Chicago Sky's Rickea Jackson Out For Season With Torn ACL

It’s been a tough year for Rickea Jackson. The Chicago Sky guard is out for the remainder of the WNBA season with a torn ACL.

She suffered the injury on Sunday while playing the Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis. Jackson was driving to the basket in the second quarter when her knee bent at an awkward angle. While she made some contact with Lynx player Nia Coffey, it looked like the injury occurred in the process of going to the basket, not due to the contact.

“We’re devastated that Rickea suffered this injury, but we are confident she will make a full recovery,” Jeff Pagliocca, the Sky’s GM, said in a statement. “Rickea was playing at an All-Star and All-Defensive level early in the season. We are certain she was primed for a career year. Our world-class medical staff will work hard with Rickea, who is one of the toughest players in the league, to get her back on the court.”

Jackson, 25, was the fourth pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, taken by the Los Angeles Sparks out of Tennessee. She played well in her two years in Los Angeles, but was having a breakout season with the new-look Sky after being traded to the team in April.

Jackson was averaging career highs in points (18), rebounds (4.8), assists (2) and blocks (1.8) and was the Sky’s leading scorer before she went down.

The Sky revamped its squad after trading Angel Reese – adding Sky Diggins, Jacy Sheldon, D’Jonai Carrington and Azurá Stevens. The team then took UCLA champion Gabriela Jacquez with the fifth pick. And it was paying off early as the Sky is 3-1 in its first four games and tied with the New York Liberty for the top team in the Eastern Conference.

But the Sky has been hit with the injury curse. Carrington (foot), Courtney Vandersloot (knee), one of the few players still on the roster from last year, and Stevens (knee) have yet to suit up for the team this year.

Sky point guard Tasha McCloud called out refs after the game, saying that they weren’t controlling the flow of play.

“The ultimate job is to control and protect the players in this game. And I think that this group today failed to do so,” Cloud said. “They failed to protect Rickea; they failed to control the game.” Cloud was assessed a technical during the game for yelling at the refs.

While refereeing has been a sore point for players through this season, the WNBA now has an advisory committee on officiating to curtail what players and coaches have said is “too much” physicality. And fouls are up this year so far, though some fans say more calls are slowing down the games.

Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, who was injured last season after sustaining contact with Phoenix Mercury player Alyssa Taylor, suggested in a recent interview with NPR that “I do feel like the game is too physical right now… The game should be catered to the offensive player, because that’s why you play basketball.”

Jackson is expected to have surgery in the coming days. It’s been a challenging few months for the Detroit native. In March, while she was playing for Unrivaled in Miami, Jackson’s ex-boyfriend, Atlanta Falcons player James Pearce, Jr., was arrested after an altercation where he tried to run Jackson off the road in his Lamborghini Urus SUV.

Jackson said it was part of ongoing abuse from Pearce, who she says also threatened to kill her. In April, Pearce agreed to a diversion program that includes six months of therapy. If he completes the program, all three felony charges will be dropped.

See social media’s reaction to the injury below.