2014 as the last coach who poured both belief and challenge into her game.<\/p>\n \u201cI promised her I would never let anyone do that,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cShe was the first person that told me: \u2018You can be so much more than a four player (power forward). You can do so much more than a post player. I want you to do everything.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Following McCray-Penson\u2019s guidance, Jackson hopes to develop into a more versatile player in Chicago. She was asked mostly to play the four throughout her two seasons in Los Angeles, but that will change in Chicago, where veteran forward Azur\u00e1 Stevens<\/a> will slot into the four and move Jackson out to the wing.<\/p>\n Jackson embraces this shift, which will allow her to dig into 3-point shooting and floor-spacing. She believes the four and three are often interchangeable in the WNBA, reflecting a player\u2019s preferences more than a locked-in expectation for a role.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s evolving,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cWhoever you are as a player, I feel like that\u2019s what that position is for you. If you are a four player that can handle, it\u2019s going to look a little different \u2014 you can pop, you don\u2019t have to roll. If you\u2019re a generic post player, you\u2019re probably going to roll a little bit more, set off screen. It has to be right for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Coach Tyler Marsh and general manager Jeff Pagliocca are aligned in a vision for an extremely mobile frontcourt that will feature Jackson and Stevens flanking center Kamilla Cardoso. The Sky don\u2019t want to limit their bigs to the low block and plan to stretch the floor as much as possible, which appeals to a smaller forward like Jackson.<\/p>\n This blueprint for the Sky\u2019s style of play \u2014 heavy spacing with ample length on the wing \u2014 is what attracted Jackson to the team despite the \u201cnegativity\u201d surrounding its perception after several losing seasons and star departures.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom what I\u2019ve seen so far, I\u2019ve got nothing but positivity,\u201d Jackson told reporters after practice Wednesday. \u201cThey\u2019re standing in my ear and letting it be known: I need to score, I need to be a dog from the beginning. Them pushing me, that\u2019s something that my career has been missing for a while. \u2026 It\u2019s only Day 3 and honestly I\u2019m going to run through a wall for Tyler, for Jeff.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson doesn\u2019t hide the fact she wasn\u2019t content in Los Angeles, where her minutes and role vacillated and the Sparks missed the playoffs both seasons. She acknowledged that the Sky have their own baggage but didn\u2019t feel those concerns outweighed the hope she saw in the team\u2019s future.<\/p>\n \u201cThe secret is, every front office has its flaws,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cChicago is more under a microscope so it\u2019s been more out there, but a lot of front offices have their flaws. Some are just better at hiding it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Sky are eager to repair that reputation through investments such as a revamped player wellness staff<\/a> and a new training facility<\/a>. But Jackson has a simpler answer: \u201cWinning heals all those things.\u201d<\/p>\n Starting May 9 in Portland, she and the Sky will attempt to dole out that healing elixir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rickea Jackson was looking for a clean slate. 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