On February 8, 2005, the David Stern announced that the WNBA would be expanding to Chicago beginning with the 2006 season.
Chicago became the second team in league history to be owned and operated outside of the NBA entity.
[1][2] On September 20, 2005, the Chicago franchise announced their team name to be the Sky.
[3] Dave Cowens was named the first head coach of the Sky.
Each team had designated a maximum of six players who would not be available for selection in the expansion draft.