It’s the final countdown. The WNBA Finals begin Sunday, and this year’s matchup has all the makings of a heavyweight championship fight.
The Las Vegas Aces are pursuing back-to-back titles, while the New York Liberty are seeking the franchise’s first championship. The WNBA’s final two teams feature incredible talents like league MVP Breanna Stewart, Defensive Player of the Year A’Ja Wilson, 3-point specialist Sabrina Ionescu, the “Point Gawd” Chelsea Gray and many more.
It’s a rivalry that WNBA fans watched all season and now get to see on the league’s biggest stage. We’ve got you covered!
Here is the schedule for the potential five-game series:
“Stew York City,” stand up. After the closest race in WNBA history, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart is the 2023 Most Valuable Player.
The voting race for MVP was a gauntlet down the stretch, involving the upper echelon of league talent. Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson and Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas made outstanding cases for why they should win. Only 13 points separated Stewart and Wilson, and only seven votes separated Stewart and Thomas — the tightest three-way voting margin in league history, according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. Ultimately, voters chose “Stewie” for her ability to light up New York and the league.
Her quest for MVP started with the offensive prowess that landed her second-to-only Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd for the WNBA single-season scoring record.
This season, Stewart averaged 23 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. With the help of her leadership, the Liberty steamrolled their way to a franchise-best record of 32-8 and a Commissioner’s Cup win.
Stewart was also a defensive force to be reckoned with, as she averaged 1.57 blocks and 1.45 steals per game. Her disruption on the court earned her a WNBA All-Defensive team selection.
With efforts like that, the league couldn’t help but notice her magic.
Truthfully, Stewart is creating a resume that feels almost unreal.
In addition to the most 40-point games in a season and the most points scored in 30 minutes or less in league history, she is a two-time WNBA champion, a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and now has two MVP trophies.
➡️ 23.0 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.57 BPG, 1.45 SPG ➡️ Most 40-PT games in a szn ➡️ Most PTS scored in 30 min or less in WNBA History (45) ➡️ 2nd in scoring & efficiency ➡️ 3rd in rebounding & double-doubles#KiaMVP#MoreThanGamepic.twitter.com/atNS3fKODJ
As the kids say, it’s lit. We have a lit-thuation happening! (That was probably too much, but I love a good pun.) Stewie is a hooper, and this award reflects that — hats off to you, Breanna, and the Liberty.
The celebration is flowing somewhere, and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” is blasting.
In the words of Beyoncé, Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson is forever that girl. The reigning WNBA MVP has earned back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) awards.
It’s not every day that you watch history being made, but Wilson seemingly rewrites the books regularly.
As just 27 years old, she’s got enough hardware for a lifetime. Wilson is an Olympic gold medalist, a WNBA champion, a two-time MVP, a five-time All-Star, a two-time WNBA All-Defensive First Team selection and has multiple DPOY awards.
This year, she led the league in blocks (89), averaging a career-high 2.23 blocks per game. Rounding out her impressive season, Wilson also averaged 22.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.4 steals a game. If that wasn’t enough, she had one of the most outstanding basketball performances ever as she casually dropped 53 points against the Atlanta Dream. Unreal.
Truth be told, what Wilson is doing is otherworldly. She is a living legend and a fantastic representation of the WNBA’s talent. Fans everywhere get fireworks every time she touches the court.
Keep shining, A’ja. The world deserves to see you glow.
For basketball heads everywhere, the WNBA playoffs are an out-of-body experience.
The WNBA playoffs are here. This is when regular season records mean nothing, and wins mean everything. It’s buzzer beaters, emphatically blocked shots, “what did I just see?” moments and scoring so good you’ll need a pulse check.
For basketball heads everywhere, this is an out-of-body experience. The level of play is elevated, and so are the expectations.
Will the Lynx fly too close to the Sun? (See what I did there?) Will the Liberty crush the Aces’ chances of winning back-to-back titles?
The AP WNBA awards are out and something don’t make sense.
The WNBA regular season slate ended Sunday, giving players and coaches one final opportunity to state their case for why they should be considered among the league’s best talent.
Following the end of the season, a 12-member media group from the Associated Press votes on awards such as Most Valuable Player (MVP), Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), Coach of the Year (COY), and more. These awards precede the league awards that will be announced during post-season play, with the coveted league MVP award announced on September 26.
Here’s what the AP voters absolutely got right and wrong for its 2023 WNBA awards:
The WNBA is full of ballers who do nothing but break records.
In the WNBA’s 27th season, the history books are not only being rewritten, they’re being obliterated.
The league is growing at a tremendous pace, gathering the attention of fans along the way. For example, the WNBA draft audience increased by 42 percent between 2022 and 2023, and midseason viewership on platforms like ESPN was up 46percent, averaging 548,000 viewers per game.
More eyes on the sport mean more people see history made in real-time. In a season that saw future hall of famer Diana Taurasi hit 10,000 career points, paving the way for future generations, it’s only fitting that another record of hers fell.
A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, and Jewell Loyd all have resumes as long as a basketball court, but they are pursuing greatness just like Taurasi, and greatness stops for no one.
All three broke the WNBA single-season scoring record (860 points) in a photo finish to see who could walk away with the crown. Ultimately, Seattle’s “Gold Mamba” fought through injuries to make it happen. It’s honestly an incredible feat and should be celebrated.
A’ja Wilson’s 53-point burner is one of the best scoring games we’ve ever seen. EVER.
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But the more I think about it, the more I feel like this incredible performance could use some added perspective.
Wilson’s game on Tuesday is one of the greatest scoring performances we’ve ever seen. Not just in the W. In the NBA, too. Throughout the history of basketball itself.
Let me be clear here: I always hate NBA comparisons when it comes to the WNBA because the league has its own spectacular history. We don’t have to compare these incredible women to the men’s side of the game for validation.
In this case, though, I think it just adds to the historical context of what Wilson just accomplished. Because y’all, we’ve rarely ever seen anything like this before. Seriously.
Let’s just start with what she did. Wilson dropped 53 points while making 20 of 23 shots from the field. She only shot one 3-pointer and hit 20 of 21 free throws. Wilson accomplished all of that in 33 minutes total, which is wild. You can watch the buckets here. They’re impressive.
A career night for the 2x WNBA M’VP, @_ajawilson22 🙌
Takin' a look at some of the best buckets of A’ja’s 53-PT game, which tied for the most points in a single #WNBA game EVER ‼
Wilson dropped her 53 the fastest. Cambage played for 37 minutes against the Liberty and Williams played 34 against the Silver Stars. Wilson only played for 33 minutes out of a possible 40 against the Dream. If Wilson got closer to that 40-minute mark? This could’ve easily been a 60-point game.
When it comes to being one of the best scorers in the W, Wilson’s name doesn’t often come up — especially on the WNBA side. People will think of names like Diana Taurasi, Arike Ogunbowale, and Breanna Stewart. They’re absolutely right. Those are some absolute buckets. They can compete with anyone.
But after today? Put Wilson’s name there, too. She put on a clinic. And it’s one that we won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
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If there was any doubt that Las Vegas Aces superstar A’Ja Wilson was the best player in the WNBA, her performance on Tuesday night did plenty to support the idea.
Wilson dropped 53 points on the Atlanta Dream, which tied the WNBA single-game scoring record held by Liz Cambage for a Dallas Wings game in 2018.
It was a remarkable achievement for Wilson as she became only the third player in WNBA history to score more than 50 points in a game.
She’s the reigning MVP winner in the WNBA, and with a performance like this, she may well just repeat once the award is given out again this season.
Wilson’s performance was quite literally one for the record books, and WNBA fans know how special it is that they get to watch an all-time athlete like Wilson operating in her prime like this.
We won’t be surprised if Wilson has another career night like this one day.
The Las Vegas Aces are WNBA champions for a reason.
This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Mike Sykes.
The WNBA still runs through Las Vegas and it doesn’t look like that’s changing anytime soon if the league’s “super team” faceoff from Thursday night is any indication.
The Aces and Liberty went head-to-head for the first time this season last night. We’ve all been waiting on this matchup for months, salivating just thinking about it like a kid in a candy store. These two are the clear favorites throughout the league to make it to the WNBA Finals. And why wouldn’t they be? The rosters are stacked.
On one side you’ve got a squad led by A’ja Wilson. Behind her are three star guards Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum. Oh, yeah, and they signed Candace Parker in the offseason to boot.
But then, on the other, you’ve got Breanna Stewart — who might be the league’s best player — along with Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu, Courtney Vandersloot and a bunch of talent behind them.
This matchup is the stuff of dreams, man. These are two of the most talented teams that we’ve ever seen in the WNBA with the two best players in the league on their rosters. Thursday night two prize fighters going head to head in the ring, at last. We’d all been waiting so long for it.
And then the Aces just had to go in and tear the Liberty apart. They beat New York 98-81.
We had a close first half, sure. But it never truly looked like the Aces struggled. The Liberty on the other hand? Man, was it hard for them to get buckets.
Breanna Stewart shot an uncharacteristic 6-of-15 from the floor. Ionescu only scored eight points and could only shoot two 3-point attempts. Betnijah Laney’s -16 plus-minus in the box score was the best out of every player in the starting lineup. New York was absolutely dismantled.
The Aces looked like champions. That makes sense because, well, that’s what they are. They know how to play together — the core has been together for years at this point. It shows. There’s a reason this team will probably set the league’s wins record.
The Liberty will probably be better the next go-round. These teams play each other three times in August. I don’t expect the matchup to be this lopsided again.
Now, once again, I cannot wait to see it.
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— Charles Barkley surprising Ernie Johnson by giving him the news that he’s going into the broadcast Hall of Fame is so cool. Cory Woodruff has the moment here.
Stars from other sports should get this cool spotlight, too.
With the release of Quarterback (and Captains, Drive to Survive, and Full Swing before it), Netflix has now created four inside-look documentaries at the lives of different professional athletes.
That got me thinking. Now that the NFL, Men’s soccer, F1, and golf have all been covered by the relentless streaming-service machine, what other significant sports trios should get this up-close-and-personal treatment? There’s so much room for flexibility and creativity that I almost think it’d be a mistake for Netflix not to branch out elsewhere. Honestly, I’d probably gobble up anything that lets me see the day-to-day life of a sports star.
But maybe that’s just me. (I don’t think it is.)
From a few baseball stars and WNBA dynamos to the next Big Things in the NFL at the college level, here are a few ideas for Netflix to tackle next in the first-person sports documentary world.
My parameters for my selections are simple:
An athlete can be a big name/star in their respective league or sport.
An athlete can be merely Very Good as a member of a contending and/or championship team.
An athlete can be some kind of rising star or young phenom with a seemingly impossible amount of hype behind their professional prospects.
Athletes in one league or sport are grouped together as a trio to offer three contrasting kinds of day-to-day perspectives.
Above all, I suspect that the names I picked would simply present the most interesting stories to learn about. That’s why I chose them. Point blank.
