Cat Ariail News Today

The hotly-contested 2023 WNBA MVP race is a testament to the talent of the league’s top players, with the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart, Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas all submitting MVP-worthy seasons.

The Indiana Fever’s Aliyah Boston should be the unanimous Rookie of the Year. But the rookie seasons of Diamond Miller and Dorka Juhász, both of the Minnesota Lynx, and Jordan Hortson of the Seattle Storm also are worth celebrating.

Can anyone top the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson’s case for a second-straight Defensive Player of the Year Award? Here’s how the credentials of the Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas and Washington Mystics’ Brittney Sykes stack up against Wilson’s.

When evaluating the WNBA’s Coach of the Year, expectations inevitably impact candidacies. How did the Connecticut Sun’s Stephanie White, New York Liberty’s Sandy Brondello, Dallas Wings’ Latricia Trammell and Los Angeles Sparks’ Curt Miller meet, exceed or change their teams’ expectations?

Who is the WNBA’s best off the bench? While Dana Evans has served as a valuable bucket getter for the Chicago Sky, Alysha Clark and DiJonai Carrington have filled the 3-and-D role for the Las Vegas Aces and Connecticut Sun, respectively.

Alanna Smith has become essential to the Chicago Sky. Jordin Canada has established herself as the Los Angeles Sparks’ surefire starting point guard. Satou Sabally is on the verge of superstardom for the Dallas Wings. Whose improvement is most impressive?

Rhyne Howard had that breakout sophomore game we were all waiting for and the Atlanta Dream beat a pretty good Los Angeles Sparks team by 28. Plus, Courtney Williams was heroic and prolific for the Chicago Sky and Courtney Vandersloot got the job done for the New York Liberty.

This week will determine who will take over the top spot as the last two undefeated teams (Team Nemchock and Team Zack) go head-to-head.

Team Zack has both Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks and Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm, and those two were phenomenal against each other Saturday night.

Six months ago, Kim Mulkey was, for a brief period, the most criticized figure in the women’s basketball community. Somehow, we’ve forgotten about that.