Happy Thursday, Ball-Knowers!

We’re somewhere between one quarter and one third of the WNBA regular season being over, which is crazy on its own. It feels like just yesterday we got word that the new CBA was signed and that games would actually be happening on time this year. Now, the Minnesota Lynx are leading the WNBA at 12-2 with a slew of Finals contenders, from the Aces to the Dream and the Liberty, nipping at their heels.

There’s been some surprises, from Olivia Miles taking the league by storm, and stunners, like the Phoenix Mercury’s massive early season struggles. As we continue to get you the news, notes and takes you love here in the newsletter, be sure to keep an eye out for some more content coming on our paid feeds too. There’s some guests that we’re working to bring on from every corner of the women’s basketball world that you won’t want to miss!

Outside of the WNBA, other leagues continue to either run games or ramp up for their season. In the Bay Area, the Women’s Premier Basketball Association, or WBPA (which we highlighted last year here), is getting ready to tip off their 2026 year. So if you’re living in NorCal or happen to be visiting and want to catch some basketball in person, click this link for tickets to the set of Saturday games. Click on this link for tickets to the slate of Sunday games as well.

For everyone who purchases a ticket to opening weekend, we are entering them into a drawing for 4 season passes. Super easy to enter... all you need to do is have a paid ticket for the weekend. Kids under 12 will be allowed free entry this weekend with a paid parent ticket.

You can find more information below as well!

Chauny’s new Wednesday newsletter, Under Surveillance, is a little microdose of the ethical hate the WNBA can afford some more from time to time.

And a YouTube video companion piece to go with it…

Congratulations to Lynne Roberts and the Los Angeles Sparks, who have sufficiently shut me up and forced me to repurchase all of the stock that I sold in the crash of the first week of the season. Behind a healthy Kelsey Plum, a rejuvenated Neal Ogwumike and a rapidly improving Cam Brink, L.A. appears to be on the other side of their long losing streak.

There’s still problems, to be sure. Defensive breakdowns are still happening, the offense can occasionally get stuck in mud and the Sparks are prone to long stretches where the ball simply isn’t going into the hoop. But generally, this is a much improved unit from what we saw just a few weeks ago. Brink in particular deserves a lot of praise for how much she‘s gotten her foul problems under control, is hitting big shots and looks a little more confident than she did at the beginning of the year.

Now comes the hard part. If we think the Sparks are a playoff caliber (or better) team, they’re going to have to get by Phoenix then take on Golden State, Minnesota, New York, Toronto and Indiana in that order. In those six games, the expectation should be 4-2 or better if you want to prove that you’re a legitimate contender in this league this year. If they can do it, prepare to see me buying enough stock that it’ll make a TARP bailout look like a parent lending their kid money out of the couch cushions.

I need my demon to find a good home, genuinely. Connecticut Sun head coach Rachid Meziane was clear from the beginning of the year that the success of his team almost entirely hinged on the presence of his 24 year old French point guard and that’s generally been a truism this year. Some of that, you could reasonably argue, is more an indictment on Meziane than it is an indicator of Lacan’s potential greatness. Where that contention breaks down is when you actually start to watch her on the floor.

While that hasn’t translated to wins so far, at least not in the way it did last year, Lacan is clearly finding ways to get her teammates involved and facilitate an offense that looked absolutely stuck in the mud before she arrived stateside. Her 24 point, 7 rebound performance against Toronto was dampened by a couple dubious fouls that ended her night prematurely, but generally it was the kind of game that shows you exactly what she can be in this league.

Connecticut is fully embracing the tank and, unfortunately for me, my guy Rachid Meziane doesn’t appear to be coaching his team above their talent level as I hoped he would. As the losses pile up, it brings up the question of whether or not a team would want to bring her on in exchange for some draft capital. Maybe the Washington Mystics might be interested in parting with a pick that could go to the future Houston Comets in exchange for a point guard that can unlock their offense while also providing a devastating backcourt defensive tandem with Sonia Citron. It’s a shame she’s quietly languished so far on a team destined for the JuJu Watkins sweepstakes, but I’m not giving up on the idea that she’s a top ten guard in the league when firing on all cylinders.

I opined in Five Out on Monday about the seemingly under-the-radar nature of the Atlanta Dream so far this season and how that’s given Angel Reese a good runway to improve her game without being under the microscope she experienced in Chicago. It’s felt somewhat strange at times that an 8-3 Dream with one of the biggest names in the game isn’t moving mountains in the media the way a bad Sky team was just a season ago. Part of that can be chalked up to people wanting to watch a train crash more than one arriving safely at the station, but as I’ve dug into the schedule I have noticed something: Atlanta just hasn’t gotten a ton of heavy hitters yet.

Sure, they’ve seen some top teams from the Dallas Wings to the Minnesota Lynx to the Las Vegas Aces. It just seems that the Wings haven’t broken WNBA fandom containment yet while Minnesota has only just started turning heads in the sports world in the last week or two. The Aces game, in a sold out State Farm Arena, felt like the marquee game in which Atlanta had the spotlight trained solely on them and they gave the world a show even in a loss.

The next month — between now and July 11th, to be exact — sees the Dream play on broadcast TV (CBS/ABC) three times, national TV seven times and against the Liberty, Indiana Fever, and Golden State Valkyries among others. If there was a time to show the world that you are for real, it’s when all the cameras are on you. So what we’re going to get tonight against New York will help show if Atlanta has the juice to be a Finals team, while the other national TV showcases will allow the Dream to ride a wave of hype that can take them well into the fall. It’s all about maximizing opportunities when you get them, and this month feels like a big one for ATL.

Chicago Sky (4-8) vs. Indiana Fever (6-5): 7:00 PM, Prime Video

While the Dream and Liberty are obviously the consequential game to watch from a standings perspective, those who enjoy a bit of mess have a lot of narrative meat on the bone here. Chicago has looked objectively bad for the last week or two, garnering questions about roster construction and Tyler Marsh’s ability to be a WNBA head coach.

On the other end, you’ve got the Indiana Fever who naturally have their own vortex of media mess. However this game goes, there’s going to be at least one fanbase experiencing anything ranging from dismay to total disarray.

From a basketball perspective…Kamilla Cardoso vs. Aliyah Boston should be a treat in the post while Skylar Diggins and Caitlin Clark have their own bit of history that could bubble up if the right circumstances present themselves.

The Caitlin Clark reality distortion field by Howard Megdal, TheIX

Is it too soon to question the Washington Mystics’ drafting and development decisions, especially regarding Lauren Betts? by Beckett Harrison, Swish Appeal

From Angel Reese to ‘Loser Mentality,’ Sky Tumult Continues by Colin Salao, FrontOfficeSports

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