The Chicago Sky finished the 2026 season near the bottom.
But one player did rise towards the top.
That was 25-year-old Sydney Taylor. Her quickness, sharp shooting, explosiveness and clutch play made her a main draw in the Windy City.
At the beginning of the year, Taylor was coming off a season playing professionally in Lithuania and Poland with Kibirkstis Vilnius and MB Zagłębie Sosnowiec, respectively. With the latter, Taylor averaged 22.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals.
On April
13, Taylor signed a training camp contract with the Sky—and nobody could foresee the magic she would unleash.
She laced them up in a preseason game against the Atlanta Dream on April 29, scoring 23 points and wowing the fans at Wintrust Arena.
It would be the first of many.
In her first official game on May 27 against the Toronto Tempo, Taylor came off the bench and scored 27 points in 23 minutes. On June 11, she scored a career-high 30 points against the Indiana Fever, becoming the second player in WNBA history to score 30 points playing in 21 minutes or less.
Slowly but surely, Taylor became the feature, as fans and observers would look to see what she had in store next.
On June 17, Taylor found herself in the starting lineup. In that game against the New York Liberty, she blossomed, scoring 24 points in 28 minutes and hitting a crucial 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to put the Sky ahead. However, they fell to the Liberty 96-95 after Taylor missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
Taylor would get her shot to be the hero at the end of the night on Aug. 2 against the Las Vegas Aces. She hit a 3-pointer from 24 feet away with 0.9 seconds left on the clock to defeat the defending champions, 84-83.
By this point, Taylor became an absolute fan favorite. Every time her name was announced, she rendered gargantuan roars. She celebrated the fandom despite the Sky’s struggles with injuries and losses.
As she said during exit interviews:
I felt it at Wintrust all the time; regardless of our record, they came out, and they supported us through wins and through losses. I noticed it right away in preseason games.
In the end, Taylor would average 13.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. She also shot 41.9 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from the 3-point line.
Taylor was named to the AP All-Rookie Team, with a nod to the WNBA All-Rookie Team surely to follow.
In many ways, she could be considered her own version of what Cynthia Cooper was in the WNBA’s infancy.
They play similar styles and were on similar paths.
Both Cooper and Taylor are isolation scorers who draw the defense in, but utilize their quickness and flair for the dramatic to get to the hoop. They can shoot from deep, whether a pull-up or off-the-catch. They each have a mean crossover, too.
Then, both made the transition from professional play overseas to the home front. Cooper played overseas in Italy and other parts of Europe before joining the WNBA in 1997 with the Houston Comets at the age of 34, emerging as a signature star in the league’s early seasons.
Sky fans felt that same excitement when they caught a glimpse of Taylor. Reflecting on her fan-pleasing play, Taylor said:
I think people enjoy my style of play, and I guess that’s why they’re really supportive of my game. I was confused early on about why the crowd was the way they were when I was checking out the game. But I guess people just like my style of play.
I like to have fun on the court, it’s not always too serious, it is a game at the end of the day, I know it’s our job, but it is a game. I’m always thankful for the fans, the kids who show love and make us posters and bracelets and all that type of stuff. They’ve been really supportive and great all season.
It’s that Coop style and ethos that Taylor credits to growing up playing on the playgrounds of New York, the breeding ground to see who can make it there before they can make it anywhere. She explained:
I think it’s natural, but definitely also from New York, so that’s a big style of play out in New York, playing in the park growing up, and played with a lot of guys growing up, so I think I just developed that from those.
Taylor will not play overseas this offseason and is exploring playing in Unrivaled.
But for now, she can look fondly upon an unrivaled rookie season in them W.
