When Tyler Marsh was announced as the Chicago Sky’s interim head coach, fans hoped he would be the steady hand to guide a young, talented roster featuring rookie sensation Angel Reese. Instead, just weeks into the season, Marsh found himself compared to Darvin Ham—the embattled NBA coach known for his turbulent tenure with the Lakers—by frustrated Sky fans on social media.
The Sky’s much-anticipated season has quickly unraveled. After a promising preseason, the team stumbled out of the gate, dropping five of their first six games. Angel Reese, the highly touted rookie from LSU, has struggled to find her rhythm, shooting just 34% from the field and often looking lost in the Sky’s defensive schemes. Her fellow rookies and new teammates have fared no better, with turnovers and miscommunications plaguing nearly every game.
Fans, who had packed Wintrust Arena in hopes of seeing the “Bayou Barbie” lead a playoff push, have grown restless. The hashtag #WNBAHam began trending after a particularly dismal home loss to the Indiana Fever, with memes comparing Marsh’s postgame press conferences to Ham’s infamous “we just have to play harder” refrains. “We didn’t draft Angel Reese to watch her stand in the corner,” one fan tweeted. “This offense is lost. Marsh is the WNBA’s Darvin Ham.”
The pressure reached a boiling point after the Sky’s third straight blowout loss. During a tense postgame media session, Marsh defended his team: “We’re young, we’re learning, and we believe in our process. Angel is working hard, and so is everyone else. We’ll get there.” But fans weren’t convinced, and boos rained down as the Sky left the court.
For Angel Reese, the scrutiny is double-edged: as a rookie and a social media star, every misstep is magnified. “It’s a process,” she said after the latest defeat. “We’re going to keep fighting. But yeah, it’s tough right now.”
With the season still young, Marsh and the Sky have time to right the ship. But unless results come soon, the comparisons to Darvin Ham—and the wrath of Sky fans—will only intensify. For now, Chicago’s dream of a WNBA resurgence remains just that: a dream, waiting for someone to wake it up.
