Tag: WNBA

Phoenix Mercury G Diana Taurasi weighed …

Phoenix Mercury G Diana Taurasi weighed in on comments made by Marcus Morris of the Knicks after Wednesday night’s game, when he said Jae Crowder had “female tendencies” (among other insensitive remarks about women) before apologizing. “It was disappointing coming from Marcus,” Taurasi told SNY’s Joe Kraus on Thursday. “I know him, he spent time in Phoenix with the Suns. I’ve had interaction with him. He’s a good guy. To go off the cuff and say stuff like that — he must have been emotional, after (the game). I know it’s intense, but it is what it is now. Words matter and what you say matters. It’s just disappointing coming from him in this stage of his career. You gotta watch it, you gotta be sensitive for what you say. At the end of the day, you’re responsible for what you say. It’s all on his shoulders now.”

Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka …

Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike, the 2016 MVP and WNBA champion, said Gigi was “symbolic of his legacy, and also the future of women’s basketball.” Gigi had become a big fan of 11-time national champion UConn, and she went to Huskies games with her father, including UConn’s senior day in 2019 for Samuelson and Napheesa Collier. Samuelson said Bryant sent her a text after that game. “He recorded me walking out with my dad,” Samuelson said. “He said he had to get that moment, because he knew he’d be a wreck if it was him.”

Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird sat next …

Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird sat next to Bryant and Gigi at the WNBA All-Star Game last July in Las Vegas. The four-time Olympic gold medalist — at the game with girlfriend and U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe — was sidelined with a knee injury. They got a chance to chat with Bryant and Gigi while watching many of the best women’s basketball players in the world. “He just really wanted to expose Gigi to as much greatness as he could,” Bird said. “He wanted her to meet Megan, to meet me. I know he’s taken his whole family to Megan’s soccer games. He’s been very present in the WNBA. He was going on this journey with his daughter, and I think we could all feel that it was going somewhere special. For him as a father, for her as a future basketball player, for them in that father-daughter relationship.”

We’re not talking about Maya Moore enough

This is one of the most noble things we’ve ever seen.

Maya Moore is easily one of the greatest athletes of our time. In eight years of WNBA basketball, Moore has won four championships, one MVP trophy, another Finals MVP trophy and been named an All-Star six times. She transformed the Minnesota Lynx into a yearly contender.

That’s GOAT level stuff. It all pales in comparison to what she’s doing off of the court.

Moore will skip her second WNBA season in a row this summer to focus on criminal justice reform, the New York Times reports. Specifically, on the case of Jonathan Irons — a man who she believes was wrongfully convicted at age 16. He’s 39 year old now.

Irons is in the middle of service a 50-year prison sentence after being convicted of burglary and assaulting a homeowner with a gun in St. Louis. The homeowner was shot during the assault and testified that Irons was the perpetrator, but there was no evidence linking Irons to the crime.

Moore has been talking about this case since she met Irons in 2017. She took a year off from the game last year to minister in Atlanta and is doing the same this year.

This is unprecedented. We’re not talking about this enough. This is Michael Jordan going into his first retirement, except for instead of sucking at baseball, Moore is being a boss in criminal justice.

She’s 30 years old. We have no idea how much basketball she actually has left in her where she’s playing at a high level. We also have no idea when she’s returning. But this is very clearly bigger than just basketball to her.

This is an opportunity for her to pull someone up and out of a trap that so many people fall into because of no fault of their own. They have no lifelines and no help. Moore is trying to be that for someone who truly needs it.

Over the last few years, athletes have found themselves pursuing the passions they have outside of their sport more and more. A lot have done some real good with that newfound power. Add Moore to that ever-growing list.

Moore isn’t retiring from the game just yet, but this is probably the closest thing to it. We might not ever see her play again. And if she comes back, there’s no guarantee she’ll be as good.

It’s a massive sacrifice that she is choosing to make, but it’s also one that could make a massive difference in somebody’s world — bigger than any difference she could ever make on a basketball court.

If she never players a single minute of WNBA basketball again, it’ll all be worth it.

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Having been seen with his daughter, …

Kobe Bryant lists 3 WNBA players he believes could play in the NBA

Kobe Bryant says WNBA stars like Diana Taurasi could keep up in the NBA.

No woman has ever played in an official NBA game, but according to Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, that doesn’t mean that many of the world’s best players in the WNBA aren’t capable of keeping up with the men.

In an interview with CNN, Bryant was asked if he believes whether a woman could ever play in the NBA one day. Bryant responded that there are several current players who could make it playing alongside men right now.

“I think there are a couple players who could play in the NBA right now, honestly. There’s a lot of players who have a lot of skill that could do it. Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, [Elena] Delle-Donne. I mean, there’s a lot of great players out there. They could most certainly keep up with them.”

Although a woman has never played in the NBA, multiple women have been selected in the NBA Draft. Denise Long became the first woman to be selected in 1969 as a 19-year-old, after the San Francisco Warriors picked her in the 13th round – though the selection, meant as a PR stunt, was vetoed by the commissioner. In 1977, the New Orleans Jazz selected Luisa Harris in the seventh round, but she declined to try out for the team. In 2013, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made waves when he said he was considering drafting Baylor star Britney Griner with a second-round pick.

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Maddie Lee: Chris Paul on the landmark …