Irish Goodbye

You know that phrase, “Irish goodbye”? Where you’re at a party or something, and you just kind of….. leave, quietly, without making a big thing of it? Well I heard someone say recently that I pulled an Irish goodbye on the W. That made me laugh.

And I guess it’s pretty true. By 2021, I knew I was close to retirement. Then, of all years, that year we finally won the championship — and I thought for a second, Wow. What a way to go out. But after thinking about it a little more, I realized I actually wanted to savor the end of my career. I wanted the experience of walking into each arena and knowing it might be the last time I’d ever play there. And I wanted the experience of trying to defend our championship that we worked so hard for, for so long. So that’s what I did. I didn’t tell a lot of people, but I played in 2022 thinking it would probably be my last season. I really, truly soaked it all in.

I never retired, though. 

I just took the 2023 season off … then I took the 2024 season off … then I took the 2025 season off….. you get the idea. But all jokes aside, I never actually meant to do an Irish goodbye. When I sat out after 2022, it was for a very specific reason.

It was so I could start the next phase of my life: becoming a mom.

To be honest, I thought I would get pregnant fast, then at least leave the option open to play one more season. But things didn’t happen as fast as we would have liked. They did happen, though!! And I’m thrilled to say that on April 8th, 2025, Courtney and I celebrated the birth of our baby girl, Jana Christine. We named her after both of our moms: Courtney’s mom, Janet, who passed away last June. And my mom, Christine. And I know I speak for both myself and Courtney when I tell you that as special as the Sky winning a championship felt, and as proud of a moment as that was, bringing a baby into the world is our accomplishment we’re most proud of. It was the greatest day of our lives. There’s nothing like it.

But also, now that Jana is here……. I feel ready to finally and officially say goodbye to my basketball career. 

One day, when she’s older, I think I’ll tell Jana all about my 14 seasons in the WNBA — or maybe other people will tell her, I don’t know. What I know I’ll tell her about, though, are the lessons I learned along the way. I’ll tell her that when you want something in life, I mean really want something, you don’t stop at the first obstacle. Or the second. Or the third. Or the fourth!!! I’ll tell her how I got cut FOUR times before I found my place in the W — and how I wouldn’t trade those four times, or any other tough times I faced, for anything. Because they led me exactly to where I was meant to be. They led me back home to Chicago, 40 miles from where I grew up in Joliet … they led me to the Sky, and some of the best people, teammates and coaches I could ever ask for … and most of all?? They led me to her mama :)

Now that I’m saying goodbye, though, there are so many people I want to thank.

Thank you to my entire family. To my mom: Thank you for teaching me how to be humble — and for SHOWING me how to be tough. Mom, you are the toughest person I know. To my dad, who passed away when I was 7: Thank you for treating me just like my brothers when it came to sports. (As my mom wrote in the scrapbook she made us to remember him by, “Dad loved the fact that you could throw, catch and hit like any boy around.”) To Donnie: Thank you for stepping up for us … and for always rebounding for me on that chain net!! We love you so much. And to my sister, Sam, and my brothers, Jake and Ryan: Thank you for our backyard battles growing up. They’re what made me who I am as a basketball player. None of this would have been possible without you all … and without you in my corner, watching in the stands and in so many other ways, none of it would have been nearly as sweet.

Thank you to all my Joliet fam. If you’re from Joliet, or you know Joliet, then you know how tight-knit our community is — and how much that community has supported me on this journey. Thank you!!!

Thank you to Ann Meyers Drysdale, who was the GM in Phoenix when I was a rookie. I averaged 7 minutes a game that year, pretty much only playing when we were up 30 or down 30. But then in my exit meeting, Ann told me something that blew my mind: “I see you having a 10-to-15 year WNBA career.” When you have a career as long as mine was, you end up having a lot of conversations with a lot of people … but certain conversations you just don’t forget. And it’s hard to convey how much Ann’s words stuck with me. They were like this reminder during those first few years, and anytime I needed them — that I was persevering for a reason. That I was good enough.

Thank you to Pokey Chatman, Amber Stocks and James Wade. I had three head coaches during my 10 seasons in Chicago, and I have such gratitude for each of them. Thank you Pokey for giving me a chance, and for believing in me when no one else did. Thank you Amber for giving me the opportunity to start, and for believing I could thrive in that role and unlock another level of my game. And thank you James for believing I was someone who could do the one thing I always wanted to do most in this league: help a team win a championship.

Thank you to the Chicago Sky organization, specifically Michael Alter, and thank you to the incredible Sky fans. It was an honor to spend a decade with you guys. So many big moments, small moments, and special memories. 

Thank you to ALL of my teammates — and after a 14-year career, there are obviously too many to mention. But I’ve truly been blessed. From getting to learn from Diana Taurasi (the GOAT!!) as a rookie, to getting to play with so many exciting young players as a vet, to getting to play with a group where it all came together so perfectly like it did for our championship year in Chicago … I crossed paths with so many great athletes, and great people. If you’re one of them, and you’re reading this, thank you.

And thank you to my best teammate of all, #22. Since the day that the Sky had us share a car service together (after we were both late to training camp — my first with the Sky, sorry again!!!), my life has never really been the same. And thank God. I’ll mention the basketball stuff first because it’s what came first: our uncanny, indescribable connection on the court (shirt, pistol, backdoors, iykyk) … our endless days shooting together … our ability to spend hours and hours and hours together just analyzing the game … I’ll miss all of it. And I’m already sad thinking about how I won’t get to experience any of it again. (Well, except for the shooting together part. I’m still gonna make you rebound for me every once in a while.) 

And then as for the non-basketball stuff…….. I guess I’m pretty freaking lucky. Because I won’t have to miss any of that stuff. That stuff, I get to do with you for the rest of my life. I still sort of can’t believe how it worked out. I mean, literally — if you’d told me on that first car ride of ours together, everything the future had in store, I think I wouldn’t have believed you. OK … so you’re going to be here for TEN years … and find your true self as a basketball player … and become a three-time All-Star … and then cap it all off with a WNBA championship … for your hometown team … oh yeah and along the way you’re going to meet your wife?!? … and actually, she’s sitting next to you right now. That’s a crazy story, you know??? But it happened!!! And somehow it’s still happening. Courtney, I’m so grateful we found each other. I think our best days are ahead of us. And as we start this new chapter of our lives, and guide Baby Jana through this world together, I’m so glad I get to be on your team.

And lastly … Thank you to the WNBA.​​

It’s wild to think about, but I was 9 years old when the league was announced. I was 10 during the Atlanta Olympics. And I turned 11 on June 20th, 1997. 

The first WNBA game was played on June 21st. 

So when I look back on my childhood, it really does feel like I grew up in that moment. Like — there’s “before,” when I was just a kid. And then there’s “after,” when I was a kid who dreamed of making it to the WNBA. And in that sense, I kind of feel like I’m part of this unique generation of players. Where we’re the last generation who can remember a time when there wasn’t a W. Or to put it another (better) way: We’re the last generation who will ever have to remember a time when there wasn’t a W. 

I’m so proud of that. And I think there’s a pretty cool perspective that comes with it — especially when I look back on how far our league has come since then. I see all these great players like Stewie and Sabrina and A’ja now starting to have signature shoes, and I just think back on how exciting it felt when my mom first bought me a pair of Cynthia Coopers in the late ’90s. Or I see kids wearing #14 Quigley jerseys at Sky games, and I just think back on how much wearing a WNBA jersey meant to me when I was a kid (one year my friends and I actually all dressed as W players for Halloween — I wore a bright yellow Lisa Leslie #9 Sparks jersey and thought it was so cool). Or I’ll watch the Draft now, and see what a huge deal it’s turned into, with the Orange Carpet and prime time on ESPN and everything else, and I just think back on being in my dorm room at DePaul in 2008, watching my own Draft by myself on NBATV. It was a Wednesday afternoon, which meant that my teammates were all in class or at workouts, and my family was all at work or at school. So I just kind of had a party for one, you know?? And then of course I got picked, and I got a call from Brian Agler, and it was the most amazing feeling — so I think that part’s stayed the same: No matter what year or what round, getting drafted to the WNBA is a dream come true.

And then maybe the biggest thing, when I think about how much the W has evolved, it’s how much better things have gotten in terms of the league supporting players as moms. To be very honest, Courtney and I were ready to have children for years. But because of the arc that our careers took, where we both started having success on the later side (in the WNBA and in Europe), it was just tough at certain points for either of us to imagine pressing pause on basketball. And for a long time the league wasn’t really set up for players to balance their career and motherhood successfully, like it is now. But I’m so proud of the changes that have been made — and fought for. And after having Jana, I’m even more impressed with all the W moms who’ve come back and continued to play. I’d definitely try to do the same now if I was 10 years younger. And while I wish I was … I love knowing that these next generations of players are just going to get to play in better and better and better versions of the W. 

I love knowing that I can look back on my career and say it was really, really good — but it was part of the beginning of something truly great.

Alright, guys……… that’s it for me. I guess I didn’t pull an Irish goodbye on you after all. But I’m still Irish, so I’m going to end this with a favorite blessing of mine if that’s OK.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Thanks for reading. 

Thanks for everything.

Love,
Allie