It hasn't been a great season thus far in 2025 for the Chicago Sky, who currently sit 14 games under the .500 mark at 7-21 ahead of Tuesday night's home game against the Washington Mystics. Despite the struggles of the team, Angel Reese has rebounded from a rough start to put together a strong sophomore season in the WNBA, continuing to add to her offensive game while remaining one of the league's elite rebounders and defenders.
One reason why the Sky have performed below expectations this year as a whole has been the fact that the team has been bitten heavily by the injury bug, including to Ariel Atkins, one of their most important players.
However, thankfully, the team recently got an optimistic update about Atkins' potential return to the lineup ahead of the Mystics clash.
“Ariel Atkins (leg) went through shootaround this morning and is set to play after missing the last 7. Said the body feels good, just working to get conditioning back. Tyler Marsh said there isn’t a set minutes restriction as of now, but they’re gonna be careful with her return,” reported WNBA insider Kareem Copeland on X, formerly Twitter.
Atkins will certainly help stabilize a Sky offense that has grown stagnant and predictable at times during her absence, making it easier for defenses to focus more attention on Reese and some of Chicago's other weapons on that end of the floor.
In any case, with the WNBA season starting to wind down, it wouldn't appear likely that the Sky have a great chance of making the playoffs considering their current record, but the veteran Atkins' presence on the floor will help continue the development of some of Chicago's younger players.
The Sky and Mystics are slated to tip things off on Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET from Chicago.
Up next for Chicago will be a home game against the Atlanta Dream.
