Column: Chicago Sky do right by Allie Quigley after she did right by them for a decade

Allie Quigley told the Wintrust Arena crowd how much she did right by the Chicago Sky.

During her jersey retirement ceremony, Quigley said she never took a free agent meeting with the Sky. She was always going to play for her hometown team.

The Sky, thankfully, listened. The San Antonio Stars, Indiana Fever, Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury, much to their chagrin, did not. Those franchises regret cutting someone who eventually became one of the best shooters in WNBA history.

"They told me," Vandersloot said in her address to the crowd.

Quigley did right by the Sky all those years, giving her everything she had in the pursuit for greatness and championships.

The Sky did right by Quigley by making her the first-ever jersey to be retired by the franchise. 

She earned that.

"It's her game tonight," Sky forward Rebecca Allen said. 

Quigley was there for the Sky when the Sky weren't much.

This goes beyond winning back-to-back WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year awards in 2014 and 2015 when the Sky had Elena Delle Donne and Sylvia Fowles.

This is when the Sky had Amber Stocks as head coach, Courtney Vandersloot and no real direction of where they wanted to go.

They had two seasons with Amber Stocks as head coach after Delle Donne and Fowles were traded and the team moved on from Pokey Chatman. There was no reason to stick with the team then. Quigley still stuck with the team and played some of her best basketball.

She was an All-Star in 2017, 2018 and 2019. She became the best shooter in Sky history. She became one of the best shooters in WNBA history. She dropped an improbable 28 points in the championship round of the 2021 3-point contest for one of the best rounds in a 3-point contest ever at the professional level.

"She's somebody who's a legendary figure in this game and for the city," Sky head coach Tyler Marsh said. "We're extremely proud to be able to be part of that and to witness a very well-deserved accolade for her today."

Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot look on as the Chicago Sky officially retire Quigley's jersey in the rafters of Wintrust Arena on July 9, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois. (Chris Kwiecinski / FOX 32)

Quigley didn't just get good, she became historic.

Then came James Wade and Candace Parker. Kahleah Copper turned into a killing machine. The Sky won a championship, and Quigley was a big part of that. Parker had the go-ahead 3-pointer and Vandersloot had the game-sealing turnaround jumper, but Quigley picked the Sky up off the canvas at the start of the fourth quarter in Game 4 with multiple 3-pointers.

"I thought to myself, ‘it’s time to start letting them fly,'" Quigley said in her halftime address to the crowd.

Quigley was instant energy. She was a pure-killer of a shooter in a game that now prioritizes pure-killer shooters more than ever. It was dreadful for other

"She was one of the worst people I had to guard," Sky guard Rachel Banham said. "I told her that when I met her. That’s first thing I said, because she just was so tough. So quick. Never stopped moving. She should run marathons."

Quigley was someone that was ahead of the game.

There wasn't anyone like her before in a WNBA game that was more traditional than anything. Teams fed into post players for their offenses, much like the NBA did in the 1970s. Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Cheryl 

The only player who resided in the same atmosphere was Diana Taurasi, the only other player in the WNBA who, like Quigley, shot 3-pointers at a breakneck pace and is the perceived logo of the league. There is no other player that was known for the same.

There's a pipeline of shooters who have come into the league with deep shooting as their calling card: Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu, Paige Beuckers, Kelsey Mitchell, Aaliyah Nye, Georgia Amoore and more. Quigley was the start of it.

"I've looked up to her since I started playing in the league," Sky guard Rachel Banham said. "She's special, and she was special on the court. I said this earlier, just some in the media, but I hated guarding her. It was dreadful."

Quigley's basketball Hall of Fame candidacy is another debate for another day. Right now, Quigley deserved this day, her moment and, now, her future with a family she holds more dear than basketball.

Her legacy will carry on now whenever fans, players, opposing players or anyone looks to the Wintrust Arena rafters.

"Here's one last kiss from this court," Quigley said.