Welcome! 🎉 In an effort to stop spamming my friends with constant women’s basketball updates, I’ve created this newsletter. I know—so generous of me. No need to thank me! I’m here to keep you informed on most things WBB.

Table of Contents

• WNBA Preview: Commissioner’s Cup & Eurobasket

• Fred’s Power Rankings

  • New York Liberty 8-0

  • Minnesota Lynx 9-0

  • Phoenix Mercury 6-4

  • Atlanta Dream 5-3

  • Seattle Storm 5-4

  • Las Vegas Aces 4-3

  • Indiana Fever 4-4

  • Washington Mystics 4-6

  • Los Angeles Sparks 3-7

  • Chicago Sky 2-5

  • Connecticut Sun 2-7

• Hoops & Hype: Media Picks

  • Film Session: WBB Highlights & Insights 📽️

  • Booked & Busy: WBB Reads 👓

  • Drip Report 💧

WNBA Preview: Commissioner’s Cup & Eurobasket

It’s Commissioner’s Cup season, and teams are battling it out for a shot at the $500,000 prize pool. I’ll save y’all some time—it will be Lynx vs. Liberty at Barclays, unless one of them goes on a wild losing streak.

Learn more on the WNBA website

What to Know 

• Commissioner’s Cup games run from June 1–17

• It’s East vs. West

• Point differential matters in case of a tie

• The #1 team by point differential gets to host the Cup

• Each team selects an organization to donate winnings to

Another event impacting the WNBA right now is the start of EuroBasket, a biennial international women’s basketball competition between national teams in FIBA Europe.

It matters because it takes place during the WNBA season, and several international players (plus some Americans with dual citizenship) will leave for about two weeks to compete.

Most international teams have a rule of 1 to 2 foreign players, which is why you’ll see some WNBA players pick up second citizenships. For example, Dallas’ Teaira McCowan holds Turkish citizenship so she can compete.

Fred’s Power Rankings

New York Liberty 8-0

The Libs continue to look better than ever since their epic beatdown of the Connecticut Sun, and handled the Mystics pretty handily.

Only cause for concern: JJ twisted her ankle, but it seems like she avoided serious injury. She is questionable for the Chicago game tonight. I think they should rest her because Chicago sucks. We are gonna win anyway lol

I want to apologize to the Libs because I think I have been underestimating how good this team is. It seems like we get better every game. That being said, we currently have the easiest strength of schedule to start the season and have yet to play Seattle, Phoenix, or the Lynx.

Our first real test will be on June 17th when we play the Atlanta Dream. We’ll get to see how JJ does against BG and Bri Jones, and if our defense can contain Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard.

We also have a rematch against the Fever on June 14th, and Caitlin should be back for that one. I want to see us pull out a comfortable win and put together a full four quarters—if only to shut up the Fever fans who think they can beat us in the playoffs.

Updates: Jonquel Jones rolled her ankle in the game against the Mystics and was seen in a boot. She is listed as questionable for Tuesday night’s (June 10) game against the Sky.

Nyara Sabally is no longer on the injury report and will be playing.  

 International Leaves: Nyara and Leonie Fiebich will be leaving for EuroBasket to play for Germany. Marine Johannes will NOT be leaving to play for France

@nyliberty

8-0 HISTORIC START BLAST THE DANG MUSIC 🤩🕺🪩 #NYLiberty #SEAFOAMSZN #WNBA #hitthemusic

Minnesota Lynx 9-0

The Lynx continued their win streak, hitting 9–0 (or better) for the fourth time in team history. They’re an absolute juggernaut right now, with weapons all over the floor. KMac is back and hooping (if you’re a gambling woman, always take the over on her threes), Natisha is giving valuable minutes off the bench, and Alanna has become a legit three-point threat.

At this rate, I don’t see anyone stopping their path to another Finals appearance.

That said, there are a few things I’ve been noticing that could hurt them in the long run…

1. Phee is playing out of her mind—but she’s also averaging 35 minutes a game, 4th most in the league. In the top 30 for minutes per game, Phee is 4th (35 mins), KMac is 14th (31 mins), and Bridget is 20th (30 mins). For reference, the only Liberty player in the top 30 is Sabrina at 27th, averaging 29 minutes. The wildest stat? KMac missed the first four games of the season and is still 14th in average minutes.

2. The Lynx really need to figure out their slow starts. They’ve done well to claw back in games, but that kind of inconsistency could be a problem against stronger teams like the Liberty, or even a healthy Phoenix squad, or a more cohesive Seattle team.

3. The bench hasn’t really improved. It’s still serviceable, though. Karlee Samuelson can knock down threes, but she’s not defending at the level Zandalasini did last year. Natisha Heideman has been giving some solid minutes too, which helps. But the difference with the Liberty is stark. Lib’s bench produces an average of 24 points per game (third in the league) while the Lynx produced 18 points per game (11th in the league). Last year? Libs bench scored 16 ppg and the Lynx scored…18.

Overall, now that the Finals will be a seven-game series, the real separator might end up being rest and depth.

Also, StudBudz is hilarious. Court and Hide-The-Man are hilarious

Update: Signed

International Leaves: Marième Badiane was wavied. She will also be playing in Eurobasket

Phoenix Mercury 6-4 

Satou & Co. have really been holding it down for Phoenix, which takes the pressure off Kah and AT to rush back from injury. It’s especially impressive considering the Mercury have played 9 games in 18 days.

Satou (and WNBPA Player Representative) even called out Cathy Engelbert for it—adding more games without extending the season puts serious stress on players’ bodies.

I’m still very impressed with their rookies, I think Lexie Held has a real shot at the All-Rookie team.

UPDATES: 

• Haley Jones was Waived. She had a good first game, but when Natasha Mack returned from injury, they had to waive Haley.

• Natasha Mack is back!

• Satou will NOT be leaving for Eurobasket

International Leaves: Natasha Mack will NOT be leaving for EuroBasket to play for Montenegro. Sevgi Uzun was waived because she will be playing for Turkey. 

@phoenixmercury

imagine you play in the WNBA and ur brother plays in the NBA 🥹🏀 #wnba #meganmcconnell #tjmcconnell #basketballfamily #siblingswhoplay #bas... See more

Atlanta Dream 5-3

Good News: Jordin Canada is back from injury!

Lukewarm News: In her return, she went 0-for-7, got benched, and the Dream lost to the horrendous Connecticut Sun.

Still, this is the kind of game you don’t mind losing if it helps you see what needs tweaking—and gives Jordin a chance to get back into rhythm with the offense..

Another glaring issue was the decision to stop playing through Brittney Griner. She was dominating, then Smesko took her out and went back to the three-ball. These coaches have to learn balance just as much as the players do.

International Leaves: 0

Seattle Storm 5-4

The Storm had a solid run this past week, bouncing back from that Vegas loss and showing their strength. Skylar is showing out, Nneka is steady, and Erica Wheeler!!! Erica is proving just how important fitness is in the WNBA—when given the opportunity, players like her can really make an impact. IMO, the race for 6th Player of the Year is down to three women: Erica, Kennedy Burke, and Natisha Heideman.

Gabby Williams is also making a huge impact and shows how important it is to start with the team at training camp to build the chemistry needed to win. As I mentioned before, Gabby won’t be leaving to play in EuroBasket this summer.

That said, my biggest issue is the lack of offensive production from Ezi. Last year she averaged 11 points and 8 rebounds; now she’s down to about 8 points and 6 rebounds. Of course, this can change as the season goes on, but in the games they lost, they were just a few Ezi buckets away from winning.

On another note, backup forward Li Yueru has requested a trade from the Storm, citing her lack of playing time—she’s behind three players on the depth chart. Interestingly, she likes playing for Seattle, and the Storm don’t want to trade her, but pressure from the Chinese national team may have pushed her to ask for a move. She even turned down the chance to play in the Asia World Cup to focus on growing in the WNBA (back when she thought she’d be on the Sparks), so her limited minutes are clearly upsetting the powers that be. Weird shit!

International Leaves: Coach Pokey Chapman will be leaving to coach the Brazlilian National Team sometime between June 28 and July 6.

Las Vegas Aces 4-3

The Aces’ loss to the Valkyries was the most embarrassing thing I’ve seen on my TV since I started watching Seeking Brother Husbands.

Now, credit where it’s due—no one is going to know how to stop the Aces better than their former assistant coach, Natalie Nakase, now head coach of the Valkyries. But come on. Six turnovers in the first quarter? They couldn’t buy a bucket, and that let the defense collapse on A’ja. Even without help, Monique Billings locked A’ja up.

This team is playing like they do not care. The usual lightheartedness is gone, the chemistry is off, and outside of A’ja, Dana, and Jackie, the rest of them give up when it gets tough.

Kiah still isn’t an offensive threat. Yes, she brings rebounding and defense, but the offensive liability is too much. And KB… she’s been getting minutes and doing nothing with them. Unplayable. She’s 100% out of the league next year.

Honestly, the Aces should try to make a move for Li Yueru—someone who can actually give A’ja some help in the frontcourt.

They need to figure it out fast, or Mark Davis is cleaning house come September.

International Leaves: Megan Gustafson will NOT be leaving to play for Spain in EuroBasket as she is injured.

Indiana Fever 4-4

Lost in the Caitlin-less abyss, the Fever dropped two embarrassing games to the Mystics and Sun—and lost Sophie Cunningham (again) and Syd Colson (she’s fine now and back).

Just when it felt like the Fever couldn’t hold on any longer, the Universe delivered a beacon of hope. A savior. Not just for Indiana, but for the entire WNBA. Because, as we all know, the league cannot possibly survive without Caitlin Clark.

Descending from the heavens like the Silver Surfer herself, Aari McDonald arrived to save the Fever’s season.

I have no idea why the Fever thought Syd Colson and Sophie Cunningham would be sufficient backups for CC—even if they were fully healthy, lol. It really seems like they prioritized veteran presence over actual fit.

Aari brought some desperately needed organization to both the offense and defense She’s leading the league in steals after just two games!

Even Kelsey Mitchell, who struggled during those losses, came alive, dropping 24 and 17 points in back-to-back wins and earning herself Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

They have to find a way to keep Aari. But with Chicago now having an open starting PG spot… Indiana might not have enough to convince her to stay.

International Leaves: Domntas Domas will be leaving the team between June 28th and July 6th to play for the Brazilian national Team

Golden State Valkyries 4-5

Golden State had one rough loss against the Mercury this week—with the worst late-game execution I’ve seen in a while. But they had two really solid wins against the Aces and Sparks.

They gave the Aces an absolute beatdown!! I was in shock watching the whole thing. It looked like Kayla Thornton carried the same energy from her many clashes with the Aces as a part of the Liberty, and she put up 22 points and 11 rebounds. Monique Billings was a bully in the paint and locked A’ja up, while former Aces rookie Kate Martin came in with some strong minutes off the bench with a +22.

I thought the game against the Sparks was more impressive because they finally closed out a game!! Yes, the Sparks came back to force OT, but they handled the pressure well and won. KT had another strong game with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and Janelle Salaün had her first WNBA 20-point game with 21 points and 8 rebounds.

This team is starting to click and look pretty decent. But you know what time it is?? EuroBasket!!!! And the WNBA’s United Nations has a ton of people leaving. It will be interesting to see how that affects the team. They signed Laeticia Amihere and Ariel Powers to help fill in the gaps.

International Leaves: Julie Vanloo (Belgium), Janelle Salaun (France), Cecilia Zandalasini (Italy), and Possibly Temi Fagbenle (Great Britain)

Kyara Linskens asked the Valks to waive her so she could play for Belgium, though she will not be returning to the team.

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Washington Mystics 4-6

After a strong start, the Mystics wrapped up the week with two tough losses and one blowout win. I think we’re entering the part of the season where teams start clicking—and once that happens, the better teams aren’t going to be losing to the bad ones as much. The Fever got a boost from Aari McDonald and pulled out a win, and the Liberty were always gonna win. As for the Sun… they’re ass, so that explains that.

We’re continuing to see great performances from Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron, but it does make you wonder—how much longer are Shakira Austin and Aaliyah Edwards going to ride the bench? Is there even space for them to reclaim starting spots? Do the Mystics move one of them before the trade deadline? I could see them moving Shakira. I don’t think anyone expected the rookies to come in and earn those spots this convincingly.

Also, Sydney Johnson is my frontrunner for Coach of the Year. The record might not be great, but the Mystics look way better than a lot of teams in the bottom half of the standings.

International Leaves: 0 

Los Angeles Sparks 3-7

The Sparks are so mehhhhh. Like, they look good at times, and then you look at their record like HUH. Yes, Rickea and Rae have been out, so that leaves some scoring to be desired, but with Kelsey’s usage rate, nobody is getting a shot outside Hamby anyway.

Last night’s game against the Valkyries was a perfect example of how Kelsey can shoot you into the game (sending it to overtime) but then finished OT 1/5. The blame can’t be entirely on her shoulders. If I were a Sparks fan, I would want Dearica arrested after that game. In the last two possessions, Hamby had one funky-ass turnover and one horrible shot.

They have to figure out how to get their other players involved to get Rickea and Azurá going. They also miss the rim protection and defense from Cam Brink, who has no set date to return from the ACL tear she suffered last year.

Like I keep saying, this team has promise, but something is missing. There’s a lot of talk about how the Aces really miss KP, but there’s a lot about the Aces (cough cough A’ja) that just isn’t available to KP in L.A. As much as the Aces need to replace KP’s offensive production, KP has to learn how to play without the best player in the world waiting in the paint to defend and clean up her misses, and Jackie to cover up her lack of defense. It’s very Juan Soto-esque.

International Leaves: Julie Allemand (Belgium)

Chicago Sky 2-5

Have you ever been down South and something is wrong with you? Maybe you look sick, maybe you’re crying, maybe you dropped something, and an older lady hits you with a “Bless your heart”? The Chicago Sky is the “Bless your heart” team of the WNBA. Anything that can go wrong has gone wrong, and they just look pitiful.

I’m not going to jump the gun and say the coach needs to be fired, but it’s not looking great at all. The lineups are confusing. Bec Allen is playing better than literally everyone on the team, and she’s coming off the bench? My only guess is that she’s made out of paper-mâché, so it’s some sort of injury management. Kia Nurse is still buns. Arike Atkins still isn’t taking over games like we know she can. In the game against the Fever, she was 2-11…

The Fever have a way of exposing everything that is wrong with the Sky. The highest-scoring Sky players that night were Kamilla and Bec Allen, with 8 points. Their defense is trash, they can’t defend the perimeter, they can’t make shots, Angel and Kamilla are in a NASTY sophomore slump, and the coaching looks rough.

The worst thing to happen during that game? Courtney Vandersloot tore her ACL. I knew it as soon as I saw it. This is such terrible news for Slooty. It’s not far-fetched at all to call this a career-ending injury. At 36, it was already speculated that Sloot returned home to the Sky to play out her last few seasons. Realistically, if she did come back, she’d be 38. If this is it, the 2x champ, Sky's all-time leading scorer, Sky's all-time leader in assists, and the woman who helped bring the first chip to her city will no doubt be a Hall of Famer—with her #22 jersey hanging in the rafters.

Additionally, her wife and Chicago Sky legend Allie Quigley officially announced her retirement today after sitting out the 2022, 2023, and 2024 seasons. Expect to see her jersey in the Skytown rafters as well.

And another thing, I know y’all aren’t arguing over the fact that Angel got a BET AWARD!?!?! Let’s all be the forrealest we can be right now.

International Leaves: Kamilla Cardoso will be leaving to play for the Brazilian National Team between June 28th and July 6th.

Connecticut Sun 2-7

Lol, they had me in the first half.

The Sun have been a Jekyll and Hyde team. Against the Dream, they looked determined to redeem themselves after the horrendous loss they suffered to the Liberty. Specifically, Marina bounced back with a 34-point, 8-rebound, 4-assist game to beat the Dream. Everyone was eating, but I want to highlight Saniya Rivers, who had a huge defensive game that included a game-sealing block and two game-sealing steals! She has a bright future in the league.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have a great game against the Mystics, but it wasn’t terrible. I think the Mystics just have a way better defense, and the Sun’s defense was horrible. The offensive output was too much for them.

I expect to see them oscillate between signature wins and blowout losses, as they are a rebuilding team, especially when the main way to stop them is simply to contain Marina.

They signed Jaelyn Brown, but she isn’t great. I think she benefited greatly from that good training camp she had with Dallas last year, and despite not playing much due to injury, that reputation still lands her on rosters.

Fortunately, their next game is against Chicago, so they can at least get that one.

International Leaves: Robyn Parks was released, and she will be going to EuroBasket

@connecticutsun

NOPE #BringTheHeat #CTSun #wnba #connecticut #rookie #block

Dallas Wings 1-9

This team is really, really, REALLY bad. I don’t know what to say beyond that.

I will jump the gun here and say Coach Ponytail has got to go. I can’t even remotely see what his vision is for this team. I don’t get his lineups, and you can tell there’s a huge disconnect between the players and the coaching staff.

Sunday’s game against the Lynx showed that they do have the talent and the players to pull out wins. In the first half, they held the Lynx to a season-low 46 points at halftime and just 11 points in the third quarter! However, the Lynx turned up and scored 24 points in the fourth, while holding Dallas to 9. When it really mattered, they fell apart, and the coach offered no adjustments to help.

You know something is amok when Dijonai feels like she has to carry the team (and she tries her darndest)

Paige has been out a few games, and hopefully her return will result in some wins, but they’re losing both centers to EuroBasket soon.

And in even more depressing news, Tyasha Harris had a procedure done on her knee and will be out for the remainder of the season.

Fun fact: Dallas’ worst start in franchise history was last year, going 1-9….

It may be a long time until they’re back in the win column.

International Leaves: Teaira McCowan (Turkey), Luisa Geiselsoder(Germany)

Hoops & Hype: Media Picks

Check out some of the cool podcasts, videos, reads, and fashion I saw this week.

Film Session: WBB Highlights & Insights 📽️

Booked & Busy: WBB Reads 👓

Drip Report 💧