10-34 in 2025. 3-5 in 2026 so far. It’s hard not to see a pattern. The Chicago Sky is currently on a four-game losing streak following their most recent defeat to the Minnesota Lynx on Friday. Those struggles have made them look nothing like the team they were in 2024. And for WNBA analyst Annie Costabile, this downturn can be traced to a single reason.

Speaking on the May 29 episode of the No Offseason: The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show, which she hosts alongside Sabreena Merchant, Costabile believed losing Rickea Jackson to an ACL injury changed the dynamics of the team.

“Like some of these injuries, any injury, it’s just so unfortunate to see. But obviously, ACL injuries… it’s just like the worst. And so that just changes the dynamic of their entire team.”

And of course, if you glance at the stats, Rickea Jackson’s injury did change the dynamics of the team. Looking at it from the surface alone, the Sky have lost every single game they’ve played since she became sidelined. That accounts for their current four-game losing streak. In contrast, during the first four games of the season that Jackson played, Chicago actually won three of them.

Like Costabile also pointed out, this Sky team actually looked different heading into this season.

“I mean, they looked like a different team this year than last year. They looked like a competitive team that was going to cause problems,” she said. “But the second Rickea Jackson went down, it changed everything. And that’s so unfortunate.”

The loss of the 27-year-old meant the Chicago Sky was without its leading scorer and offensive engine due to a season-ending torn ACL. The injury occurred with 5:24 remaining in the first half of the Sky’s victory over the Minnesota Lynx on May 17. She collided with Lynx forward Nia Coffey on a drive before coming to an abrupt stop and planting her left foot, at which point her knee gave out. The Sky staff then took her to the locker room, and the forward was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

However, before going down, Jackson was enjoying a massive breakout campaign, leading the Sky with 18.0 points per game. She was on an All-Star-level trajectory. But now, without her spacing and shot creation, Chicago’s offense has completely stalled. And that was painfully evident on Friday night when the Sky was held to just 58 total points while shooting a dismal 29% from the field and 17% from three-point range.

And as if the misery was not enough, alongside Courtney Vandersloot and DiJonai Carrington, who are yet to make their season debut, the Sky now also have Gabriela Jaquez sidelined. Jaquez has missed their last two games because of a left knee injury. But before getting hurt, she was starting and making significant contributions.

She was averaging 11.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game. Those are meaningful numbers to lose from the rotation, which is why Costabile said that “they do not look like a team that’s got it together offensively,” and it’s beginning to look scary, as she said, “I’ve got some early panic for them as well.”

Well, it’s still only eight games into the season for Chicago, which means the situation remains salvageable. But the remedy is not going to be Jackson, who will miss the rest of the season. The question now is whether the Sky can find answers from within and stop the slide before it gets worse. 

Chicago Sky’s competitive performances aren’t enough, warns WNBA analyst

While the Chicago Sky have lost their last four games, they still put together some competitive performances that almost made it look like they were going to get something out of those contests. For example, against the Toronto Tempo, they trimmed Toronto’s lead to just two points at 98-96 with only 3:33 remaining in the fourth quarter before the Tempo closed the game on an 8-2 run to secure the victory.

In their 85-75 loss to the Minnesota Lynx, the Sky also managed to stay within arm’s reach of a very good Minnesota team until the Lynx’s depth eventually wore them down in the closing minutes. In fact, for WNBA analyst Sabreena Merchant, these competitive performances were actually quite impressive.

“I was pretty impressed with their, you know, recent performances even without Rickea. Like some losses, but like competitive losses,” she said on No Offseason: The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show.

However, competitive losses are not wins, and those losses can quickly get out of hand if the Sky do not find ways to turn them into at least narrow victories. And Annie Costabile explained the same:

“And that’s the thing with competitive losses. For me again, especially seeing what’s happened with the Chicago Sky over the years, is that you can’t hang your hat on a competitive loss. And if you don’t at some point turn a competitive loss into a tight win, then you’re just stacking up, and it swiftly gets out of control.”

The Chicago Sky will play their next game against the Washington Mystics on June 3. Hopefully, they will be able to grind out a win in that matchup. If they do not, they will find themselves staring at a five-game losing streak.