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WNBA season is set to kick off 'super team' era. Will expansion be … – NorthJersey.com
The WNBA season is finally here.
With the regular season tipping off next week, the conversation around women’s basketball is as exciting as ever. That’s partly thanks to this year’s offseason, filled with a nonstop news cycle.
There have been talks about super teams, player advocacy and discussions on how to improve the league and move the sport forward. In short, this season should be one for the books.
The season is already set to make a historic note with the league’s first-ever WNBA game in Canada. The Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky are set to face off Saturday afternoon for a preseason game inside Scotiabank Arena, home of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, before a sellout crowd of 22,000. It sets a spotlight on Toronto as the league continues its years-long talks about expansion teams.
Expansion is top of mind right now in the WNBA, as teams are forced to make difficult decisions to slim their rosters as training camps end and the regular season begins. Each team is allowed a 12-player roster, a size that league officials assure is enough.
Earlier this week, news broke that the Connecticut Sun waived LSU star Alexis Morris. The national champion was let go just hours after playing in the Sun’s preseason win against the New York Liberty. Morris is just one of many examples this season, with roster cuts prompting some of the league’s biggest stars to call for change. In a tweet, the Washington Mystics’ Natasha Cloud said: “We need more teams. These players deserve to be on a roster. It really kills me.”
The Mystics this year waived Evina Westbrook and Alisia Jenkins on May 7, leaving 15 players on their roster, according to Just Women’s Sports. That means three more cuts needed to be made before May 19, when the regular season begins, the outlet reported.
Critics have long asked why the league’s expansion is taking so long. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has addressed the issue, saying the league was tiptoeing towards an expansion in the years to come. In February, at an event in Portland, she said an expansion was two to four years away. With a vague goal of 2025, she said the league was in “no rush” to expand.
The talent on existing teams right now is also, arguably, the strongest ever — with many calling this time in women’s basketball its “super team era.” There’s the Las Vegas Aces, whose roster includes two-time league MVP Candace Parker, Chelsea Gray, A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum. And, then there’s the new Big 3 in Brooklyn.
The New York Liberty in February had an introductory presser for Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot, two veteran WNBA stars who join a roster that already includes the liked of Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones. The Liberty now have one of the most talented rosters in the league, which includes former Rutgers standouts Betnijah Laney and Epiphanny Prince.
Laney is one of five former Rutgers stars listed on WNBA rosters for 2023. Others include Kahlea Copper (Chicago Sky), Erica Wheeler (Indiana Fever) and Arella Guirantes (Seattle Storm). Rutgers is currently the sole New Jersey university with alumni in the W.
There will be plenty of exciting basketball to watch this season, with more to come. As women’s college basketball continues to explode, with some players now opting to remain in the NCAA instead of going pro for reasons that include historic NIL deals, there is plenty of rising talent to keep an eye on.
Hopefully, there will be more than 12 WNBA teams for them to compete on by then.
Women & Sport is a NorthJersey.com column devoted to female athletes from the rec league level to those in college and the pros. If you’ve got a tip on an athlete from North Jersey who should be noted in the column, no matter how young they are or how old, please drop me a line at anzidei@northjersey.com.
