A wire-to-wire top team was crowned for the 2023 WNBA season. Even with a minor slump in August, the Las Vegas Aces, who were the defending champions going into the season, easily held the top spot in both our power rankings and the league standings the entire time.
2024 hasn’t been Las Vegas’s same tale of domination thus far. Despite playing four home games to start the season against teams that missed the playoffs the previous year, the Aces haven’t always looked like the favorites to win the championship. Even their victories over the Phoenix Mercury and the Los Angeles Sparks have been closer than anticipated, and their defense is below league average.
For the time being, the league is more evenly matched than it was at any stage during the previous season. Maybe this tendency will reverse when Chelsea Gray rejoins the starting lineup. Title contenders are being defeated by lottery-projected teams. It was a close race for the top slot in these rankings, ultimately decided by one foul call in the last ten seconds of an overtime match.
The most anticipated WNBA season to date has lived up to the hype thanks to the guarantee of unpredictable games every night and the possibility of a true playoff race. Take advantage of the uncertainty while it persists.
Three outstanding displays, Kayla McBride’s almost flawless game
McBride’s 3-point shooting percentage has decreased three years in a row with the Minnesota Lynx coming into this season. It was reasonable to question if the soon-to-be 32-year-old, who plays year-round (she won another EuroLeague title with Fenerbahçe this offseason, earning her the MVP award in the Final Four) was suffering from age-related decline.
These worries have been allayed since the campaign’s launch. Although some of the statistics are inflated after only five games, McBride is averaging 17.2 points and a career-high 3.8 assists per game. Her previous high for a full season was 52.6, so her startling 70.4 effective field goal % is put in perspective. With her on the court, the Lynx are up 40.6 points per 100 possessions and are off to a 4-1 start. Her lone mistake might have been missing a fadeaway against the Connecticut Sun at the buzzer that would have made the score 5-0.
In what manner did McBride react to that miss? Against the New York Liberty, she scored 14 points and dished out five assists while keeping Betnijah Laney-Hamilton to just 4 points on 2 of 8 shots. The next day, in the second game of a back-to-back, McBride guarded All-Stars Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray and went 37 minutes without missing a field goal and five free throws.
By the end of the game, the charm had worn off, but even then, one of her misses would have been a fair turnover substitute. McBride needs to be protected from a distance like a five-alarm fire. Even though she is probably cooling off from her 51.4 percent shooting clip, she now stands 13th in WNBA history for the most 3-pointers made. This season, she has a good chance of breaking into the top 10.
Monique Billings’ tour of retaliation
Before leaving in the offseason, Billings had been a member of the Atlanta Dream for her whole professional career. Despite being the final player cut during training camp, she ultimately decided to join with her hometown team, the Sparks.
After Natasha Howard and Jaelyn Brown were injured on opening night, Billings’ absence from the WNBA didn’t last long because, in coach Latricia Trammell’s words, she has been “the missing piece” for the Wings. Billings, a longtime reserve, started for Dallas in her second game and helped the Wings win 2-1 this week by averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Two of the games were against Atlanta and Los Angeles, which was a hilarious turn of events. In her six years in Atlanta, Billings had only once achieved this stat line: 20 points and 10 rebounds versus the Dream. Although she outperformed Tina Charles, her replacement, on the night, Dallas lost in the end.
Billings would not be stopped in her quest for retribution. On the glass, Billings dominated the players she had faced in training camp two weeks before. Despite playing back-to-back, she pulled down three offensive rebounds in the second half as opposed to the Sparks’ zero. With two and a half minutes remaining, she made a driving layup past Cameron Brink to give the Wings a lead they would not let up. She made two free throws on the next possession, running back down the floor to silence the home supporters she had once wanted to represent.”Many feelings,” she remarked. “Patience is bitter, but the fruit is sweet,” is all I have to say.
Jordan Horston’s initial audition sequence
Who would play with the four All-Stars that the Seattle Storm assembled in the summer was the question. For the time being, Victoria Vivians has the upper hand, but it might not take long for Jordan Horston to overtake her—at least in the last five. Horston, who is in her second season, is still unable to score goals effectively, but she excels at everything else, which is perhaps more significant given the abundance of other talented scorers on the team.
She catches rebounds by diving in and boxing out larger players. She is a deft passer who always looks for her bigs inside. This is especially true out of drives when she has already broken the defense. Horston is a dynamic defensive playmaker as well; this week, only Napheesa Collier and Brink were able to match her total of 9 stocks (steals + blocks).
Horston executes plays that win. She finished sixth in the league this past week in terms of plus-minus, trailing only five Lynx and Sun players. The Storm will need a player like that on the court as they look to make a run in the playoffs.
Sevgi Uzun, Wings of Dallas
The 26-year-old is a novice in the WNBA despite having six years of professional experience in Turkey, where he won a EuroLeague championship with Fenerbahçe this past season. She has been asked to take the helm of a team that has had substantial staff change and is a possible contender, despite this. Even for a point guard who is unfamiliar with this style of play, that is difficult.”She manages our team effectively, exudes confidence, and maintains our composure,” remarked teammate Arike Ogunbowale.
Uzun has demonstrated great ball control thus far. In terms of assists to turnovers, she is in the top six of the league and, as of this past week, the only starting point guard behind her is Jackie Young. In response to Natasha Cloud and Kahleah Copper’s ball pressure in Phoenix, Uzun committed three turnovers. Against Los Angeles, however, she recorded eight assists and zero turnovers. Uzun proved that she is not afraid of taking chances as she made an over-the-head pass to Teaira McCowan in the paint during a game against the Sparks.
The Wings traded Crystal Dangerfield, waived Veronica Burton, and decided not to re-sign Odyssey Sims, demonstrating their strong faith in Uzun. She is proving to them that she is the real deal when it comes to the point guard position.
Angel Reese versus Cameron Brink. The two rookie big men haven’t played since Reese became an All-American at Maryland and Brink at Stanford in their respective collegiate sophomore seasons. Since joining the WNBA, they have both had an impact: Brink leads the league in blocks per game, while Reese leads in offensive rebounds. This matchup between the Sparks and the Sky could be the best direct rookie showdown of the season because these two will have to guard each other.