Inside The W: Celebrating The Inaugural Game and 25th Season Updates

Michelle Smith

Twenty-five years ago this weekend, the world changed. It really did. It wasn’t a seismic change, the ripples didn’t make it to every nook and cranny of the planet. But there was a shift, make no mistake.

The WNBA launched a women’s professional basketball league on a Saturday afternoon in June, putting New York and Los Angeles on the floor in front of a national network television audience, with honestly, only a handful of players that most people had ever heard of.

There was excitement, there was enthusiasm, there were celebrities in the stands and there was hope that it would be the beginning of something lasting and successful.

What really changed that day? The lives of players who only knew the toil and often isolation of playing their professional careers overseas. The professional sports landscape, which made a little space for a women’s professional league that had the commitment of the NBA, who made a decision that supporting women’s basketball was both good for the game and the league’s brand. And the dreams of so many little girls, who would now have basketball possibilities that didn’t exist in quite this same way before.

Twenty-five years later, some of those very same dreaming girls are playing in the WNBA, and the ways in which the league is changing the world are more obvious and arguably, more impactful. Twenty-five years of the WNBA have been defined by perseverance, adaptability, and hard work.

They have been defined by the extraordinary women who have walked out onto the floor for a quarter of a century. They have been defined by the longevity we celebrate this weekend.

The ripples reach out more widely now. And they will continue to spread in the next 25.

It’s an interesting season so far, with Seattle and Indiana occupying opposite ends of the standings at this point and a whole lot of intrigue in between. Here’s a look at the teams and players worth keeping an eye on as we hit the heart of the schedule.

Connecticut. Without Jonquel Jones, who will be gone for four to six games competing in the EuroBasket tournament, the Sun’s first three outings without Jones have not gone so well, an 89-66 loss to first place Seattle (the Sun’s first home loss of the season), and back-to-back 81-losses to Chicago marks the Suns’ first consecutive losses of the season and puts a clear exclamation mark on how important Jones is to this Connecticut team this season, especially without Alyssa Thomas on the floor. Coach Curt Miller pointed out that Jones’ presence inside “covers up a lot of ills” and creates extra possessions with her ability to rebound. Connecticut definitely missed that. Miller is also not currently with the team, dealing with a family medical issue and the road literally gets no easier for the Sun, who will face a hot Dallas team, and then another game against Chicago. Speaking of…

Chicago. Candace Parker’s return to the floor – coupled with Allie Quigley’s return – appears to have set the Sky straight for the moment as they have won five straight games to climb out of the bottom run of the league standings after opening with seven losses in their first nine games. How big of a difference-maker is Parker? The Sky are 5-0 this season when CP is in the lineup. It is the play of Kahleah Copper that also is propelling the Sky. Copper is leading the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game.

Kelsey Plum. Plum, the Aces guard, is finding her place in the Las Vegas lineup after returning from the USA Basketball 3-on-3 Olympic qualifying tournament. Plum has provided a huge boost off the bench in the past two games, scoring a career-high 32 points to go with five rebounds on Monday against the New York Liberty and then following up with 18 points and seven assists in 25 minutes against the Liberty on Wednesday. Plum has made 7 3-pointers in the last two games, which opens up valuable space in the Vegas offense. Bill Laimbeer will happily take more of this from Plum.

Dallas Wings. The Wings lost two games in a row (one to Las Vegas, another to Minnesota) after a run of three straight victories, but got back in the win column Saturday night by avenging Thursday nights loss to the Lynx, but it’s starting to be time for Dallas to decide which team it’s going to be with eight games to go before the Olympic break and five of those games at home. Arike Ogunbowale, who has scored in double figures in 50 straight games, needs more consistent help from players like Satou Sabally and Allisha Gray. A pair of overtime games (a win and a loss) against first-place Seattle shows what the Wings can be.

Sylvia Fowles. The Lynx are a proud franchise off to a slow start. But the play of Sylvia Fowles – who collected the 170th double-double of her career (a league record) against Dallas on Thursday – is starting to allow Minnesota to build some momentum. Fowles, who played just seven games last season because of injury, is playing at an MVP level right now, averaging 16.3 points per game and a league-leading 64 percent shooting from the floor. Minnesota, piecing together lineups because of injuries to Aerial Powers and Natalie Achonwa, won its first road game of the season in Dallas earlier this week and needs more where those came from to climb solidly into playoff position.

Phoenix. Seeing the Mercury near the bottom of the league standings with four losses in five games is disorienting, but this team is playing without Diana Taurasi and Bria Hartley, have won just one home game this season (1-5) and despite the strong work of Brittney Griner, who has scored 27 points in at least five games in Taurasi’s nine-game absence. But Phoenix is 4-5 without the GOAT on the floor and ranks last in the league in bench points. The Mercury aren’t far off from a big turnaround, coming off Friday’s road win at L.A. and having lost five games by eight points or less. Sandy Brondello is working different lineups, looking for a winning combination, including giving Sophie Cunningham her first start on Wednesday against L.A. Taurasi is expected back for a June 27 game against Los Angeles. Just in the nick of time.

——————————————————————————————————–
Longtime WNBA reporter Michelle Smith writes on WNBA.com throughout the season. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the WNBA or its clubs.