Since 2006 the Sky have fought to gain a foothold in Chicago\u2019s basketball space to no avail. Tuesday, Chicago celebrated its first professional basketball championship since 1998 marking a turning point in the Sky\u2019s pursuit.<\/b>
\nSilver anniversaries deserve sterling silver hardware and the Sky understood that assignment. In the WNBA\u2019s 25th anniversary season, the Sky made a playoff push that had them knocking on their first WNBA Finals door since 2014. They busted that door down, winning the franchise\u2019s first-ever title on Sunday. The celebration Tuesday fit the historic moment. When the team met the thousands of fans who awaited them at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion after a championship parade up Michigan Avenue, Sky coach\/general manager James Wade had a message. \u201cRemember the seat you\u2019re sitting in,\u201d Wade said standing at center stage. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna make sure you\u2019re sitting in the same one next year.\u201d Courtney Vandersloot walked into Wintrust Arena Tuesday morning wearing black sunglasses and a boot on her left foot. The sunglasses were maybe a style choice or maybe part of a hangover cure. The boot she wore as a precaution for her plantar fascia. She looked tired but joyful from celebrating and the Sky\u2019s first-ever WNBA Championship clinching win over the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday evening. Candace Parker walked in side by side with her daughter, Lailaa, and WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper was right behind them. Two short days ago, Wintrust Arena was getting prepped to welcome 10,378 fans who would bear witness to the Sky\u2019s 80-74, come-from-behind win over the Mercury. \u201cIt still hasn\u2019t set in that we won a championship,\u201d Copper said. When Parker won her first title with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016, the team held a massive celebration at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. There was no parade. Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Monday that the Sky would not only have a rally but would parade up Michigan Avenue in a five-bus championship motorcade similar to the city\u2019s previous sports champions \u2014 all won by men\u2019s teams. Parker\u2019s parents, Sara and Larry, said it isn\u2019t special the team is being celebrated with a parade; it\u2019s what should be expected. Lightfoot, a Sky season ticket holder with her wife, Amy Eshleman, since the franchise’s inaugural season, said she feels lucky to be Chicago\u2019s mayor at this moment. Chicago has long been viewed as a basketball city with a rich history in the sport that includes elite high school competition and the Bulls\u2019 two three-peats for six NBA titles. Since 2006 the Sky have fought to gain a foothold in Chicago\u2019s basketball space to no avail. Tuesday, Chicago celebrated its first professional basketball championship since 1998, marking a turning point. \u201cIt\u2019s been our dream all along to see this city embrace this team as they\u2019ve embraced all those men\u2019s teams forever,\u201d Sky majority owner Michael Alter said. \u201cWe\u2019re here to stay, and Chicago has fallen in love with this team.\u201d As the Sky walked out of Wintrust Arena\u2019s loading dock and boarded buses bound for Millennium Park, different chants erupted from the hundreds of fans who lined the street. \u201cSky in four!\u201d \u201cC-P-3!\u201d \u201cLet’s go Sky!\u201d One fan threw his Bulls hat up to Parker on the double-decker bus for her signature. With an ear-to-ear grin, she signed it in permanent marker. As the buses loaded up, the chants grew. Parker squeezed by passengers and made her way to the front where the cooler was. \u201cI need to speak past you to get my point guard some alcohol,\u201d Parker said. \u201cYo, Sloot, you want an Angry Orchard?\u201d Vandersloot and Quigley played a significant role in Parker\u2019s decision to play for the Sky. Texts were sent, Portillo\u2019s was mailed to Los Angeles and conversations were had about this exact championship moment. When the buses finally departed Wintrust Arena all three of them were wide-eyed, taking in the fans along the route. Vandersloot stood facing east on bus No.2. She was hunched over the rail, staring out, waving at the people who lined Michigan Avenue when she let out a deep sigh. \u201cI truly can\u2019t believe this,\u201d Vandersloot said. There were few breaks in fans that lined the street and as the team drove by, they connected with as many as they could. They noticed jerseys, posters and even recognized some fans from the team\u2019s early days. \u201cFrom the beginning,\u201d Quigley yelled to them. When they finally arrived at Pritzker Pavilion the welcome was captivating. Fans from those early days were mixed with new ones. Parker took the stage and addressed her home crowd, talking about the grit, grind and blue-collar values that she admires about the city. In one season, she accomplished what she had set out to when she signed in February. \u201cHey, guess what?\u201d Parker asked the audience. \u201cSky in four!\u201d Cheers and applause rang out.<\/p>\n