When Courtney Vandersloot played for the Sky, she had no bigger fan than coach/general manager James Wade.
His adulation for his former point guard — ranging from acknowledging her as the best facilitator in the WNBA to the Sky’s engine — never faltered.
Now that Vandersloot is with the Liberty, however, Wade has significantly less to say. When he was asked before the Sky’s 77-76 loss Friday to the Liberty whether he had talked with Vandersloot, Wade said he hadn’t. To a question about what Vandersloot’s legacy in Chicago will be a day prior, he had just three words.
‘‘I don’t know,’’ he said.
Whether it’s tension, hurt feelings or neither, there are palpable emotions between the two.
‘‘Obviously, this [free agency] was hard,’’ Vandersloot told the Sun-Times. ‘‘I’m sure there are some feelings. I don’t know what the feelings are. It’s hard for me to explain. There’s emotion in that.
‘‘Of course, I think we’re deeper than this. That was always one thing we talked about: We always wanted our relationship, no matter what, to never be anything other than really close-knit. From my perspective, I continue to feel that way.’’
On Friday, Vandersloot was welcomed back to Wintrust Arena with a warm reception from just about everyone.
Before the ball was tipped, Vandersloot met former championship teammate Kahleah Copper at center court. As she went in for a high-five, Copper pushed her hand away and pulled the player she lovingly dubbed ‘‘The General’’ in for a hug. Wade and Vandersloot didn’t appear to greet each other on the court before or in the immediate moments after the game.
‘‘I just gave her a hug, like, ‘I hate you,’ ’’ Copper said. ‘‘But there’s so much love there.’’
After Liberty stars Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart had played their former teams, it was Vandersloot’s turn. The advice she received from coach Sandy Brondello and Stewart was to just play her game.
After taking the lead early in the first quarter, the Sky maintained it until the opening minutes of the fourth.
Then with the Sky trailing by one with a minute left, Courtney Williams made a three-pointer to give them a two-point lead. After a made free throw by Marine Johannès made it a one-point game, Stewart put the Liberty back on top with a layup on an inbounds play with seven seconds left.
The Sky (3-3) had a chance to win in the closing seconds, but they missed a midrange jumper and a three-pointer before the buzzer.
‘‘I [expletive] that one up,’’ Wade said. ‘‘I needed another timeout, and I didn’t have one. There’s something I wanted to exploit, and it was too late. I had to call two 20-second timeouts in a row. I had three plays in my head and there’s one I wanted to get out, but it was too late. So we had to improvise.’’
Vandersloot finished with eight points, eight assists, three rebounds and three blocks. Copper had a game-high 20 points and nine rebounds to lead the Sky, and Alanna Smith shot 7-for-7 from the field for a career-high 18 points.
Copper was sent to the floor in the closing seconds of the first half while defending former Rutgers teammate Betnijah Laney in transition. As she was helped off the floor by the Sky’s training staff, a raucous cheer echoed as she put weight on her injured right leg.
Just before the halftime break ended, she ran onto the floor to even louder applause.
‘‘She’s doing OK,’’ Wade said after the game.
