The WNBA is back.
Its 27th season tips off on Friday night with four games, two of which will be nationally televised. The New York Liberty and Washington Mystics face off at 7 p.m. EST on NBA TV, and the Phoenix Mercury square off with the Los Angeles Sparks on ESPN at 11 p.m. EST.
There are plenty of reasons to watch the WNBA this year and the league is hoping to capture the momentum from this year’s NCAA tournament, which set records for viewership.
This week has already been an eventful one for the WNBA, as it announced penalties from the results of its investigation into the Las Vegas Aces, which included a two-game suspension for coach Becky Hammon and the loss of a draft pick. Additionally, several high-profile players were cut in the last week, leading to another outcry for the league to add teams and expand its rosters.
Here are the storylines to pay attention to in the WNBA this season.
Brittney Griner is back y'all
Griner has not played in a WNBA game since Oct. 17, 2021. She put up 28 points and seven rebounds that night as the Mercury were eliminated from the playoffs by the Chicago Sky. Griner was one of the WNBA’s top players that season, ranking second in scoring with 20.5 points per game, first in blocks (1.9), first in field goals made (248), fourth in effective field goal percentage (58%), and first in PER (28.4).
A few months later though, while she was on her way to resume her overseas playing career, Griner was wrongfully detained in Russia for carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil. She was sentenced to nine years in prison, but was released in December in a prisoner swap. In all, Griner spent nearly 10 months detained by Russian authorities.
But now she’s back. She’s dunked and she’s reunited with Diana Taurasi. In her lone preseason appearance, Griner – now 32-years-old – had 10 points, three boards and a block in 17 minutes of action.
There’s been a lot of talk about the Aces and Liberty this preseason – and we’ll get to them in a moment – but if Griner and Taurasi can return to top form, Phoenix will have something to say about the playoff race.
Great to see Brittney Griner back on the court 🙌
(via @PhoenixMercury)pic.twitter.com/gHvgr7LNBY
— espnW (@espnW) May 13, 2023
Las Vegas, New York have legitimate super teams
The Las Vegas Aces won the WNBA title last year with A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum leading the way. They are favored to repeat this year, and for good reason. In the offseason, the Aces added future hall of famer Cadance Parker, and another two-time champ and stout defender in Alysha Clark. Simply put, the Aces are legitimate contenders again, and we’re going to be hearing a lot about them.
But another power is rising in the east. The New York Liberty opened their checkbook this offseason. Through free agency and trades, the team already armed with Sabrina Ionescu added two former league MVPs in Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones, plus Courtney Vandersloot, a four-time all-star who has led the league in assists six times.
The four players with the best odds for MVP this year all play for the Aces and the Liberty. Both teams should provide plenty of fireworks this season.
Rule changes are here
There’s three noticeable changes this year, and the hope is that it results in a better flow and more entertaining product. The additions include coaches’ challenges, take fouls and rules regarding bench decorum. We broke them all down here.
The league has several TV partners, including ION
This season, there are 12 different channels and streaming options for fans to catch games on. Is it good for the WNBA to have its product spread out in so many different places, doing essentially the opposite of what MLS is doing with Apple? We’ll see.
One of the broadcast partners the WNBA has this season is ION, which traditionally has not aired live sports. ION is best known as the channel that carries reruns of NCIS, Law & Order and Blue Bloods. For some, this deal gave off the same vibes as the NWSL’s unsuccessful partnership with Lifetime.
But ION is going all-in on the WNBA. It will carry 44 games this season and aims to own Friday nights in the league, beginning with 15 weeks of coverage starting on May 26.
You asked… We delivered 🗓️
Check out the national broadcast schedule for the month of May
This month you can catch #WNBA games televised across ESPN, ABC, Ion, CBS and ESPN2 📺 pic.twitter.com/jdTbCzoEAY
— WNBA (@WNBA) May 15, 2023
Boston vs. the field for ROY
As the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever out of South Carolina, Aliyah Boston is the overwhelming favorite to win the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award.
But what about No. 2 overall pick Diamond Miller? Or No. 3 overall pick Maddy Siegrist?
Miller is due to see a lot of playing time on a young Lynx team and proved at Maryland that she has the ability to stuff a stat sheet. But Boston, as we know from her college days, is capable of being a double-double machine. And Siegrist, well, all she did in her final season at Villanova was lead the nation in scoring.
Who will adapt to the league the fastest and live up to the hype?
Elena Delle Donne is healthy. Are the Mystics a contender?
Here’s part of what Delle Donne told the Associated Press recently:
“I’ll be there on the road. I don’t plan to miss any games. It’s different.”
And Delle Donne also said this, to CBS Sports:
“It was my first offseason in a really long time where I wasn’t rehabbing and I was actually able to train. I’m by far the strongest I’ve ever been.”
That should be considered as a warning shot to the rest of the league. Delle Donne is feeling good. She said she’s feeling the best she has since entering the WNBA a decade ago. Other teams should be worried and the Mystics should be feeling incredibly optimistic.
Consider this: The last time Delle Donne was totally healthy was 2019, a year in which she claimed her second MVP award and led the Mystics to their first championship, all while posting the first-ever 50-40-90 season in the WNBA’s history.
Since then, Delle Donne hasn’t been quite herself. She sat out the 2020 season and played in just three games in 2021, and has battled a back injury for the past few years. Delle Donne was solid last season though, averaging 17.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 blocks per game in 25 games.
Around Delle Donne this season is a solid core, including Ariel Atkins, Natasha Cloud, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Kristi Toliver, Shakira Austin, Brittney Sykes and Amanda Zahui B.
If Delle Donne is poised to return to her MVP form, the Mystics could become contenders.
Elena Delle Donne in the @WashMystics preseason win vs the Atlanta Dream ⤵️
17 PTS | 3 REB | 6-10 FG pic.twitter.com/CfXIgPkw7l
— WNBA Fans Only (@WNBAFansOnly) May 10, 2023
