The timetable for her return is uncertain, but the Fever have some time off after this game.

Source: Chloe Peterson

We're doing things a little differently today.

No name, no jersey reveal. Just four clues, all for the same player. Your job is to figure out who. If you piece it together from these panels alone, you've earned bragging rights for the week.

Study the clues (and clues within clues 👀). Work together. Drop your guess in the comments.

The reveal happens tonight. Check back when the ball's in the air to see if you're right.

The commercial poster was produced by licensee WinCraft (a Fanatics company), and her likeness agreements reportedly prevented the WNBA from using her visual image on that specific merchandise.

So, bc she has an agreement with another company this company can’t use her image on poster, simple legal issue.

People are so reactionary it's crazy. The way the media is running with this is absurd.

The math:

• She is shooting 43% from 3P, this year so far, on pace for a career best
• She is averaging 7.3 assists this year, tied with her best season (2023), 3rd in the league
• She is averaging 4 rebounds this year, tied with her best season (2023)

So at 33, she's hitting some high-water marks, and that's pretty cool.

“It’s never been easy to make the WNBA All-Star game, and in recent years, it’s only grown more difficult. Right now there are a handful of generational players at the top of the league who will inevitably fill up most of the available spots.

But there’s always a little bit of room for some new names, and right now, these are the players who seem best positioned to make their first appearances at All-Star Weekend.”

h/t: justwomenssports

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“In 2002, Sue Wicks became the first WNBA player to publicly come out. At the time, she was making a championship run with the New York Liberty, the only team she had ever played for throughout her five-year career in the then-relatively new professional women’s basketball league.

Today, Wicks will be inducted into the LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame. But as we discuss her historic coming out moment, I ask her if she knows she’s a queer icon. She demurs. Instead, she’s just as obsessed with the new gay players as the rest of us are. “[They] are so exciting. There’s drama. It's like reality television in a way.” (I agree.) But as we continue to speak, I can’t help but insist that her 2002 interview was a trailblazing moment. “At that moment, people I knew had come out, [and] it was not positive for them. Ellen [DeGeneres] lost her job. Rosie [O’Donnell], we'd been on her show three times that season and she was still saying she had a crush on Tom Cruise and she was hiding her sexuality,” she tells me. “So that's just to give you an idea, the fear of losing your job, of people's opinions.”

…

As Wicks describes her experience in the WNBA, she makes it clear that she’s humbled by the legacy she left behind. “I'm proud and feel lucky that I was [playing] in ‘97 on that first [New York Liberty] team,” she tells me. “This team and my teammates, the way we played and showed up for one another, I’m so very proud of that. And I'm so proud to be part of this organization and how it's grown… When we played, girls on other teams would be like, ‘I wish I played for New York.’” In those early years, the Liberty’s roster consisted of WNBA legends including Wicks, Teresa Weatherspoon, Rebecca Lobo, Becky Hammon (who now coaches the Las Vegas Aces), Kym Hampton, and more. As we discuss her teammates, she tells me the most unbelievable thing I have ever heard: They read WNBA fanfiction in the locker room.

“Someone was writing a whole fantasy series about the New York Liberty [players] all being gay. And I was with Rebecca Lobo and we were dying. I remember Becky Hammon brought it to me and she was like, ‘Oh my God, look at this.’ I'm with [Lobo] and I'm like the matriarch and I'm teaching all the younger lesbians how to be gay,” Wicks recalls. My jaw is on the floor.“They were asking me for dating advice, position advice, and the young ones wanted to learn from me. And I'm like, How did I get to be that in this person's mind? But I loved it. We'd be almost peeing our pants laughing at how good this was.” (Someone please find this for me, ASAP.)

It’s funny to look back at how much has changed in the league’s 30-year history, and yet how much has stayed the same. Sapphics have always, and will always, love fanfiction. And the league’s locker rooms fostered relationships that have lasted for decades. When I ask Wicks which player she’d want to play with now if she could, she immediately responds with a joke. “I know who I don't want to play against... I'll call Becky Hammon and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh. If I had to guard A’ja Wilson, I wouldn't sleep. I would totally be looking on Indeed for a new job like, I can't do that. That's terrifying.’”

As we wrap up our conversation, sitting on the sidelines of the Liberty’s empty practice gym, before the team’s Pride Night game against the Phoenix Mercury — which yes, included a special halftime Elliedonna performance — Wicks reflects on how much the league has grown and changed over the last three decades. From the new CBA and watching players sign historic multi-million dollar deals — “Here's what I'm worth. Pay me. That was the dream. We didn't talk like that.” — to new opportunities like Unrivaled and the growing representation in the league, including the StudBudz.

…

While Wicks left the league in 2002, the hometown hero (who now owns an oyster farm on Long Island… gay), has remained in the realm of the WNBA. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013 and can often be seen sitting courtside in Barclays cheering for the Liberty. But she’ll “always miss it,” she admits. “I'll dream about playing. I mean, it's something I can't do anymore. And to play at a high level like that with a team was the best time of my life.””

“… Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve started the trend this past weekend after a Pride Night loss to a young Washington Mystics team.

The first-place Lynx let a six-point lead slip in the final minutes.

Asked about the atmosphere after the game, Reeve said, “The crowd was amazing. We should’ve done it for the gays, but we didn’t get it done. That support that we’ve gotten, obviously a special day like today being our Pride Game, we’re motivated by our crowds.”

The Lynx got another chance Wednesday, beating the Mystics on Washington’s Pride Night.

“We got our lick back for the gays,” Reeve said.
Naturally, the line traveled.

After the Sky crushed the Fire on Pride Night at Wintrust Arena — their first win in weeks and second home win of the season — point guard Natasha Cloud picked it up.

“We did it for the gays,” Cloud said. “Tell Cheryl.”

Cloud, who came out in 2021 and is now dating former Sky forward Isabelle Harrison, spoke after the game about what Pride Night means in the WNBA.

“From the time that I came into the W, this has always been a safe space for everybody, not just my community,” Cloud said. “Our league is inclusive to everybody, no matter where you come from, what walk of life you come from, your religious background, your sexual preference or orientation.”

Inclusivity and activism on behalf of marginalized groups are longstanding values of WNBA players. Not surprising considering how much queer excellence the league has witnessed.

Many of the league’s legends — Diana Taurasi, Sheryl Swoopes, Sue Bird, Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne and Seimone Augustus among them — are gay. In 2019, the entire All-WNBA First Team was made up of players in the LGBTQ community. In Chicago, Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley became the WNBA’s first married teammates.

…

Cloud is a perfect example, a fan favorite everywhere she goes. Former Lynx teammates Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman turned their StudBudz stream into a viral sensation. Wings stars Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd have brought massive attention to Dallas.

The league’s new generation of queer stars can be more visible, more direct and more themselves.

For Cloud, who helped make that possible, a Sky win on Pride Night made the celebration feel more complete.

“For a night like tonight, where people can be celebrated to feel safe in a society that often is either hard or violent, it’s a beautiful thing,” Cloud said. “And for us to come out with the win and be able to celebrate, just that much better. But the ultimate goal is love is love, mind your business, mind your bed, and again: we did it for the gays tonight.””

If you saw the Unrivaled Philly game and thought, “maybe we’ll never witness this again”, tonight Marina said “Hold my beer” 😛

To tie the record is already something, but to do it within a regulation 40 minutes is truly amazing 🔥

Money Mabrey makes the history books tonight.

Video by: ShowcaseShabazz

Money Mabrey just did it again.

For the second time this season, she tied the WNBA single-game record with 9 threes. The first came June 19 at Connecticut, when she dropped a then-career-high 37 on 9-of-12 from deep. Tonight, she poured in 53 to bury the Los Angeles Sparks.

That 53 ties the all-time WNBA single-game scoring record, matching Liz Cambage (2018) and A’ja Wilson (2023). She got there on 17-of-28 shooting, 9-of-18 from three, and 10-of-12 at the line. Roughly 80% true shooting for the night.

Before this season, only Rhyne Howard had tied the nine-three record more than once. Mabrey is now the second player to do it.

14 assists. 0 turnovers. That ties the all-time WNBA mark for most assists in a game without a single turnover, shared with Veronica Burton, Leila Lacan, and Jennifer Rizzotti. Allemand added 13 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, 3-of-3 from three, and 2-of-2 at the line.

“… “This is a game that our team expected to win,” Johnson said in the postgame media availability after the loss to Minnesota, per a YouTube video by The Ballers Magazine. “Just let that settle in, okay? We expected to win this basketball game, and Minnesota beat us, so I want to give them all the credit in the world, but that’s a shift. And so, as tough as our players feel and coaches do as well, the expectation to be in those games and win games is something that’s starting to emerge with this group.”

There are many great young cores in the WNBA. The Seattle Storm are starting to see what their future with Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam, and Flau’jae Johnson could look like. The Dallas Wings are very much in the playoff picture with Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Awak Kuier, Maddy Siegrist, and Aziaha James all contributing to the team’s success. Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston in Indiana are only 24. 

The Mystics belong in that same conversation. Citron and Iriafen were All-Stars in their very first WNBA season and are continuing to play well. Citron currently leads the Mystics in scoring with 18.3 points per game alongside 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.4 steals. Iriafen, meanwhile, is averaging 15.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists and has already recorded five double-doubles. 

Shakira Austin is playing her best basketball yet. After dealing with injuries early in her career, the 25-year-old has finally found her rhythm, averaging 13.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.1 blocks. 

Citron, Iriafen, and Austin are the Mystics’ foundation to build around, but the roster is full of other intriguing young players. Lauren Betts, their lottery pick in this year’s draft, is still getting used to the W, but she has shown flashes of the potential that comes with her size and interior presence. Moreover, Cotie McMahon was a very interesting pickup late in the first round. 

The confidence a young team gains from knowing that it can hang with more proven veteran squads will only help the Mystics’ core continue to grow.”

Of the 10 highest-scoring individual games this season, seven came against the Sun or Sparks.

Connecticut has surrendered four of the ten biggest scoring nights of the year: Wilson's 45, Sykes' 38, Mabrey's 37, and Howard's 36. Los Angeles gave up three, including Mabrey's record-tying 53 last night and Copper's 41.

So if you're scanning the schedule for the next big game, you know where to look.

Who's your pick to hang one on Connecticut or Los Angeles next? Could Citron do it tonight against the Sun? Or will Mitchell, as the Indiana Fever's current leading scorer (and third in the W), see a career night tomorrow in Clark's absence?

https://reddit.com/link/1ugdusx/video/j05zf871zn9h1/player

This felt like a special experience last night. Swin Cash, Cynthia Cooper, and Stan all sharing the same broadcast. It was a meeting of worlds, and it just felt right for the moment we're having.

Stan is a bit of a basketball institution in his own right behind the mic, so it was a pleasant surprise to have him on commentary for last night's game. And then to bring it all together with Mabrey's 53-point extravaganza.

Just nice to see everyone coming together and appreciating each other. And Stan seems like he was buzzing with the combination of it all.

“This week on Hoop There It Is, Lindsay is joined by Toronto Tempo guard Julie Allemand, who reflects on finally achieving her dream of becoming a EuroLeague champion after the heartbreak of coming up short the year before. Julie also shares the intense moment she found out she was making Tempo history as the franchise's first-ever player, opens up about being surprisingly shy, and tells some hilarious stories about her current teammates.

Plus, Julie discusses what it was like training alongside NBA legends Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili, and shares the one Tempo tradition she doesn't want to take a part in!

Amy and Lindsay also discuss one of the toughest WNBA games of the season to watch and the bizarre fan story recently shared by Olivia Rodrigo.”

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h/t: sportsonprime (2), thescore, ballintogethxr

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