The last (for now) in my series on women’s basketball in the U.S.
The WNBA playoffs began on Sunday, which means that if you haven’t previously watched the WNBA, this is a fantastic time to start! To urge you on even further, I wanted to finish my series on women’s basketball by highlighting players that I’ve found super exciting to watch this season.
I chose to focus on Black players who are out as queer because they get the least media attention. (Which is why A’ja Wilson, the 2024 MVP and widely-acknowledged best player in the world, and Napheesa Collier, the runner-up of this year’s MVP race, are not on this list.) I originally planned to write equal amounts about all five players, but I ran out of time…so the last three are much shorter, but that is not at all intended to speak to their talent.
Honorable mentions go out to other favorites of mine including the Phoenix Mercury’s Natasha Cloud, who I did talk a little about in my last post; the New York Liberty’s Jonquel Jones, who is amazing but I just didn’t watch as much this year because I don’t care for her team; and the Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale, who had an incredible season personally but was on a team that didn’t make the playoffs.
But first, a couple requests.
Mutual Aid Request
I’m part of a team of friends working with two young people in Gaza, Rozan and Aboud, who are supporting both of their families as well to try and survive genocide. Given that it’s near-impossible to get out of Gaza right now, their needs are ongoing just for them to be able to have food, water, and shelter, let alone more advanced medical needs. If you enjoy this newsletter at all, please consider donating to their fundraisers!
Activism Request
If you’re in the U.S., contact your elected officials to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine and Lebanon and a restoration of funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA). The U.S. is the only member state who has not reinstated funding after unfounded lies about UNRWA staff circulated months ago. Use these templates to contact your representatives, but add a few sentences at the top to make it personal!
Alyssa Thomas
Connecticut Sun
To understand how incredible Alyssa Thomas is, I have to explain a basketball concept to those who are new to the sport. In basketball, various offensive and defensive metrics are tracked and considered important during a game, the top five being points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. Within a game, if a player gets more than 10 of two of those categories, it’s called a double-double, which is already pretty special. If a player gets more than 10 in three of those categories, it’s called a triple-double, which is pretty rare, and demonstrates that player’s versatility.
As of today, there have been 42 triple-doubles over the 28 seasons of WNBA history – 36 in the regular season and 6 in the postseason. 15 of those triple-doubles – almost a third! – were by Alyssa Thomas. Of the 6 postseason triple-doubles, she is responsible for 4 of them, including one in yesterday’s playoff game against the Indiana Fever.
Here’s another thing about Alyssa Thomas, which is mentioned by the commentators of pretty much any Connecticut Sun game because it’s so wild: Thomas has, for more than eight years, been playing basketball with labrum tears in both of her shoulders. It’s especially obvious when you watch her take free throws, because her form looks so different from other players. She’s put off surgery to repair them because of what the recovery time would do to her career. Despite her injuries, she’s considered the “engine” of her team because of how impactful she is on both sides of the floor – other Sun players talk about how she contributes so much even in the “intangibles” (metrics that aren’t easily counted) that contribute to each possession.
Yet another cool thing about Alyssa Thomas: she is engaged to her Sun teammate DeWanna Bonner, who is a formidable star in her own right, making them currently the only out couple in the WNBA playing on the same team! They are incredibly cute and I love them.
Finally, Alyssa Thomas should have won last year’s MVP race, where she came second to Breanna Stewart despite having more first-place votes than Stewart. She will always be the MVP in my heart.
Jewell Loyd
Seattle Storm
I’m biased towards Jewell Loyd because she plays for my team, but I like to think she would have made this list even if she didn’t. Loyd has been a star since her time playing at Duke University, where she was named ESPN’s women’s college basketball player of the year as a senior. She was the #1 WNBA draft pick by the Storm in 2015 and won Rookie of the Year. She’s a two-time WNBA champion, a six-time WNBA All-Star, and a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
When I first started watching women’s basketball in 2021, Loyd was part of the core trio of the Seattle Storm along with Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart. That all changed at the end of 2022, when Bird retired and Stewart signed with the New York Liberty. The following season in 2023 was one of the worst in Storm history, with the Storm missing the playoffs for the first time since Loyd had joined them in 2015, but not because of any lack of talent, hard work, or even achievement on Loyd’s part.
Loyd pretty much took the team on her back and had an amazing year. She was the MVP of the All-Star game, and, incredibly, set the record for the number of points scored in a single season with 939 points over 38 games. (A’ja Wilson just broke Loyd’s record this year with 1,021 points over 38 games.) Loyd also averaged 24.7 points per game in 2023, putting her third all-time in points per game within a single season, behind A’ja Wilson and Diana Taurasi – both WNBA legends.
One of my favorite things about Jewell is how physical she is. She will literally throw her body on the line to score, screen, or rebound, despite being a guard, and not a terribly tall one at that. It’s very fun to watch, even though it sometimes makes me nervous! This also makes her one of the most effective players at drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line; of her 939 points in 2023, more than a quarter of them came from free throws.
After the Storm’s disastrous 2023 season, Loyd’s leadership was also instrumental in turning the team’s fortunes around. She worked with Storm coach Noelle Quinn to recruit Nneka Ogwumike and Skyler Diggins-Smith, both stars that Loyd had known for years, to come to Seattle this year, contributing to the Storm currently competing in the playoffs. She’s also mentored younger players, including inviting 2023 rookie Jordan Horston to train with her for a month in Loyd’s hometown for Chicago during the offseason. Loyd is the heart of the Seattle Storm, and I hope she’ll continue being so for a long time.
Loyd is also dating Téa Adams, an American basketball player who plays in Europe, who funnily grew up in Kirkland, Washington, near Seattle!
Kahleah Copper
Phoenix Mercury
Kahleah Copper has two nicknames, in the WNBA, “Kah” being the obvious one. But the other is KFC, which stands for Kahleah Fucking Copper. Seriously.
Given her talent, it’s a little hard to believe Copper was only the #7 pick in the WNBA 2016 draft, going to the Washington Mystics. She was traded to the Chicago Sky the next year and became a starter in 2021. Copper first stood out to me during the 2021 WNBA playoffs, when she was playing for the Chicago Sky, who won their first-ever championship that year. Copper led them to that victory against the Phoenix Mercury and was named the Finals MVP.
However, Chicago’s fortunes declined significantly in subsequent seasons, leading Copper to request a trade to the Phoenix Mercury in 2024. While the Mercury have had an uneven season, Copper has been a bright star throughout. Early in the season, she scored 75 points over two back-to-back games, and she finished the season third in scoring, with nine games in which she scored 30+ points. Kahleah Fucking Copper indeed.
Copper is also engaged to Swedish basketball player Binta Drammeh!
DiJonai Carrington
Connecticut Sun
Can you tell I’m fond of the Connecticut Sun? In part it’s because they focus a lot on defense, which I find really fun to watch. And within that, DiJonai Carrington plays a special role as one of the league’s best perimeter defenders – meaning that she guards the top three-point shooters on opposing teams, and does so incredibly well.
Carrington wasn’t even a starter until this year, but she’s had a great season, also serving as one of the Sun’s leading scorers (impressive on a team that includes DeWanna Bonner, who this year passed her ex-wife Candace Dupree to become the fifth-highest scorer in WNBA history). Carrington’s growth this season places her as a candidate for Most Improved Player this year, which I very much hope she wins.
Carrington is also dating Indiana Fever star NaLyssa Smith, who she is facing off against in the first round of the playoffs. If the rumors are true, they may even be engaged, so we can only hope for a big announcement sometime soon.
Courtney Williams
Minnesota Lynx
Courtney Williams has always been a talented player, but she’s really shined after signing with the Minnesota Lynx this season. She’s a highly efficient shooter but also is skilled on both sides of the court – in June, she became only the fourth player in WNBA history to record at least 15 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals in a single game. She’s also embraced her relatively new role as a point guard and given the Lynx what they needed to end the season at #2 – and possibly win the whole championship.
But one of my favorite things about Williams (mostly because I think it’s really funny) is that she’s known for her mid-range shooting – that is, taking shots in the space between the paint and the three-point line. In fact, if you look at where players take their shots as a percentage of their overall shooting, Williams’s points in the mid-range were the highest with a whopping 57.5% this season – more than twice as much as the next player on the list!
Williams and her girlfriend N’Shya were also featured in the WNBA’s Pride Is Love series this year!
And that’s it (for now) in my series on women’s basketball. Happy playoffs, everyone!
