Rickea Jackson is already looking more comfortable in Chicago, and the Sky are getting the version of her they wanted. Since being traded from the Los Angeles Sparks, Jackson has averaged 18.5 points per game in Chicago’s first two wins, a sharp start for a player whose role has changed along with her team.
That early production has come with some mixed shooting numbers. Jackson has made 34% of her field-goal attempts as she has taken on more volume, but the Sky have kept asking for more shots, not fewer. Jackson said her teammates encouraged her after her first game, when the shot was not falling the way she wanted. “I didn’t have the best first game shooting but they’re like, ‘I don’t give a damn. Keep shooting,’” she said. “Like, ‘We’re gonna still come to you.’ And to hear that means so much to me.”
The move from Los Angeles to Chicago has looked like a better fit for both sides. Latricia Trammell, now a Sky assistant coach after coaching Jackson with the Sparks, said sometimes a player and a team just do not match as cleanly as everyone hopes. But she said Tyler Marsh has handled Jackson’s arrival well, using her in ways that suit her game and help her play with more freedom.
Jackson said she feels that difference on the floor. She said she has not shot many jump shots “in forever,” and now she is being pushed to take them again instead of living only at the rim. “My percentages don’t look as good as I would like them to, but it’s the second game. I am taking jump shots, threes. I’m not just doing layups. That’s what comes with the territory,” she said. Marsh has also asked her to do more than score. Jackson said, “That’s something Tyler demands of me. Be a playmaker, a rebounder, a little bit of everything. Him having that confidence in me makes me want to do it.”
That broader assignment showed up on May 13, 2026, when the Sky played the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center and Jackson had five assists. She also helped hold All-Star Kayla Thornton scoreless, a sign that her minutes are not just about shot-making. Jackson said she and Trammell have been spending time on film, breaking down footwork and positioning, part of the work behind the smoother start. “I feel like I haven’t shot many jump shots in forever,” she said, adding that the team is still building chemistry as she learns where to pick her spots.
The Sky are using Jackson as a scorer who can attack off the dribble, work from mid-range and get to the line, but they also want her defense and playmaking to keep growing. That is why the fit matters now: Chicago is not asking her to be only a finisher. It is asking her to expand her game in real time, and through the first two wins, Jackson has answered with production, volume and a clear sense that the new setting suits her better than the old one.
Jackson also filed a protective order this past winter, a reminder that her season has included more than basketball. For now, though, the story in Chicago is the one on the court. The Sky are giving her room to shoot. Jackson is taking it. And early returns suggest both sides believe the partnership can keep getting better.
