Two Sundays ago, Paige Bueckers and Sue Bird gathered inside Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., as different points in their lives were celebrated. Bueckers led a courtside coronation. The Huskies blew out South Carolina to win UConn’s first national championship in nine years. With the souvenir net draped around her neck after her final college…
Near the end of 2022, New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart took a meeting at a New York City steakhouse to hear an idea to change the landscape of professional women’s basketball. Stewart was preparing to spend part of another WNBA offseason abroad. Alex Bazzell, the husband of Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, had seen…
As free agency kicked off last month and star players began shuffling around the WNBA, another important date loomed on the league’s calendar. Bids for the 16th WNBA franchise were due on Jan. 30, according to a league source briefed on the matter, resulting in a flurry of interest. More than 10 potential ownership groups…
Executives around the WNBA largely expected this offseason’s market to serve as a tune-up for next winter. At the start of the offseason, only two non-rookie contract players had deals that extended past 2025. Seismic change loomed. But after an avalanche of moves, significant shifts have come an offseason early as a hectic week of…
MEDLEY, Fla. — On the eve of WNBA free agency beginning last Tuesday, several league decision-makers gathered under the same roof. Inside Unrivaled’s Wayfair Arena, Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon sat next to a basket stanchion with team president Nikki Fargas to her left, watching the end of the 3×3 league’s opening weekend. Dallas…
MEDLEY, Fla. — Outside a custom-built arena on the outskirts of Miami, a line of fans waited to sit on a throne composed largely of basketballs. They wrote personal answers on a sign asking, “What does Unrivaled mean to you?” Empowerment. Leadership. Community. Future. Not even some evening rain could extinguish the buzz that had…
Chelsea Gray has made a habit of competing internationally during her WNBA offseasons. For nearly a decade, the Las Vegas Aces star would pack her bags after the W season concluded and fly to compete for teams in Israel, Spain and Turkey as a way to work on her game, travel the world and supplement…
The WNBA Draft lottery is in the books, setting the order for April’s 2025 draft. Similar to the past two years, there shouldn’t be much drama at the top, considering the only way Paige Bueckers doesn’t get drafted first is if she elects to stay at UConn for an additional season. For the most part,…