Chicago City Wire

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday that the Chicago Sky's WNBA championship will go down as one of the biggest in the city's sports history.

"Thank you for being here to celebrate one of the most important moments in sports history," she told a crowd gathered at Millennium Park for a team rally.

Lightfoot thanked her fellow Sky season ticket holders and lauded the team for overcoming an 0-7 season start to win the league title.

“They persevered. That’s a lesson for all of us. That if you work hard. If you come together as a team, you can get it done," she said.

The mayor said she, in particular, admired the play of Sky point guard Courtney Vandersloot.

"As an old point guard myself, I watch her and marvel. If there’s a better point guard in basketball, men or women, I haven’t met them,” Lightfoot said, referring to her days playing for Washington High School in Massillon, Ohio, where she grew up.

Two Sky players are from the Chicago area. Candace Parker is a graduate of Naperville Central H.S. and Allie Quigley, who is married to Vandersloot, is a graduate of Joliet Catholic Academy.

Parker's brother, Anthony, played for Naperville Central and Bradley University in Peoria then professionally for 15 years.

WNBA teams play 32 regular season games, starting in May and ending in September. The Sky went 16-16 (.500) before going 8-2 in the playoffs.

The Sky are owned by Chicago real estate developer Michael J. Alter, 60, of Winnetka. He bought the team in 2005, its first year of existence.

Alter and Lightfoot both once worked at the Chicago law firm of Mayer Brown.

Lightfoot was joined on stage by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.