What does Jackson's ACL injury mean for the Sky?

Natalie Esquire and Terrika Foster-Brasby unpack the news that Rickea Jackson will be out for the rest of the season due to an ACL injury. They also discuss Natasha Cloud's comments after the game.

View More

Video Transcript

Welcome to the WNBA on NBC.

Thank you, Charica Foster-Brasby, for joining me today.

I'm so excited to have you on, 'cause I just love seeing you, and we are one week into the WNBA's 30th anniversary season.

Welcome.

Thank you so much for having me, Nat.

Always a pleasure to be with you.

Of course.

So, you're, you're not in your usual location, so where are you?

No.

I'm actually in the Windy City today.

I'll be covering, the Dallas Wings versus the, Chicago Sky tonight.

So I'm here in the Chi.

I'm in Chi Town.

I see, I see.

Well, I guess it's actually It's unfortunate what we're about to discuss, but good timing because we have to get into the Chicago Sky.

Some big, big news coming out of Chicago, and it's that Rickea Jackson will be out for the remainder of the season.

She tore her ACL in a game, over the weekend.

Just it looked bad when it happened, but you know, Charica, you just always hope, you're always hoping that it won't be what we think it's gonna be, and then it was.

So really unfortunate news.

And yesterday, the Chicago Sky did issue a, a statement about her injury.

"We're devastated that Rickea suffered this injury, but we are confident that she will make a full recovery.

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."

There you have it, Charica, and I agree with them.

I agree with them that I do think she was primed for a career year.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, so incredibly unfortunate.

I mean, this is a Chicago team that started its season on the road for 11 days, four games, and that's not really an easy thing to do.

But it feels a lot easier when you have a player like Rickea Jackson on your team who can lead the way.

And if you look at her numbers to start the season, she was absolutely primed for a career year.

I think all of us knew the kind of player that Rickea is, and that she could be.

We saw it her rookie year.

We saw it, as she was just kind of going through LA, and now coming to Chicago, fresh start, new team, new coach, new environment.

and a team that really feels like they have something to prove to the league.

it she just fit right in.

So it is devastating to see that, you know, she won't be able to compete this season, but if there is any player that we know can bounce back from an injury like this, and is gonna come out stronger on the other end, I've got the strongest feeling that Rickea Jackson is one of them.

Yeah, I mean, she's a native of your hometown, Detroit, so, we know how tough people can be from, from Detroit.

And I just You know, I feel like Rickea's had a, a, a challenging year, for reasons that are not necessarily on the court.

Yeah.

But she's just had a lot going on this year.

So I, I, I wish never want injury for any player, but I really wish that she didn't have to go through this.

You know, she finally got to a team that seemed to really be, featuring her and prioritizing her in their system.

And you know, it's just such unfortunate news.

So obviously- Yeah you know, we're wishing her the best of recoveries.

You know, when the injury first occurred, it was just like, man, like I said, we hope that's not what it is.

Mm-hmm.

And after their game, Natasha Cloud had some pretty strong words about refereeing, which in her opinion she thought affected, p- pot- potentially affected Rickea's injury.

So l- let's hear from Natasha Cloud.

My message, to the three refs of Mai, Tierra, and Claire is that on top of the points of emphasis that were emphasized at the beginning of the season, their ultimate job is to control and protect the players in this game, and I think that this group today failed to do so.

they failed to protect Rickea.

They failed to control the game.

and immediately right before that, I got popped in the face on the way.

Didn't get a call.

That's cool.

I go up to them, I say, "The game's getting a little out of control.

You need to control it."

In the next possession, we have hands all over Kea, pushing her back, and you know, we don't, we don't know what's going on.

But, truthfully, I think it's bullshit.

obviously I needed to get a tech.

a lot of people think that, you know, I'm a crash out, but it was very intentional because y- I will be damned if a player gets hurt on our team, that was something that was controllable by the referees, that, that is a part of their job, and there was no foul call as well.

So we're gonna be sending that into the league.

But I think the points of emphasis is great, but I also think it's a little bullshit.

They need to let us play, but there also needs to be control of the game, and I don't think that for a majority of the game tonight, these refs had it controlled.

You can be mad at me if you want to, but I'll be damned if we keep getting players hurt in this league on any team, because we refuse to control the game.

Yeah, Charica, I mean, you heard Natasha Cloud.

Very impassioned.

And you know, I understand her feeling the way that she does.

You see your teammate get injured.

And I think in general when there's an injury, people first wanna look at, like, is there someone we can blame?

What's, what's the cause of it, you know?

So I do understand where she's coming from.

Though after rewatching the play multiple times, Charica, I It, it looked, it appeared to me to be a non-contact injury.

And so I'm not sure in this case, like, even if the refs were officiating the game according to the standards that Natasha Cloud is looking for, I'm not sure that that would've prevented or, or hin- you know, stopped the injury from occurring.

So I understand her frustration and her sentiment at the time, but I'm just not sure that that was a direct result of the injury here.I would agree that it did not appear to be a contact injury, which is why I originally got nervous as heck when I first saw it because every injury maybe over the last two years that we've seen that has been non-contact has resulted in either an ACL tear or an Achilles rupture or something detrimental to a career for that period of time.

So it made me really nervous when I saw it.

I mean, I guess depending on the angle, depending on, you know, maybe you can say there was very, very And I hate using this term because it, they say it so much out of context, but you may be able to say there was, like, marginal contact, like between the legs of some sort.

But it just didn't look like to me that there was anything that the defender did that would have ultimately caused this particular injury to happen.

However, Natasha Cloud is not wrong, and two things can be true.

There have been many times this season, and the season is barely two weeks in, where we have questioned how the officials have controlled the game.

We have questioned how the officials have called the game.

And these players are professionals, but they're also emotional at times, and sometimes things get physical, and I'm not at all asking for the game to be soft, not in a, not in the least bit.

However, I do think two things can be true.

There can be a better job done at times when it comes to the way that officials are controlling the game and the way that they are calling the game.

I mean, I can probably count on one hand how many times over the last just three days of games that I've seen fouls that should have been called and were not.

but I don't think that directly correlates to what happened to Rickea.

Yeah, and for sure that's, that's where I land, too.

So I definitely, you know, probably not today, but we'll have to continue to watch how the new emphasis, you know, the points of emphasis on freedom of movement for players, how that plays out over this season.

It's been a lot of conversation around it- Yeah already, and a lot of criticism coming from players.

well, careful criticism 'cause they don't wanna get fined, especially now that they're making, you know, top dollars, but- That fine is gonna go up.

That fine money going up.

But there's been some cons- you know, some criticism from players, you know, pointing out how long games have been.

We heard from Breanna Stewart, and also even Cheryl Reeve, who was a part of the committee, right, that, you know, advocated for some of these changes, like, well, she's like, "We advocated for certain things, but we didn't advocate for this," like, in terms of what's happening.

So we'll have to see how that plays out, but completely agree that, like, you know, whatever's happening right now with officiating, it still needs to be cleaned up.

But yeah, I just, I just don't think there's a direct correlation this time.

So I, I land where you are.

So with that said, we do know that this injury occurred, and now what are the Chicago Sky gonna do moving forward, right?

I mean, they- Yeah that last game they played, Skylar Diggins didn't play in that game.

Azara Stevens still hasn't stepped foot on the court for them.

They're gonna have DeJoun Carrington and Courtney Vandersloot later coming.

So they do have some more help coming, but- Yeah you know, not all of it is, like, in the immediate future.

And so- Well, some help is on the way.

I did have an opportunity to talk to Coach Tyler Marsh this morning, after shootaround, and he did mention that Azara Stevens is most likely the closest to returning, and her return could be as soon as this weekend.

Okay.

So it is very possible that there are, that the help is on the way sooner than some anticipated.

I think the next person that could possibly on the way, be on the way from their injury list would be Courtney Vandersloot and then DeJoun Carrington not soon, not too much later after that.

But help is on the way a lot sooner than I think some of us, anticipated.

Okay.

Well, that's, that's good news to hear.

You know, I also wonder, you know, I don't know if you've heard from, Coach Marsh, but, like, I guess in the immediate, like, the immediate plans or just in general, I mean, Rickea's production is a lot to replace, you know?

Like, she was- Mm-hmm a top 15 scorer in the league so far starting the season.

Look at this output for the last, you know, four games, or the only four games that she played this season.

And, and we see in the final game before she went down with injury when they were at Minnesota, six points, but outside of that, 19 points, 18 points, 29 points, all double-digit scoring, Charica.

And so this is a lot of, you know, production to replace.

Now, in that game where Rickea went down, Gabriela Jaquez, like, was great, you know?

And so I, I do wonder, I'm curious, like, if she's someone they're gonna lean into.

I mean, you can't replace Rickea Jackson.

We- Right we know that.

She is a bucket.

And so they are gonna have to do it by committee, clearly.

But, you know, 20 points and eight rebounds in only her fourth game as a rookie, Gabriela was balling.

And I mean, we knew from UCLA that she can be this kind of player, which is why Chicago Sky selected her to some so high, maybe a little earlier than some had projected.

And she's been great for them already all year, but these are both season highs for her, or career highs rather for her, and she only four games in, Charica.Absolutely.

Gabriella Hawkins, and you know, I've been seeing her, you know, she can shoot, she can provide the offense, if the offense is what you're missing, which they will given that Rickea was averaging around 18 points a game this season.

But they're also gonna need someone that's gonna provide the length that she, provided, and also gonna need someone to provide that versatility and that defensive, aggression that she's able to provide.

And so I did, you know, get a little bit of clarity because a lot of questions have been around, well, what happens now?

There's the developmental players.

And what I've learned is that, the developmental players not only have a specific amount of games in which they are allowed to play, from a team perspective, which is 12 each.

However, begi- given that this is an injury that will cost Rickea the entirety of the season and not just someone that will be out for a game or two, Chicago does have the ability to bring in another player.

So they could claim someone off waivers.

They could get a player, you know, make a trade.

They could do any bevy of things in order to replace Rickea.

and again, she's not replaceable, but in, in order to replace her as a spot on the roster.

So I think that's something that we should definitely be keeping our eye on, on what, if anything, Chicago decides to do as it relates to roster spots.

Yeah, that's probably definitely an option that they're going to consider.

Well, Ric- I was about to call you Rickea.

Charika.

All these Ricks from Detroit.

Come on, now.

Thank you so much for joining us today, making time while I know you have so much to do while you're there in Chicago, but really appreciate you joining, as always, the WNBA on NBC and helping to keep us updated.

And guys, we will continue to monitor this story and keep you all updated on Rickea.

In the meantime, we are sending Rickea all of the love and praying for her full recovery.

Can't wait to see you back on the court.

We know the, the comeback is gonna be greater than the setback.

So until then, Rickea, until we see you again, thank you for being you.

Wishing you the best.

Charika, thank you for being you.

And to those who are watching, thank you for tuning in to the WNBA on NBC.

Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel, the WNBA on NBC, so you do not miss out.

Cher, where you going?

Talk to the people.

Subscribe to the WNBA on NBC YouTube channel for more videos like this.

I could never palm the ball.

I could never palm the ball like that.

Oh, you can't?

Nope.

No, just shoot it.

Close