Chicago Sky Head Coach Joins Raptors Coaching Staff

The Toronto Raptors have hired Chicago Sky head coach James Wade to be an assistant coach under Darko Rajakovic next season

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors have turned to the WNBA for their latest assistant coaching hire.

Chicago Sky head coach and general manager James Wade has stepped down and will join Toronto’s staff alongside Darko Rajaković, the Sky announced Saturday. Toronto is yet to confirm the hiring.

Wade has been involved in women’s basketball since 2013. He joined the Sky in 2019 and won the league’s Coach of the Year honors in his first season. In 2021, he led the Sky to a WNBA championship before earning the league’s Executive of the Year award the following season.

The 47-year-old from Memphis previously worked as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Stars of the WNBA from 2013 to 2016. Prior to that, he spent over a decade playing basketball internationally around the world.

Wade joins Toronto’s staff alongside Jama Mahlalela, Pat Delany, Ivo Simovic, Vin Bhavnani, and Mike Batiste. The Raptors have also retained assistant coach Jim Sann from Nick Nurse’s coaching staff.

Toronto had one of the league’s bigger coaching staff under Nurse. It’s unclear how big the Raptors want Rajaković’s staff to be, but the expectation is it will be smaller.

This is Wade’s first NBA experience as a coach. 

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