{"id":669317,"date":"2026-05-28T03:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T03:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/669317\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T03:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T03:19:08","slug":"marina-mabrey-and-the-sky-still-see-the-best-in-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/669317\/","title":{"rendered":"Marina Mabrey and the Sky still see the best in each other"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many ways to identify former Sky<\/a> guard Marina Mabrey. She\u2019s a middle child. One of the best players in the league to have never been named an All-Star. Inventor of the \u201cCrash-Out Jar,\u201d a running joke in which she deposited dollars after losing her temper in games.<\/p>\n

Now, add \u201cface of the franchise\u201d to the list.<\/p>\n

The Tempo signed her to a two-year max contract this past offseason, making her and Brittney Sykes the faces of the league\u2019s first Canadian team. She came to Wintrust Arena on Wednesday night averaging a career-high 18 points per game and quickly reminded Sky fans of the Mabrey experience.<\/p>\n

Step-back threes. Incredulous conversations with the officials.<\/p>\n

Ten points, four assists, four rebounds, two fouls \u2014 all in the first half alone.<\/p>\n

Mabrey finished with 24 points and the Tempo handed the Sky their third consecutive loss with a 111-104 victory.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been almost two years since Mabrey\u2019s brief but significant stint in Chicago, which ended in a request to be traded to the Sun midway through the 2024 season. At shootaround before the game, she reflected on what the last few years have given her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in leadership positions in Chicago and Connecticut where there were some things I still needed to learn, and I\u2019m still learning right now, but I think that I took those things and put it into this team,\u201d Mabrey told the Sun-Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think finding a home helps a lot too. I\u2019ve jumped around trying to find a situation that works for me and my vision for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tempo are Mabrey\u2019s fourth team in six years. She\u2019s moved from Dallas to Chicago to Connecticut, now to Toronto, all before the age of 30.<\/p>\n

Few have cycled through as many situations as Mabrey has in recent years. Except, perhaps, for the Sky.<\/p>\n

Mabrey saw that chaos firsthand, living through the peak instability of Chicago\u2019s post-2021 championship era. Coach and general manager James Wade, who brought her to Chicago, left in the middle of the 2023 season. Then franchise pillar Kahleah Copper requested a trade.<\/p>\n

Those experiences shaped her, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think knowing that people will come in and out of organizations, you will have different people to work with, but keeping the vision for yourself that you know is you,\u201d she said. \u201cRegardless of who you\u2019re playing around, who\u2019s coming in, who\u2019s not coming in, who\u2019s leaving.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for me, I maybe lost myself a little bit in Chicago, in trying to figure out who I was alongside everyone. .\u2009.\u2009. I lost the vision of who I know I can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Sykes, who has played against Mabrey since childhood, her vision is nothing short of an offensive juggernaut \u2014 but one who has learned to wield her emotions rather than be consumed by them.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s something Tempo coach Sandy Brondello, a two-time WNBA champion, is trying to facilitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s actually quite funny,\u201d Brondello said of Mabrey. \u201cNow, if she crashes out, it\u2019s usually the officials. It\u2019s never at her teammates, which is a good thing. Now it\u2019s more like just don\u2019t get too high or too low.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s her edge. You don\u2019t want to change someone. That\u2019s her competitive fire. But not letting it affect her overall game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even in a year and a half, Mabrey left a mark on the Sky. She embodies two of their defining characteristics: a willingness to risk draft capital to win now, and a spotty track record retaining stars.<\/p>\n

To acquire her from the Wings, Wade traded away a staggering amount of draft capital: a 2023 first-rounder, a 2024 first-rounder and a 2025 pick swap.<\/p>\n

It set the tone for a philosophy that current general manager Jeff Pagliocca has maintained. In Chicago, there will be no tanking, no waiting to strike gold in the draft lottery. Every year it\u2019s trying to bring in the best players through trades and free agency, at pretty much whatever cost.<\/p>\n

So far, the strategy hasn\u2019t yielded a ton of tangible success \u2014 the Sky have missed the postseason the last two years \u2014 but it also hasn\u2019t backfired to the proportions one might have imagined.<\/p>\n

The Mabrey deal is a perfect example. The 2023 pick the Sky surrendered ultimately became a worthless late first-rounder, and the 2025 swap was canceled entirely when the Wings won the No. 1 pick on their own. Had the Sky been able to retain Mabrey, the trade could have easily aged as a win.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s improved every year and is now producing at the level Wade likely envisioned.<\/p>\n

Sky coach Tyler Marsh spent pregame talking about the urgent need to find Mabrey in transition and highlighting how quickly she gets off her shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big fan of Marina, the toughness and competitiveness that she plays with \u2014 you accept some other stuff that comes with it,\u201d Marsh said. \u201cI remember when we played Connecticut last year and I got thrown out of that game, I saw Marina after the game, I said, \u2018I pulled a you tonight.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

The respect goes both ways.<\/p>\n

Mabrey said at shootaround that Pagliocca has built a tougher and more talented roster \u2014 which was exactly his goal.<\/p>\n

Despite all the turbulence, it appears both sides can still see the best in each other.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"USC<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Before signing Poffenbarger, the Sky were down to nine active, fully-rostered players.<\/p>\n

[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
\n \u00a0\n <\/p>\n

read<\/p>\n

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\"Chicago<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Flashes of dominance have defined her first two seasons. Now she has to prove she can sustain them. <\/p>\n

[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
\n \u00a0\n <\/p>\n

read<\/p>\n

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\"Minnesota<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sky have dropped two straight in part because of poor shooting.<\/p>\n

[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
\n \u00a0\n <\/p>\n

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