Chicago Sky head coach Amber Stocks and Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller took petty to a whole other level in their teams’ Friday night matchup. The Sky opted to chase a pair of WNBA records despite holding a large lead in the final seconds of the game, and that didn’t sit well with Miller, who called it “bush league” while mic’d up and had his players foul to prevent being scored on. He was livid.
Connecticut Sun coach Curt Miller thinks the Chicago Sky went “bush league” for trying to set a WNBA assists record. Is he right?
The Sky were up by nine point with 15.5 seconds to play. The team called timeout to break a record and the Sun’s coach was NOT happy.
What happened?
The drama unfolded with 15.5 second left in the game and the Sky leading by nine points. Off a rebound, Stocks called timeout rather than dribbling out the clock, which infuriated Miller.
She called timeout to set her team up to break the WNBA’s team assists in a game record (the team was tied at 35 with the Lynx record from a season ago), and to help Courtney Vandersloot tie the single-game WNBA record for assists (she had 15). Stocks even went as far as to sub in her team’s best shooter, Allie Quigley, back into the game after she’d been on the bench when the game got out of hand two minutes earlier.
“I hope they’re talking about how this is bush league,” Sun coach Miller said as the Sky huddled.
Then, as Sky inbounded the ball, Miller’s heard screaming “foul her,” to prevent the Sky from touching either record.
Then he said, “Go get your record when it matters. It’s bush league.”
The fouls prevented Chicago from setting the records it sought to, though Vandersloot did become the first player in league history to put up a 20-point, 15-assist performance.
The Sun then dribbled out the clock and shook hands with the Sky. The players weren’t fazed by their coach’s bickering and shook hands. But more continued between the coaches.
While Stocks and Miller shook hands after the game, the camera panned away. The announcers said “There were some pleasantries exchanged on the handshake,” though.
After the game, Stocks pretended she had no idea her team was close to a record.
“We set a record? Nice. What was the record?”
The best part of all of this?
The Sun and Sky are set to play again at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon in Connecticut.
Get ready for some more petty!
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