Looking at the valkaries game in particular they looked like a team that rolled out of bed.

offense was super stagnant way too much dribbling, zero ball movement, guards not hitting the roller on pick and rolls and really quick shots.

There was a couple of times Angel was leaking out and nobody bothered to look up.

On the defensive end it was worse. zero help defense

Gabby and Burton would drive and be met with no resistance. Screens led to wide open 3s because no one would switch up to that point the dream allowed the highest 3 point percentage in the league.

But In the last 20 games this team transformed completely. If you watch the New York series Actually switching and hedging ball handlers on screens. Hitting rim runners in transition. Offensively the dream aren’t taking 15 seconds to get into sets anymore.

Angels Avg 18 ppg with 1.8 blocks

Jordin Canada is avg 19.8

DB is giving you an extra 13 ppg

By Cora Hall

It has been 27 years since Tamika Catchings and Chamique Holdsclaw stepped on the court together for Lady Vols basketball, but they've spent this year reconnecting as part of USA Sports' WNBA coverage team.

Now, the two Tennessee legends will cover their first WNBA Finals together, Catchings as a game analyst and Holdsclaw as a studio analyst. The seven-game series between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries begins Oct. 17 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC), and USA Network will broadcast Games 2 and 3 along with Games 5-7, if necessary.

"With our relationship, we've gone through the highs and lows over the years, just from a standpoint of life happens, we're busy, we're doing different things," Catchings said on a call with media on Oct. 15. "This has pulled us back together and having more conversation, talking more about the game. We're back to being teammates ... it's just been awesome."

Catchings and Holdsclaw played together from 1997-99 at Tennessee under legendary coach Pat Summitt, and the duo led the Lady Vols to an undefeated national championship in 1998.

Studio host Elle Duncan said getting to know Holdsclaw on a personal level during long days for Wednesday night doubleheaders has been one of the best parts of this season.

Holdsclaw, who was inducted to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in August, came into the job with humility. Duncan said Holdsclaw looked at her one night and told her, "I'm a rookie, Elle. Help me, tell me what I need to know." Holdsclaw has also provided a calming presence to balance Duncan's self-described "frenetic energy."

"She is the human embodiment of aromatherapy ... she's so centered and just grounded, and she's inquisitive," Duncan said. "She was really, really, really adamant that she wanted to be good at this, and she grew so much in this space. She is an amazing woman who has so much conviction and uses her platform in every possible way to shine light on a lot of different topics and places that need it. She's a one-of-one. There's a reason she's one of the GOATs."

Kate Scott, who does play-by-play with Catchings, echoed Duncan's sentiment that getting to know Catchings has been one of her favorite parts of this season.

When they walk into arenas, Scott called the love Catchings receives "overwhelming," and she joked she becomes Catchings' bodyguard after the broadcast ends and the fans start lining up.

"Just seeing the love that she and Chamique have gotten online and in the social spaces, that people have missed these players, that they are so happy to have them back," Scott said. "And what an honor it is for Elle, for me, for all of us at USA to get to be a part of their revival and get to just kind of sit next to the shine and the recognition that they so desperately deserve. It's been an awesome part of this journey this year."

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/womens-basketball/2026/10/15/tamika-catchings-chamique-holdsclaw-wnba-finals-usa-network-lady-vols/92267874007/

Four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird has created quite the stir after calling the number two seed Golden State Valkyries the "underdogs" going into the 2026 Finals against the number four seed Atlanta Dream.

In only their second season as a WNBA team, the Valkyries entered the 2026 Finals against the Dream, who will be playing their fourth since their last appearance in 2013.

Speaking about the Valkyries, Bird, who will be one of the studio analysts for NBC at the 2026 WNBA Finals, recently said, "All the players talk about the belief that they have. They never lose that in each other. I think they, even though they're the higher seed, I think they like the underdog position."

"I think they thrive in that. So it's interesting; even though they're the higher seed, they're going to have home court advantage. It's like home court advantage with an underdog mentality."

Everyone loves an underdog story, especially for a team that has just existed for two seasons in the W. As the first head coach of the Valkyries, Natalie Nakase swept her mentor Becky Hammon's team, the reigning champions Las Vegas Aces, in the semifinals to take her side to their first-ever WNBA Finals.

Maybe that's why some fans are questioning Bird's "underdog" label for the Valkyries, especially after a season they just had.

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/sue-bird-sparks-debate-calling-100939051.html

By Sara Germano, Justin Birnbaum

Five years ago, the Dream made headlines for their political activism more than their on-court performance. In 2020 and 2021, players successfully campaigned to elect now-Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) over then-team owner and incumbent Kelly Loeffler, who had opposed players’ support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The Dream players’ campaigning assisted Warnock’s election and contributed to the sale of the team to Larry Gottesdiener, Suzanne Abair and former Dream player Renee Montgomery.

Today, the Dream arguably represent the shortest and most direct bridge between the WNBA’s social justice roots and its present era of mainstream popularity and dynamic athleticism. They are led by Angel Reese, acquired in a preseason trade, who is the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year and a mainstream celebrity who has appeared at the Met Gala and in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The Dream’s front office has expanded tenfold from 2021 to the present, and the organization recently agreed to a deal with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks to share State Farm Arena as the team’s permanent home venue beginning next season.

Getting there required a lot of investment and patience. In 2021, the Dream were “a team that had to be rebuilt. We were starting five years ago with a deficit,” Morgan Shaw Parker, Dream president and chief operating officer, said. “We had to, for four and a half years, build our franchise to be able to bring in someone like an Angel Reese.”

Despite the strides the team has made, there’s still a significant financial disparity between Atlanta and the team it will face in the WNBA Finals, the Golden State Valkyries. The Dream are valued at $280 million, according to Sportico’s WNBA valuations, and posted 2025 revenues of $16 million. The Valkyries, only in their second year in the WNBA, are worth $850 million and posted 2025 revenues of $78 million. This year, Golden State became the first women’s team to generate $100 million in revenue.

The gulf between the two 2026 Finals opponents was most apparent this week when the Dream scrambled to finalize an agreement with the Hawks to host Games 3 and 4 at State Farm Arena (capacity: 16,888) in Atlanta, rather than the Dream’s longtime home of the Gateway Center (capacity: 3,500) in suburban College Park, Ga. The Valkyries, meanwhile, have fostered one of the most intimidating home environments at San Francisco’s Chase Center, which the team shares with its sibling NBA franchise, the Golden State Warriors.

In 2020, stadium upgrades and All-Star trades were not even on the radar of the Dream, whose players that season assembled the “Vote Warnock” warmup campaign to protest against Loeffler. Meredith Geisler, assistant professor of sport management at George Washington University, said the Dream’s campaign that year built upon a tradition of progressive social justice that has been a hallmark of the WNBA since its inception.

What the Dream players achieved in 2021, Geisler said, “completely turned that election around. Without a doubt. I don’t think [Senator] Warnock would say anything different.”

Crucially, Geisler said, the team’s activism created an opportunity for Renee Montgomery, a player at the time who sat out the 2020 season to devote herself to activism, and as a result became the first former WNBA player to join ownership of a franchise when the Dream were sold in 2021.

“It was a beautiful illustration of what can happen if you are organized and have an important point of view. They affected change in the most wonderful way for them, and for the league itself, and turned [the team] over to people that may not have had this opportunity, certainly Renee,” Geisler said.

This season, political discourse around the league has mostly centered upon the issue of transgender women’s participation in sport. The debate ignited when Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham expressed she was opposed to trans women in women’s sports (currently, there are none in the WNBA) and has since become a firestorm among off-court talking heads.

“For hundreds of years, sport has always been a catalyst for social change,” Parker, the Dream’s COO, said. “We have the infrastructure, the platform to be able to tackle some of these issues. Do we have the answers for all of it? No, but I do think that some of the things come to surface that people want to talk about.”

Ultimately, she said, “The Atlanta Dream has really proven out that a small organization can create outsized impact.”

https://www.sportico.com/leagues/basketball/2026/atlanta-dream-franchise-history-angel-reese-finals-1234952228/

His teams led the country in 3-pointers made almost every year. He had eight 30-win seasons there, took the school to the NCAA tournament 10 times in a 13-year span and was basically an annual lock for his conference’s coach of the year award.

But there was a ceiling. And the Atlanta Dream called him at the right time.

Smesko had come to grips with the fact that winning a national championship at FGCU was highly unlikely. Highly, highly unlikely. So, when the Dream called two years ago with an offer — leave the campus that has a beach and come take over a WNBA club — Smesko stepped out of his comfort zone.

The result: Another pair of 30-win seasons, and now a trip to the WNBA Finals. The championship he was never going to get at FGCU is now four wins away, with the title series against the favored Golden State Valkyries set to begin on Saturday.

“As good as we were at Florida Gulf Coast, the odds were very stacked against us to make that type of championship run,” Smesko said. “In the pros, I definitely thought there was more of an opportunity. It’s a more equal playing field to win the whole thing and that was appealing to me.”

To the finals in Year 2

It’s a matchup of second-year coaches: Smesko in Atlanta and Natalie Nakase in Golden State, which is in just its second year of existence. The Valkyries went 3-0 against the Dream this season, making them just the second team to sweep Smesko’s club in his tenure there. Las Vegas did it last season, and the Aces went on to win the WNBA title as well.

But in Smesko they trust, and the Dream have gone 5-0 in the playoffs to earn their finals berth.

“He’s a coach that really believes in you and he knows what’s best,” Dream center Angel Reese said. “And I’m really thankful for him, for being able to help me with my career and help me be better for the team — because I don’t think I would be in this situation and thriving as I am individually without him.”

Smesko is quiet in many ways, and fiercely loyal. The offer from the Dream came as FGCU was starting its 2024-25 season; he wound up leaving after two games that year, though some at the school believe he was tempted to try to handle both jobs at once for a few months and finish that season. He ended up turning the keys to FGCU over to longtime top assistant Chelsea Lyles, who did what her mentor does — won 30 games and got the Eagles to the NCAA tournament.

Lyles wound up following Smesko to Atlanta after that season, as did others with FGCU ties. He has made clear that the familiarity has made life easier, and the Dream have back-to-back 30-14 regular season records as proof of how it paid off.

“It’s been huge,” Smesko said, “because we think about the game a little differently.”

They do, indeed. FGCU, in the Smesko era, had an offense like few others in college basketball.

How the system works

Midrange shots were essentially banned. The only acceptable shots were layups, 3-pointers and free throws. It wasn’t a gimmick. It was math. Layups and free throws are the easiest shots to make in basketball, and if his teams could make more than one-third of their 3-point tries then that would lead to more points than making half of their midrange shots.

It doesn’t work quite that way at the WNBA level; a 24-second shot clock has forced Smesko to grudgingly accept that some midrange shots will have to be tried. But he still preaches the taproots of what he used in college: layups, 3s and free throws.

“The moment that Karl and the coaching staff got here, we were working on 3s,” Dream guard Jordin Canada said. “He just talked about how making one more 3 every 25 shots would increase your percentage. Like, something that small. And we constantly worked on it, worked on it, worked on it. ... I think it’s just a testament to him believing in that everybody can shoot the 3 and working on it consistently.”

Part of the annual schedule at FGCU, it seemed, was frustration over how the NCAA selection committee would seed the Eagles. There were a number of years that school officials, conference officials and even other coaches felt that the committee didn’t give FGCU its deserved spot on the bracket and seeded them far lower than what was merited.

READ MORE - https://apnews.com/article/karl-smesko-atlanta-dream-wnba-finals-a03309ac138e21e61990f227ee93344a

Natalie Nakase has a game plan for the Atlanta Dream. She also has a few instructions for Ballhalla, the thousands of passionate Golden State Valkyries fans who will be inside Chase Center when the WNBA Finals begin.

Bring the noise, and bring it often. Make life absolutely miserable for the visitors. And don’t wait for the game to get interesting before getting involved.

Nakase sent that message directly to the Valkyries’ passionate fan base ahead of Saturday’s Game 1 against Atlanta. The first-year head coach doesn’t want a polite home crowd. She wants an atmosphere that makes opposing players feel the heat in every possession.

“I mean, you guys know, since we’re prepping for a great game plan, Ballhalla better be prepping for a game plan,” Nakase said. “So as soon as they’re announced, I need some hostility. As soon as they do a challenge, I need hostility. If they’re shooting free throws, I need that thing to be rocking.“

“So game plan, Ballhalla, get ready, get prepped, because we definitely got to use Ballhalla’s sixth man.“

Read More - https://fadeawayworld.net/wnba/natalie-nakase-sends-clear-message-to-ballhalla-ahead-of-wnba-finals-i-need-hostility

Surrounded by a group of reporters gathered for the 2018 WNBA Draft at the Nike headquarters in New York, Gabby Williams made a first impression fans could trust.

“I’ll be whatever you want me to be,” Williams said after being selected No. 4 overall by the Chicago Sky. “I don’t need the ball 20 times to make something happen.”

Eight years later, Williams and that same attitude are in the midst of history with the Golden State Valkyries.

After signing with the 2025 expansion team this offseason, Williams became the centerpiece of one of the most stunning WNBA stories in recent memory by leading the Valkyries to the Finals in their second season.

Guard Veronica Burton knew from the moment Williams entered the facility she was a winner because of her skill set, her energy and her basketball curiosity. Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase knew Williams could help bring the franchise a championship because of shared goals.

As a highly-sought after free agent who reached career highs in scoring (11.6 per game), assists (4.2) and steals (WNBA high 2.3) in 2025 as she helped the Seattle Storm to the playoffs, Williams didn’t use her free agency conversations with the Valkyries to ask about minutes or shots.

“She's just a humble star,” Nakase told reporters Wednesday. “... She is the best two-way player in the world, and she's not asking for anything. She just was asking for our culture — a culture that loved and cared about people, and brought out the best. And I was like, ‘That's it?’”

An emphasis on care and trust might not seem like much when it’s engrained into your team’s DNA. For Williams, though, it was everything. It wasn’t a given in her previous professional stops, but that culture — and the way Williams embodies it — might be the key to what makes the Valkyries a title threat.

Read More - https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/2026/10/15/gabby-williams-right-fit-golden-state-valkyries-to-wnba-finals/92260327007/

Sabrina Ionescu is teaming up with Market of Choice and Food for Lane County for their annual food drive to help fight hunger in the community.

Market of Choice is matching customer cash donations up to $10,000 at its four Eugene stores. Ionescu is adding a $5,000 match through the SI20 Foundation.

"SI20 Foundation also matches. As we match a $10,000, they'll match a $5,000," said Dewey Weddington, vice president of marketing at Market of Choice. "So between the two of us, we're matching $15,000 of registered donations. Last year, that made a big difference. I mean, that was $30,000 that we easily hit, but we went beyond that and ended up a little over $51,000."

The Oregon basketball great is using her social media platform to encourage people to participate.

"So grateful to have a relationship with Sabrina Ionescu. She loves to give back here and just help spread the message of how important it is that everybody come out and help. We like to say dunk on food insecurity," said Rebecca Sprinson, director of communications for Food for Lane County.

Ionescu continues to give back to the community she calls home. The food drive runs through Nov. 30.

https://www.kezi.com/news/local/eugene-food-drive-gets-a-boost-from-wnbas-sabrina-ionescu/article_71092f9b-747e-4ec6-9527-6c600a937c02.html

By: Myah Taylor

Paige Bueckers' tears after the Golden State Valkyries eliminated the Dallas Wings in the first round of the WNBA playoffs this month symbolized the heartbreaking end to the season, but they don’t tell the whole story.

A year after finishing 10-34, Dallas made the postseason for the first time since 2023 and achieved the most wins in franchise history with a 27-17 regular season finish under first-year WNBA coach Jose Fernandez. The team’s 17-win improvement from 2025 set the record for the best single-season turnaround in league history.

Bueckers, who averaged 20.9 points on 51.2% shooting, 4.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists during her sophomore season, reflected on the historic year for the Wings in a recent Instagram post celebrating the “beauty in the journey and the grace in the waiting.”

By waiting, she likely means for a championship, an expectation for an ascending Wings organization.

“We’re pleased but not satisfied,” Wings CEO Greg Bibb told The Dallas Morning News this week. “I’m very grateful for the efforts and the work that were put in by everyone and the advancement that we made this year, but a first-round playoff exit is not what we’re all trying to achieve.”

Dallas certainly has the potential to make — and win — the WNBA Finals, which begin Saturday between the No. 2-seeded Valkyries and the No. 4-seeded Atlanta Dream.

The seventh seed in this year’s playoffs, the Wings pushed the Valkyries to the brink in the first round. Golden State dominated Dallas 104-80 at Chase Center in Game 1 of the best-of-3 series, when Bueckers scored a team-high 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting.

In front of a sold-out crowd at College Park Center in Arlington, the Wings forced a Game 3 thanks to a gritty 108-100 overtime win in Game 2. Dallas veteran guard Arike Ogunbowale hit a three with 4.1 seconds remaining to tie the game at 93 and force overtime.

Ogunbowale exploded for 45 points in the win, setting the WNBA record for points scored in a playoff game.

She recorded 30 points and Bueckers added 17 in Dallas’ 77-73 loss to the Valkyries in Game 3 at Chase Center. The Wings led by as much as 16 in the second half, nearly pulling off the upset of the season against a team that swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals. Dallas won its regular-season series against Las Vegas.

It’s hard not to wonder what might have been had a few more possessions gone the Wings’ way in Game 3 against the Valkyries.

“I think we ran out of gas a little bit,” Bibb said. “I think our short bench started to catch up with us in a very demanding series, and ultimately they were the better team and they advanced, but I don’t think anybody can question the fight or the effort that was put forth by our team in that best-of-3 series.

“I think it just adds to the excitement of what’s to come for us in the future.”

For the Wings to become a championship team, building must continue. Part of that is ensuring the team has the necessary resources available — such as the upcoming practice facility in Oak Cliff — to give players the best chance to compete, Bibb said.

Wings will need a healthy roster

But the best teams come the playoffs also have luck and health on their side, and the Wings need to get healthy.

Azzi Fudd, the 2026 No. 1 overall pick who was recently named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team, sat out the last stretch of the season and the playoff run with a right knee injury. Veteran forward Alanna Smith, a free agency pickup and the 2025 co-defensive player of the year, missed several games throughout the season, as well as the first-round playoff series.

While Bueckers appeared in 42 of 44 regular-season games and the three playoff games, she’d been dealing with knee inflammation that flared up during her gold-medal run with the USA Basketball Women’s National Team at the FIBA World Cup in Berlin last month.

The 2025 No. 1 overall pick averaged 32.8 minutes per game during the regular season and 35.7 minutes in three playoff contests, which capped a year of carrying a heavy load.

“We’ll continue to do the things we need to build the infrastructure and to put the team in the best position to win,” Bibb said. “And we’re going to need some good fortune down the stretch like everyone does to get across the goal line and to ultimately win that championship.”

Bibb told The News ahead of the 2025 season that he hopes when the Wings win a championship, the trophy is handed to Ogunbowale, the longtime face of the team drafted in the first round in 2019.

Some fans aren't convinced the Bueckers-Ogunbowale backcourt, dubbed “Parike,” has been effective. Ogunbowale, a high-volume shooter who signed a two-year deal with the Wings this spring, has had to change her game the last two seasons to make room for Bueckers, known for her efficiency.

It’s been rare that Bueckers and Ogunbowale, who have great love and respect for each other, have each performed well on the same day. The addition of Fudd, another guard who won a national championship in 2025 at UConn, alongside Bueckers, has amplified the pleas for an Ogunbowale trade.

But Bibb has a different perspective on the veteran guard, whom he said has remained loyal to the organization when others haven’t.

“I was happy for her, especially the last half of the season and in the playoffs. Her play was at such a level — it was undeniable. Even if you wanted to be unjustfully negative toward her game, you really couldn’t be,” Bibb said. “She continues to demonstrate she’s a fantastic face for our organization.

“And when I say a face, it doesn’t mean she’s the only face. You don’t have to have just one.”

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/wings/article/wings-2026-history-wnba-title-bueckers-ogunbowale-22478842.php

Ohemaa Nyanin caught heat for the Valkyries’ surprising trade on draft night, but now the roster she constructed is at the doorstep of a championship.

Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin smiled Thursday as she reflected on the experience of this season and her career more broadly. Her team was about to play in the WNBA Finals against the Atlanta Dream in their second year as a franchise and her second year as general manager.

Six months earlier, the same Zoom setting with reporters felt far different. Nyanin had just traded the Valkyries’ first-round draft pick, LSU star Flau’jae Johnson, and had few answers for the public as to why.

Beyond that whirlwind night, she has done some big things right.

“A lot of people would like to say, just because you’re a first-time GM, you’re going to make errors,” Nyanin said. “Or they start negative, and what we’ve been able to accomplish in this organization in a very short amount of time is, yes, those things happen, and what can we do together to shine?”

In the days following the bizarre WNBA draft day trade where the Valkyries sent the rights to Johnson to Seattle for a 2028 selection and second-round pick Marta Suarez – who didn’t make the team out of training camp – there was a lot of confusion about what kind of team the Valkyries were going to be.

Nyanin, who joined the Valkyries in 2024 after working as the assistant general manager for the New York Liberty, made key free-agent signings in the offseason to bring in Gabby Williams and Kiah Stokes, two essential pieces to the Finals squad.

But it’s been the smaller moves that have made the Valkyries who they are. Kaila Charles, who was cut by Dallas midseason last year, or Kaitlyn Chen, a third-round pick who was a bit of a surprise to stay on the roster after being cut and re-signed early last season.

“The athletes did just as much work as myself and the staff have in turn, in trying to get to know one another on a deeper level and not trying to be surface (level),” Nyanin said. She also lauded “the unexpectedness of the amount of time that they put in with each other, both on and off the court.”

Read More - https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/10/15/ohemaa-nyanin-golden-state-valkyries-roster-wnba-finals/

FIRST TEAM
🏀Shakira Austin
🏀Rhyne Howard
🏀Angel Reese
🏀Gabby Williams
🏀A’ja Wilson

SECOND TEAM
🏀Veronica Burton
🏀Jordin Canada
🏀Sonia Citron
🏀Breanna Stewart
🏀Kiah Stokes

Congrats to all!

edit: All-Defensive* oops 🫠

After joining the WNBA as an expansion team in 2008, it took the Atlanta Dream three seasons to make the WNBA Finals. The Golden State Valkyries, who debuted in 2025, reached the Finals in their second season.

One of them will become a first-time WNBA champion before the end of the month. The best-of-seven WNBA Finals open Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET) at Chase Center in San Francisco.

The No. 2 seed Valkyries -- who will host Games 1, 2 and, if necessary, 5 and 7 -- are coming off a semifinals sweep of the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, while the No. 4 Dream swept the New York Liberty. Both those series ended Oct. 9, giving Golden State and Atlanta plenty of prep time ahead of Game 1.

Expect defense to dominate the Finals, as the Valkyries and Dream were rated Nos. 1 and 2 in defense this season. While the Valkyries appear to be healthy, Dream guard Allisha Gray -- limited to 11 minutes in Game 1 of the semifinals because of an injury on her shooting hand (left) -- has said she is day-to-day after undergoing a recent procedure.

The Dream enter the Finals on a 10-game winning streak. Golden State won the regular-season series 3-0, but their last meeting was July 4.

Atlanta is making its fourth WNBA Finals appearance, but was swept in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Now the Dream will attempt to turn that disappointing history into an October celebration. And the Valkyries will try to join their NBA brethren Golden State Warriors as a league champion.

(2) Golden State Valkyries

How Golden State got here

The Valkyries are the first team in league history to make the WNBA Finals within the first two years of its franchise launch. They beat the Dallas Wings in three games in the best-of-three first-round series and then swept Las Vegas in the semifinals. Golden State is 5-1 this postseason, with the lone loss being Game 2 on the road against the Wings, when Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale had 45 points.

The Valkyries have looked unflappable since then. In the first game of the semifinals, they held the Aces to a season-low 60 points and were plus-27 on the boards (grabbing a franchise-record 52 rebounds, including 17 offensive). In Game 3, the Valkyries rallied from their first double-digit deficit of the series to win in overtime. Gabby Williams has continued her breakout season and is the leading scorer remaining this postseason, averaging 22.7 points. Kiah Stokes is the series' leading rebounder with 9.5 per game. -- Kendra Andrews

Golden State's projected starters

G Veronica Burton (9.5 PPG)
F Kayla Thornton (10.8 PPG)
F Gabby Williams (22.7 PPG)
F Cecilia Zandalasini (8.5 PP)
C Kiah Stokes (9.5 RPG)

What we're hearing about the Valkyries

After becoming the first expansion team to make the playoffs in its inaugural season, the Valkyries were primed for greater success in Year 2 -- and aren't surprised to be here. "This is unimaginable, but for us it's so realistic," Burton said after the Valkyries swept the Aces. "It's what we expected and what we've worked for. It's what we believed in the entire year."

WNBA Basketball Power Index

According to ESPN's BPI, Golden State has a 62.4% chance of winning the 2026 WNBA title; Atlanta has a 37.6% to win the championship.

The players developed an immediate bond and chemistry. Part of that they credit to a clear game plan and vision from the top of the organization down, but also to the roster being made up of many players unwanted by their previous clubs.

"A lot of us bounced around, and that's what makes it special," Thornton said. "A lot of us have been denied. ... When you bring this group together, we create something big. We do it for each other because we know what we've been through."

But as a group, the Valkyries don't have championship experience. Only four players on the roster have competed for a WNBA title: Thornton (2024), Tiffany Hayes (2023), Zandalasini (2024) and Stokes (2022, 2023, 2025). Coach Natalie Nakase was an assistant on Las Vegas' first two title teams.

"We have other WNBA champs, we have other Olympians," Williams said. "We all know how to get it done, we just now have to get it done together." -- Andrews

Why the Valkyries can win the title

Golden State's depth will be its superpower in this series. After having the best second unit in the WNBA throughout the regular season, the Valkyries' bench is scoring a league-best 32.3 points in the playoffs. The Dream's starting lineup has been the best scoring group in the postseason, but their bench averages 16.2 points. One of the biggest luxuries the Valkyries have is never knowing exactly who will go off from game to game -- but always knowing someone will.

Janelle Salaun won Sixth Player of the Year but has experienced a quiet postseason. Instead, Hayes has provided a massive spark off of the bench (13.3 PPG in the playoffs vs. 9.0 in the regular season), while Kaitlyn Chen and Kaila Charles have had momentum-swinging spurts. In Game 3 of the first round, Burton was benched after air-balling consecutive shots, but the Valkyries didn't miss a beat, a luxury many teams don't have.

If the Dream are without Gray, it shrinks Atlanta's depth and gives the Valkyries' already dominant depth more of an advantage. -- Andrews

If they win, the Finals MVP will be...

This might be the easiest question in this preview. The addition of Williams took the Valkyries from a playoff team to a championship contender. She finished No. 2 in Defensive Player of the Year voting and made a defense that was already elite in 2025 (ranked No. 3 with a 99.8 defensive rating) even better (No. 1 with a 99.1 rating, with no other club being better than 103.0). During the first two rounds, she averaged 22.7 points (No. 5 of all players in the postseason), 4.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists (No. 9) and 1.7 steals (No. 6). All of those metrics have increased from the regular season, including more than 8.0 points per game. She's shooting 40.5% from behind the arc and her 2.8 3-pointers per game ranks No. 4 in the playoffs and is the highest among those still playing.

Williams is one of the most well-rounded players in the league, and her addition gave the Valkyries a starter who could consistently create her own shot in one-on-one situations, something that was missing with Golden State. She has been the biggest difference in this 2026 Valkyries squad to the point that owner Joe Lacob, after an incredible Game 1 of the semifinals, declared Williams the best player in the world. -- Kareem Copeland

If they lose, it will be because ...

The Dream find cracks in the Valkyries' defense. Golden State has allowed more than 81 points just once in the playoffs. In the five victories, opponents averaged 74.2 points. The Valkyries aren't just an offensive juggernaut but are four wins from holding the trophy due to a stifling defense that feeds the offense. If Dream coach Karl Smesko can figure out a way to get clean looks for Rhyne Howard, Gray (if available), Jordin Canada and DeWanna Bonner, and if Angel Reese can be successful against Stokes, that's a significant advantage. Golden State isn't exactly built for shootouts, and Atlanta has averaged 92.6 points this postseason. -- Copeland

Player ready for Finals spotlight

Stokes is familiar with the Finals, less so with the spotlight. But she deserves her time to shine. Stokes started just seven games at UConn but won three NCAA titles. The No. 11 draft pick in 2015 by New York, she stayed with the Liberty until being waived in June 2021. Two days later, Las Vegas signed her. She won three WNBA championships with the Aces. Now she's a key part of the Valkyries, starting all season for them.

Stokes' commitment to doing whatever a team needs has made her a valuable veteran, and it can be easy for her to get lost in the shuffle because she doesn't score a lot (3.6 PPG in the regular season, 3.2 in playoffs). But the screens she sets, the passes she makes, plus the defense and rebounding are so big toward Golden State's success. She's coming off one of her best games of the season, with 11 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, three assists and two steals in Golden State's 87-77 Game 3 win over the Aces. -- Michael Voepel

(4) Atlanta Dream

How Atlanta got here

The Dream have been the most dominant team in the postseason, winning five consecutive games and sweeping the Washington Mystics and New York. They defeated the Mystics by an average of 16.5 points before things became a bit more challenging against the 2024 WNBA champs. Despite losing leading scorer Gray (19.0 PPG in regular season) in Game 1 of the semis, Atlanta still won by 10. Overtime was required in Game 2, and the Dream won Games 2 and 3 by a combined five points.

Angel Reese is playing the best basketball of her career after being named Defensive Player of the Year. She is averaging 18.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 2.0 assists and 1.6 steals in the playoffs. Bonner has stepped into the starting lineup without Gray, whose status remains unknown for the Finals. Bonner, a veteran with 103 games of playoff experience, has been a perfect late-season addition. (Atlanta signed her in late August.) Canada has continued to be a defensive pest with 2.2 steals per game, which ties Howard for a 2026 postseason high, and she has increased her scoring average from 11.6 points in the regular season to 19.2 in the playoffs. -- Copeland

Atlanta's projected starters

G Jordin Canada (19.2 PPG)
G Rhyne Howard (19.2 PPG)
F Angel Reese (18.0 PPG)
F Naz Hillmon (5.2 PPG)
F DeWanna Bonner (13.2 PPG)

What we're hearing about the Dream

The Dream's 10 consecutive victories match the 2017 Sparks for the league's longest win streak entering the WNBA Finals. They are also a league-best 22-4 since a 10-point loss at home to the Portland Fire on July 11, which was their sixth loss in seven games.

The Dream credit a confluence of factors for allowing them to play their best basketball when it matters most. "I thought we had a really good [FIBA] break where we got to focus on some things," Smesko said Friday. "We had some players that got to play in the World Cup, and they all did really well. So I think they came back with a lot of confidence, and obviously adding [Bonner] added another dimension to our team.

"I just think we've been improving steadily through the season, and everybody's had a good attitude about getting better, and we've been able to play really well for a nice stretch here."

Reese and Canada have played some of the best basketball in their careers recently, but the group also attributes its hot streak to strong chemistry, something that has stood out to Bonner. "We are a really close group," she said. "I feel like I've been here since the beginning. I don't think there's a day that we don't want to come in here and come to work with each other and step on this court for each other."

With two titles apiece, Bonner and Canada are the only regular contributors who have won WNBA championships, Bonner with the Phoenix Mercury and Canada with the Seattle Storm. For Canada, those Storm championship teams boasted an off-court chemistry that translated onto the court.

"We've hung out, had team dinners, doing anything that we can to build bonds. And I think that means a lot more when you get to know a group on a deeper level outside of basketball and knowing who they are as people and what makes them go," Canada said. "Then in moments like this, when you're in such a heated moment or a heated series, you want to fight and you want to battle for the girl on the left and right of you." -- Alexa Philippou

Why the Dream can win the title

Even without Gray, Atlanta is the more offensively blessed team in this Finals matchup. Howard (17.7 PPG in the regular season) and Gray (19.0 PPG) are the two best offensive threats in this series and can win games on their own. Both ranked in the top 11 in scoring this season. Reese has continued to develop her offensive game, and the Dream have no problem running things through her, whether she's initiating it on the perimeter or catching it in the post. Canada's increased production adds another wrinkle into the Dream scheme while making up for the loss of Gray. Bonner, 39, is simply one of the best scorers in the history of the league, and she still has bursts that can bury an opponent.

Atlanta also loves to get out in transition off its aggressive defense that led the league in steals (9.1 per game). In the semifinals, the Dream scored 60 points off 38 turnovers in the first two games. The biggest question, which the Valkyries have answered in each round, is if the league's top defense can continue to contain some of the best offenses? -- Copeland

If they win, the Finals MVP will be...

Reese or Canada. Reese has been the motor of this squad throughout the season. She outdueled Jonquel Jones in the Liberty series, averaging 20.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 2.0 steals. She plays with a tenacity and toughness that reverberate through the rest of the Dream. Per Elias, her 18.0 PPG in the postseason are on pace to be the fifth-highest average in WNBA history for a player making the Finals in their first playoff run.

Canada has been referred to as the head of the snake in Atlanta and has been its X factor this postseason: Her 19.2 points per game in the playoffs are well above her regular-season average (11.6 points) and are tied with Howard for best on the team. She's achieving that with stellar efficiency -- 51.6% from the field (33-of-64), 50% from 3-point range (12-of-24) and at the free throw line (18-of-18) -- all while quarterbacking the offense (8.8 assists) and defense (2.2 steals per game). -- Phillipou

If they lose, it will be because ...

Atlanta can't generate offense off Golden State turnovers and gets hurt by its lack of depth. The Dream's defensive pressure makes them elite at forcing turnovers and turning them into points: They were No. 1 in the league in steals per game (9.1) and points off turnovers in the regular season (18.1), and No. 2 in fast-break points (11.9). But Golden State excels in taking care of the ball: During the regular season, the Valkyries' 11.5 turnovers per game were fewest in the league, and in the playoffs that number is even lower (10.3, second to Dream's 9.0).

The Dream not nearly as deep as the Valkyries. Golden State's bench averaged 35.9 points in the regular season versus Atlanta's 17.9 PPG, one of the lowest marks in the league -- and that will be exacerbated even more if Gray cannot play. Golden State's litany of options could prove to be too much for an Atlanta squad that relies significantly on its starting five and could be without its top scorer. -- Phillipou

Player ready for Finals spotlight

Bonner left the Mercury to try to win a championship in what could be the final season of her career, and she's now four wins away. Most of the Dream players are relatively inexperienced on this stage. But Bonner -- who holds the league record for playoff games -- is not, and her leadership will be crucial for Atlanta to navigate the ups and downs of a seven-game series. Her offensive firepower (13.2 PPG in the playoffs) will be even more necessary for Atlanta if Gray can't play. -- Phillipou

Four key questions

How do the teams match up?

Atlanta has been great at forcing turnovers (17.2 per game) in its first two playoff series and converting those into points. That will be harder against Golden State, which has averaged just 9.2 turnovers in the playoffs. The Valkyries and the Dream (8.4) are the only two teams to average fewer than 10 turnovers in this postseason. Like so many things in this series, this is a strength vs. strength matchup.

That leads us to how the teams guard each other. Reese was the Defensive Player of the Year but A'ja Wilson is one of the best defensive players in WNBA history, and the Valkyries still figured out ways to get shots they wanted against her and the Aces in the semifinals -- and then convert enough of them.

The Valkyries' first two playoff opponents have been good preparation for facing the Dream in terms of how much Dallas and Las Vegas were able to challenge Golden State's defense. The Valkyries rose to that challenge. But neither the Wings nor the Aces presented as good of a defense as Atlanta brings.

So that should end up being the biggest key: Will the Valkyries find enough offensive success to win the championship? -- Voepel

What is the series X factor?

It could be health. Gray is one of the best players in the league. Even though the Dream won the semifinals with her playing only briefly before her Game 1 injury, she is a big absence. The Valkyries would have a different challenge guarding the Dream with Gray on the floor. Adding to her offensive repertoire, she's a very good defender and one of the most experienced players on the court. Gray is used to stepping up in big moments. If there is any way she can return to the Dream with some effectiveness, it could make a difference in this series. If not, the Valkyries' depth edge remains a key factor. -- Voepel

Ballhalla will boast 18,000-plus fans. The Dream aren't playing at their usual home arena. How much will home-court advantage be a factor?

As someone who has spent the better part of the past six months watching games in Ballhalla, there are very few home-court advantages such as what the Valkyries have at Chase Center. It isn't just that they have a raucous crowd or they've sold out every home game the past two seasons. The energy -- the rowdiness, the joy, the party -- makes it feel almost like a basketball utopia. Golden State went a league-best 17-5 at home during the regular season and it has yet to lose a game in San Francisco during these playoffs. The noise inside Chase Center is deafening, and it'll only get louder in the Finals. The Bay Area is built for playoff -- and championship -- basketball.

This isn't to say that Atlanta's home court won't be rocking. Adjusting the schedule to allow the Dream to play at State Farm Arena (which seats up to 17,000) rather than the 3,500-seat Gateway Arena was critical for the team and the league. While this isn't the Dream's usual home court, it's not unfamiliar. They played six regular-season games at State Farm and played all three postseason home contests there. There's a reason this was the only alternate venue the Dream wanted to play Finals games in. But for the Dream to win the Finals, they have to win at least one game on the road. That has been difficult in Ballhalla. -- Andrews

Will Atlanta's 0-3 record against Golden State in the regular season matter? What did we learn from those meetings?

Teams sometimes downplay prior results for a presumed strategic or motivational advantage. In this case, those games were so long ago, they don't have much bearing on what we're about to see.

Golden State vs. Atlanta

The Valkyries won all three regular-season meetings in 2026, but they haven't played since July 4.

June 24 (@GS) |Valkyries 77, Dream 66
June 26 (@GS) |Valkyries 78, Dream 75
July 4 (@ATL) |Valkyries 88, Dream 83

All three meetings happened during an 11-day span from June 24 to July 4, with the first two games at Golden State and the third at Atlanta. It was during the worst stretch of the summer for the Dream, as they lost a season-high five games in a row.

In the first meeting, Atlanta was held to a season-low 66 points and shot 39% from the field, with Golden State making 15 3-pointers to the Dream's four. Back at Chase Center two days later, the Dream struggled even more from the field (34%). Atlanta got closer, but Golden State made enough free throws in the final minute to prevail.

After road losses at Seattle and Washington, the Dream took on Golden State again, this time in Atlanta. Once more, the Dream didn't shoot well (39%), although Gray, Howard and Reese combined for 58 points.

Atlanta didn't have Bonner for any of these games, and as a late addition, she has been a big difference-maker. Neither team is going to look back too much on what happened between them in the regular season as indicative of what's going to take place next. -- Voepel

WNBA Finals picks

Kendra Andrews: Golden State in 7. It's odd that the No. 2 team in the standings still feels like the underdog, but the Valkyries have proved time and again to never count them out. With a matchup of the top two defensive teams in the league, this series will be a slugfest, and the championship might come down to who can hit the last shot (or make the last stop). Not enough credit has been given to what the Valkyries have done on both sides of the ball this postseason. Watching what they did to the Aces showed they have another gear they can get to, and that will be crucial in this series.

Kareem Copeland: Atlanta in 7. The Dream have been held to fewer than 85 points just once since Aug. 28. Especially if Gray is back, the Valkyries will be challenged to shut down that offense four times in seven games. The Aces were short-handed and were more of a half-court-centered team on offense. Golden State wants to run off defensive stops, but Atlanta also wants to run as often as possible, even when taking the ball out of the net. A fast, up-tempo game would seem to favor the Dream.

Alexa Philippou: Golden State in 6. After seeing Atlanta dismantle the Liberty up close, the Dream were my pick to win it all as the team that has played the best basketball in the league by the end of the season. But my predictions have not aged well as we've progressed in the playoffs, so I'll go with the Valkyries continuing to make history and benefitting from their enormous home-court advantage at Ballhalla, including in a potential Game 7.

Michael Voepel: Golden State in 7. This isn't a fluke Finals matchup. The Valkyries were the No. 1 team in our final ESPN Power Rankings, and the Dream were fourth. Now they really do look like the best two teams after five months of physically and mentally grueling play. Both have played championship-worthy basketball in the postseason. Both coaches have been impressive in their preparation and adjustments. This pick is for two things that go Golden State's way: depth and home-court advantage for the series.

It’s definitely time to get a player in the castle!! There are so many amazing personalities, both current and retired players! Who would you love to see on traitors?

Personally, I’d love to see TSpoon, DT, Syd Colson, or Flaujae!!!

At 12:01 p.m, there were over 35K people ahead of me! Guess I'll be watching the game at home 😭

Whoever gets tickets, say hi to Angel for me! 😆

The Indiana Fever have announced that Aliyah Boston had a right knee arthroscopy to repair the lateral meniscus.

So, AB played this season on one functional leg... definitely explains why she seemed a bit off at times, and honestly, she had hell of a season for a player playing on one leg. Full recovery can take months apparently so it's likely she'll skip Unrivaled to rehab.

Minnesota here.

Indiana here.

Washington here.

Los Angeles here.

New York here.

This is probably going to be a very simple but long post as I think there is basically one major decision they face: how do they keep Awak Kuier? That decision, of course, will likely involve other decisions with a large domino effect for the team and possibly the league.

If they come out of this offseason well, Dallas would be my top pick to move up to a top-3 team next season.

Looking at Kuier's stats, and some may wonder what the big deal is. Her basic stats of 6 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist don't seem worthy of the attention, but she is a DPOY-level destructive force who led the league in blocks after July 1st while playing fewer than 20 minutes per game. On the offensive end, she has developed the ability to pop-out and hit open 3s (39% overall, 44% from the corners). That skillset could be the missing piece for a lot of teams or, being that she just turned 25, a building block for one on the rise.

Kuier is a restricted free agent, meaning any team can offer her a contract, and if Kuier signs their offer sheet (she has the choice of team and offer), Dallas has the right to match that contract to keep her, or let her go.

Let's look at who might make an offer:

If Minnesota and/or Golden St. miss out on Napheesa Collier, Kuier would be the next best option. Kuier wouldn't solve GSV's occasional offensive problems, but using to her to double down on the best defense in the league? That would be hard to pass up.

Could you imagine Seattle with a frontline of Malonga, Fam, and Kuier? Seattle has a ton of cap space and Ezi's max contract comes off the books before any major re-signing needs to take place. Seattle might also add S'Mya Nichols to the mix in the draft and with Flau'jae Johnson, you're pretty much set for the future. This is terrifying.

Houston could sign her and pair her with JuJu (or their other top draft pick).

Phoenix, Portland, and Toronto would also love to have her.

Considering the number of teams likely to bid, the amount of cap space these teams have, the lack of stars in the free agency pool, and her young age, I'm expecting a pretty big bidding war. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility she gets offered a max contract when you consider a similar situation happened last season with Shakira Austin (though, certainly not entirely the same). And let's not forget contracts that were given to players like Temi Fagbenle ($1M), Mo Billings ($800K), Stefanie Dolson ($750K), etc.

Would Dallas match a max or near-max offer?

With an estimated $7.9M cap number, Dallas has around $2.8M to work with and 6 roster spots to fill. Worst case scenario of having to match a max deal, Kuier would take $1.3M of that leaving the rest for the 5 remaining spots. That means you can't re-sign Siegrist or Yueru, and you're filling out the rest of the roster with rookies and vet minimums.

Which might work? It's only for one year as the Arike and Shepard contracts expire then - just in time for Paige's epic extension.

The main issue is obviously depth. If you have a team with Alanna Smith, Kuier, and Azzi Fudd, can you rely on good health and hope to get by with a short bench? It's risky and I doubt that's the path they choose. I think they end up trading a player: Alanna Smith, Jessica Shepard, or Arike.

What would that look like?

Arike

I had written up a long paragraph right after their playoff loss saying Curt Miller needs to be cold-blooded and pull the trigger on this trade. After thinking about how Arike played in this series, the post-game press conference. and her history with the franchise, I think there's little chance they move her, even if it might be in their best interest.

One the one hand, Dallas does need her shot creation. On the other, that shot creation often pulls the ball from Paige who sometimes is a little too happy to defer.

On the one hand, Dallas was 5 points better per 100 possessions with Arike off the court than when she was on (though still on the plus-side with her on). On the other hand, Arike got off to a really slow start (34% FG% through June) and the second half the season she really seemed to really find herself and things seemed to click.

One the one hand, Arike's value is probably the highest it's been in a while after that series. On the other hand, Dallas just needs to clear her salary and moving her in a perceived salary dump would not reflect well on the franchise when it comes to free agents, etc. (similar to the Sabrina situation in NY). I also don't see a young team giving up a draft pick or a young player to add Arike, though perhaps a team feels like they need to make a splash.

If Curt Miller is cold-blooded, moving Arike to Houston to play next to Lacan is one of the better fits (Rivers could be useful in Dallas as a wing defender). If Plum doesn't stay in Phoenix, she'd do well playing off of Alyssa Thomas (Nogic in return?). Maybe Portland?

It's kind of tough to find the right situation, and I think if they did move her, they'd want to do right by her.

Alanna Smith

Despite her rough injury-plagued season, I think the former DPOY would still have value around the league, though having a max contract complicates things.

Toronto in a trade involving Julie Allemand would work well as a true backup PG would be helpful for Dallas and I'm guessing Toronto wants to give most of those minutes to Kiki Rice. Toronto also had far and away the worst defense in the league last season and their entire frontcourt entered free agency, so a defensive upgrade is certainly a pressing issue for them.

Portland has the cap space and need for a solid big.

Would adding Jewell Loyd to save $400K and adding some veteran leadership off the bench make sense? Though not exciting, that might be enough to make things work if a salary dump doesn't materialize.

Jessica Shepard

I actually think this is the way to go. I really like her and her game, but she's a little too much like the W's version of Damantas Sabonis. She puts up really good numbers night in and night out, but when it comes down to it, can she get you a bucket or make you a play...on either end? She will certainly raise your floor (as she certainly did this season for Dallas), but I think she limits your ceiling as we just witnessed against GSV.

She's got a more friendly contract so moving her would be relatively easy. The same teams above would work if those teams prefer Shepard's offense to Smith's defense. Maybe Dallas says, which one do you want?

Beyond that decision, you likely round out your bench by bringing back Siegrist and/or Yueru, barring large RFA offers to either of them. Add to those Aziaha James, and that's a really good and versatile starting 5 with a solid bench.

They've got a decent spot in what looks like a deep draft. They appear to be in the Ashlyn Watkins/Clara Strack/Talaysia Cooper range. Might also be worth considering drafting Risacher out of France and letting her play in Europe a year or two as a rookie isn't likely to see the floor much for them this season anyway.

I would expect big things from this team next year. They just really need to nail this one decision.

Super cool! You “pick” an orange (basketball) and the ball aligns to a prize. Not pictured is a wall with what players most inspire you and some other cool stuff! Hadn’t seen this mentioned anywhere but I walked by it this morning and wanted to share!

Whether you’ve followed the WNBA for decades or started watching this season, Throwback Thursday is a chance to discover and celebrate the players, teams and moments that shaped the league.

Here are a few questions to get the conversation started:

• Which retired WNBA player should every newer fan learn about?
• What older WNBA rivalry deserves more attention?
• Which former team, logo or jersey would you bring back?
• What is one piece of WNBA history that surprised you?
• What was the first WNBA game you attended or watched?

Share your memories, recommendations, photos and highlights below.

The Lady Foot Locker in Niles, Ohio, was the first place I saw a women’s basketball shoe. My mom and I had driven 30 minutes to a mall to do some shopping, and there they were: Sheryl Swoopes’ Nike Air Swoopes 1 in all its glory. The shoe was the first of its kind. It was 1995, a moment I’ll never forget.

For years, men’s basketball shoes have dominated the conversation and the market. But times have changed, with new sneaker designs and colorways from signature women’s shoes have ushered in a new era.

I saw a woman in bright pink A’ja Wilson A’Ones at a coffee shop recently. One of my guy friends showed me the Sabrina Ionescu Sabrina 2s he keeps in his car in case a run breaks out.

“We’ve always had women who were good enough, marketable enough, and had fans who wanted to support them. We just didn’t always get the investment,” said South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, who had her own signature shoe, the Nike Zoom S5, in 1999.

“Now companies are seeing what we’ve known: Invest in women, and women will deliver. And I want more. We shouldn’t be counting how many women have signature shoes. There should be so many that we lose count.”

It’s a major stepping stone in an athlete’s career to get a signature shoe. And for the first time in history, some of the most popular basketball shoes are women’s. When the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries take the court in this year’s WNBA Finals, Dream star Angel Reese will wear her own Reebok Angel Reese 1.

Despite my deep love of sneakers and women’s basketball, I realized I had no real knowledge of how we got here. I just knew that as a young girl, I never would’ve imagined a time when multiple women’s basketball players would not only have signature shoes, but be at or near the top of the market.

Whether you call them sneakers, gym shoes or tennis shoes, sneaker culture has been closely connected and important to hoops. Historically, women basketball players didn’t have performance shoes specifically designed for them and wore men’s shoes because they were the only ones available.

But with the Swoopes signature shoe, the game changed.

Read for free here: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7672624/2026/10/15/womens-basketball-shoes-culture-growth-impact/?unlocked_article_code=1.I1E.qWE7.skFANMpXGmkp&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

I assume this was a new change in the CBA, but why is this a specific rule?

It seems strange especially if she's a unrestricted free agent.

From Mike Beuoy, creator of inpredictable

https://bsky.app/profile/inpredict.bsky.social/post/3mxna2h5tls22

Stephanie Talbot

Stephanie Talbot started 43 of the 44 games she played this season. Despite that, she finished the season with averages of 4.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. In 44 games, Talbot was held to single-digit points 41 times, and there were eight games where she didn't make a single field goal. Her wing defense was useful, but her complete lack of scoring upside was an issue.

Sure, the Aces didn't necessarily need much from their fifth starter, but it shouldn't be tough to upgrade so that they can get the occasional offensive production there. Ideally, the Aces have a small forward who plays defense and hits open shots. Talbot got you steals, but she also shot 29.9 percent from deep. There was a time, early in her career, when Talbot was a strong 3-point shooter, but she's now shot under 30 percent in three consecutive seasons. It's just really hard to see a world in which the Aces can justify bringing Talbot back in 2027.

Kierstan Bell

Kierstan Bell was a really intriguing player coming out of college. She averaged 22.8 points per game in her final year at Florida Gulf Coast and when the Aces selected her at the end of the first round, the hope was that they were getting a microwave bench scorer. Five years in and it's probably time for the Aces to give up on this experiment.

Bell has played just 10.2 minutes per game in her career. Her career 3-point percentage is 26.0. In 2025, she averaged a career-high 4.2 points per game. Vegas had a net rating of -3.7 with her on the court this season and +9.4 with her off the court. Bell seems like a great locker room presence, and it'd be great to see her bloom this late in her career, but it should be obvious at this point that Vegas won't be the place where that happens. Bell should sign with a non-contending team, where she can hope to get more consistent run and a chance to actually have the ball in her hands.

Cheyenne Parker-Tyus

Veteran forward Cheyenne Parker-Tyus joined the Aces in 2025, but her pregnancy limited her to just two games. Still, excitement was high for her to be a big part of the 2026 roster. Even with NaLyssa Smith starting at the four, Parker-Tyus was expected to see plenty of minutes as the team's top backup big. This was someone who made the All-Star Game in 2023 and who was an intriguing big with some stretch upside.

The stretch upside was there in 2026, as she shot 52.9 percent from 3-point range. The problem was she only took 0.5 3-pointers per game and only played 11.2 minutes per contest. The team had a solid +5.1 net rating with Parker-Tyus on the floor, but she just wasn't out on the court enough to really make much of an impact, and it's notable that while the Aces offense had no fall-off with Parker-Tyus on the floor, the defense was a decent bit worse. It's just hard to see this as a pairing that continues on.

https://fansided.com/wnba/3-las-vegas-aces-who-won-t-be-back-next-season

Izzy Borlase admits she can't really fathom what's unfolded for her this year as she looks to etch her name alongside some of Australia's greatest female basketball players.

In 2026, the 22-year-old guard has become the youngest WNBL MVP in the last 15 years, made her FIBA Women's World Cup debut with the Opals, and is now on the precipice of winning the WNBA championship.

In her debut season in the American league, she's found some glittering form, scoring 23 points for the Atlanta Dream in their semi-final sweep of the New York Liberty.

Borlase knows that securing the title would put her in an exclusive club with several Australian basketball legends, including Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor and Cayla George.

"Anytime I'm being mentioned in the same conversation as some of those players, it's just super special," Borlase told AAP.

"They've shown the pathway for us and what girls from Australia can do when they come over to America, and it's pretty cool that they got to get to the pinnacle in the WNBA in winning a championship."

Borlase won't be the only Australian in the best-of-seven championship series beginning on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) as sharpshooter Miela Sowah is on the Golden State Valkyries roster.

Sowah hasn't featured in the playoffs yet, but her Opals teammate sees her presence as something that can help her and also inspire the next generation.

"It's huge. When you're seeing Australian girls playing in the WNBA finals. It allows you to dream about what you could do," Borlase said

"We (Australian players) catch up every time we can when we play each other, and that bit of connection from home is super special ... (because) not many people truly understand it until you're here.

READ MORE - https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9368872/special-borlase-dares-to-dream-in-wnba-finals-debut/