Wow. The 2023 WNBA season is over. Time flew. I have so many words to say, but I’ll keep this short and brief. This season was different. We saw some incredible performances throughout the season. Breanna Stewart became the first player in WNBA history to have 3 40 point games in a season. A’ja Wilson matched the WNBA’s single game scoring record of 53 points, held by Liz Cambage in 2018. Diana Taurasi became the first ever WNBA player to score 10,000 career points. Jewell Loyd set the WNBA single season scoring record, scoring 939 points in Storm’s final regular season game. Alyssa Thomas became the first ever WNBA player to have a 20 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists triple double. She finished the season with six triple doubles and set the WNBA single season assist record finishing with 316 total assists. Sabrina Ionescu set the WNBA record for most 3 pointers made in a single season finishing with 128.
Now, we move onto the teams. There was quite a lot of drama surrounding the Phoenix Mercury this season. They fired their head coach Vanessa Nygaard and replaced her with assistant Nikki Blue for the remainder of the season. They recently announced that they hired Nate Tibbetts, an NBA assisstant coach and NBA G-League head coach. They ended their 10 season playoff streak, which led the league. They finished the season with the lowest record of the season finishing in twelth place with a 9-31 record. They will look to turn things around next season.
The Seattle Storm saw Breanna Stewart leave for New York in the off-season and Jewell Loyd did her very best to lead the team in her absence. They finished the season in eleventh place, finishing with a 11-29 record. They will also look to turn things around next season as head coach Noelle Quinn signed an extension and Pokey Chatman was elevated to associate general manager.
The Indiana Fever had the #1 overall draft pick and drafted Aliyah Boston who had a terrific season and was named Rookie of the Year. They also missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season since Tamika Catchings retired in 2016. They are also looking to turn things around slowly as they finished in tenth place with a record of 13-27.
The Los Angeles Sparks just narrowly missed the WNBA Playoffs by one game as the Chicago Sky just squeaked by them. They finished in ninth place with a record of 17-23. They missed the WNBA Playoffs for the third straight season but remain positive that they are headed in the right direction.
All four teams will now have excellent chances at drafting some incredible talented women’s college basketball seniors/graduate students as the 2024 WNBA Draft has some incredible talent.
PLAYOFFS
In the playoffs, the first round went incredibly quick. There were three sweeps and only one series went to three games. The Las Vegas Aces swept the Chicago Sky, the Dallas Wings swept the Atlanta Dream and the New York Liberty swept the Washington Mystics. Finally, the Connecticut Sun won two games to one against the Minnesota Lynx. In the semi finals, the Las Vegas Aces swept the Dallas Wings and the New York Liberty won three games to one over the Connecticut Sun. In the WNBA Finals, the Las Vegas Aces won three games to one over the New York Liberty to become the first WNBA back to back champions for the first time in 21 years. The Los Angeles Sparks were the last team to do so back in 2001 and 2002. A’ja Wilson was named Finals MVP.
FINAL NOTE
The 2023 WNBA season was incredible. I cannot believe how quickly time flies. I also cannot believe how quickly the WNBA Playoffs and the WNBA Finals flew by. The Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty were the two super teams that were formed and faced off in the finals. The Aces are now the fourth franchise to win multiple titles (Houston Comets, Seattle Storm, Minnesota Lynx) and A’ja Wilson joins some elite company after she won Finals MVP. She joins Lauren Jackson and Candace Parker as the only players in WNBA history to be drafted #1, be a WNBA MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP. She’s just 27 years old. Pretty remarkable. We also saw a new expansion team coming in 2025 and another possibly coming soon as well. This season was also special to me because during the preseason, I finally was able to sit and cover a live WNBA game held in Toronto. It’s crazy that the season is over and now we move forward to the NCAA women’s college basketball season as tip off is less than 3 weeks away and the overseas women’s basketball season that is already in progress. Women’s basketball never sleeps.
Signing off,
– Aneela Khan
Women's Basketball News and Opinions 