The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the NFL
offseason with the signing of six-time Super Bowl champion signal caller and
future First Ballot Hall of Famer Tom Brady. Their dreams of trying to capture
a second Super Bowl in franchise history became even more possible with the acquisition
of a major offensive threat that helped Brady win half of those Super Bowl titles.
Early last week, Brady’s old team, the New
England Patriots, who he helped lead to six Vince Lombardi trophies agreed to trade
Rob Gronkowski to the Bucs in a deal that reunites the formerly retired tight
end with Brady, who he connected with for 7,861 receiving yards and 78
touchdown receptions, which is twice as many scoring receptions Brady threw to
former teammate and future Hall of Famer Randy Moss; Julian Edelman, who he
connected for 36 scores; Wes Welker, who had 34 career touchdown catches from
Brady.
“I’m back,” Gronkowski, who coming back
after just one year of retirement told FOX Sports in a text message last week
adding, “I always said when I have that feeling and it feels right, I will be
ready to take the field again. And I have that feeling. I’m ready.”
The agent of the three-time Super Bowl
champion and five-time Pro Bowler Drew Rosenhaus said on ESPN’s “Sportscenter”
this past Tuesday that Gronkowski has been “really invigorated” from a physical
standpoint since he retired a little of a year ago.
“He tells me he feels fantastic, the best
he’s ever felt,” Rosenhaus added. “His weight’s back up to 260. He passed his
physical with flying colors today. He’s just really excited about playing
football again and being in Florida is exciting for him.”
The Pats traded Gronkowski, who turns age
31 in May and has one-year at $9 million left on his contract getting a
Fourth-Round draft pick (No. 139 overall) in this past weekend’s draft, while
also sending a Seventh-Round pick (No. 241 overall) to the Bucs.
It was nine years ago that Gronkowski
shocked the sports world when he suddenly announced he was retiring from the
NFL at the end of the 2018 season at 29 years old and after helping the
Patriots win Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams (13-3) on Feb. 3,
2019.
“When you’re done, you’re done,” Gronkowski
said to Cecilia Vega, Tom Llamas and Michael Strahan of ABC News’ “Good Morning
America” back in 2018. “And I had that mindset. That’s why I walked away because
I knew it was time, and I knew I was done.”
Gronkowski also told to “GMA” that his body
could no longer deal with the wear and tear of the NFL anymore saying that he “knew”
that he had to step away from the football to allow his both his body and mind
to heal as well as to regain that calmness and joy for life that he would frequently
displayed on the gridiron and off of it.
Gronkowski found that joy during his now
one-year hiatus from football? He won the WWE 24/7 Championship back on May 20,
2019 and became an entrepreneur with a successful Cannabidiol (CBD) business,
which he credits for relieving him from the pain he body sustained for nearly a
decade of professional football.
The Buccaneers are not only getting one of
the best pass catching receivers at the tight end position in the NFL, they are
getting a player who has played well in big games and has a synergy with one of
the best quarterbacks in NFL history, which will be a major help both on the field,
on the sidelines and in the classroom for the talented players at the offensive
skill positions already in toe like fellow tight ends O.J. Howard and Cameron
Brate, who combined for 70 receptions for 770 yards and five touchdowns, and
pro bowl receivers from this past season in Mike Evans (67 receptions, 1,157
yards, 8 TDs) and Chris Goodwin (86 receptions, 1,333 yards, 9 TDs).
“Rob Gronkowski is one of the best tight
ends in NFL history and he plays the game with the type of passion and desire
that sets him apart,” Buccaneers GM Jason Licht said in a statement last week. “Rob
has played his entire career alongside Tom Brady, and their accomplishments
speak for themselves. Together they have developed the type of chemistry on and
off the field that is crucial to success.”
Brady and Gronkowski are so close that a
league source told ESPN’s NFL Insider Adam Schefter that the Buccaneers were
the only team that Gronkowski was willing to end his now short retirement from
football for.
Rosenhaus also said on his appearance on “Sportscenter”
last Tuesday that Brady got in contact with Gronkowski about joining him in
Tampa Bay after leaving the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent back in
March. Rosenhaus and his client had a conversation about this being a “situation”
that sounded it would be “appealing.”
“Obviously, this was a deal that New England
had to feel good about, Tampa had to feel good about. This wasn’t just about
Rob. All the parties involved had to be in agreement,” Rosenhaus said.
One day after the deal, Brady had some fun
with Gronkowski about his return to the gridiron in a video from his Twitter account
@TomBrady where he blew into a conch shell calling the tight end who ran in and
said, “A little tired, but Gronk reporting.”
Gronkowski, who announced his retirement on
Mar. 24, 2019 after playing nine NFL seasons, all with the Pats where he not
only as mentioned helped them win three Super Bowls and developed a reputation
as one of the league’s most colorful personalities.
While on the surface, the Patriots ran a
very tight ship led by head coach Bill Belichick and it seemed like it was all
business all the time, which it was, Gronkowski’s agent did say that he enjoyed
every single minute he was a part of the organization and had the utmost
respect for everyone it from the front office, led by owner and CEO Robert
Kraft coaching staff to the players he took the field with. While he wanted to
come back to continue his career with them, he just wanted a change of scenery
at this point of his NFL journey.
“He loves New England,” Rosenhaus said. “He
loves the Patriots organization, coach [Bill] Belichick, the Krafts, his
teammates that are still there. He had an amazing run in New England.”
“It was just time for him to continue his
career with Tom Brady in Florida, with Tampa. It was something cool and exciting
and challenging to him. He’s well-rested and looking forward to playing with
Tom again.”
Perhaps the biggest question for Gronkowski
is does he have it? Can he be that dynamic player who made catching passes in
the middle of the field while providing a major target for Brady in the endzone
for nearly a decade with the Patriots?
From how other pro football players and professional
athletes did, it all depends on the mindset and shape of the person.
Former Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks,
and Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, better known as “Beast Mode,” made
two triumphant returns on the NFL after first retiring at the end of the 2015
season and then after the 2017 season.
Lynch, who amassed 10,413 yards rushing
and 94 total career touchdowns and helped the Seahawks capture the Lombardi
Trophy with a 43-8 win against the Denver Broncos on Feb. 2, 2014, retired the
day after Super Bowl 50, announcing it on Twitter posting a picture of his
football cleats hanging from a telephone wire.
In early April 2017, the five-time Pro
Bowl selection agreed to terms to with the then Oakland Raiders to come back
and play in the NFL, saying that the team’s then impending move to Las Vegas, NV
was a big part of him wanting to come back and that he wanted to be an
inspiration to the kids that were growing up in Oakland, CA that they can see
one of their own play for the Raiders before they left for good.
The two-time leader in rushing touchdowns
in 2013 and 2014 was officially traded to the Raiders from the Seahawks on Apr.
26, 2017 to the Raiders, where he signed a two-year, $9 million deal that could
earn a max up to $16.5 million. He rushed for 891 yards and seven touchdowns in
2017. In 2018, Lynch played in just six games rushing for 376 and three
touchdowns as a groin injury on Oct. 22, 2018 cut his season short.
Lynch retired again, but in Dec. 2019 came
back for a second stint with the Seahawks for their postseason run. He had 12
rushes for 34 and a touchdown in the 26-21 loss versus AFC West division rival
the San Francisco 49ers in Week 17 on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” on Dec. 29,
2019.
In the team’s 17-9 win at the Philadelphia
Eagles in the NFC Wild Card Round one week later, Lynch scored a five-yard
touchdown in the opening half and rushed for two touchdowns in the Seahawks
28-23 loss in the NFC Divisional Round at the Green Bay Packers the following
week. Lynch currently is free agent.
After spending one year as a color analyst
in the “Monday Night Football” both for ESPN alongside play-by-play analyst Joe
Tessitore during the 2018 season, future Hall of Fame tight end Jason Witten in
Feb. 2019 came out of retirement and rejoined the Dallas Cowboys, who he
starred for the previous 15 seasons on a one-year, $4.5 million deal. The 11-time
Pro Bowl selection and four-time All-Pro selection finished that season with 63
receptions for 529 yards and four touchdown catches.
Witten in late March signed a one-year
deal with the now Las Vegas Raiders.
One of the most important traits of some of
the greatest to ever play professional sports is their competitive fire and
determination to win and Hall of Famers Brett Favre and Michael Jordan had that
in their souls and brought it out when the lights were at their brightest.
After playing 16 seasons with the Green
Bay Packers, winning three straight league MVP awards, and leading the Packers
to victory in Super Bowl XXXI in 1997 against the Patriots, Favre retired for
the first time in 2008. He quickly changed his mind and was traded to the New
York Jets. In his lone season as the Jets’ offensive signal caller, Favre
amassed 3,472 yards passing and 22 touchdown passes, but also led the league
with 22 interceptions as the team went 9-7 but did not make the playoffs.
Favre moved on from the Jets and did the
unthinkable in signing with the Packers biggest rival in the Minnesota Vikings,
where he had a remarkable season compiling 4,202 yards passing, 33 touchdowns
and just seven interceptions in leading the Vikings to 12-4 mark and capturing
the NFC North crown.
The Vikings took down the Cowboys in the
Divisional Round 34-3 on Jan. 17, 2010 but lost in heartbreaking fashion 31-28
at the eventual champions of Super Bowl XLIV the New Orleans Saints one week
later.
Favre would play one more season with the
Vikings in 2010 where he amassed 2,509 yards and 11 passing touchdowns, but 19
interceptions. He officially retired from the NFL after filing his retirement
papers with the league on Jan. 17, 2011.
Jordan is highly regarded as the greatest
player to ever play on the hardwood of the NBA leading the Chicago Bulls to two
sets of back-to-back-to-back titles in the 1990s.
After leading the Bulls to the first
three-peat, Jordan retired to give minor league baseball a try. That did not
last long and he made his return late in the 1994-95 season, but his return to
the Bulls could not lift them back to playoff prominence as the Bulls lost in
the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Orlando Magic in six games.
Jordan came back in great shape the next season
and helped to guide the Bulls to three straight Larr O’Brien trophies from
1996-98.
He retired again after the 1997-98 season
before coming back three years later with the Washington Wizards from 2001-03.
While he showed flashes of his greatness, he did not lift the Wizards to the
top of the Eastern Conference as they went 37-45 both seasons. Jordan retired from
the game for good at the end of the 2002-03 season.
After spending 13 seasons with the Los
Angeles Lakers, leading them to five titles in nine appearances in the NBA
Finals in the 1980s, the leagues other famed “MJ” Earvin “Magic” Johnson was
forced to retire from the NBA after revealing he tested positive for a form of AIDS,
HIV.
While he did return to the league one year
later playing 32 games for the Lakers in the 1995-96 season, averaging 14.6
points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds, Johnson was voted by the fans as a
starter in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando, FL, where he registered 25
points, nine assists and five rebounds in capturing MVP of the unofficially
mid-season classic. Johnson also was chosen as a member of the 1992 U.S.A.
Olympic basketball squad, dubbed the “Dream Team.” The squad, that comprised perennial
All-Stars and Hall of Famers in Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Karl
Malone, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, Chris Mullin,
David Robinson and Christian Laettner won the gold medal with an 8-0 record, defeating
opponent’s by an average of 43.8 points those eight contests.
After a stint in the Lakers’ front office,
which included a recent two-year stint as their President of Basketball Operations
following his last retirement after the 1995-96 season, Johnson has kept busy as
a motivational speaker. He spent time as NBA studio commentator for Turner
Sports and then for ESPN in the first decade of the 2000s. He built a successful
conglomerate company “Magic Johnson Enterprises” and created the “Magic Johnson
Foundation” as a way to first help combat HIV and later diversified the
foundation to include other charitable goals.
When it comes to the history of the Summer
Olympics, no two swimmers have won more gold medals and been more decorated in
their careers than Michael Phelps and Dara Torres.
After winning in total 22 Olympic medals,
starting at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Phelps retired. But he returned in
the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro winning six more medals, bringing his
total to 28.
Phelps retired for good from swimming in
August 2016 with a total of 23 gold, three silver and two bronze Olympic medals
to his name.
If there is one that the Torres’ career
shows if nothing else that when a woman puts her mind to something, she can do
anything.
Torres after a seven-year hiatus after
winning her first two gold medals in the 1984 and 1992 Olympics came back to
win five medals at the 2000 Games in Sydney at 33-years-old.
Torres returned to competitive swimming
after taking time off again to start a family at age 40 to win three silver
medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
She tried for one more moment of glory at
the 2012 games in London but did not make the U.S. Olympic squad and hung up
her swimsuit for good.
The unreal career of the now 53-year-old
Torres, that spanned 24 years and five Summer Olympics, the World Aquatics
Championships, Pan American Games and Pan Pacific Championships concluded with
her winning eight gold, five silver and four bronze medals.
Today, the wife of reproductive endocrinologist
David Hoffman and mother of one is a co-host of CBS Sports’ weekly show “We
Need to Talk.”
In the history of professional hockey, no
one pulled of the act of retiring and then making a comeback than Mario Lemieux.
After playing 13 seasons (1984-97) where
he helped the Pittsburgh Penguins to win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in
1991 and 1992, Pittsburgh Penguins’ centre Mario Lemieux retired at the age 31
due to a multitude of health issues, which included lymphoma.
The Hall of Famer and current chairman,
and co-owner of the Penguins returned on Dec. 27, 2000 to the NHL against the
Toronto Maple Leafs and played for six more seasons before hanging up his skates
for good in 2006 after he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation at age 40. The
now 54-year-old finished his professional hockey career, which included his
four years with the Laval Voisins of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and
the NHL with the Penguins with 937 goals and 1,363 assists for a total of 2,285
points.
When he retired from Major League Baseball
(MLB) the first time at age 41 in 2003, Roger “Rocket” Clemens, who had been in
the majors since 1984 had nine All-Star appearances, two World Series rings
with the New York Yankees and six Cy Young Awards to his name in his career
with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Yankees.
There were still those in baseball front
offices that were still calling him and Clemens answered the call from the
Houston Astros in Jan. 2004 and added another Cy Young Award and two more All-Star
selections to his career resume.
Clemens made one more comeback after a
year off in 2007 for the Yankees and in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates
on June 9 of that year registered six strikeouts and allowed just three runs in
six innings of work. Clemens finished the 2007 regular season with a 6-6 record
and a 4.18 earned run average.
While Clemens did not formally announce
his retirement, 2007 was the last year he pitched a game in the majors,
compiling a career resume that includes 11 All-Star selections, the
aforementioned seven Cy Young Awards and MVP honors of the American League (AL)
in 1986.
Before a successful career as an entrepreneur
and author, George Foreman made his name as one of the best boxers on Earth,
first at the Olympics and then becoming a world heavyweight champion.
In the first stint of his career, Foreman
won a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico at age 19
and five years later after becoming a professional boxer knocked out Joe Frazier
became the heavyweight champion of the world.
Following a handful of wins and a tough
loss to Jimmy Young in 1977, Foreman suddenly retired at age 28. He returned to
the ring a decade later and in 1994 shocked the world by knocking out Michael
Moorer on Nov. 5 of that year in a match in Las Vegas, NV to become the oldest heavyweight
champion of the world at age 45.
Foreman retired from officially from boxing
two years later, finishing with a mark of 76-5, with 68 of those wins by
knockout and has carried that determination into the business world, which he
has great success in, especially with his now famous George Foreman Grill.
There have been a lot of comebacks in the
history of professional sports. Marshawn Lynch, Dara Torres, George Foreman,
Roger Clemens, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps. Brett
Favre and Jason Witten.
Aside from Witten and Lynch, the rest of
the other athletes held the cards in terms of how successful they were in their
comebacks.
For Rob Gronkowski, him being in shape and
having the will and determination to be what he was in his first nine seasons in
the NFL will play a big part in how successful this second act will be. But the
other big part will be how much he gets the ball from Tom Brady.
The chemistry that they developed while with
the Patriots brings a lot of excitement to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, especially
with the kind of offense that head coach Bruce Arians can conjure up. The
question is will it lead the Bucs back to the top of the NFL mountain in terms
of winning a Super Bowl? That we will have to wait and see when the 2020 NFL season
hopefully begins in the fall.
“This is a case or Rob Gronkowski wanting
to play with his quarterback,” Schefter said of the situation on Tuesday. “It’s
the latest piece of history that Tom Brady is chasing and now he gets to go chase
it with his running mate Rob Gronkowski.”
“The Buccaneers are all in. And I think everybody
across the league wants to see if the Tampa Bay Patriots can bring back to life
the greatness that they had for years and years in New England.”
Information, statistics, and quotations
are courtesy of 4/21/2020 www.espn.com story,
“Patriots Trade Rob Gronkowski To Buccaneers For Fourth-Round Pick,” with
contributions from Jeanna Laine and ESPN Patriots Reporter Mike Reiss;
4/22/2020 www.espn.com story, “Rob Gronkowski
Joins Ranks of Notable Athletes To Come Out of Retirement,” by Kelly Cohen;
4/22/2020 7 a.m. edition of ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” with Robin
Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Michael Strahan, Amy Robach, Ginger Zee and
Lara Spencer, with report from T.J. Holmes; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Gronkowski;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Foreman;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Clemens;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Lemieux;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dara_Torres;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Johnson;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jordan;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRett_Favre;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Witten;
and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshawn_Lynch.
This off-season was a monumental one for
the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). A game-changing new
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is now in place. Some of the league’s big
names changed zip codes. A crop of collegiate stars were drafted, hoping to make
the kind of impact at the next level. There was also the announcement of a new
award in honor an NBA great who made a major impact on a league and a
generation of women that are motivated and confident than ever to use that
knowledge and create their own legacy.
After years of being underpaid and less
than stellar benefits, the WNBA, and the Women’s National Basketball Players
Association (WNBPA) in the middle of last month agreed and through eventual
ratification by the WNBA players and the league’s Board of Governors signed a
new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that runs through 2027.
The new CBA gives a 53 percent increase in
cash compensation for the players (salary, bonus, prize pools and marketing deals)
with the top players being able to earn in excess of $500,000, which is more
than triple from what the max salary was under the previous CBA contract. Other
top players will be able to earn anywhere between $200,000-$300,000 and for the
first time in the league’s history, the average compensation for the players
will exceed six figures, with an average salary of close to $130,000, resulting
in a salary increase for all players from this season’s rookie class from the
2020 WNBA Draft to veterans players in the league.
It also includes enhancements for the
players in respect to traveling accommodations, childcare benefits as well as
the expansion of career development opportunities for the players during the
offseason.
Those new travel accommodations consists
of all players now being able to travel during the regular season in Premium
Economy class status (such as Comfort/Economy Plus). Players when staying in an
opposing team’s city will now have their own hotel room, as opposed to before
where they would have to share one with one of their teammates. There will also
be a Player Advisory Panel, which will consist of a collaborative effort to
address travel concerns.
This new deal also guarantees that a
player will be guaranteed their full salary while on maternity leave, along
with a $5,000 childcare stipend.
Players that have children under the new
CBA will be able to have two-bedroom apartment and all 12 WNBA squads will have
the proper workplace accommodations that will provide a safe place for the
players that are nursing their newborn children. Also, there are progressive
family planning benefits of up to $60,000 in reimbursement for veteran players
for costs that are in direct relation to if they adopt; if they choose to have
a child through surrogacy, oocyte cryopreservation or fertility/infertility
treatment.
Before, the players spent a major of the
12 months of the calendar year playing basketball and having to put their
dreams and aspirations from starting a family.
“We upgraded across the board,” 11-time
WNBA All-Star and three-time WNBA champion guard of the Seattle Storm Sue Bird,
who played a major role in getting this new CBA done said during the broadcast
of the 2020 WNBA Draft on Friday night on ESPN.
“Whether you want to talk about travel,
family benefits. But off course, we want to talk about money, and that’s where
we did, I think the best job.”
As great it is that the salary for the
players and the salary cap for each of the 12 WNBA teams went up, Bird pointed
out that the other major part of the new CBA is the offseason opportunities
that the players have now, which gives the players something that they have never
had before and that is the choice to “curate” of what they want to do with
their offseason.
This means, players will have the choice
to purse opportunities like becoming a broadcaster like current Los Angeles
Sparks perennial All-Star and champion Candace Parker does for Turner Sports as
a studio host for NBATV and NBA on TNT or an assistant coach on an NBA team
like former WNBA perennial All-Star Becky Hammon, an assistant on the five-time
NBA champion San Antonio Spurs’ sidelines or fellow Sparks guard Kristi
Toliver, who is in her second season as an assistant with the Washington
Wizards.
“You don’t have to anything, you get to
choose,” Bird said of the plethora of choices the WNBA players have now.
The other effect the new CBA had is on how
teams approached free agency and trades this offseason in their pursuit of a
WNBA title, especially for the defending WNBA champions from DC.
In the “Valley of the Sun,” the four-time
WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury made a couple of major splashes this offseason
first trading three-time All-Star and three-time Sixth Woman of the Year DeWanna
Bonner to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for the No. 7 and No. 10 overall
picks in this past Friday’s draft, along with an additional First-Round pick in
the 2021 draft on Feb. 11.
One day later, the Mercury (15-19) traded
the No. 5 and No. 7 pick in the 2020 draft along with that 2021 pick acquired
from the Sun to the Dallas Wings in exchange for four-time All-Star guard
Skylar Diggins-Smith.
Diggins-Smith will join the league’s leader
in scoring average this past season (20.7) and block shots (2.0) in fellow
perennial All-Star center Brittney Griner, who was re-signed this off-season
and future Hall of Famer Diana Taurasi, who missed 28 games due to back and
hamstring injuries a season in the hopes of getting the Mercury back to
championship prominence.
The Mercury also this offseason acquired
All-Star forward Jessica Breland and forward Nia Coffey in exchange for
All-Star guard Briann January and the No. 17 pick in this past Friday’s draft,
and the Mercury’s 2021 Second-Round pick.
On draft night, the Mercury acquired guard
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough from the New York Liberty in exchange for the draft
rights to the No. 10 overall pick in Friday’s draft out of the University of
Virginia in forward Jocelyn Willoughby.
As just mentioned, the Sun (23-11), who
lost to the Washington Mystics in the 2019 WNBA Finals in five games acquired
Bonner from the Mercury.
However, head coach Curt Miller’s squad
they traded forward Morgan Tuck and their First-Round pick to the Storm in
exchange for their First-Round pick. They also traded their offensive sparkplug
in their playoff run this past season in guard Courtney Williams as part of a
three-team trade to the Dream for the aforementioned January. Also gone via
either free agency or trade are Shekinna Stricklen and Layshia Clarendon.
The Sun hope that Storm forward sharp-shooter
Kaeena Mosqueda-Lewis, who they acquired in late February in exchange for their
Second-Round pick in 2021 draft can make up for what was lost offensively in
the departures of Stricklen and Clarendon, and be a great compliment to All-Star
forward/center Jonquel Jones (14.6 ppg, 9.7 rpg-Led WNBA, 2.0 bpg-career-high),
forward Alyssa Thomas (11.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.9 spg, 50.5 FG%) and guard Jasmine Thomas
(11.1 ppg, 5.1 apg-Led team, 36.6 3-Pt.%).
After a solid season where they finished under
first-year head coach and five-time champion with the Los Angeles Lakers Derek
Fisher, the Los Angeles Sparks (22-12) season ended in a three-game sweep to
the Sun in the Conference Finals.
The Sparks front office, led by Assistant
General Manager Michael Fisher added some major offensive punch as well as
championship experience this offseason in signing for her second stint with the
team in the aforementioned three-time All-Star and 2012 Most Improved Player
Toliver (13.0 ppg, 6.0 apg, 49.4 FG%, 36.0 3-Pt.% w/Mystics), who was with the
Sparks from 2010-16 and helped them win their third WNBA title four summers
back, and eight-time All-Star forward Seimone Augustus, who had spent her
entire 13-year career with the Minnesota Lynx helping them win four WNBA
titles.
The Sparks also traded center Kalani Brown
to the Atlanta Dream for guard Brittney Sykes (10.2 ppg) and center Marie
Gulich.
Those additions to go alongside perennial
All-Stars Candace Parker (11.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 46.7 FG%), Nneka, the team’s
leading scorer (16.1 ppg), rebounder (8.8) and in steals (1.9) on 51.0 percent
shooting and Chiney Ogwumike (9.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 49.4 FG%), and Chelsea Gray
(14.5 ppg, 5.9 apg-Led team, 382 3-Pt.%), and forward/guard Tierra
Ruffin-Pratt, who the Sparks re-signed this offseason puts the Sparks in
serious position to be a real threat for the championship after coming so close
a season ago.
After a four straight seasons of missing
out on the WNBA playoffs, which included their last three seasons as the San
Antonio Stars, the now Las Vegas Aces (21-13) reached the Conference Finals for
the first time since 2008. But lost in four games to the eventual champion
Washington Mystics.
A big reason they fell short of reaching
the WNBA Finals for the first time in 11 years was their inability to hit shots
from the perimeter consistently to match their dynamic frontcourt duo of
All-Stars in Liz Cambage and 2018 WNBA Rookie of the Year in A’ja Wilson.
This offseason, head coach Bill Laimbeer
and General Manager Dan Padover team through the signings of five-time All-Star
and two-time WNBA scoring champion Angel McCoughtry, who spent her first 11
seasons with the Dream, averaging 19.2 points per game.
The also signed three-time All-Star
Danielle Robinson, and re-signed Sugar Rodgers to provide the outside shooting
necessary to give more space for Wilson, the team’s leading scorer (16.5),
second leading rebounder (6.4) and top shot blocker (1.7) this past season, and
Cambage, the second leading scorer (15.9), leading rebounder (8.2) and averaged
1.6 blocks last season to dominate inside.
Those new additions alongside reigning
WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Dearica Hamby (11.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 48.8 FG%),
three-time All-Star sharp-shooter Kayla McBride (13.3 ppg, 42.8 3-Pt.%), guard
Kelsey Plum, forward Tamera Young and second-year guard Jackie Young should make
the Aces an even more potent at the offensive end.
Both McCoughtry, an eight-time
All-Defensive selection and Robinson, a three-time All-Defensive Second-Team
selection will surely make their mark with the Aces at the defensive end with
their ability to guard the opposing teams best offensive wings in the league.
While those aforementioned teams got
better this offseason, so did the Washington Mystics, who after being swept in
the 2018 WNBA Finals (3-0) by the Storm, came back and won their first title in
franchise history in five games over the previously mentioned Sun.
It was not just the first title for the
team in franchise history for the Mystics (26-8), who won a franchise record 26
regular season games in 2019, but it was the final check mark on the career
resumes of the league’s all-time winningest coach in head coach Mike Thibault
with 336 career regular season wins and reigning league MVP Elena Delle Donne,
who finally has a title to go alongside her six All-Star selections, 2019
Rookie of the Year Award, and five All-WNBA selections.
Last season, Delle Donne (19.5 ppg-Led
team, 8.3 rpg-Led team) also made history becoming the first WNBA player in
league history to register a 50-40-90 club, shooting 51.5 percent from the
floor, 43.0 percent from three-point range and 97.4 percent from the free throw
line.
She joined NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird
(twice); Hall of Fame lead guard Steve Nash (four times); two-time Kia MVP of
Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry; two-time Finals MVP and perennial All-Star
Kevin Durant of Brooklyn Nets; Hall of Famer Reggie Miller; future Hall of
Famer Dirk Nowitzki; Mark Price and Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon as the
only nine players in professional basketball to achieve 50-40-90.
When you have reached that glorious
mountain top, you want to get back there again if you have the opportunity.
The Mystics made it very clear with what
they did this off they want to be in position to win a second title with the
acquisition of seven-time All-Star and 2012 league MVP Tina Charles (19.7 ppg,
7.0 rpg w/Liberty) last Wednesday as part of a three-team deal, along with
re-signing last season’s Finals MVP Emma Meesseman+ (13.1 ppg, 55.2 FG%, 42.2
3-Pt.%) and signing reigning Most Improved Player in guard Leilani Mitchell, who
this past season averaged a career-high of 12.8 points on 43.0 percent from
three-point range with Mercury.
Last season, the Mystics were one of the
most lethal offensive teams in the league with their ability to shoot from the
perimeter and create open shots with their ability to find the open player.
With the dynamic trio of Delle Donne, Charles and Messeman to go along with the
wing players in Ariel Atkins (10.3 ppg, 1.5 spg-Led team, 35.7 3-P.%), Ariel
Powers (11.4 ppg, 36.2 3-Pt.%), and Natasha Cloud (9.0 ppg, 5.6 apg), and bigs
of Tianna Hawkins (9.5 ppg, 51.4 FG%, 36.3 3-Pt.%) and LaToya Sanders (6.1 ppg,
5.5 rpg 50.6 FG%), the Mystics have a chance of being even better offensively
as well as defensively.
While the new CBA put the reigning
champion Mystics, Mercury, Sun, Sparks, and Aces in a position to acquire or
sign that one piece/pieces to chase that title, teams like is the New York
Liberty used this 2020 draft to find that player to build around to be in that
conversation of a title contender.
Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Pandemic, the WNBA held a virtual draft where this year’s draft prospects were
in their respective homes across the country as WNBA Commissioner Cathy
Engelbert announced each of the picks from her home in New Jersey.
The draft began with a tribute to Gianna Bryant and her teammates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, who along with their parents and Gianna's father in Hall of Famer to be Kobe Bryant were killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 as honorary draft picks in the 2020 class.
"These athletes represented the future of the WNBA," Commissioner Engelbert said of the loss of three young rising ladies lost three months back. "Players who were following their passion. Acquiring knowledge of the game. Exhibiting skills that were way beyond their years. They represented the next generation of stars in our league. Maybe what might have been called the Mambachita Generation."
"While it brings us pain to not see their dreams come to fruition, I'm grateful and proud to announce them tonight as honorary picks," Commissioner Engelbert said. "It's an honor to have Alyssa, Gianna and Payton join the WNBA family. We thank their families for the privilege of drafting their girls and for being a part of this special night."
It is in moments like this when a loved one is lost that you vision what could have been. But you also keep the fond memories of the time that person was alive and the impact and joy they brought to their family and those around them. That was certainly the case for the fam Altobelli, Chester and Bryant family, who are thankful for the incredible gesture the WNBA made for their daughters.
Payton's father Chester of San Juan Capistrano, CA said that her daughter was a fierce competitor each time she took the hardwood and that her "skill" and "determination" to play in the WNBA would have been achieved. But that was "surpassed" by the joy she had in life and playing the game of basketball.
"We will always have fond memories of her sinking a three or a big steal, and turning back on defense with that beautiful smile," Mr. Chester said via a video message.
J.J. and sister Lexi Altobelli of Newport Beach, CA said of their sister Alyssa "loved" basketball and put a great deal of hard work into getting better at the game every moment she could. They believed that she would have made it to the WNBA after her collegiate career at the University of Oregon.
"Thank you again for honoring our sister. It truly means a lot to us," J.J. Altobelli said via a video message.
Aside from speaking at her husband and daughter's memorial service at Staples Center in downtown L.A. on Feb. 24, Kobe Bryant's widow Vanessa has rarely spoken since the passing of her husband and daughter.
Last Friday's draft was the second time Mrs. Bryant, sporting a WNBA orange hooded shirt has spoken publicly thanking the WNBA for honoring her husband and daughter.
Mrs. Bryant said in her video message that her daughter worked everyday "tirelessly" to become one of the greatest athletes ever, just like her father did, and that it would have been a "dream come true" for her to have made it to the WNBA, a league that her husband and daughter loved.
"Thank you so much for honoring my daughter 'Gigi' and selecting her to be an honorary draft pick this year. Thank you for honoring my little girl," she said in a video message, while holding back tears.
She also said to the 2020 WNBA draft class, "I want to congratulate all of this year's draft picks. So, congratulations. Work hard. Never settle. Use that 'Mamba Mentality.'
With the No. 1 overall pick, for the first
time in franchise history, the Liberty selected out of the University of Oregon
guard Sabrina Ionescu.
Along with Ionescu, the Liberty selected
with the No. 9 overall pick forward Megan Walker out of the University of
Connecticut and chose forward Jazmine Joseph out of Louisville at No 12 overall.
In a trade on draft night with the Mercury, the Liberty acquired the draft
rights to the No. 10 overall pick in forward/guard Jocelyn Willoughby in exchange
for guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough.
“I’m just excited to get out there and
learn from the players that are there. Learn the offense. Get to know the
coaching staff. But hopefully just bring competitive nature and just a hunger
to continue to get better,” Ionescu told WNYW Fox 5’s Sports reporter Jennifer
Williams via a video conference call on Friday.
With the trade of Charles last week the
future hopes and aspirations of the Liberty under new head coach Walt Hopkins
will be on the shoulder of Ionescu who had a decorated collegiate career where
she recorded an NCAA-record 26 triple-doubles in her four seasons with the Lady
Ducks and became the first in either men’s for women’s NCAA basketball history
to register for their career 2,000 points (2,562), 1,000 assists (1,091) and
1,000 rebounds (1,040).
As she demonstrated in her career at
Oregon, Ionescu is an all-around once-in-a-lifetime talent who can do absolutely
everything on the hardwood. Perhaps her greatest skill is something that you
will not find in a box score and that is her selflessness.
“When you don’t have ‘I want the credit,’
getting in the way or you don’t have ‘My ego’ or ‘My brand,’ you know, getting
in the way of the decisions you’re making and you’re just thinking about you’re
team, I think that’s what makes you a special player,” Hopkins said of what he
hopes Ionescu will bring to the Liberty.
After winning a combined 17 games the past
two seasons under the direction of head coach in Katie Smith, the hope is with
the new additions via the draft in Ionescu, Walker, Jones and Willoughby, joining
All-Star Kia Nurse (13.7 ppg, 35.3 3-Pt.%), Rebecca Allen, Brittney Boyd, Bria
Hartley (9.8 ppg), Asia Durr (9.7 ppg, 46.7 FG%), Tanisha Wright and Amanda
Zahui B. (8.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 46.8 FG%), the future for the Liberty, who will now
be playing their home games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY is a lot
brighter.
After two straight seasons of making the
playoffs, the Dallas Wings (10-24) missed out on the playoffs in the first
season under head coach Brian Agler.
This offseason for the Wings was about continuing
to rebuild the team in Coach Agler’s image of being strong defensively and
being able to space the floor offensively.
The dealt as previously mentioned
perennial All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith to the Mercury in exchange for the No.
5 and No. 7 picks in last Friday’s draft and a First-Round pick in 2021 draft.
They then dealt that 2021 First-Round pick to the Chicago Sky in exchange for
center Astou Ndour (6.8 ppg, 42.4 3-Pt.% w/Sky). In another deal with the Sky,
the Wings dealt Azura Stevens in exchange for the Sky’s First-Round pick in
2021 draft and forward Katie Lou Samuelson. Two days before last Friday’s
draft, in a three-team deal involving the Mystics and Liberty, the Wings acquired
a 2021 First-Round pick, a Second-Round pick, guard Tayler Hill, the No. 9 and
No. 15 picks from this past draft.
With the No. 2 selection in last Friday’s
draft, the Wings selected forward Satou Sabally out of Oregon. Three picks
later, they selected at No. 5 overall out of Princeton University Isabella “Bella”
Alarie. At No. 7 overall, the Wings selected Tyasha Harris out of South
Carolina.
Last season, the Wings selected at No. 5
overall Arike Ogunbowale and finished third of all rookies in 2019 in scoring
at 19.1 points per game on 35.2 percent from three-point range.
The hope that Sabally, the 2020 Cheryl
Miller Award winner as the top small forward in college basketball this past
season after averaging 16.2 points and 6.9 rebounds can have that same kind of
impact.
“I hope I can just put Dallas on the map and
get some wins just like he did,” Sabally said to ESPN’s Holly Rowe after
getting drafted about the impact she hopes to make like fellow German and
future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki had for the Dallas Mavericks. “He really
inspired German basketball tremendously and I hope to be the same influence for
German basketball players, European basketball players in America. And I can’t
wait to go to Dallas, and just start practicing, and playing with my new team.”
In Alarie, the Wings selected a one of the
most accomplished women in the history of the Ivy League winning the Player of
the Year Award in that league three times. In her four years for the Lady
Tigers, Alarie averaged 16.1 points and 9.1 rebounds on 48.0 percent from the
field as she became the first player in school history to earn First Team All-Ivy
League honors in her four-year career. Alarie also set school records for
career points and blocks.
Alarie joined Allison Feaster (1998-Harvard)
and former Lady Tiger Leslie Robinson (2018) as the only players from the Ivy
League to be drafted into the WNBA.
Alarie is a well round player who can
score both inside and out. Can defend, especially at the rim as demonstrated by
her average of 2.1 blocks during her career at Princeton. And comes from good
basketball genes as her father Mark played five seasons in the NBA for the
Denver Nuggets and then Washington Bullets, now Wizards from 1986-91. Her god
father is former Duke Blue Devil and long-time ESPN College Basketball analyst
Jay Bilas.
“Just having a high basketball IQ,
learning the game, studying the game, just being confident in what I do. I
think that will really translate over to the pros,” she said to Rowe after
being drafted
Along with adding depth to their frontcourt,
the Wings were looking for a lead guard that would allow them to play Ogunbowale
off the ball more. That is what they hope Harris, a “Associated Press” Third Team
All-American selection this past season with the Lady Gamecocks can allow them
to do.
Under the guidance of former WNBA great
Dawn Staley, Harris, a finalist for the John B. Wooden Award this past season
grew as a player and as a leader from starting as a freshmen on a national
title team in 2016 to a remarkable floor general amongst a lot of young players
on the No. 1 team in the nation this past season.
She has incredible court vision, as
demonstrated by her SEC leading 5.7 assists per game this past season and finished
her career as the Lady Gamecocks all-time assists leader at 702. Harris also
displayed this past season an improved offense game where she averaged by
career-highs of 12.0 points and 38 percent from three-point range this past
season.
“I think I just have a high IQ in
basketball,” Harris said to Rowe. “I’ve done it in college. I just know when to
pass the ball or know who to get the ball to and assert myself when needed.”
In the first decade of this new millennium,
the Dallas Wings, who were the Detroit Shock then were a consistent title
contender capturing two WNBA titles in the last four years of the first decade
under the guidance of now Coach Laimbeer. In the first half of this past decade
in their time in Tulsa, OK, the Shock did not have much success with just one
playoff appearance (2015) in six seasons. After two straight playoff appearances
as mentioned earlier, the Wings struggled with just 10 wins a season ago.
The Wings hope with the additions via the
draft in Sabally, Alarie, and Harris; the additions in free agency in guard Moriah
Jefferson; the acquisition of Hill, Lou Samuelson and Ndour, alongside guard Allisha
Gray (10.6 ppg, 38.4 3-Pt.%), forward Kayla Thornton (10.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and
Kaela Davis that they are building a foundation for what they hope will be a
team that is a playoff perennial and hopefully a championship contender in the
not too distant future.
One team in a similar situation as the
Wings are the Indiana Fever (13-21), who despite a seven-win improvement from
the previous season still missed the playoffs for a third straight season after
12 straight appearances from 2005-16, which included two appearances in the
WNBA Finals, capturing their first and only title in franchise history in 2012.
For the Fever, this offseason was about
change as well as adding solid players to get them back in the playoff hunt.
It began with a change at head coach bringing
in Marianne Stanley, who had spent the last decade as an assistant on head
coach Mike Thibault’s staff with the now defending NBA champion Mystics
replacing Pokey Chatman.
In free agency, they re-signed guard
Tiffany Mitchell (9.7 ppg) and forward Betnijah Laney. In a deal with the
Minnesota Lynx, the Fever acquired the No. 14 overall pick in this last Friday’s
draft and a Second-Round pick in the 2021 draft in exchange for guard Shenise
Johnson.
With a Top-3 pick for the third straight
draft, the Fever selected forward Lauren Cox out of Baylor University, who she
helped lead to a National Championship in 2019.
One thing that Coach Stanley wanted her
new team to improve in is at the defensive end of the court and the hope is
that Cox can bring that defensive mindset of protecting the basket, which she
demonstrated by her averaged of 2.3 blocks per game in her four-year career for
the Lady Bears. A season ago, the three-time “Associated Press” All-American
averaged 2.7 blocks despite missing eight games with a foot injury this past
season. Only perennial All-Star of the Mercury Brittney Griner has more block
shots in school history than the 301 total Cox had in her time under Lady Bears
head coach and Hall of Famer to be Kim Mulkey.
She also improved as a rebounder the final
three seasons at Baylor averaging 9.7, 8.3 and 8.4 rebounds in as a sophomore,
junior, and senior years, respectively.
Along with her ability to block shots,
score and rebound, Cox’s greatest skill is as a passer, especially her ability
to create fast breaks off of outlet passes once she clears the rebound. She
also does it well in the half court with the ability to catch the ball from the
low-post or high-post and find open people off a give-and-go or off a backdoor
or baseline cut to the basket. Cox can also space the floor with her ability to
make perimeter shots, especially from three-point range.
The versatility of her game, along with
being able to play alongside center Kalani Brown at Baylor should be a big help
as she will be playing alongside last season’s No. 3 overall pick in center Teaira
McCowan, who averaged 10.0 points and nine rebounds (2nd WNBA),
shooting 51.7 percent from the field on her way to making the 2019 All-Rookie
Team.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun being able
to play the four position (power forward) with another big inside because I
think I show that can be successful my junior year. So, I’m hoping that will
translate into the next level,” Cox said to Rowe about playing alongside
McCowan with the Fever.
Cox also said to Rowe that she takes great
pride and dedication to playing great defense saying that once she gets scored
on, she tries to make sure it does not happen again.
With the No. 14 overall pick, the Fever
selected guard Kathleen Doyle out of the University of Iowa.
For Coach Stanley, she wants to build a
team that offensively plays fast and can make shots at a high clip,
particularly from three-point range.
In Doyle, the Fever have a player who has
the ability to take what Coach Stanley can draw on the whiteboard and bring it
to life on the hardwood. The 2020 “AP” Third Team All-American displayed that
by her total of 189 assists this past season, which was tied for six in
Division I. She also can make shots, especially from three-point range.
What separates an elite lead guard from others
is their ability to know when to score herself and when to make plays for
others.
The previous year, Doyle played the role
of facilitator in setting up the Lady Hawkeyes dominant low-post scorer in
Megan Gustafson, the 2019 National Player of the Year. This past season, Doyle
took on more of the lead role at the offensive end and as a result was named
Big Ten Player of the Year for this past season.
As mentioned for a decade plus prior to
this playoff drought of three consecutive seasons, the Indiana Fever were a
playoff fixture winning it all eight seasons back, led by Hall of Famer to be
and perennial All-Star Tamika Catchings.
Now as the Fever’s Vice President of
Basketball Operations and GM, she and Coach Marianne Stanley, the 2002 WNBA
Coach of the Year while with the Mystics hope they are building the team back
into a playoff perennial and title contender with the draft selections of
Lauren Cox and Kathleen Doyle to go alongside McCowan, guards Tiffany and
Kelsey Mitchell (13.6 ppg-Led team, 37.4 3-Pt.%), forward Natalie Achonwa (8.7
ppg, 5.2 rpg, 48.8 FG%) and veteran forward Candice Dupree (11.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg,
47.2 FG%) and last season’s All-Star Game MVP Erica Wheeler (10.1 ppg, 5.0
apg-Led team 38.4 3-Pt.%).
One team that had a chance to be in
position to compete for their first WNBA title is the Chicago Sky (20-14), who
had their best season since reaching the WNBA Semifinals four years prior.
The Sky under first-year head coach James
Wade finished, the 2019 WNBA Coach of the Year with the fifth best record in
the league this past season, thanks to their seven-win improvement from the
year before (tied with Fever for most in WNBA) but lost in the Semis to the
Aces on a last second buzzer beating three-pointer in the final seconds.
It was heartbreaking end to a season that
saw Coach Wade, who helped guide the Sky to their third 20-win season in
franchise history. Veteran guards Allie Quigley (13.8 ppg, 44.2 3-Pt.%) and
Courtney Vandersloot (11.2 ppg, 9.1 apg-Led WNBA, 45.2 FG%), who broke her
all-time record for assists per game and second-year guard Diamond DeShields
(16.2 ppg-Led team, 5.5 rpg) made this past season’s All-Star Game as reserves.
Vandersloot, and DeShields were named to the First and Second All-WNBA squads,
respectively.
For the Sky, this offseason was about
keeping their core intact, while adding depth at the lead guard spot and
possibly finding a big that can stretch the floor.
They kept their core together by
re-signing Quigley, Vandersloot and center Stefanie Dolson (9.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg,
51.9 FG%, 36.1 3-Pt.%) to multi-year deals. They also re-signed Kahleah Copper.
They added depth to their frontcourt with
the acquisition of acquisition of sharp shooting third year forward Azura
Stevens from the Wings in exchange for Katie Lou Samuelson and First-Round pick
in 2021 draft, while also adding depth to the backcourt with the signing of
Sydney Colson.
The Sky also bolstered their frontcourt in
the draft with the selection of forward Ruthy Hebard at No. 8 overall out of
Oregon.
Simply put, Hebard is the most efficient
shooter of this draft. When the ball leaves her fingertips, especially if that
shot is taken at the bucket, its going in.
This past season, the Alaskan native and
2020 “AP” First Team All-American led Division one shooting 68.5 percent from
the field in her senior season and finished her career as the Pac-12 leader in field
goal percentage at 65.1 percent and finished No. 2 all-time in career points (2,368)
behind her teammate Ionescu (2,562).
Along with the ability to consistently make
shots in close and off the pick-and-roll, she is a stellar rebounder as
evidence by her average of 9.6 this past season, which led the Pac-12.
With what Hebard did playing with one of
the best at the college level in Ionescu, the possibilities of what four-time All-Pac-12
selection in her time at Oregon can do at the offensive end playing with one of
the best in the WNBA in Vandersloot should bring nothing but excitement to fans
of the Sky.
It is one thing to play with no
expectations to all of a sudden to having a plethora of expectations both
internally and externally. With what the Chicago Sky did a season ago, they
have all the reasons in the world to believe that they should be in the mix as
an elite team in the WNBA.
They have another year under head coach
James Wade’s system. The core players in All-Stars Diamond DeShields, Allie
Quigley, and Courtney Vandersloot are re-signed, along with forward/guard
Kahleah Copper and forward Cheyenne Parker (8.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 45.9 FG%). They added
Azura Stevens and Sydney Colson to go alongside Stefanie Dolson and Jantel
Lavender (10.0 ppg 6.9 rpg-Led team, 49.0 FG%).
The pieces are in place for the Sky to be
a force whenever the upcoming WNBA season begins It is up to them when that
happens to put it all together and see what happens.
A team that was in a similar position that
the Sky are now in were the Atlanta Dream (8-26), who just their third year of
existence in 2010 reached the WNBA Finals, but were swept by the Storm 3-0. The
Dream made it back to The Finals one year later but were once again swept by
the Lynx 3-0.
The Dream got back to the championship
round in 2013 but were championship dreams were once again crushed in a
three-game sweep by the Lynx.
Since that season, the Dream under head
coach and five-time champion as a player with the Los Angeles Laker Michael
Cooper reached the playoffs in two of the four seasons under his watch from
2014-17 but went no further than the Semifinals.
Two years prior under then first-year head
coach Nicki Collen, the 2018 WNBA Coach of the Year, the Dream were on the doorstep
of making it back to the WNBA Finals, but lost to the eventual runner-up
Mystics in five games of the Conference Finals.
Last season did not go so well for Coach
Collen and the Dream as they went from 23 wins in 2018 (2nd WNBA) to
just eight wins last season. That 15-win decrease was tied for the second
largest in the history of the league.
A big reason for that sharp decrease in
victories is because for the second straight season, perennial All-Star Angel
McCoughtry missed games due to a knee injury.
For the Dream, this offseason was about making
moves that would make them a better offensive team as well as going in different
direction of being a more well rounded team that did not rely on just one
person, in this case of McCoughtry as their main option.
That is likely why they let McCoughtry go
in free agency as she signed with the Aces this offseason.
In a trade with the Sparks, the Dream
acquired aforementioned former Baylor Lady Bear center Kalani Brown in exchange
for guard Brittney Sykes and Marie Gulich.
The addition of Brown and the signing of
former Wings’ forward Glory Johnson, who averaged 12.7 points and 8.1 rebounds
in her first six seasons with the now Wings gives the Dream some much needed inside
scoring.
Last season, the Dream made a franchise
record 217 three-pointers in 2019, one of the very few bright spots in a lost
2019 season. They hope to equal or exceed that mark with the signings of former
Sun players in forward Shekinna Stricklen (9.0 ppg, 38.2 3-Pt.% w/Sun), and the
acquisition of guard Courtney Williams (13.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 45.7 3-Pt.% w/Sun)
and the No. 17 overall pick in the 2020 draft in exchange for forwards Jessica
Breland (7.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg w/Dream) and Nia Coffey.
Besides bringing their potent offensive
capabilities to the Dream, Stricklen and Williams bring playoff experience to the
Dream and a competitive focus that should change the mindset from what was
brought to the floor a season ago.
One thing that every great offensive team
has is a lead guard that can put it all together where everyone’s offensive
capabilities and be maximized.
The Dream have put that faith in the No. 4
overall pick in last Friday’s draft Chennedy Carter out of Texas A&M
University.
In the history of the Lady Aggies, only
Courtney Walker (1,989 points from 2012-16) has scored more points than Carter
(1,983 points), who is the only Division I player to average 20-plus points per
game the last three seasons. The three-time All-SEC First-Team selection also owns
the Top 2 single-season points per game averages (23.3, 22.7) in school
history.
Carter was especially at her best when it
counted as evidenced by her average of 31.0 points in her NCAA Tournament
career (3rd all-time minimum of five games).
Carter displayed how explosive she can be
offensively back on Dec. 15, 2017 versus USC when she scored a Texas A&M single-game
scoring record of 46.
“Really just staying in the gym and
working on things that I know I don’t do well,” Carter said to Rowe about how
she continued to improve in her collegiate career. “I’ve been patient enough to
listen to others around me and focus on my game and try to level up.”
In the pick-and-roll, Carter showed she is
unstoppable with the ball, with the ability to score in the lane with floaters
or from the mid-range, while also being able find teammates that are open of
the screen-and-roll. She also make shots from deep, shooting 35 percent from
three-point range in her time at Texas A&M.
Carter said to Rowe that in this next
stage of her basketball journey that it is about her learning from Coach Collen
how to run the offense and that with her ability to score that she is ready to
be a major part of their turnaround this season.
The Atlanta Dream are not that far removed
from being a team that was in the mix of being a title contending team in the
WNBA. While the personnel has changed, the goal has not.
While one chapter of the Dream has closed
with the departures of Angel McCoughtry, Brittney Sykes, Jessica Breeland and
Nia Coffey, the hopes is the new additions via free agency and in Glory Johnson
and Shekinna Strickland, Courtney Williams, and Kalani Brown, and the draft
selection of Chennedy Carter can bring this program back to one that is a consistent
playoff participant and a title contender.
They will be exciting and explosive to
watch, especially at the offensive end with the new additions.
Last season the 2018 WNBA champion Seattle
Storm, who have three titles in their history made the playoffs the playoffs
despite not having their future Hall of Fame floor general and the 2018 league
MVP available due to injury.
Despite not having perennial All-Star Sue
Bird and two-time All-Star Breanna Stewart due to arthroscopic left knee
surgery and a ruptured Achilles tendon respectively, the Storm (18-16) made the
playoffs and defeated the Lynx in the opening-round of the playoffs, but lost
in the second-round at the Sparks.
Without Bird and Stewart, it gave the
likes of All-Star Jewel Loyd (12.3 ppg), Jordin Canada (9.8 ppg, 5.2 apg, 2.3
spg-Led team), Alysha Clark (9.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 48.1 FG%, 48.1 3-Pt.%), Natasha
Howard, and Crystal Langhorne to step up and they rose the moment for head
coach Dan Hughes.
Last season, Howard had a breakout year
with career-highs averages of 18.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals, along
with 1.7 blocks on route to her first All-Star selection, her first All-WNBA
First-Team selection and being named 2019 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.
The Storm kept things intact this
offseason re-signing Stewart and Bird, who will play in her 19th NBA
season, while also adding via trade from the Sun forward Morgan Tuck and
signing veteran two-time All-Star guard Epiphany Prince.
In that deal with the Sun, the Storm also
acquired the No. 11 overall pick in last Friday’s draft, which they used to
select forward Kitija Laksa who played collegiately at the University of South
Florida and played this past season for TTT Riga (Latvia).
One major skill that every team covets
today are players who possess the ability make perimeter shots consistently,
especially from three-point range. That is what Laksa did in her collegiate career,
where she averaged 18 points and shot 40 percent from three-point range. Two
seasons back, Laksa was the only player in Division I to author two 40-point games
for Bulls head coach Jose Fernandez.
The one good thing for her and the Storm
is because the fact that their roster is basically set, and the fact that she
is still likely recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the third game of her
senior season in 2018-19, she has time to get herself healthy so when she does
come over and fit in with a team where her skill set of shooting matches with what
the Storm do.
One person who clearly knows what she can
do is Bird, who saw Laksa ability to make shots up close when her Latvia team
played against Team USA not to long ago.
“She gave us a dose when we played Latvia
against the U.S.A. team. So, I know she’s legit,” Bird said on Friday. “So
again, welcome to Seattle.”
Whether Laksa comes over or not, the
Seattle Storm with Stewart and Bird back in the fold and with the seasons Jewel
Loyd and Natasha Howard had last season, the Storm will for sure be in the mix
of title contenders.
When it comes to winning titles, nobody
won more last decade than the Minnesota Lynx (18-16), who after making just two
playoff appearances their first 12 years, have made the postseason nine straight
seasons, winning titles in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Like some aforementioned former champions
in the Sparks, Storm and Fever, the Lynx had a core group of players that led
the way to those titles in head coach Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota native and
All-Star Lindsay Whalen, fellow perennial All-Stars in Seimone Augustus,
Rebekkah Brunson, 2017 league MVP and two-time Finals MVP Sylvia Fowles, and
2013 Finals MVP and 2014 league MVP Maya Moore.
Like all great dynasties though, they do
eventually end and that has been the case for the Lynx who have been one-and-done
the last two postseasons.
It is during this time that the likes of
Brunson and Whalen have retired. Augustus this offseason moved on in free
agency signing with arch-rival the Sparks, while Moore missed last season to
focus on family and her ministry work, and will miss this upcoming season, when
it does take place to focus on her advocacy for criminal justice reform. The Lynx
also said goodbye to Danielle Robinson, who left in free agency to sign with
the Aces. Brunson retired this as well this offseason but will remain with the
team joining Coach Reeve’s coaching staff as an assistant.
For most teams that are in the boat of the
Lynx would have used the past two seasons as ones to rebuild from the ground
up. The Lynx instead used this as an opportunity to retool and maintain what the
championship habits they have crafted.
Two players who took advantage of their
chance were guard Odyssey Sims, who led the Lynx in points (14.5) and assists (5.4)
a season ago, which led to her first All-Star selection and be named to the
2019 All-WNBA Second Team.
Forward Naphessa Collier, the team’s No. 6
overall pick in 2019 averaged 13.6 points and a team-leading 8.9 boards on 58.8
percent shooting on her way to her first All-Star appearance and capturing the
Rookie of the Year.
Fowles, a six-time All-Star was solid as
well averaging 13.6 points and 8.9 boards on 58.8 percent shooting this past
season.
In the draft, the Lynx looked to fill
their needs at point guard as it is not clear weather Sims will be with the
team this upcoming season, while also looking for a guard who spread the court
shooting wise to
At No. 6 overall, the Lynx selected
forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan out of University of South Carolina. With the No.
16 overall pick, the Lynx selected guard Crystal Dangerfield out of the
University of Connecticut.
In Herbert Harrigan, the Lynx are getting
a solid two-way forward who is very long and athletic, who can score down low,
make plays off the dribble and can make shots from distance, where she shot 44
percent from three-point range as a senior this past season for Coach Staley.
She can also guard multiple positions with that length; is an excellent rim protector
and can rebound.
The 2020 Second Team All-SEC selection,
who was a major reason the Lady Gamecocks won it all in 2017 and three of the
last four SEC Tournament titles.
Herbert Harrigan in her career at South
Carolina became the third player in school history with 1,000-plus points and
200-plus blocks.
While Herbert Harrigan should be a solid reserve
player for the Lynx, they hope that Dangerfield can grow into this team’s starting
floor general.
This past season, the 2020 Honorable
Mention “AP” All-American was the only player in the American Athletic
Conference with 50-plus made threes and 50-plus made steals, showing that she
might be small in stature at 5-foot-5 but can play big at all times.
In her time under head coach Geno Auriemma,
Dangerfield showed she can not only make shots from the perimeter, where she
shot 41 percent from three-point range as a senior but can create off the bounce
and can make plays in the open court.
How much trust did she earn from Coach Auriemma?
She was the Lady Huskies starting lead guard the last three seasons. Dangerfield
finished here career at UConn with 599 total assists, which is now fifth in
school history.
While the COVID-19 Pandemic has restricted
a lot of this draft classes ability to prepare for this upcoming season
whenever it takes place, Dangerfield went the extra mile to order workout equipment
shipped to her home in Tennessee where she resides currently to prepare for the
next step of her basketball journey.
“Just in the gym whenever I can, you know?
Making sure I’m in shape, cardio. And just making sure I’m stronger,”
Dangerfield said to Rowe. “It’s a lot more physical in the league than it is in
college, and so I have to be ready for that.”
The Lynx on draft night also acquired the
draft rights to guard Erica Ogwumike, the No. 26 overall pick out of Rice
University by the Liberty in exchange for forward Stephanie Talbot.
If the last name sounds familiar, it should
because Erica is the younger sister of Sparks bigs Nneka and Chiney. The younger
Ogwumike is stature and game is different from her sister in that she is
5-foot-5 but like her sister was a great rebounder in her career for the Lady
Owls and can facilitate for her teammates.
The Ogwumike sisters became the latest set
of siblings in pro sports joining the Watt Family of JJ, TJ and Derek who play
respectively for the Houston Texans, Pittsburg Steelers, and Los Angeles
Chargers. In the NBA also has a trio of siblings currently in the Antetokounmpo
in reigning Kia MVP in Giannis of the Milwaukee Bucks and his brother Kostas,
with their fellow brother Thanasis with the Los Angeles Lakers. Perhaps the
most famous trio of brothers in the history of pro sports are the late DiMaggios
in Dom, Joe, and Vince.
Through solid drafting and adding the
right kind of players that fit in their championship culture is how the Lynx
became a perennial playoff team and championship squad four times over.
Coach Reeve, the reigning 2019 WNBA
Executive of the Year hopes that the core that is in place now with possibly Odyssey
Sims, Sylvia Fowles, Napheesa Collier, and the draft picks of Mikiah Herbert
Harrigan, Crystal Dangerfield and Erica Ogwumike can author the successful run
that occurred for the Lynx the previous decade.
As special as the 2020 WNBA Draft was on Friday
night for the players who got drafted, this was also a night to remember in
what many call “the greatest ally” to their league, the current players, and
future players of it.
It was Coach Auriemma who called the now
late Kobe Bryant “the greatest ally that this sport (basketball) could ever
hope for.”
What Bryant did for Women’s basketball
specifically and women’s sports in general was give “legitimacy” and “inspiration”
that they can play this game just as well as the men, and at times even better.
Chiney Ogwumike said that by Bryant simply
walking into an arena often with his daughter Gianna where a WNBA game took
place, whipping away the stigmas and stereotypes that women are “less than,”
and “don’t deserve visibility.”
Bryant not only went to WNBA games, he attended
UConn games, University of Oregon games, where he bonded and became a friend
and mentor to Ionescu.
He extended that same knowledge he learned
for 20 years in the NBA to those that attended his Mamba Academy, especially
girls.
On Jan. 26, the sports world lost one of
the best to ever play on the hardwood but a person who was becoming one of the
greatest ambassadors for women’s sports.
To conclude the WNBA Draft, Commissioner
Engelbert announced the debut of the Kobe and Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award.
“This award will recognize an individual
or group who has made significant contributions to the visibility, perception
and advancement of women’s and girls’ basketball at all level like Kobe was so
committed to doing,” she said.
“The Kobe and Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy
Award is a call to action for advocates to use their time, talent, and platform
to raise awareness for the game. The league and our partners will make a charitable
contribution in the recipient’s name to further advance the game. The WNBA and
the Bryant Family expect to announce the inaugural recipient of the award
during the NBA All-Star Weekend in 2021. We look forward to seeing who will
carry the torch in years to come.”
It will still unfortunately unknown when
the 2020 WNBA season will kick off as the unexpected start date to this season
of May 15 was postponed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic still upon us. However if
or when the season does get underway, there will be a lot to look forward to
after this epic offseason where we saw a lot of change, for the good of a
league that has a number of teams with high aspirations of becoming champions and
a lot of young players looking to make the kind of mark their predecessors did
before.
Information, statistics,
and quotations are courtesy of 5/4/2018 www.dailyprincetonian.com story, “Future
WNBA Player Leslie Robinson Break Barriers In Women’s Basketball Program,” by
Christopher Murphy and Alissa Selover; 3/14/2020 www.wnba.com
press release “WNBA And WNBPA Reach Tentative Agreement On Groundbreaking Eight-Year
Collective Bargaining Agreement;” 4/17/2020 7 p.m. “2020 WNBA Draft,” presented
by State Farm with Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, Holly Rowe, and Seattle Storm
guard Sue Bird; 4/17/2020 www.espn.com story,
“Oregon Superstar Sabrina Ionescu Goes No. 1 to New York Liberty,” by Mechelle
Voepel and “The Associated Press;” 4/19/2020 10:30 p.m. “Fox 5 Sports Extra,”
presented by Toyota with Tina Cervasio, with report from Jennifer Williams; and
player statistics and team records of all 12 WNBA teams via https://en.m.wikipedia.org.
