You never want to miss an important call, but this might have just been the absolute worst one to miss.
The 2023 WNBA Draft came and went on Monday with lots of fanfare from basketball fans. As expected, Aliyah Boston was drafted No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever to kick off the night for WNBA fans. As the clock rolled down on the Atlanta Dream to draft at the No. 6 spot, the team picked Haley Jones out of Stanford to add to their young, emerging lineup.
When it came time for Dream head coach Tanisha Wright to call Jones to congratulate her on the selection, the newest draftee didn’t answer her phone! Wright then took to Twitter to send her congratulations and offer a good-natured ribbing about the missed call.
The 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year Award belongs to the Atlanta Dream’s Rhyne Howard, the league announced on Thursday afternoon.
Howard received 53 of the 56 possible votes to put a bow on a fantastic rookie season in which she averaged 16.2 points per game, broke the rookie three-point record, earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors after her first week of games, and was named a WNBA All-Star.
With Howard winning Rookie of the Year, the award now returns to the draft’s No. 1-overall pick for the first time since 2018 when A’ja Wilson took home the honors.
It is also just the second time ever, and first since Angel McCoughtry in 2009, an Atlanta Dream player was named Rookie of the Year.
Here are some of the best moments from Rhyne Howard’s rookie season:
Rhyne Howard etches her name in the history books 📚@howard_rhyne now has the #WNBA record for the most 3s in a season by a rookie (77), passing Tamika Catchings' (76) who set the record in 2002 🙌#MoreThanpic.twitter.com/gegj6tIclJ
The WNBA’s playoff race is absolutely insane right now and you need to watch it
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What’s good, family. It’s Sykes here again with another edition of layup lines.
Before we get started, a quick word on our schedule. Starting next week we’ll be switching to a 3-day rotation on Monday, Wednesday and Friday instead of the regular 5 days. We’re trying something different while we’re in the swing of the NBA offseason. Let us know if you like the pacing!
Now, a quick word on the WNBA’s 6-team race for the last 3 seeds in the playoffs.
Take a look at the standings. The first five seeds are pretty much on lock. The Chicago Sky and the Las Vegas Aces have locked up the first 2 playoff seeds — it’s only a matter of what order they’ll come in.
Behind those two, you’ve got the Sun, Mystics and Storm comfortably ahead of the pack in the 3, 4 and 5 slots. Those teams are playoff locks. But underneath them? There’s absolute chaos ensuing.
There’s a 3.5 game gap between the Dallas Wings as the 6th seed and the Minnesota Lynx as the 11th seed. In between them, you’ve got the Mercury at 7 with a 13-18 record. The Liberty, Sparks and Dream are behind them all with a 12-18 record and the Lynx are sitting at 12-19.
Only 8 teams can make the postseason and there’s only between 4 to 6 games left in everybody’s season. Three of these teams will be heartbroken.
It might be the Phoenix, who was in the Finals last year and have the best point guard in the W in Skylar Diggins-Smith. It might be the Sparks with Nneka Ogwumike, who is an MVP candidate. It might be the Dream, who have one of the best rookies we’ve seen in years in Rhyne Howard. It could be the Liberty with Sabrina Ionescu and it could even be the Wings with the best young core in the W if they slip far enough.
This league, man. It’s as cutthroat as it gets. There’s so much talent to go around. Even teams with legends and All-Stars and future Hall of Famers on them aren’t safe.
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
(Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)
LeBron James is extension eligible starting on Thursday. The Lakers will almost certainly offer him one and he almost certainly isn’t signing it. It’s going to be a contract year for the King, which is always fun.
“He wants two things: To play with his son and to play for a championship. To make the latter happen, James is keeping his finger pressed on the scale to push the Lakers into making moves. He wants a Russell Westbrook trade. And if it means sacrificing the Lakers’ last two future draft picks to get it done? He wants to do it. He can force them into that corner by threatening to leave if they don’t. An extension destroys that leverage, which is why he won’t sign it.
But the Lakers still seem steadfast in their unwillingness to completely mortgage their future to grant LeBron’s wishes. So now, this is a pretty expensive game of chicken.”
They’re almost definitely not trading LeBron. But if they were going to? Those are the places they probably should call. Check it out.
This game is interesting for all the reasons mentioned above here. The playoff implications in this one are huge. These two teams just played each other and the Liberty cleaned the Sparks out, 102-73. I don’t expect the result to be as drastic, but I do expect a win from the Liberty — especially with them being at home. I’ll take them -6.5.
Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA).
Caught up in anticipation of what next week could mean for Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets? Don’t waste your time stressing. New York natives (and anyone else) could be having the time of their lives watching the brilliance of Sabrina Ionescu and the New York Liberty.
In Friday night’s win over the Atlanta Dream, Ionescu dropped 21 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 threes.
However, the highlight of the night was undoubtedly when Ionescu, in the final moments of the game, drained a deep three and delivered a fantastic “night night” celebration — straight from the book of Stephen Curry.
The win at Atlanta marked the Liberty’s seventh in their last 10 games. They are easily one of the W’s hottest teams after a brutal 1-7 beginning to the season. It could be a sneaky good time to get in on their +4000 championship odds at Tipico Sportsbook.
It may also be worth putting down a little wager on Sabrina Ionescu’s +1500 MVP odds. She’s averaging 19.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists over the last 10 games. More New York wins and more Ionescu good games could shorten those odds.
Keep an eye out.
Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).
That proved to be the case again on Friday night, as the Sky took on the Atlanta Dream (-7.5) at Wintrust Arena. With Parker unfortunately missing the matchup because of an injured knee, a rousing team performance from Atlanta unexpectedly pushed the champs to their limits.
But try as the Dream might, Kahleah Copper (23 points, 10 boards) simply wouldn’t let the Sky fall to a middling .500-ish squad:
Thanks to Copper’s trademark brilliance, the Sky would eventually prevail in a tight 106-100 overtime win. A valiant all-around effort from the Dream gone by the wayside, which the Sky’s Twitter account hilariously made light of after the game:
Looking at the best bets for Friday’s three-game WNBA slate.
Welcome to Bet For the Win’s W Bets, where we break down, explain and bet on the WNBA. Today, we’re running down the first Friday slate of the 2022 season.
Season picks (record): 6-9
Friday is a great day for WNBA basketball. The NBA season is over and Game 2 of the Stanley Cup is scheduled for the weekend. With that, the W’s three-game slate will be center stage. Connecticut and Seattle will lead things off before Dallas and Phoenix will duel in the Big D. Chicago and Atlanta close out the night.
Here’s a look at the matchups, odds, and storylines.
Looking at the best bets for Friday’s four WNBA games.
Welcome to Bet For the Win’s W Bets, where we break down, explain and bet on the WNBA. Today, we’re running down the first Friday slate of the 2022 season.
Season picks (record): 4-6
It’s Friday night and the W is sending us into the weekend with a quartet of games. From Connecticut playing on the second night of a back-to-back to Dallas and Seattle trying to live up to the hype of last season’s consecutive game-winners, each matchup should present a competitive and entertaining 40 minutes of basketball up and down the board.
Here’s a look at the matchups, odds, and storylines.
Welcome to Bet For The Win’s weekly WNBA column, where we cover everything women’s basketball from highlight plays and signature moments to bad beats and best bets. Be sure to check back here every week for your W fix.
The second full week of WNBA games came and went and we have a lot to talk about. We’re seeing two very unlikely Aces suddenly rain threes out West, we’re watching Connecticut’s defense become absurdly dominant in the Northeast and a few “late to the league rookies” are making notable contributions to the W after finishing stints in other leagues overseas.
Breaking down Friday’s WNBA matchups and choosing which teams to bet on.
Welcome to Bet For the Win’s W Bets, where we break down, explain and bet on the WNBA. Today, we’re running down the first Friday slate of the 2022 season.
Season picks (record): 3-4
It’s Friday night in the W and there’s a fun three-game slate on deck to take us into the weekend.
The Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun kick things off with a battle at Mohegan Sun Arena. Then, the extremely hot Atlanta Dream looks to log a home win against the equally-as-hot Washington Mystics. Finally, the Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm close out the slate with some action in the Pacific Northwest.
Here’s a look at Friday’s matchups, odds, and storylines.
Welcome to Bet For The Win’s weekly WNBA column, where we cover everything women’s basketball from highlight plays and signature moments to bad beats and best bets. Be sure to check back here every week for your W fix.
The sample sizes are growing! Last week’s column covered just the opening weekend of the W, which basically served as reactions to one game (maybe two) from each team. A full week later we’ve got more data, more moments, more everything. From the Atlanta Dream’s surprising start to the league’s continued struggles with chartered flights, let’s break down what went on in the W— during the past week.
