Sky assistant coach Latricia Trammell was just thinking how happy she looked.
Two days before the 25-year-old forward tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, Trammell noticed her smile, her energy, her voice. Jackson kept telling reporters how she wanted to run through a wall for her coaches and teammates — comments that stuck out to Trammell in part because she’d coached Jackson with the Sparks last season in a system that didn’t quite suit her. For the first time, Jackson had found a system fitted to her strengths.
It showed. She was averaging a career-high 22 points through three games while answering a challenge to take leaps as a defender, rebounder and playmaker. She looked like an All-Star in the making.
Then she tore her ACL on Sunday against the Lynx in Minneapolis in the final game of a road trip. She needs surgery and will miss the rest of the season.
“We’re devastated that Rickea suffered this injury, but we are confident she will make a full recovery,” general manager Jeff Pagliocca said in a statement. “Rickea was playing at an All-Star and All-Defensive level early in the season. We are certain she was primed for a career year. Our world-class medical staff will work hard with Rickea, who is one of the toughest players in the league, to get her back on the court.”
Coach Tyler Marsh echoed the sentiment at practice Tuesday.
“You feel sad for Rickea,” Marsh said. “She was in a really good place, mentally and physically, and she was playing great basketball.”
Her good place, her great basketball — they felt so right. Jackson made it to the other side of a much-publicized incident with her ex-boyfriend, Falcons defensive end James Pearce Jr., who was charged with battery and stalking in February after allegedly ramming his car repeatedly into hers as she drove to a police station. She had found a team that wanted to make her its centerpiece. Trammell said it felt as though all the adversity had lifted. Now Jackson must fight through more of it.
“We’re just surrounding her with love and comfort and letting her know we’re here for her in any way possible,” Marsh said. “We’re not going anywhere. She’s not going anywhere. We’re here for the long haul with Rickea.”
The Sky have Jackson under contract through next season and can show through her recovery that they’re worthy of a long-term partnership. But in the short term, there are no easy answers. The offense hasn’t clicked yet, which Marsh acknowledged. Now they’re losing their leading scorer.
They’ll also face the consequence of load-ing their roster with guards — and will be even more undersized without Jackson. Marsh can go small in the starting lineup and replace Jackson with veteran Natasha Cloud. He could go with rookie Aicha Coulibaly, who adds a little more size. But neither option really fills the void.
Still, Marsh seemed confident Tuesday about a committee approach.
“We still have a good team,” he said. “We still have valuable pieces in that locker room that are ready to go out and perform.”
He has reason for that confidence.
When Jackson went down against the Lynx, the Sky (3-1) rallied around her and pulled off an impressive road win. They have been tougher defensively than anyone anticipated, in large part because of their guards — Gabriela Jaquez, Jacy Sheldon and Cloud.
Marsh’s team has some real fight in them.
And help is on the way. At some point this season, the Sky expect to get back three players currently injured: Courtney Vandersloot, Azurá Stevens and DiJonai Carrington. Marsh said that Stevens, a stretch big, could return as soon as this week.
But even that committee can’t replace Jackson. Nobody on this roster can. The Sky know it, and now they have to figure out how to live without her.
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