Column: Allie Quigley leaves an indelible stamp on Chicago basketball — whether this is the end or just a break

Few things have been more certain in Chicago than Allie Quigley with the ball in her hands.

It was always automatic. Give Quigley a foot of space — never mind that, just a few inches — behind the 3-point arc. Let the rest follow.

After all the seasons and shattered records, something about Quigley’s shot remained surprising. The ball left her fingertips a half-second earlier than expected, arced almost too high above the rim, snapped through the net with vicious clarity.

It was routine and spectacle all at once, equal parts finesse and power — an encapsulation of Quigley, whose gentle demeanor masked a competitive fire that fueled the DePaul Blue Demons for four years and the Chicago Sky for a decade after that.

But this week, for the first time, the future on the basketball court is uncertain for Quigley — at least from the outside looking in.

After her wife, Courtney Vandersloot, announced her departure from the Sky on Tuesday, Quigley has not announced her intention to leave her hometown team or to retire from the sport. But she will sit out the 2023 season, according to a report by ESPN’s Holly Rowe.

If this break marks the end of her time in Chicago, Quigley will leave an indelible legacy — on the city, the WNBA and any court with a 3-point line.

Quigley was already stamped in the annals of Chicago basketball long before she signed with the Sky. A WBCA All-American at Joliet Catholic, Quigley was named to the All-State team in 2004 along with future teammate Candace Parker, then at Naperville Central.

She continued her local dominance at DePaul, leading the Blue Demons to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2005 and to the Sweet 16 in 2006. DePaul retired Quigley’s jersey in 2021 after the Sky’s championship run.

But before she became the best shooter in the league, Quigley struggled to find her footing in the WNBA. She was drafted with the 22nd pick by the Seattle Storm in 2008, only to be waived before her rookie season. She signed with the Phoenix Mercury but was waived again midway through the 2009 season, followed by brief stints with the Indiana Fever, San Antonio Silver Stars and Seattle Storm that never lasted a full season.

After not making a team for the 2012 season — which she spent instead as a counselor at DePaul’s summer basketball camps — Quigley thought her WNBA career had ended before it really began.

But things changed in 2013, when then-Sky coach Pokey Chapman invited Quigley for a preseason tryout and signed her to the roster. Quigley’s ascension was slow but steady: Sixth Woman of the Year in 2014 and 2015, a full-time starter and All-Star in 2017.

It was also in 2013 that Quigley met her future wife. She and Vandersloot described themselves as an instant match, building a partnership over the next decade that fueled the Sky on and off the court.

“Their chemistry on the court is just as magnificent as it is off the court,” coach James Wade said during the 2022 WNBA semifinals. “When you think of Chicago Sky basketball, they’re the two names that quickly come to mind.”

In the 10 seasons that followed, Quigley stamped her mark on women’s basketball. She earned WNBA All-Star distinctions in 2017, 2018 and 2019. During the offseasons she won trophies and accolades in Europe, including a EuroLeague title with UMMC Ekaterinburg in 2021.

Through every step of Quigley’s career, it was her shot that always remained a touch above the rest. She won four All-Star 3-point contests, setting a record for either the NBA or WNBA with her 29-point score in 2018. Her shot rarely wavered, whether she was shooting against Zach LaVine in her driveway court during a pandemic game of HORSE or sinking a game-winner from the deepest corner of the court.

The impending inevitability of Quigley’s retirement drew into sharp focus last year when she chose not to sign with a European team in the winter for the first time in 15 years. And with Parker and Vandersloot both leaving Chicago, Quigley’s break from the game feels like the punctuation mark at the end of a golden era of Sky basketball.

Soon the Sky will start a new chapter without their hometown hero — perhaps for a year, perhaps for good.

But whether this is the end or not, Quigley’s legacy in Chicago — with Joliet Catholic, DePaul and the Sky — will remain this image: behind the arc, shooting hand stretched to the sky, ball arcing down toward the basket like it’s coming home.