With how Natasha Cloud had performed in her ten years in the league, no one would’ve thought she would go unsigned as the 2026 season approached. Yet, after just one season with the New York Liberty, she was shown the door and did not get signed throughout the offseason. As it turns out, however, the situation behind the door was much more concerning.
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“My contract was terminated because I hired an outside marketing agency,” Cloud said on Friday’s episode of the Bird’s Eye View podcast. “I was just being told I wasn’t marketable. I was being told my activism was a reason as to why I wasn’t getting certain deals and sponsorships.
“So we came to an agreement, both of us, that I would hire another outside marketing agency as long as I kept it undercover. That’s why they terminated my contract three or two days before the expansion draft, in which I was not protected.
“I’m now scrambling. You know how hard it is to find an agent and an agency with this amount of money. There was this one point I was like defeated… I just broke down, and I was like, ‘I don’t, I don’t know what to do anymore.'”
The 2019 WNBA champion was one of the hotter picks in the free agency this year after many veterans signed only one-year deals with their teams in 2025 due to CBA negotiations. While average on offense, her work on defense and leadership inside the locker room always stood out. Yet, with the New York Liberty moving on from many, apart from their core players, Cloud also got axed. But worse was that her agency also left her alone.
At the time when many good WNBA players were getting brand partnerships, Cloud could not. But after agreeing on an external representation, Excel Sports Management backed away just two days before the expansion draft. But right then, she found a way.
Her girlfriend and WNBA player, Izzy Harrison, was the pillar at the time when the WNBA’s enforcer needed someone. She quickly called up someone and fired Cloud’s previous agent at Excel Sports Management, and the two joined hands with the agent Fabio Jardine of FirstPick Management.
Fortunately, she secured a contract with the Chicago Sky.
Natasha Cloud Happy With Chicago Sky Move Despite Team’s Current Struggles
Natasha Could has always been a fiery player, serious on the defense, and a help to her teammates. The Chicago Sky represents that all. So, even though the team has not been having the best of times lately, Cloud is happy where she landed.
“I’m really happy to be in Chicago, whether we’ve just lost five in a row or not,” Cloud said. “I really enjoy this organization, the revamp of it, the reinvestment of it, the people that we have in our locker room.”
Before their most recent win over the Connecticut Sun on Friday night, they were in the middle of a five-game losing streak, sitting 3-6 in the season.
As Cloud also mentioned, the team is all about “the chemistry, connecting, piecing it together and figuring it out as a unit.” Perhaps that is the same approach that helped them grind out their latest 85-80 victory over the Connecticut Sun. It was a game in which Cloud herself made a solid contribution, finishing with 13 points, five assists, and two rebounds. Those numbers are slightly above her season averages of 9.5 points, 4.3 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game.
But beyond the winning and her on-court performance, another thing that excites Cloud about this Sky team is the leadership responsibility she now carries. Hopefully, along with her production on the court, the Sky can use this victory as a turning point and begin to climb out of the difficult run they have been enduring.
