Hello, hoopheads! It wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but it looked like the WNBA’s camp games were going to start with not a bang but a whimper when the Connecticut Sun (6-18) opened up a 15-point lead late in the third quarter yesterday afternoon against the Portland Fire (10-14). Portland made things interesting, however, with a 16-2 run to cut the margin to a point early in the final frame, and would eventually take a late lead before Connecticut eventually rode the gleeful shrieks of the New England’s youths to a three-point win. That triumph regrettably pulled the Sun out of last place in the WNBA standings — their rightful position — and moved them a half-game ahead of the Seattle Storm (6-19). The Washington Mystics (12-10) also moved up in the standings in the evening, improving to 3-0 against the Toronto Tempo (10-14) in a second rock fight between the teams north of the border. That moved Washington ahead of my beloved (and slumping) New York Liberty (13-11) as far as win percentages are concerned, although the teams are functionally tied and New York has clinched the tiebreaker. That said, Washington has won four of its last five games and eight of 12 since a 4-8 start, and the young Mystics can hang their hat on what’s become some of the most reliable defense in the WNBA (third allowing 98.7 points per 100 possessions according to Her Hoop Stats). The offense is anything but reliable, but rock fights count the same as track meets in the standings and Washington has gotten quite comfortable grinding out ugly wins.
Two more road teams will step into the arena in front of hordes of hostile children this afternoon, but they’ll have to wait for end-of-the-newsletter previews, in part because Napheesa Collier is not making her 2026 debut in the game in Minneapolis, and in part because there’s a banger on tap tonight when the Golden State Valkyries (17-7) visit the Indiana Fever (14-9) (8:00 ET, USA Network/local affiliates). In addition to being a tantalizing clash between teams that feel like polar opposites in almost every way, this is also a game with the potential to have a huge impact on the playoff race, as it will decide who clinches the head-to-head tiebreaker. Each team already beat the other once when they met twice in a seven-day span in May, with both games decided by single-digit margins and won by the home team. The Fever’s “big three” of Caitlin Clark (22 points), Aliyah Boston (20) and Kelsey Mitchell (19) combined for 61 points in their win while Golden State’s top trio (if I may be so bold) of Veronica Burton (25), Gabby Williams and Janelle Salaün (19 each) scored 63 when the Valks came out on top. For what it’s worth, both games were played at the Fever’s pace, which is the most tangible area in which these teams are opposites as Indiana averages the WNBA’s most possessions per 40 minutes (84.9) while Golden State easily averages the fewest (78.7). The Fever’s win was played at an 86.5 possession-per-team pace while the Valkyries’ win was at a pace for 84.5 possessions, so, much more towards the Fever’s end of the spectrum. Existing at opposite ends of the spectrum is just the norm for these teams whether it’s in terms of how they play, how they built their roster, or which side of the culture wars have adopted them as their avatars in the WNBA. Given the clash in styles, the stakes and that the perpetually simmering hysteria around Clark has been pretty close to a boil lately, don’t be surprised if something happens tonight that sparks a round of non-basketball discourse.
Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase loves to pretend that her team doesn’t play slowly, but it was easily the league’s slowest team last season and it’s going to be the same this season. Limiting possessions makes plenty of sense given that Golden State’s roster — which is still built around a core of players acquired in the expansion draft and free-agent castoffs — prioritizes defense, effort and basketball IQ while being light on game-breaking offensive talent. The Valkyries are going to make every possession as valuable as possible by making them as scarce as possible, then they’re going to make theirs more productive than yours by making your possessions miserable and shooting more 3-pointers than you’re likely inclined or able to keep up with. That scrappy, all-out identity naturally endeared them to fans, but there’s more to the Valkyries instantly becoming one of the league’s most popular teams than that. I can only speak for myself here, but as a longtime WNBA fan, I know that the Valks hold a special place in my heart as the first expansion team in 17 years, since a time when the WNBA’s future was very much in doubt. They’re the vanguards of a long awaited but never guaranteed wave of expansion and prosperity for a league that easily could’ve gone the other direction on any number of occasions. On top of that, and this may come as a shock, but a common thread among myself, a huge portion of longtime WNBA fans and the San Francisco Bay Area is that we lean pretty far to the left of center. While I certainly have some cognitive dissonance about a team with a billionaire NBA owner whose home games are played at Chase Center (aka Ballhalla) becoming a paragon of progressive values, there’s no doubt that the Valkyries had already become the left’s new favorite WNBA team before Williams punctuated their Pride Night win with a memorable shout of “for the gays,” but that felt like it cemented their status for the foreseeable future. Just like progressive candidates put forth by the Democratic Socialists of America in primaries all over the country this summer, the left’s new favorite WNBA team is on a roll. Golden State can tie the longest win streak in the league this season by pushing its franchise-record run to eight straight wins.
The Fever want there to be as many possessions as possible over the course of the game, with their theory of the case essentially stating that their trio of elite offensive players can score more efficiently than you and that ability will show itself more clearly the more possessions they have. It is, like the Valkyries’ methodical pace, an entirely logical approach to take when you have players with the offensive gifts of Clark, Boston and Mitchell — all of whom were drafted either first or second overall by the Fever — although there are certainly times when it feels like the Fever’s pace does as much to expose the team’s deficiencies (specifically, playing defense and a tendency to turn the ball over in bunches) as to highlight its strengths. It’s been working pretty well lately, though, as Indiana has gone 9-5 since starting 5-4. Off the court, much like being from San Francisco plays a role in the Valkyries becoming the WNBA’s latest progressive darlings, Indiana being the reddest locale in the WNBA undoubtedly has something to do with the Fever having become the preferred women’s hoops squad of the MAGA movement. So, too, do the presence of Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham and, given that this is the simple-minded MAGA movement we’re talking about, the fact that the Fever wear red. In fairness to Clark and Cunningham, I don’t believe that either of them has ever publicly taken a political side. Clark, however, sounded a fairly loud dog whistle with her recent appearance at a Morgan Wallen concert — a country singer whose profile skyrocketed when he became known for using the worst racial slur in our country’s history — while Cunningham spent a day off last weekend serving as a UFC “ring girl.” Clark has also done pretty close to the bare minimum to discourage her legions of fans from engaging in persistent racist abuse of her WNBA peers, who they view as engaging in racially-motivated violence against Clark (which, to be clear, is fucking insane). Cunningham, for her part, takes no issue with her likeness being used by the White House and has gleefully embraced her role as Clark’s “enforcer,” which clearly does nothing to bring the temperature down. At some point, not taking a side is in fact taking a side, it’s just doing it without having to stand by your beliefs. I personally think it’s long past that point for Clark and Cunningham, but I’d love it if they decided to prove me wrong.
The middle game of today’s tripleheader sees the Los Angeles Sparks (10-12) visit the Minnesota Lynx (18-6) (1:00 ET, local affiliates/League Pass), who definitely won’t have Napheesa Collier, as she’s been ruled out of another game as she works towards making her 2026 debut, and might not have Dorka Juhász, who’s questionable with a knee injury that also kept her out of Monday’s win over the Phoenix Mercury. The Lynx have been just fine without them, of course, including in a 16-point home win over Los Angeles in their only previous meeting this season. Monday’s win over Phoenix saw Kayla McBride (37 points) and Rookie of the Year Olivia Miles (33) become the first Lynx teammates with 30 points in a game and the second pair of teammates in WNBA history with at least 33 points in a game. The Lynx have won three straight since taking their only consecutive losses of the season, while the Sparks were denied a third straight win in Monday’s loss at Atlanta and have dropped six of their last nine games.
The WNBA’s new last-place team will try to put Connecticut back in the cellar when the Seattle Storm (6-19) visit the Chicago Sky (7-16) (12:00 ET, local affiliates/League Pass). The Sky are looking to avoid a third straight loss and fourth in five games, and will once again be without Skylar Diggins, who hasn’t been active since announcing that she’d been moved to the bench. Seattle has also lost two in a row and four of its last five games, but it can at least say it comes in without having had a public falling out with one of its highest-profile players this week.