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USATSI

After his retirement in 2019, former NBA star Dwyane Wade decided to remain in league circles by purchasing a minority stake in the Utah Jazz. Now, he's looking to expand his reach to the WNBA and has expressed interest in investing in his hometown Chicago Sky, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. 

Wade recently attended a Sky practice and spent time in discussion with Sky owner Michael Alter and vice president of basketball operations Ann Crosby. Later, he interacted with players and coaches and posed for a picture with the team. "It was a great day," he told the Times. 

Wade is a Chicago native, but that's not his only connection to the team. He's also cousins with Sky head coach and general manager James Wade, who was excited about the prospect of Dwyane investing in the franchise. 

"It would mean a lot, of course," James Wade said, "especially when you're talking about the type of person that he is and how he does stuff for people. He's recognized and has a reputation of supporting not only this league but supporting everyone. So it would be special if something like that were to happen."

Wade's potential involvement comes at a time of significant change for the Sky. 

During the offseason, the majority of the core from their 2021 championship team departed, and Wade built an almost entirely new team through trades and free agency. Nearly a month into the season, the group has shown a tenacity on both ends of the floor and sits in seventh place at 5-5 -- a mark that has them on track to return to the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, which would be a franchise record. 

Off the floor, the club was valued at $85M earlier this month after a 10% stake was sold to a group of eight investors that included Laura Ricketts, co-owner of MLB's Chicago Cubs, for $8.5M. The Sky now have the second-highest franchise valuation in the league behind only the Seattle Storm. 

"It was important for us to go public with this because it's a signal that capital is bullish about this [being] where people want to make significant investments for returns over time," Nadia Rawlinson, who started in a newly created role as the Sky's operating chairman earlier this year, said. "That is a huge vote of confidence, not just for us, but for the league as a whole."

The organization is planning to use the investments to make significant improvements to player accommodations. Most notably, they want to build a new practice facility, following in the footsteps of the Storm and Las Vegas Aces. There is currently no timeline for the Sky's project, however.