WNBA 2026

[The Sultan]

Maybe Val gets involved?

I doubt she would have interest in jumping into that hornet's nest. Maybe as a consultant, but she was pretty set on retirement since her husband is a few years older as I recall.

[GB Warrior]

Cathy stepping down/retiring at the end of the season.  BIG BIG moment for the league going forward.

Condi Rice come on down

[Uncle Rico]

Condi Rice come on down

They need someone that truly cares about the welfare of women's sports.  Someone like Nick Saban

[MU82]

Or Freedom.

[MU82]

Rebecca Lobo said A'ja Wilson was "MVP-ing all over the floor."

Lobo, who is an excellent analyst, almost immediately started laughing and said: "That didn't quite come out the way I meant it to."

[MU82]

Tough break for the Lynx. Best team in the league pretty much wire-to-wire ... and their reward was a first-round series against the Liberty.

[jesmu84]

A'ja should have been ejected last night

[lawdog77]

Apparently, pointing at someone is utter disrespect, worthy of going into the stands.

[WhiteTrash]

Apparently, pointing at someone is utter disrespect, worthy of going into the stands.

Sometimes I feel like the WNBA is using the WWE playbook. Seeing the highlights makes me wonder if she was doing it for publicity. I seen enough NBA games in person and on TV to have seen countless (perhaps even every single game) fans screaming at, pointing at and flipping off opposing players, and the players just ignore it.

I don't know, maybe its just that the NBA players are used to the more "passionate" (a-hole) fans.

[Pakuni]

Sometimes I feel like the WNBA is using the WWE playbook. Seeing the highlights makes me wonder if she was doing it for publicity. I seen enough NBA games in person and on TV to have seen countless (perhaps even every single game) fans screaming at, pointing at and flipping off opposing players, and the players just ignore it.

I don't know, maybe its just that the NBA players are used to the more "passionate" (a-hole) fans.

I mean, the WNBA is hardly unique when it comes to unpleasant player-fan interactions.
And by that, I mean this month.
Does Wilson need to grow thicker skin? Absolutely. Does this kind of thing happen only or more often in the WNBA? Nope. Just gets more attention, and we both know why.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49992893/falcons-drake-london-gets-verbal-confrontation-fan

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/titans-star-jeffery-simmons-goes-042533629.html

https://www.mlb.com/news/cole-carrigg-benched-for-inappropriate-gesture-toward-fans

[JWags85]

I mean, the WNBA is hardly unique when it comes to unpleasant player-fan interactions.
And by that, I mean this month.
Does Wilson need to grow thicker skin? Absolutely. Does this kind of thing happen only or more often in the WNBA? Nope. Just gets more attention, and we both know why.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49992893/falcons-drake-london-gets-verbal-confrontation-fan

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/titans-star-jeffery-simmons-goes-042533629.html

https://www.mlb.com/news/cole-carrigg-benched-for-inappropriate-gesture-toward-fans

To be fair, though I get what you're implying, I would argue the WNBA has had a higher ratio of their "notable" players in these situations (Wilson, CC, Cunningham, etc...).  Casual baseball fans don't know who Cole Carrigg is, and Drake London is probably 50/50 on casual fan name recognition.  Simmons is a stud but again, probably not a household name.

Wilson is probably the best player in the league's history and it was the playoffs.  If it was Jackie Young on a Tuesday in July, I don't know if it would have gotten as much traction.  Just like if Matthew Stafford or Saquon did it, it would be front page compared to those incidents.

[MU82]

Hey, at least she didn't tell him, "Suck my f----- d---, b----."

As Pak said, this has been going on forever. But the WNBA does seem to have a target on its back this season, some of it self-inflicted. That we're all talking about this, instead of the great wins by the Fever and Liberty, and the quick playoff exit of the #1 seed, isn't the best for the league.

My take on this situation: A'ja was in a foul mood because her team was losing, she was tired, and this guy just set her off for some reason. Not an excuse to confront him, but it happens.

To my knowledge, this is the first time anything like this has happened with her. I sure wouldn't suspend her if I were commissioner (and I'm on the short list for the job next year).

[Pakuni]

To be fair, though I get what you're implying, I would argue the WNBA has had a higher ratio of their "notable" players in these situations (Wilson, CC, Cunningham, etc...).  Casual baseball fans don't know who Cole Carrigg is, and Drake London is probably 50/50 on casual fan name recognition.  Simmons is a stud but again, probably not a household name.

Wilson is probably the best player in the league's history and it was the playoffs.  If it was Jackie Young on a Tuesday in July, I don't know if it would have gotten as much traction.  Just like if Matthew Stafford or Saquon did it, it would be front page compared to those incidents.

Do you think Aja Wilson had more household name recognition than Drake London or Jeffrey Simmons before the WNBA became a frontline in the culture war? Or even now?
The Indiana-Vegas Game 1 was the most-watched WNBA playoff game in history, with about 2.1 million viewers. Almost 17 million viewers watched Drake London torch the Packers Thursday night. Add in the fact that about 40 million people play fantasy football, and London is a top 20-25 pick in most leagues, and I would suggest he's better than 50/50 among casuals.

I get your point about her being one of the league's stars, but the pool of people who know that is tiny compared to the pool of people who closely follow the NFL.
The fact that a player exchanging words with a fan is somehow big news is just more of the culture war bullsh-t that surrounds the league.

[JWags85]

Do you think Aja Wilson had more household name recognition than Drake London or Jeffrey Simmons before the WNBA became a frontline in the culture war? Or even now?
The Indiana-Vegas Game 1 was the most-watched WNBA playoff game in history, with about 2.1 million viewers. Almost 17 million viewers watched Drake London torch the Packers Thursday night. Add in the fact that about 40 million people play fantasy football, and London is a top 20-25 pick in most leagues, and I would suggest he's better than 50/50 among casuals.

I get your point about her being one of the league's stars, but the pool of people who know that is tiny compared to the pool of people who closely follow the NFL.
The fact that a player exchanging words with a fan is somehow big news is just more of the culture war bullsh-t that surrounds the league.

I admittedly probably underestimated London's reach based on his career thus far, not in relation to his projections this year/fantasy stature, but I would absolutely say she did/does over Simmons.

If you watched ESPN or follow any general sports and/or pro basketball content on social media for the last 5-6 years, you absolutely know and are familiar with A'ja Wilson.  Player reach/recognizability is way more than just game viewership in the internet era.  She's been the most notable/talked about womens hooper in the world for the the last half decade, until CC blew up, and that preceded the last 1.5 years of chaos around the W.  I would bet that WAY more people, pre-CC, knew who she was than had actually watched more than 5 min of a WNBA game.  Hell, I'd argue the culture war arguments and coverage largely missed/passed over her and made her comparative stature in the W less than it was/should be if only talking about hoops. 

If this incident featured any of the other more notable non-CC names as a result of aforementioned culture war (Cunningham, Reese, Thomas, etc...), then i'd totally agree.  But its still a big name (albeit not a top NFL/MLB level name) who not only exchanged words with a fan, but left the court to engage with said fan.  However, once we get past 24 hours or so of the news cycle, anyone still talking about/getting aggrieved about it would obviously almost certainly be tied to culture war BS.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'm with Pak on this one,  PCA is a top 5 star in a much more widely followed sport and what he said was much more offensive than anything anyone in the wnba has said this season.  I feel like that got a fraction of the coverage that most of the WNBA fan interactions have gotten.

[MU82]

There actually are conspiracy theorists screaming about the Fever's exit from the playoffs.

Yes, because there's nothing more any league wants than to see its (BY FAR) most popular player bounced out of the playoffs in the first round.

Then again, many of these folks believed in Pizzagate, so whatevs.

[JWags85]

There actually are conspiracy theorists screaming about the Fever's exit from the playoffs.

Yes, because there's nothing more any league wants than to see its (BY FAR) most popular player bounced out of the playoffs in the first round.

Then again, many of these folks believed in Pizzagate, so whatevs.

Is it people saying it's an anti-Fever agenda or that it's pro-Wilson/pro-Aces? I haven't seen much of the former, but a lot of the latter.

And I'd agree it's absurd to think the W would want CC bounced early, but if it's suggesting the W would prefer the 2 time reigning MVP (who most ardent WNBA fans would say is the face of the league) over CC? I don't know if it's THAATTT much of a stretch. And while I don't think the league has always handled/leveraged CC the best, I wouldn't think that particular scenario is actually that anti-CC.

But honestly, this makes the WNBA even more of a legit professional league! A league and the refs favoring a superstar player and giving them a really soft whistle?? Welcome to the NBA playoffs!

I think Fever fans have a legit gripe and reason to be upset. The "tripping" foul on Boston that gave Wilson FTs was as bad a call as you'll see. Hull got yanked down via a hook and hold (which should be a flagrant) yet someone she was called for a foul?  But it's not an anti-Fever conspiracy...I just think WNBA refs are more or less atrocious and have been all year across many different teams.

And Wilson is incredible and hard enough to stop without a near guaranteed 8ish FTs per game...but again, that's all year, especially in the playoffs, not just a Fever specific affliction.

[MU82]

Is it people saying it's an anti-Fever agenda or that it's pro-Wilson/pro-Aces? I haven't seen much of the former, but a lot of the latter.

And I'd agree it's absurd to think the W would want CC bounced early, but if it's suggesting the W would prefer the 2 time reigning MVP (who most ardent WNBA fans would say is the face of the league) over CC? I don't know if it's THAATTT much of a stretch. And while I don't think the league has always handled/leveraged CC the best, I wouldn't think that particular scenario is actually that anti-CC.

But honestly, this makes the WNBA even more of a legit professional league! A league and the refs favoring a superstar player and giving them a really soft whistle?? Welcome to the NBA playoffs!

I think Fever fans have a legit gripe and reason to be upset. The "tripping" foul on Boston that gave Wilson FTs was as bad a call as you'll see. Hull got yanked down via a hook and hold (which should be a flagrant) yet someone she was called for a foul?  But it's not an anti-Fever conspiracy...I just think WNBA refs are more or less atrocious and have been all year across many different teams.

And Wilson is incredible and hard enough to stop without a near guaranteed 8ish FTs per game...but again, that's all year, especially in the playoffs, not just a Fever specific affliction.

Yes, it's a pretty big stretch, Wags. The networks that broadcast WNBA playoff games would much rather have Caitlin Clark playing than A'ja Wilson or anybody else not named Caitlin Clark. Her in the finals is the networks' (and the league's) dream.

And yes, the call against Boston was particularly ridiculous. But there were plenty of other bad calls against both teams. The WNBA is an atrociously officiated league. I'm not sure how they fix that, but they need to.

[CreightonWarrior]

Kind of hard to ignore Wilson walking into the stands to confront a fan with zero punishment.

[MuggsyB]

Kind of hard to ignore Wilson walking into the stands to confront a fan with zero punishment.

But the fan pointed in her direction.  That's a reason to go.  You have to wonder how Aja would handle Spike Lee if he wasn't for her team?

[MU82]

Aside from too damn many foul calls, those were two exciting playoff games last night.

Nobody plays harder than the Valkyries. And the Dream defeated the Liberty in OT despite playing without top scorer Allisha Gray.

In the latter game, the Liberty didn't know they had a timeout that would have let them advance the ball. They ended up not getting a good look at a potential tying shot. That's some bad coaching.

[MuggsyB]

The ratings of the WNBA playoffs have plummeted since the Fever were eliminated. 

[JWags85]

Aside from too damn many foul calls, those were two exciting playoff games last night.

Nobody plays harder than the Valkyries. And the Dream defeated the Liberty in OT despite playing without top scorer Allisha Gray.

In the latter game, the Liberty didn't know they had a timeout that would have let them advance the ball. They ended up not getting a good look at a potential tying shot. That's some bad coaching.

Not only did they not know they had a TO, which was crazy. Stewart got the deflected pass with 2-2.5 seconds, didn't even attempt to collect herself or realize the clock, and chucked a spinning 35 footer that never even sniffed the rim. It was baffling clock mismanagement/general lack of awareness, not only from a first year HC, but from a top 5 most decorated women's player of all time

[MU82]

Not only did they not know they had a TO, which was crazy. Stewart got the deflected pass with 2-2.5 seconds, didn't even attempt to collect herself or realize the clock, and chucked a spinning 35 footer that never even sniffed the rim. It was baffling clock mismanagement/general lack of awareness, not only from a first year HC, but from a top 5 most decorated women's player of all time

Yup. When I was a HS assistant coach - part of a three-person staff -  one of my jobs was to constantly check with the scorer's table regarding how many TOs were left and which players had how many fouls.

Pro teams have a dozen or more people on staff to keep track of this stuff. Pretty pathetic that they didn't know.

Good on the Dream, though. That was a great win for them.

[Its DJOver]

Or the refs told them they didn't have a TO.