By nearly every measure, last year's WNBA season was a tremendous success.
Attendance was up. Ratings were up. And it wasn't all because of the rookie phenom Caitlin Clark — the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx averaged more than a million viewers, with the thrilling Game 5 finale drawing 3.3 million viewers at its peak. That's more than plenty of NBA games.
Now, it's on the league to keep that success going.
The regular season tips off this weekend with a slate of big-time matchups, including the first regular season appearance of the hyped rookie Paige Bueckers, a potential playoff preview between the Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces, and a Saturday afternoon showdown between Clark's Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky's Angel Reese on network TV.
Here's a preview:
Have the Fever done enough to cash in on Caitlin Clark?
Caitlin Clark's first season with the Fever was a sensation. The rookie finished the season with the fifth-most points and most assists in the league — and she ranked in the top 20 in practically every other major statistical category: rebounds, steals, even blocks. It was easy to award her Rookie of the Year.
Relatedly, Clark played the second-most total minutes of anyone in the WNBA, behind only Dallas' Arike Ogunbowale (who must also be feeling some relief to get some help in the form of Paige Bueckers this summer). That led Clark to lead the league in bad things, too, like her 5.6 turnovers per game. Plus, the Fever had one of the worst defenses in the league.
This team took the offseason seriously. The Fever sacked their head coach and brought in the veteran Stephanie White, who took the Fever to the WNBA Finals back in 2015. They got Clark some offensive help by signing six-time All-Star DeWanna Bonner, who averaged 15 points per game last season with the Connecticut Sun, and addressed the defensive weaknesses with a former Defensive Player of the Year in Natasha Howard.
It's promising! The Fever currently have the third-best odds to win the title. That might be optimistic, but they should be a stronger contender than they were last year. (And by the way, what a thrilling time to be an Indiana basketball fan, with the Pacers back in the Eastern Conference Finals.)
Just how much can Paige Bueckers help Dallas?
In her college career at UConn, Bueckers lost only 13 games across four seasons. Her new WNBA team, the Dallas Wings, meanwhile, has lost at least that many games in every season since the team moved to Texas in 2016.
It's too much to ask of Bueckers, 2025's most hyped rookie, to turn Dallas around this season — after all, this is a franchise that won only one playoff series in the past 15 years. Learning to stomach the losses will be an adjustment, she admitted last week.
"I've come to the realization that I've been extremely blessed and fortunate to be in great situations in high school and college," she told reporters. "It's different in the W. You don't see teams going undefeated."
Last season, the Wings were a dreadful 9-31. But with the pain came a prize: Bueckers, of course, who was selected with the top overall pick in last month's WNBA Draft barely a week after she had led UConn to an NCAA championship.
Bueckers is expected to be a starter on Day 1, and she's already the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year. She scored 10 points in the Wings' preseason game against the Las Vegas Aces (although the Aces smoked the Wings by 37 points).
That's a good start, though it'll take time to adjust to the increased physicality of the WNBA. Give her a month to adjust and see how she's doing by the end of June — the Wings can only go up from last year, and a ROTY-level campaign from Bueckers would be a great start to her career in Dallas.
Can A'ja Wilson become the first player to win MVP four times?
Speaking of the Aces: A'ja Wilson is still the best player in the league. She has won MVP in three of the past five seasons, and she'll be a frontrunner again this year until someone else can prove otherwise. (Paging Napheesa Collier: Is this your year?)
Last year, Wilson became the fourth player in the league's history to be named MVP for a third time, joining Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson. Those players were legends, of course, but their accomplishments came in a different era for women's basketball. Wilson's dominance in the modern game — especially last season, with her unanimous MVP vote — is something remarkable (and she's only 28).
In a survey this week, the WNBA's general managers said that the Lynx's Collier, who finished second in the vote last season, was most likely to be this year's MVP. Wilson was second, and Clark was third. The betting markets favor Clark.
For the Aces, capitalizing on Wilson's performance is the bigger picture, of course. Last season was a bit of a letdown after the Aces won it all in '22 and '23. A three-peat was always going to be tough, as the league around them kept improving. Now, it's on Vegas to show that they've made themselves better, too.
A debut for the Golden State Valkyries
This is a big moment for the WNBA, with the Valkyries making their debut as the league's first new expansion team since 2008. Two more teams are set to join the league next season — one in Toronto, and one in Portland — and the WNBA expects to add a fourth in 2028, bringing the league to 16 teams for the first time since 2002.
"This growth is another testament to the strength of our league and the demand we're seeing from our fans — and from cities and from owners who want to be part of the WNBA's future," said league commissioner Cathy Engelbert at last month's draft.
Expansion teams usually struggle in their first season, no matter the sport. That's especially true in the WNBA, where only one of the previous 10 expansion teams finished their inaugural season with a winning record.
So it may be too ambitious to expect the Valkyries to reach the playoffs — or even finish above .500. But this year will be a success for them if the team can get people in the door, if the game experience is good enough to keep fans coming back, and if people are out and about wearing Valkyries gear and talking about the team.
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