What a game. What a series. My voice is still hoarse from yelling at my television. I think I’ve worn a path into the floor from all the pacing I did last night and I didn’t even have a dog in the fight. I’m still inundating my group chat with thoughts about the game and celebratory messages for the New York fans among them. The WNBA Finals were everything I hoped they would be. It was the perfect bookend to an incredible season of WNBA action…but now women’s basketball is just over?

Well, at least for the next 14 days until the college game returns, in earnest, or for the next three months, when Unrivaled — the 3×3 league created by last night’s rivals, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier — debuts.

But, as we catch our collective breaths from last night’s excitement and bide our time until the start of more women’s basketball, I thought I’d share my top 5 favorite things and my top 5 least favorite things about this WNBA season.

Top 5 Moments of the 2024 WNBA Season

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

1. League Expansion

For the last few years, I’ve been frustrated watching the NWSL take advantage of the growing interest in women’s sports and expanding the league at a brisk clip. I looked on longingly as they added franchises in Louisville, Los Angeles, Kansas City, San Diego, the Bay Area, and Boston. Hell, a whole ‘nother professional soccer league — the USL Super League — popped up while Cathy Engelbert, seemingly, slow-walked a WNBA expansion! But, finally….

It’s happening! It’s happening! *insert Michael Scott gif here*

The WNBA is growing, first to the Bay Area, then to Toronto and Portland and, supposedly, to some other TBD city. I’m thrilled about the prospect of expanding the league beyond its 144 players. I want to see more college players have a shot at playing professionally in the United States. I want to see the best players from overseas make their way back to the W and find a home here. More opportunities, more players, more basketball…you love to see it.

And while I’m still remiss that it took this long, I am comforted in knowing that these ownership groups are full-throated in their support of the league. No one’s trying to finagle their way into this iteration of the WNBA on the cheap. These franchises are set, from the beginning, to support their players and to deliver a great experience for the fans. LFG!

2. Empire State of Mind: New York Liberty Finally Secure a WNBA Championship Title

The WNBA began with eight teams. Of those, four have folded and one — the Utah Starzz — moved on to become the San Antonio Silver Stars and then the Las Vegas Aces. Of the three remaining teams, only the New York Liberty had yet to win a championship.

That is, until last night.

In a WNBA Finals series for the ages, the New York Liberty completed a journey that started 27 years ago: winning their first-ever WNBA championship. Jonquel Jones, who was competing in her third consecutive Finals, finally broke through and took home the Finals MVP trophy.

Last year, after that stunning loss to the Aces in the Finals, there was a lot of criticism of this Liberty team and, after beating the Aces in the semifinals this year, a lot of Liberty players seemed to relish having proven the naysayers (read: Kelsey Plum) wrong. And, I get it…playing into that “New York Vs. Everybody” is easy and satisfying…but it’s not the real story.

The naysayers were right. When Kelsey Plum says that the Liberty have chemistry issues, she was right. Breanna Stewart didn’t even tell her teammates that she was grappling with the death of her father-in-law, for chrissakes. This year, the Liberty made a concerted effort to get to know each other as people and invest in each other. The whole team showed up to Stewie’s 30th birthday party and looked to be having a blast. They recruit Leonie Fiebich — a game changer for the Liberty — to the team because she has a friendship with Nyara Sabally from their time together on the German National Team.

Last year, the Liberty had a problem with JJ showing up in big games. She did so throughout the series. Last year, I said that the Liberty lacked vocal leadership, this year Stewie and Sabrina Ionescu are loud and supporting their team through their ups and downs. Last year I said Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot were great shooters and passers but were liabilities on defense down the stretch; in the offseason, Ionescu improved substantially on the defensive end (it was her most significant contribution last night, TBH) and head coach Sandy Brondello put Fiebich in the starting lineup.

The naysayers weren’t wrong. The Liberty had problems but they fixed it. They got better. They should be commended for that. That is how champions are made.

3. A’ja Wilson

Historically, when it comes to voting for the Most Valuable Player, the selection usually comes down to one of two choices: either, voters vote for one player who’s had an historic season or they vote for the best player on the best team. Last year, that didn’t happen… and what’s worse, one voter had the audacity to give A’ja Wilson a fourth place vote. Wilson’s been fueled by that slight ever since…and this year, she took out her frustration on the rest of the league.

Aces Head Coach Becky Hammon knew Wilson was capable of putting up these historic type numbers. Last year, Hammon rightfully noted Wilson’s efficiency — which led the league — and insisted that Wilson’s numbers were hamstrung by the Aces’ success. If she’d played Wilson during the fourth quarter of Aces’ blowouts, Hammon said, the South Carolina product would’ve averaged 28 points and 13 rebounds per game. That, as it turns out was rather prescient because this year when the Aces were hamstrung by injuries and poor play, Hammon had to depend on Wilson more to drive the Las Vegas offense. The result? A 27 PPG and 12 RPG average.

We overuse the word “great” in sports…so much so that it feels like its lost its meaning…but it’s hard to describe this as anything other than greatness in full-view. A’ja Wilson continues to add to her extensive resume and, already, has a strong case for being the considered greatest of all time. The first player to score 1,000 points in a season. The highest season scoring average in league history. Career highs in rebounding, blocks, and steals. Only the second player in league history to be voted MVP unanimously. It’s unreal…and we were all blessed to be able to watch it.

4. The 2024 Rookie Class

It is hard to make it into the WNBA…much harder than most fans appreciate. Some of the best college players in the world don’t make the cut to become one of the 144. This year, though, we were gifted with some exceptional rookies who are going to drive this league to new heights that we never could have fathomed.

There is, of course, Caitlin Clark who much to my surprise — and delight (she was on my fantasy team) — translated her offensive game to the league relatively seamlessly. I was impressed by how she adapted to the league’s physicality and I think she’ll only get better with that, in time. She still has some growing to do: first, in becoming the kind of teammate and leader that her teammates need — she had that problem in Iowa and you saw it pop up in Indiana too — and second, in improving her defense. Clark can become a liability on the defensive end…hopefully, she can follow in Ionescu’s footsteps and improve on that front as well, becoming a legitimate two-way player.

Angel Reese has been exactly what I expected, a double-double machine. Despite the fanfare around her, Reese has come into the league with the right mentality, in my view: she’s a rookie and she’s soaking everything up around her like a sponge. I hope she’ll work in the off-season on her mid-range game because I think she and Kamilla Cardoso can excel in a strong two-man game. After she returned from injury, Cardoso really impressed me and I’m interested to see what skills she brings back from playing overseas in China. I wish I had faith in the Chicago Sky’s ownership to pair Reese and Cardoso with the right head coach.

I also love what LA is building out west with its two rookies, Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson. Both were hobbled this season: Brink by injury and Jackson by Curt Miller but for stretches, both those players looked phenomenal. I hate that they missed out on the opportunity to share this rookie year experience but they’re definitely great building blocks for the future.

5. WNBA Players Finally Getting Charter Flights

After being one of the top priorities of WNBA players for years the league finally came through with charter flights to all games this year. FINALLY! This new generation of WNBA players will never know what it’s like to have to camp overnight in the airport due to flight delays.

There is, I think, a section of the Internet that believes that charter flights — along with every good thing that happens in the WNBA — are happening because of Caitlin Clark and, as someone who’s followed this league since its inception, I can pretty confidently assure you that’s not the case. First of all, the league is not that magnanimous: if they weren’t going to be shamed into charter flights by what happened to Brittney Griner, they certainly weren’t going to do it for Clark. Plus, this was the single most valuable chip that the league had, as they head into contract negotiations with the players’ union, they weren’t going to give the players charter flights without getting something big in return.

The league moved to charter flights because, in order to expand to Toronto, they had to do it. There was no conceivable way for players to travel internationally without a charter program in place. Coincidentally, it just so happens that the cost of running the charter program for two years — at which point the financial burden will shift to the franchises — is $50 million, the exact franchise fee paid by the new Toronto ownership.

Worst 5 Moments of the 2024 WNBA Season

1. “Fans” Run Amok

After the Connecticut Sun dispatched the Indiana Fever in the first round of the playoffs, surrounded by a bunch of “Fever fans” cheering against them on their home court, something in the Sun’s Alyssa Thomas broke…her patience. Thomas isn’t one of the most vocal players in the league — she’s the strong, silent type usually — but, finally, she had to say something.

via Noa Dalzell on X

“I think in my 11-year career, I’ve never experienced the racial comments (like those) from the Indiana Fever fan base,” she said. “It’s unacceptable, honestly, and there’s no place for it. We’ve been professional throughout the whole entire thing, but I’ve never been called the things that I’ve been called on social media, and there’s no place for it.”

I’ve seen the type of racist, homophobic rhetoric that Thomas describes online and it’s made engaging with social media about the league I love so much more difficult. I’ve been grateful to my group chat for providing the outlet that social media can’t. I can only imagine what the experience is like for the players.

I’d correct Thomas on just one point: these aren’t Indiana Fever fans. Yes, they wear the jerseys and sell out the games…because when black Indiana Fever underperform — I’m thinking, specifically, of Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith — they become the targets of these “fans” racial invective as well. Those people aren’t Fever fans, they’re Caitlin Clark fans…ushered into this league by a connection they feel to this one, specific player.

Though perhaps I’m even being too generous: as Frankie de la Cretaz points out, perhaps, they don’t even really like Clark: maybe she “has become their avatar through which to project their white supremacist beliefs into a league and a sport that has largely remained insulated from the worst of it.” We saw a bit of that when Clark had the audacity to *checks notes* like a Taylor Swift Instagram post about voting and the horde started to turn on her.

But these Clark fans weren’t alone in their loathsome behavior: back in August, the Las Vegas Aces played host to the Los Angeles Sparks and, to put it mildly, the Aces fanbase did not acquit themselves well. The match-up came just days after former Aces’ forward, Dearica Hamby, filed suit against the franchise and the WNBA for discrimination and a cascade of boos rained down on her every time she touched the ball.

“I fought back tears the entire game,” Hamby revealed on “Good Game with Sarah Spain”. “It was heartbreaking, but people don’t fully know and understand, they’re just going off the sport aspect of it. I understand that.”

Hamby is far more generous than those fans deserve because the behavior of the Aces’ fanbase that day was revolting. Dearica Hamby helped bring that city its first WNBA championship. She is a multi-time 6th woman of the year. Put some fuckin’ respect on her name. And even if none of that were true: the idea of choosing fandom over the right of a woman to stand up for herself against discrimination? Get a grip.

via Dijonai Carrington on X

The league has to do more, of course (more on that in a second), but this has always been a player-driven league (watch Power of the Dream or Shattered Glass for more proof of that). It’s incumbent that players step forward, use their voices, and call out bigotry around the league when they see it.

2. The WNBA Got Caught Flat-Footed

Back in 2023, the Iowa Hawkeyes met the Louisville Cardinals for a chance to advance to the Final Four. Future WNBA Rookie of the Year, Caitlin Clark, was electric, finishing with a historic triple double (41 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists). At one point during the game, after hitting her sixth three, Clark hit the Cardinal with the John Cena “you can’t see me” taunt. The crowd went wild. Social media lit up with effusive praise for Clark.

A few days later, the Hawkeyes met the LSU Tigers for the national championship and things went a little differently. Clark still had a stellar performance — she finished with 30 points and 8 assists — but the Hawkeyes couldn’t handle the Tigers’ potent offense. LSU’s Angel Reese was a beast, adding another double-double to her historic run of them and ultimately collecting the award for Most Outstanding Player. At one point, Reese hit Iowa with the “you can’t see me” taunt, just as Clark had once done. The reaction to Angel Reese doing it, however, was very, very different. Instead of effusive praise, sports journalists derided Reese as lacking sportsmanship. “Classless” trended on Twitter for the rest of the night.

It’s at that moment that the WNBA should’ve seen what was coming. They knew that Clark and Reese were both bound for the league and that moment should’ve signaled to them that they needed to get ready, for the influx of new fans, for the racism, and for the double standards. But, of course, that’s not what happened. They did not prepare. They left the players to fend for themselves when the onslaught came.

It’s the second time in as many seasons, that the WNBA has not been prepared for what was a wholly predictable outcome: first with Brittney Griner being accosted in an airport and now this. The league has to do better.

3. Coaching Carousel

Last night, after the Liberty captured their first championship, the camera panned over to a tearful Teresa Weatherspoon. The former Liberty guard had gotten the team as close as they’d previously been to a championship and now the players who carried that legacy had finished the job (sorry, Ryan Ruocco, but that shot, not Sabrina’s Game 3 winner remains the greatest shot in Liberty history). Weatherspoon was embraced by Angel Reese, the rookie she helped shepherd into the league, before her firing in September.

Weatherspoon joins Curt Miller (Los Angeles), Latricia Trammell (Dallas), Tanisha Wright (Atlanta), and, possibly, Stephanie White(Connecticut) as WNBA who lost their jobs following the regular season. None of those coaches had more than a three year tenure in the top job.

I understand how competitive the league is and that franchise owners want wins. Certainly, I don’t want to allow these coaches to escape accountability for their bad decisions. But also? Maybe some of these franchise owners should take a long look in the mirror first. The Connecticut Sun had to, on the eve of a playoff game, share their practice court with a two-year old’s birthday party. The Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks have notoriously underfunded their franchises, causing both of them to lose Candace Parker. Dallas has been one of the worst run franchises in the league since the move from Tulsa forever. These owners need to invest in these franchises and not expect these coaches to work miracles with mediocre, half-hearted support.

Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai on the franchise’s first WNBA championship:

“When we bought the team four years ago, they were playing at Westchester County Center to a crowd of 2000. And the first thing we wanted to do was bring the team to Barclays Center so that they could have a… pic.twitter.com/Ct3PnUJeVQ

— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) October 21, 2024

4. The Last Dance (Maybe?)

Layshia Clarendon was in the early part of their WNBA career, as a member of the Indiana Fever, when they found themselves guarding Diana Taurasi. As the pair waited for the ball to be inbounded, Taurasi chatted Clarendon up. She recalled that Clarendon was from San Bernardino, not too far away from where Taurasi had grown up in Chino. Taurasi was charming and charismatic but when the whistle blew, she immediately flipped into competitive mode. Clarendon recalled Taurasi hooked their arm and drew the foul. It was their “welcome to the league” moment.

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A post shared by Layshia Clarendon (@layshiac)

It’s fitting, perhaps, that these two California natives — these two groundbreaking players — might end their career in the WNBA at the same time. Clarendon, the league’s first non-binary player, announced their retirement in September and while Taurasi hasn’t spoken about her future to date, Phoenix’s “If This Is It” campaign suggests it’s more likely than not. It’s hard to imagine the league without them both.

Since the 2020 Wubble season, Clarendon has felt like the league’s conscience, pushing the league to adhere to its values, and with the influx of a more conservative, more bigoted fanbase — and the willingness of the WNBA’s leadership to appease them, as long as the check clears — Clarendon’s voice will be sorely missed. Their work with the Players’ Association was crucial in producing a progressive Collective Bargaining Agreement that did as much to center the concerns of the LGBT players as had ever been done before. I worry about what their absence portends for those upcoming negotiations.

Taurasi is, of course, in a class by herself. She’s as dominant an offense force as the league has seen and likely will ever see. But she’s also changed the game by just being herself. She’s changed the perception of what a women’s basketball player should be like…the trash-talking swagger that we see today from Kelsey Plum or Courtney Williams wouldn’t be possible if Taurasi hadn’t modelled it, unapologetically.

(I’ll have more on Taurasi when/if she finally announces her retirement.)

5. The End of the Superteam (The Return of the Super Team)

This might be an ill-timed sentiment given the results of last night’s game but hear me out.

Yes, a Superteam won the WNBA championship last night — all credit to the New York Liberty — but it didn’t happen overnight. That superteam needed a year to acclimate themselves with each other to get to the point where they could, legitimately, claim to be super…and even then, they needed home court advantage, five games, two overtimes, and some favorable late game calls from the referees to get it done.

But the Liberty are just one example. The Aces are a Superteam but became a victim of their own success, as extended minutes for three of their core players — with the Aces and the national team — plus the injuries to Chelsea Gray and Kiah Stokes, made the team look not-so-super anymore. The Storm recruited perennial All-Stars Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike to Seattle to form a Superteam with Jewell Loyd and Ezi Magbegor, plus the late season addition of Olympic standout Gabby Williams, and they still get bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Likewise, the Mercury created their own superteam in Phoenix with the additions of Natasha Cloud and Kahleah Copper but it didn’t mitigate the early end to the season.

I mention all of that to say that franchises can’t continue to rest on the idea of building a superteam…primarily because, more often than not, it doesn’t work. But also, with the league expanding to the Bay Area, Toronto, Portland, and another TBD city and their respective expansion drafts, plus free agency, it’s hard to imagine these “superteams” looking as they do for much longer. Thankfully, as the Minnesota Lynx proved throughout these playoffs, you don’t need to build a superteam to win. With the right coaching staff, franchise’s can still build a team, from seemingly disparate parts, that produce super results.

What about you? What were your highlights and lowlights from the 2024 WNBA Season?

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