Ranking the 10 best Chicago Sky players in team history
By Tyler Watts
9. Jia Perkins
Perkins started her WNBA career with the Charlotte Sting before being the Sky’s first overall pick in the 2006 expansion draft. The 5’8 guard got more playing time and blossomed with her new team. Perkins scored the seventh-most points in the league in 2008 and quickly became a force.
She averaged 12.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.7 steals in 27.6 minutes per game over her five seasons in Chicago. It included an All-Star appearance and finishing second for the Most Improved Player award in 2008. Perkins is seventh in team history in games played and was a productive role player throughout her tenure.
The Sky were still getting their footing in the WNBA when Perkins was traded to San Antonio in 2011. She played seven more years in the league and filled a role on multiple contending rosters before finally getting her ring with the Lynx in 2017.
Jia Perkins is all over the Sky’s record book. She is second in steals, fifth in assists, eighth in points, and 11th in rebounds in franchise history. The 5’8 guard played a key role for the first wave of the Sky and produced the sixth-most win shares for Chicago. The franchise may not have had the success it wanted, but Perkins deserves a place on this list for her contributions.