Hello, hoopheads! The WNBA season kicked into high gear yesterday — as I told you it would — and I highly recommend catching up with my recaps if you missed any of the action. A new day brings a new slate of games to preview, however, as the regular-season countdown goes from 323 remaining down to 319 after today’s four Mother’s Day tilts.
There’s just one national TV broadcast on the day’s schedule after three yesterday, with today’s showcase game featuring the last debut of the season when the Los Angeles Sparks host the Las Vegas Aces (0-1) (6:00 ET, USA Network). The Aces will be looking to turn the page from the worst season-opening loss ever suffered by a reigning WNBA champion and the (tied for) sixth-worst loss by a reigning champ at any point in the season just 24 hours or so since the final buzzer of their 33-point ass-whooping at the hands of the Phoenix Mercury. Does it seem fair at all that Las Vegas is on the road for a back-to-back against the last team in the league to play a game? I can’t say that it does, but the Aces will need to win under those less-than-ideal circumstances in order to avoid their first 0-2 start since their first season after moving to Las Vegas from San Antonio in 2018 (also the GOAT A’ja Wilson’s rookie year).
The champs will be taking on a Sparks team hoping to ride a strong second half of last season and an active offseason to their first playoff berth since the Wubble six years ago. Los Angeles brought back Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby from among last year’s starters, but will have three new ones, headlined by a reunion with franchise legend Nneka Ogwumike. The WNBPA president and 2016 WNBA MVP — during a championship run with the Sparks — returned to Hollywood on a one-year deal after guiding the WNBA into its new time of prosperity, and will look to extend her career-spanning streak to 15 straight seasons averaging at least 12.6 points per game and making at least 50% from the field. The Sparks sent starter Rickea Jackson to Chicago in exchange for Ariel Atkins, who they signed to a three-year deal for seven figures, and added veteran guard Erica Wheeler from the Storm as a free agent. In addition to all of those new faces, LA also looks ready to give a significant role to first-round pick Ta’Niya Latson, who was the top scorer in D-I while playing in a freewheeling, up-tempo offense similar to the Sparks’ two seasons ago at Florida State. I wouldn’t be surprised if Latson has a bigger role than 2024 No. 2 overall pick Cameron Brink by the time the season is over.
The nightcap is probably the best matchup on the schedule (and has a 1.5-point spread to prove it) as the Phoenix Mercury (1-0) visit the Golden State Valkyries (1-0) (8:30 ET, local affiliates/League Pass). The Mercury will probably feel a bit better about their season-opening back-to-back than the Aces given the outcome of the front end, and are looking to start 2-0 for the second straight season. Prior to 2025, Phoenix hadn’t won its first two games of a season since 2018. I’ll be particularly interested to see what kind of performance Phoenix gets out of surprise star Jovana Nogić after her early long-range blitz (16 points, 4-4 from deep in the first half) took the wind out of the Aces’ sails. Golden State is looking to start 2-0 for the first time in franchise history after blowing out the Seattle Storm on Friday night, albeit after trailing for the whole first quarter. The Valkyries are, unfortunately, already quite banged up after losing Tiffany Hayes to a finger injury and Cecilia Zandalasini to a concussion. Both have been ruled out of today’s game. Zandalasini’s injury, which was initially described as a jaw injury, is of particular concern as it was yet another example of a player suffering a concussion on the floor that apparently wasn’t properly diagnosed until hours or days later. I applaud the WNBA for instructing its officials to make freedom of movement calls a point of emphasis this season and believe the high rate of foul calls it has resulted in over the first two days of the season will ultimately lead to a healthier game, but it’s paramount that the league starts treating blows to the head as the dire threat to player safety that they are. If forceful blows to the head were routinely called flagrant fouls, whether inadvertent or not, they would draw more attention and lead to more in-game concussion checks for the players who received them. Making that a point of emphasis is a bare minimum step the league can take in lieu of employing independent neurologists with the ability to remove players for concussion checks, which is what should actually happen.
The game I have the keenest interest in, the day’s second, sees my New York Liberty (1-0) visit the Washington Mystics (1-0) (3:00 ET, local affiliates/League Pass) looking to stay perfect under new head coach Chris DeMarco. The Libs looked nothing like their hapless end-of-2025 selves in a wire-to-wire thumping of the Connecticut Sun on Friday night, cruising to their most points in season opener and 24th 100-point game in franchise history. They’ll hope to get a little bit healthier, as Rebecca Allen and Satou Sabally are both listed as day-to-day after missing the opener, although it wasn’t clear if Sabally (cyst) would be traveling with the team as of yesterday. Washington is coming off of a victorious effort in a rock fight in the Toronto Tempo’s first game, but it got enough offense from its “big three” of Sonia Citron (26 points), Shakira Austin (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Kiki Iriafen (12 points, 16 rebounds) to escape from Canada with a win. The rest of the Mystics scored 12 points combined on 5-for-32 from the field, and I’ll save them the indignity of telling you the percentage.
First but probably least on the schedule, the Seattle Storm (0-1) visit the Connecticut Sun (0-1) (1:00 ET, local affiliates/League Pass) for a game between two teams expected to finish at or near the bottom of the standings and tipping off at 10:00 AM body time for the visitors. That said, it’s a chance to watch Dominique Malonga play basketball, which is never a bad thing. The 20-year old French phenom scored a point more than her age to lead Seattle on Friday while hitting 8-for-15 from the field. It wasn’t quite as auspicious an opener for the rest of the Storm starters, however, as they combined for 24 points on 7-for-26 (26.9%) from the field. Connecticut was on the wrong end of the Liberty’s 106-75 win on Friday night, and I honestly didn’t come out of Barclays Center with a single positive thing to say about the Sun except that it was probably the last time I’ll ever see them in person.