There is no shame in Sky facing the Aces.

We have gathered here today to say goodbye to those who will soon pass away. They were very expensive and are about to leave. We will see you again soon, but until then it is not goodbye, but a fond farewell. Rest in peace my friends. Until next year.

Praise is always difficult. Deliver, write, hear, read, accept. That’s the purpose of everything. Knowing that the unique existence of the subject of the eulogy is over, is over, hurts.

Unless, of course, you (or we) are one of those who believe in reincarnation. The continuation of life after GC Cameron hits that last note. (S/O to Cochise Morris, Chicago basketball royalty.) And in this game of professional basketball at the highest level, seasons are like mini-lives. They end, but it is not the end.

When does a season really end? When does a new one technically start?

For many, the Sky’s season of precarious living ended Wednesday night after they closed a 30-point deficit to a 28-point loss only to be able to say, that same night: “At least we it’s not Minnesota.”

For many, the Sky’s season ended the moment they took an eighth-place finish to even make the playoffs only to play the Aces, the greatest team ever assembled in WNBA history (and that includes the All-Teams). Star), who are also the ones dedicated to defending the championship trophy that has been in their possession since last season.

(Just a year ago, Sky – while defending his Championship Trophy: Defeated Liberty by 38 points in the first round of the playoffs. It was the largest margin of victory in WNBA playoff history.)

For many, Sky’s season ended when it began, and the beginning of the next season began when Candace Parker and Courtney Vandersloot gave the organization the peace sign and coach/GM James Wade gave them the finger. And just watching Parker on the Aces bench giving A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray gems and an idea of ​​how to play for the team he abandoned after doing “what he came here to do” seemed like lowering the coffin to 8 feet instead of 6 feet, just to be safe.

How this season has gone for Sky, playoffs or not, Game 3 or not, extending their basketball life in 2023 or not, we have reached the point of reality of the chances of them winning two games against the Aces and reaching the next round These playoffs are as believable as Jaime Maussan’s three-fingered mummified aliens. Not impossible, but more or less, perhaps, somewhat, quite, relatively, practically impossible. But even so, something that can’t, won’t define your entire season or mark Sunday or next week as your end. Because in basketball, as in life and death, even if things end, it doesn’t mean that they are over.

Chi Sky principal owner Michael Alter, co-owner and president of operations Nadia Rawlinson, co-owner Laura Ricketts and new member of the co-ownership group, Dwyane Wade, began planning for the upcoming season long before they knew their team was going have a postseason this year. . That’s why this series against the Las Vegas “Cheat Codes” feels more like a rerun than an actual funeral. It allows them (players, coaching staff and organization) to get a personalized, 4D view of what it will take to compete for a chip they claimed just two seasons ago.

Which is necessary. No matter how painful it is. The WNBA has changed. High. It rose to the point where locally built, Nuggets-type teams are not the favorites for the crown. Super Squads are gathering, veterinary GOATesses are teaming up with current GOATesses to establish legacy titles that cross generations and will have everyone talking about them only in historical context.

While other teams, now including the Sky, are waiting for future GOATesses (Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, Olivia Miles, Kiki Rice, Juju Watkins) to fall into their arms one year through the draft or from a shiny office central. free agent maneuvers and build what they have around the hope that everything these women did in college will pale in comparison to what they are about to do in the League.

With that in mind and in place, as we enter what is likely to be the last or penultimate game of the season for our Sky, the collective meeting of “what do we do next?” It has to be our collective goal, the goal of the entire city. And make sure we look at and mark your departure not as an end but as the beginning of what is to come. Taking into account that its end is not “it’s over.” And that they are the reigning champions of all Chicago sports teams. The only ones who still seem to be the closest to bringing another parade to town than anyone else.

A team that even in the misery of their loss and their season coming to an end leaves some self-confidence in the end. The epilogue to the season’s eulogy, the only thing Sky could say at his 2023 funeral: “At least we’re not go out like Minnesota.”