Chicago Sky make midseason mascot change

Some teams struggling through a disappointing season will fire their coaches. The WNBA's Chicago Sky fired their mascot.

The 11-18 Sky shook things up by canning their longtime mascot, Sky Guy, in favor of a new mascot named "Skye the Lioness." The team's new mascot is a lion, a nod to the iconic lion sculptures outside the Art Institute of Chicago. Those lions even donned Chicago Sky gear during the team's run to the WNBA title in 2021.

But the emergence of Skye the Lioness means an end to the career of the team's old mascot, a blue "rocketeer" with a strange backstory. When Sky Guy was introduced back in 2006, the team described him as "a masculine guy with a wild imagination and appetite for adventure." In practice, that means he has fake muscles, a cartoonishly-large jaw, goggles and a jet pack.

Sky Guy's biography claims he has five older sisters, all of whom play basketball. "After his siblings left for college, he played basketball alone, but missed the action of the game. With a great imagination and entrepreneurial spirit, he combined his love for basketball with his best invention yet-- a jet pack."

In other words, Sky Guy was not the most inspired mascot. The team leaned heavily into the "Sky" theme without considering the strangeness of representing a women's basketball team with a self-proclaimed "masculine guy." It's as if they didn't think men would watch women's sports without a cartoonishly buff mascot to reassure them of their manliness.

With the team on a three-game losing streak, holding on to the WNBA's last playoff spot by a half-game, perhaps the presence of Skye will inspire Angel Reese and Chennedy Carter. Unfortunately, they'll still have to deal with Sky Guy for a few more weeks, who will be hanging around as a mentor, like a veteran quarterback who got benched for a younger player.

According to the press release, "Sky Guy, the team’s mascot since 2006, will share his experience and support Skye through the remainder of the 2024 season."