After a 5-29 record in the first year, the 2007 WNBA season saw Candace Dupree come back for more with the Chicago Sky. Dave Cowens, however, did not return.
Following his resignation, the Sky’s front office announced Bo Overton as the team’s new head coach and general manager.
As Dupree was the leading scorer and rebounder for Chicago, a few new faces joined Overton for their first year with the Sky. The Charlotte Sting folded and had a Dispersal Draft.
In that process, Chicago agreed to terms with Monique Currie. Armintie Price and Carla Thomas were selected in the first round of the 2007 WNBA Draft.
Though that season was 18 years ago, here’s a gander at what those key players (other than Dupree) are up to since their achievements with the Sky.
The Ada, Oklahoma native was drafted by the Phoenix Suns of the NBA despite never playing in the league. Instead, Overton played for the Toronto Tornadoes of the CBA during the 1984-1985 season.
When the Tornadoes relocated to Oklahoma City, that’s when the former Sky head coach stop playing and became a teacher of the game. Overton was with Oral Roberts for two different runs as an assistant coach before ever joining the WNBA ranks.
The Sky did much better record wise than their inaugural season under Cowens. Chicago went 14-20 in their second WNBA season.
While Dupree led the team with 16.5 points and 7.7 rebounds, the team leader in assists was Dominique Canty. Her 4.1 assists for Chicago in 2007 are tied for a career best as the point guard had the same total the next year for the Sky in 2008.
Canty started with the Detroit Pistons and played for the Houston Comets before joining the Sky. She averaged career bests with 10.9 points per game while shooting an outstanding 51.4% from the floor in the season before joining Chicago.
The Chicago, Illinois native retired from the WNBA after her lone season with the Washington Mystics in 2012. Canty played for the Sky until the 2010 WNBA season.
After the Charlotte Sting folded, the WNBA held a Dispersal Draft that year. Chicago bolstered their backcourt by selecting Monique Currie. Just like the Sky, the former Sting guard was also in her second year in the WNBA.
Currie only played two games for Chicago before being traded for Chasity Melton of the Washington Mystics. Melvin joined the Sky after posting a career high of 6.7 rebounds the season before. The former Mystics guard matched that total in 2007 for Chicago.
Melvin returned to play for Washington for her final two seasons in the league before making the switch to coaching. Her only season on the sidelines was on Sandy Bordello’s staff for the Phoenix Mercury. The Mercury lost to the Sky in the WNBA Finals that season.
The two rookies, Armintie Price and Carla Thomas, joined the Sky for te 2007 WNBA season, as well. Price went third overall and Thomas was taken tenth.
Price played and started in all 34 games for Chicago in 2007. She connected on 33.3% of her shots from deep. Price won Rookie of the Year and was named to both the All-Rookie Team and All-Defense Second Team.
Not only did the former Sky guard play collegiate ball for Ole Miss, Price became an assistant coach for her alma mater twice following her WNBA career. She just stepped down again three years ago.
Thomas had a storied college career playing at Vanderbilt before making the pros. Playing both power forward and center, she played just 17 games in her lone season with the Sky.
She played for Cumberland High School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. This set up Thomas’s selection into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame ten years ago in 2015.
