Despite all the momentum of a new CBA and an historic influx of talent, the WNBA found itself at the mercy of COVID-19 just like every other sport (and industry) across the world. And while many countries coalesce towards recovery, the United States has split its response to the pandemic down party lines. Additionally, a…
Tagged Los Angeles Sparks
WNBA Roundtable: Answering 2020-21 Season’s Big Questions
Though the WNBA has announced its intention to return, a lot of questions remain for TBW’s staff, including the moral, competitive and technical implications of what will unfold at the IMG Academy. We searched for some answers in this recent roundtable between TBW’s WNBA writers Myles Ehrlich, Jannelle Moore and Huw Hopkins. WNBA player Nneka…
Get the W: Rookie Contract Extensions & Favorite International Players
As the WNBA inches closer to starting up its season, a lot of attention turns to big names that changed venues. But what about the key contributors coming off rookie contracts who stay put and now step into bigger roles? TBW’s WNBA staff writer Huw Hopkins joins host Gabe Ibrahim to break down which of…
Get the W: How the WNBA Comes Back This Summer
Promising comments have recently begun circulating among WNBA officials that the league can still return to play in 2020. But questions like “how soon?”, “for how long” and “at which location(s)” remain complicated to answer. Additionally, what will happen to the team rosters when final cuts are likely to be made without ever having completed…
TBW’s Official 2020 WNBA Mock Draft
Welcome to TBW’s first annual WNBA mock draft! The 2020 WNBA Draft will air on ESPN this Friday night at 7pm EST. Due to social distancing guidelines, teams will log on from afar to make their selections. By night’s end, thirty-six young women, also all remote, will learn of their futures (and destinations) in the…
Power Ranking Each WNBA Team, Post-Free Agency – Part 2
With many WNBA teams diving headlong into free agency, a divide has eroded the mid-tier competition. A binary of approaches has materialized: Some franchises are win-now; others prepare solely for the future. The new CBA led to a ballooning of both player salaries and the cap. This created a free agency free-for-all that has shaken…
Breaking Down Another Big Week of WNBA Free Agency
While not quite matching the record-setting pace of the first wave, WNBA Free Agency’s second week hasn’t lacked excitement. That said, a few teams have been conspicuously quiet in comparison to the rest. The Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty have largely sat out the proceedings while everyone else has loaded up or…
Breaking Down WNBA’s Wild Week of Free Agency
February 10 kicked off an exciting flurry of free-agent activity for the WNBA, and each of the 12 franchises has made moves they hope will improve their roster for the upcoming 2020 season. With the new CBA in place, some teams—like the Los Angeles Sparks and Phoenix Mercury—have pounced with large dollar offers to entice…
WNBA Team-Building has Entered a New Era
Washington Mystics general manager and head coach Mike Thibault says the WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement has changed his job forever. He’s right, and it’s a great thing despite the additional challenges for those in his profession. Thibault gave an interview to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post after former Washington guard Kristi Toliver recently…
WNBA Watch List: Top Matchups for Each Team in 2020
The WNBA recently released its 2020 schedule, and this coming year’s teams will play 36 games (instead of 34) while also participating in the first-ever Commissioner’s Cup. Every team will take its first ten conference games—two matchups apiece against each of the five other teams in their conference—and use those standings to seed a midseason…