These are just some of the WNBA players who have had impressive, eye-opening rookie seasons.

Add to that list Caitlin Clark, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.

Not since Parker—who went on to be the first and only player to win both Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season—has a rookie impacted the League and everyone and everything around it as much as Clark.

Call it the Caitlin Clark Effect.

SLAM 252 featuring Caitlin Clark is available now.

Record-breaking performances. Game sell-outs across the country. Fans packing up and traveling wherever she goes. More eyeballs than ever on the W. Clark has been the talk of the W.

But there’s a flip side to it, too. Heated arguments and debates on sports talk shows and across social media are nonstop, all about Clark and her effect on the League. Is she getting too much press? Is she being painted as the WNBA savior when there are other players who have been here holding up the League for so long? Depends on who you ask—and the time of day you ask.

One could argue that never has so much pressure been put on a player coming into the League. Expectations were high from the jump, even while Clark was still in college at Iowa. There, she set the NCAA Division I scoring record with 3,951 total points. A lightning quick point guard with fast hands, she also became the Big Ten’s all-time assist leader (1,144) and hit the most three- pointers in a single season with 201. So, coming into the League, all eyes were expectedly on her.

But, ironically, Clark has not said much about the hype and fanfare surrounding her first season in the W. She appears to have chosen, instead, to just play her game and seemingly be content with breaking record after record after record and helping her Indiana Fever team do the same. All the while, she is assisting in a brand of excitement for women’s basketball, the likes of which haven’t been seen in a while.

The list of WNBA records broken by Clark is long and exhaustive. There are almost too many to name. They include setting the WNBA single-game assist record (19) against the Dallas Wings, recording the first triple-double for a rookie in WNBA history against the New York Liberty, and breaking the record for most assists in a season by a rookie.

You can’t leave out tying the rookie single-game three-pointers record—Clark made seven of those early in the season in the Fever’s game against the Washington Mystics. Other records include 21 games with at least 15 points and 5 assists, the most ever in a single WNBA season, and becoming the first rookie in WNBA history to record 400 points, 100 rebounds and 150 assists in a season.

Clark was also named to the WNBA All-Star Game in July and finished with 10 assists, the most by a rookie in the prestigious game’s history.

This unbelievable rookie season has also included a not-so-great statistic: She recorded the most turnovers in a debut game in WNBA history, with 10 in the Fever’s opener against the Connecticut Sun. She also has the most turnovers in a single season by any player in WNBA history. There’s definitely work to be done in that department, but overall, the Caitlin Clark Effect can’t be denied.

And it has extended beyond just her individual game.

The Fever clinched its first playoff spot since 2016 and currently sit at No. 6 as we head to print. In addition, the WNBA announced that the 2025 All-Star Game will take place in Indianapolis. The 21st WNBA All-Star Game, set for Saturday, July 19, 2025, marks the first time that Indy will host the League’s midseason showcase.

The Fever—already on an upward trajectory after last year’s acquisition of No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston, along with Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull and NaLyssa Smith—have soared to new heights with the addition of Clark. This starting five earned a playoff spot after going on a hot streak following the Olympic break, rattling off seven wins in eight games. Collectively, they have transformed into a team whose ceiling keeps rising.

Hot shooting from Hull has landed her in first place in the League in three-point percentage (49.2 percent). Mitchell, who has been on her own personal tear this summer, is fifth in three-pointers made this season (96) and ninth in points per game. Clark is the assists leader, averaging 8.5 per game and is first in the League in three-pointers made at 111. Boston is fifth in field-goal percentage (52.8 percent) and eighth in blocks per game (1.3).

In August, the Fever led the entire League in scoring (89.7 ppg) and hit a season-best 100 points in a win against the Chicago Sky on August 30. Indiana also knocked down the most three-point field goals in the month with 72.

On August 16, the Fever beat the Phoenix Mercury 98-89, marking the first time since the 2015 regular season that Indiana has swept its regular-season series with Phoenix. Less than two weeks later, Indiana toppled the Sun, 84-80, for the first time since 2021.

The team’s success has also extended to its coach, Christie Sides, who formally entered the Coach of the Year chat and was named WNBA Coach of the Month for August after guiding the Fever to a 5-1 record. Sides is the first head coach in franchise history to earn the honor.

Clark has racked up accolades League-wide as well. In August, she was named both WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month and WNBA Rookie of the Month. It was the third time she earned Rookie of the Month honors, having also received the recognition in May and July, while marking the first time she was named Player of the Month. She was recently recognized as the WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second time in her young career, and she also leads her rookie class in scoring, assists, steals, free-throw shooting and minutes played. And on September 13, she broke the WNBA’s all-time assists record, previously held by the legendary Ticha Penicheiro.

The player many call the female Stephen Curry has been under the microscope since before she entered the League, and the heat has been turned up all season long. Whether you agree or not, whether you’re a fan or not, Clark has dealt with the pressure, lived up to the expectations (even exceeded them in many ways) and has cemented her name in the sport after only one year as a pro.

The Caitlin Clark experience has only just begun but it’s already in full effect

Buckle up.

Photos via Getty Images.

The post Simply Undeniable: Caitlin Clark Covers SLAM 252 appeared first on SLAM.

Seeing Moore grace the front page of SLAM 217 had me scrambling, the problem was, I couldn’t find her cover anywhere. Sold out on SLAM Goods, not a sniff of it on eBay. It was looking as though anyone lucky enough to grab that coveted first retail run was holding onto it tight… and with good reason.

To say that Maya Moore is one of the greatest female players ever witnessed shouldn’t be a statement that’s thought little of. She has been a champion at every level possible. From High School to College to the WNBA, even on the Olympic stage–titles were secured. Not only that, but the list of accolades that accompanied these championships and medals is almost unimaginable. She’s an undisputed Hall of Famer, and if you’re taking her as your basketball GOAT, I’d be reluctant to argue.

There was something more to Maya Moore’s game than hardware, though. Less tangible than trophies, but with more impact, somehow. A trait not so easy to describe. While she was fierce on the boards and had hands so quick that steals felt like camera tricks, her style of play and scoring ability possessed a majestic quality. A magic. The ‘poetry in motion’ type of magic. The type that gives you goosebumps and watery eyes when replayed in slow-mo. The kind that reminds us of the beauty of the game that we once fell in love with.

As MJ is one of a handful to have had this effect on us previously, it was fitting that Maya would be picked up by Jordan Brand before she even stepped foot on a WNBA court – and when she walked away from it in 2018, she did so in a pair of signature Jordan 10s, and as an icon of the Jordan Family.

Stepping away from the game in her prime was far from insignificant, and wasn’t without purpose. Aside from basketball, Moore had been fighting for social justice long before cries for freedom were allowed to be printed on team uniforms. She was a voice for a suffering community during a time when disciplinary action was taken towards players who refused to be silent in their political views. It was her specific commitment to reform in the criminal justice system that saw her forego the 2019 and 2020 WNBA seasons, and ultimately retire in early 2023. If recent history has taught us anything, it’s that some things are bigger than basketball.

In some ways, Maya Moore’s presence on issue 217 was bigger than SLAM. It burst open the floodgates, with a flurry of female hoopers subsequently hitting the cover, and catapulted our coverage of Women’s Basketball into a new era. Some of the dopest covers we’ve dropped since have featured the likes of Candace Parker, Sabrina Ionescu, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese. We’ve also seen three rounds of WSLAM specials. Each drop points us back to Maya Moore’s Mona Lisa smile, quietly confident, affecting change without breaking character.

As a SLAM enthusiast with a deep admiration of Moore’s journey both on and off the court, it was paramount that I added her cover to my collection somehow. It would appease the innate notion we have as humans to somehow align ourselves with those whom we respect – like signed autobiographies, game-worn jerseys and signature shoes – this would demonstrate my allegiance to her cause. Eventually, I went in-house, with a member of the SLAM fam (shout out to Peter Walsh) hooking me up with a personal copy. For me, this could never just exist as another spine on a shelf. It had to be framed and placed in a prime position. It’s to be observed, discussed and remembered… and when the inevitable Maya Moore life-story movie is released someday in the future, I’ll proudly point to Maya on SLAM 217 and will let it be known, just like any true SLAM-head should, that I’ve been down since day one.

Photos via Getty Images.

The post SLAM’s Official Archivist Details Maya Moore’s Excellence and Tracking Down Her Illustrious SLAM Cover appeared first on SLAM.

“I think that is a lot of where I found a love for the game,” Taylor tells us. “Just seeing them compete and get after it every night–as I got older, [it was] Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray. [I was] able to see women be really successful in their profession.”

For Taylor, the reality that she’s playing in the same League as those she’s always admired is surreal. The former 2023 ACC Defensive Player of the Year–who averaged 10.1 points and 3.4 assists after transferring to Ohio State for her fifth year–knows she has a lot to learn if she wants to elevate her game at the next level. “The first thing that comes to mind is just how crazy it is, and how crazy it will be to see people that you saw playing when you were little right in front of you. To either be playing next to them or against them, I mean, it’s just really exciting and cool, honestly.”

When asked if she’s ready to hold her own, Taylor doesn’t hesitate. “I am.”

Photos via Getty Images. Portrait by Evan Bernstein.

The post From New York to Indiana, Fever Rookie Celeste Taylor Talks Adjusting to the WNBA and Playing Against the Stars She’s Always Admired appeared first on SLAM.

As we get ready to celebrate the start of the 2024 WNBA season, WSLAM is hyped to spotlight some of the many talented creatives in the industry who are making waves, growing the game and helping push women’s basketball coverage forward, all on their own terms. We asked them a range of questions, from how they got into social to their approach to building their personal brands, what they’re most excited for this season and, of course, their average screen time.

Don’t get it twisted though, this isn’t an exclusive list or “club,” but rather a celebration. And if you’re passionate about women’s hoops, too, we invite you tune in, tap in, and share how much you love the game, one post at a time.

How do you balance being a journalist with your social presence: I think it’s a combination of the two: between being authentic and real and then naturally building a following. I feel like that for me is what works best. There are some other journalists who really try to stick to having their social platforms be just fact based…And that’s fine because that might work for them. For me, I feel like the reason why people tapped into me is because not only did I present whatever story I was working on or whatever information I had, but I did so in a way that was authentic to who I was and was relatable. That seemed to be what my brand has always been: being authentic [and] being unapologetically me, but also being factual and presenting the information that people want to know.

What is your advice to journalists and creators looking to get into this space: For anyone up and coming in this space, I would definitely tell them that one: never lose who you are because that’s important. The more that we are starting to see social platforms and content creators take off, the more we realize that people are really going to relate with what resonates with them. And so being yourself is so important. Don’t lose that [and] anything that makes you feel funny when you sleep at night is probably not something that you want to associate yourself with…But also, there’s no limit to creativity. I think over the last 10 years I’ve done maybe 50 to 60 different things creatively and some have worked and some haven’t, but it’s the fact that you have to try it.

The way that algorithms and things work in the social space, something could be a hit today and two months later, no one’s thinking about it. Always be willing to be adaptable change or not necessarily change, but improve and be willing to step outside of the box to do things..Adaptability is definitely something that I would share with any young up and coming journalist.

Screen time: 12 hours.

How did you start building your personal brand on social: I got into social media because none of my friends in high school cared about basketball as much as I did and they stopped answering my text messages about it. I had to go out and find freaks like me on Twitter, and once I started having fun and making friends online I kept going with it. 

How would you describe your approach to content creation: I’m here for vibes, jokes and highlights – but I think my best work is when I can let my passion for the game and its athletes shine through. I’m never going to be as smart as coaches or players on X’s and O’s, but I think I’m good at describing why someone is easy to root for, what makes a person interesting or why an event was monumental.

What you are most excited for this season: I promise if I had a favorite team I’d tell you! But I don’t. Probably because they’ve all bullied me online at some point (I see you, 2x champs). I’m really excited for both sides of the rookies vs. vets battle, though. Are the new kids as good as advertised? But more importantly, can the vets show us why the W is a different level from college?

Screen time (how long are you on your phone per day?): 9.5 hours last week.

What does content creation mean to you: Covering the WNBA and covering women’s basketball is a public service because there are legions and legions of fans that have been essentially underserved for a very long time. And this is an opportunity to give them, the fans, coverage that women’s sports and women’s basketball should be getting. If we want to talk about the spirit of equality and equity and what that all means. And so I was gonna put my head right into this. I was gonna dive right in.

What you are most excited for this season: What I’m most excited for is actually seeing which pop cultural icons and other folks come to WNBA games. That’s gonna be something that I will be all over because obviously Caitlin Clark has brought so many eyes to the sport. You know that Beyonce sent Dawn Staley a huge flower basket, I believe. And there have been many WNBA players, including New York’s own Betnijah Laney, who has been trying to advocate to get Beyonce at Barclays Center for a Liberty game…I’m looking forward to who is gonna come to games. I’m looking forward to how the ratings are going to grow. I’m looking forward to more Aces vs Liberty battles. I mean, those are the best, right?

Screen time: 4 hours and 8 minutes.

How did you start building your personal brand on social: The Girls Talk Sports TV brand is built off of three pillars where athletes can be seen, heard and valued. I built my brand off of the aspect that women’s sports only receive less than 4% of all media coverage and less than 1 percent of that representation in newsrooms are black women. So those three aspects was important to me when I was building my brand, but also building community was super important, especially in the digital space. For me, I’ve always been a hands-on game grower, especially in my community in terms of with helping with youth basketball programs and the nonprofit sector. So for me, building a brand was all about just being true to myself, but also just true to that aspect of wanting to be a community builder.

What you are most excited for this season: I’m most excited to see the athletes in the spotlight where they need to be. I’m excited to see not only casual fans, but new fans get to know these athletes through their game, but also through the off the court storytelling. I think that women’s sports is more than just a moment, it’s a movement and it’s at its inflection point right now. And I’m just excited for not only the athletes to get what they deserve in terms of the coverage and the spotlight, but also for the people that are doing the storytelling to get bigger opportunities.

Screen time: 15 hours per day.

How would you describe your approach to content creation: What’s unique is I’ve been a photographer, but I’ve also been a social media manager for my jobs. And so I think what I bring with photos is being able to bring storytelling into my like social media platforms with my photos. So when I take photos, especially on the women’s side, and I share them, I really try to share, like using the captions and words, I try to tell stories about these players or about these teams and programs. Using my photos, not just you know, dropping the photos is like, Hey, look at these cool photos. It’s like, Hey, look at these photos. And here’s some interesting thing about these women, or here’s something like here’s a crazy game that this player had, and really try to connect the stories to the photos using my social media platforms.

Favorite photo: I probably have a bit of recency bias here because I just recently followed Iowa and Caitlin Clark on like their tournament run. I’m also from Iowa. So that was like extra special for me. So I would probably say, the Caitlin Clark trophy Kobe photo was probably one of my favorites just because I got to pay homage to like Kobe and a very well-known photographer while also showing like Caitlin’s greatness with three back to back the Big 10 titles. I would say that’s probably my favorite. But again, there’s some recency bias there. I think another special one of Caitlin is just like her with her arm stretched out and her tongue out which was like a signature Caitlin move. That’s a really special one to me because it was like the first game of the Big 10 tournament and it shows her personality. I think that’s one of the marks special things about her is like the personality that she has on the court. So, being able to tell that through my photos, I think is really special.

What you are most excited for this season: I’m honestly excited for the new faces in the League and the new fans that it’s going to bring, I think that the WNBA is at a true turning point in regards to the attention that it’s getting and the excitement and buzz around it. And so I think I’m most excited to see, like the records that this season breaks the history that we get from the season that I think will be talked about for decades to come. I’m excited to see this like new generation of fans see this league and how special it is and how special the players are and the level of talent that are in this league. I’m just, it’s honestly the most excited I’ve been for a season in a really long time, I think that this is going to be I think the 2024 season is something that we’re gonna look back on as like a needle mover in regards to the WNBA. So I’m very excited for that.

Screen Time: 9 hours and 12 minutes.

How did you get into covering the WNBA: I had a background in marketing long before I became a journalist. I was actually a content marketing manager right before I transitioned into sports full time. But essentially, I just, when I decided I wanted to transition to sports, I really wanted to look for a place that needed more authentic stories. And a really good friend of mine suggested the WNBA because he knew I was a good storyteller. And he also knew that, you know, the League needed some more storytelling. So once I just opted in certain covering games, I was hooked. And I’ve been here ever since.

What’s your approach to content creation: Once I [started] really focusing on women’s basketball, the following kept coming really quick, and it just escalated I would say in the last couple of weeks. I got the awesome chance to go to the WNBA draft. And in the middle of the draft, I went viral…It’s just been a fun ride to be able to lean into that and keep going.

What are you most excited about this season: I think it’s for everyone to kind of see what I’ve been seeing. I think when I when I got to the WNBA last season, I was kicking myself because I’m like, Where have I been like? Why did I not get here sooner?…To see the League growing and then women’s college basketball growing and now they’re kind of colliding in real-time with this exponential growth, I’m so excited for anyone to get to come to a game or watch a game on TV or really just enjoy the League. The [W] is super, super talented.

Screen time: 10 hours and 33 minutes a day.

How did you get into content creation: If I’m being honest, it was kind of an accident. It was something that I kind of fell into. I love women’s basketball [and] I’ve always been tweeting about it on Twitter cause that’s just what I do. Posting about it on Instagram and stuff just naturally—it’s just something that I’ve been in love with since I was a little girl. I noticed that I had like a following and I would say stuff and I see people repeating it and people would be latching on to some of the things I say.

What’s your approach to your content: It’s authentically me. I mean, in every sense of the word. At this point, people will be able to tell if I’m not being authentically me and then they’re going to be like, Oh no, we’re not messing with you no more. So at this point [for] my brand, it has to be.

Screen time: 4 hours and 31 minutes.

How did you get into being on social: I’m a sports writer more than I’m a content creator. I think it comes with the territory when you’re on social media. The only social media app I have is Twitter. I’ll do funny memes and stuff like that…I’ve tried to leverage it to grow my platform and share my work.

What are you most excited for this season: I think, like everybody, this new draft class, there’s just so much talent, but also, you know, NIL changed things so much that they’re more well known than say other rookies who have come in. They’ve already established platforms. They already have their own brands. They already have their own followings. So, all of that bringing it into the League is like this injection of excitement. I know women’s sports seems to be exploding right now and they are, but this WIC was led a long time ago. Now we’re just seeing the explosion from it. It’s been slowly building to this. And I wanna see how that translates over to the season [and] how the WNBA can capitalize on it.

Thoughts on content creation: Seeing now, especially since I first got into sports writing, so many more people who are contributors, who are writers, who are content creators in the space now is awesome. There’s just so much coverage happening on different levels and in different creative ways. As someone who’s been around for a little while, it’s really cool to see.

Screen time: I watch a lot of games on my phone or tablets or whatever if they’re not on television. But with social media, I try to take breaks on the weekends.

How did you get into content creation: I came across tunnel fits, I want to say like two years ago, and decided to make a video about it. I ended up making a few but they did really well, surprisingly well, and that kind of made me think like, oh my goodness…I just decided to kind of start talking about it here and there and I did the same thing with NWSL. The more I did it, the more I realized that: A, there’s people watching this and love to see the videos and they’re commenting on it and everything. But there’s also the people who are like, oh my gosh, like I had no clue this was a thing, didn’t know tunnel fits were a thing, didn’t know about these players, yada yada. And that kind of made me want to pursue it.

What’s your approach to building your brand: Once I realized that there was kind of a niche for women’s sports, I decided to really expand it and kind of give myself the job to cover everything. And I think it has coincided really well with the rise of women’s sports because I started [in] 2022, maybe ’21. That’s kind of when we saw like this big push to get to where we are now. So it’s been really cool because with that growth, I’ve also been growing as a creator. And there was a little bit of a switch in the fall of last year, where brands started coming to me and all these platforms saying, ‘We want you to make content. We love what you’re doing. We want you to do it for us.’ And that’s kind of honestly how I built it into a career today.

Screen time: 8 hours.

What your approach to building your brand on social media: I’m a freelancer. And what that means is that most big stories are being covered by beat writers or staff writers will say, not always in women’s sports, and particularly the W that’s obviously been growing, and we’re seeing a massive change ahead of this season. But I would say that most of my time covering this League has been really trying to convince publications, that there’s an audience for this. And what has been successful for me is trying to find angles that aren’t, you know, this sports journalism market is really oversaturated. And so for me, either going to try to find a really unique angle that no one has covered.

An example I can think of that’s probably my biggest story to date was I wrote for Sports Illustrated about nonbinary athletes and where they fit and Layshia Clarendon was kind of the focus, the centerpiece of that story. That was in 2021 and that was a space that no one had entered. We were starting to talk about trans athletes, but non-binary athletes really weren’t being talked about. And so that was like a place I could enter. I think also trying to pitch women’s publications things about women’s athletes. I’ve been in the New York Times several times, and I’ve never been published in the sports section, right? I’m really creative about whether I’m writing about in-game proposals for the vows section, or I’m writing about WNBA fashion for like the opinion section. I’ve always tried to be really, really creative about where and how and bringing my coverage and what other communities might be overlapping aside from score.

What are you most excited about this season: The W was really my entry point into becoming a basketball fan and what I loved was how many athletes were queer. I’m like, Oh, I’m queer. And I love their heart and I love rooting for them and seeing them be amazing. I think the women’s soccer team, we hear a lot about that and lesbian spaces, but the W has like been really overlooked I think for a long time…I think to me, that’s really cool—finding people who are not only invested in the game, but can find other reasons to buy in…I’ve loved all of the shit talking before the season. I love all the fact that everyone’s already getting chippy…I’m just excited to watch people see what the W really is. 

Screen time: 4 hours and 32 minutes.

How did you get into sports media: In addition to creating content, I’m a journalist, host and producer, so I am really a jack of all trades. I can do many things, including content creation. I started my career off at ESPN on the business side, and after three and a half years, I realized I wanted to do something different. I wanted to storytell. I wanted to be around people. And I didn’t want to be in my cubicle anymore. I was at the headquarters in Connecticut, and I wanted to bet on myself, so I decided to do that and that changed my life. I really have kind of built this sort of lane for myself. I never saw anybody who looked like me doing what I’m doing. And it’s been a lot of learning along the way.

What’s your approach to building your brand: In every single space and I show up as me. I’m proud of who I am. Part of my journey, it has not been easy at all and I never tell folks that it has been easy but I’m also proudly Dominican and Puerto Rican and you know that’s a huge part of my identity. I’ve realized [that] the more I lean into that, the more I celebrate myself and people who look like me, the more opportunities come.

What are you most excited about this season: There’s a lot of change within the teams— Natasha Cloud in Phoenix, Skylar Diggins-Smith in Seattle, Candace Parker retired. All these changes within women’s basketball. Change can be really good and I’m excited to just see all the competition. There are a lot of eyes, a lot of young players from Caitlin Clark to Angel Reese to Kamilla Cardoso. There’s a lot of excitement right now.

Screen time: 7 hours and 18 minutes.

How did you get into content creation: What has always been important to me was taking the access that I had from being in these spaces [as a sports writer] and finding ways to get that information to the fans. I started just by live tweeting all these press conferences because they weren’t on TV and I knew that fans wanted to know what these players were saying. I guess my brand kind of grew out of that and since then I’ve gotten to write about so many players in the League…It all started with just trying to share and tell stories and the brand, whatever my following has come from there has kind of all grown from that.

Favorite WNBA team: I think so much of my job is easier when things are going well, but the longer I’m in this space and the more players that I get to know and the more that there’s just so much movement in the league that I’m rooting for these players that I’ve built connections with. So now I’ve got players on every single team that I’m rooting for because I know them personally on some level, but I also am just rooting for kind of the overall League success.

Anything else you’d like to add: To have a League that’s majority queer women, to have a League that’s majority Black women and to know that these are spaces, that those stories are very rarely told. And to be aware of my privilege as a white man in this space, but to be able to use whatever platform I have to be able to amplify those stories is really important to me. It’s an honor for me.

How did you get into content creation: It was really something that just randomly happened back in 2018 or so. First of all, I was always a fan of the WNBA and, back in around 2019, a few people reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, we see these opportunities. We think you’ll be good for it. You’re always talking about sports.’…I was like, ‘I don’t have a journalism background.’ I was working in finance, doing the whole corporate America thing at that time And I was like, Okay, I’ll give it a try. And it really just snowballed from there. Went [from] just starting out as a writer and then it grew to working in social and then to being an on-camera host and a photographer. I’ve been able to do a lot of things just by me [and] someone taking a chance on me and thinking that I would be good for the job.

What’s your approach to building your brand: I think what a lot of people enjoy, for me is just, I won’t say hottakes or anything, and I don’t think I’m a comedian, but a lot of people just think that, Oh my God, you’re so hilarious...People just always think that it’s been something of just a breath of fresh air when it comes to especially the women’s sports space surrounding women’s basketball. They just really love my following, or what I’ve done, whether it be written work or on air work or photography, or just something as simple as live-tweeting about the game. I’ve always just made sure that I try to stay true to me, right? Things that I like, I just share that with people. I don’t try to be anyone else. I’m always me. I talk about being late for traveling, food, sneakers and sports. And that’s what I love and for some reason, it resonates with everyone else. They [see] that I have a real life apart from what it is that I do for work.

What are you most excited about this season: This season, I’m really just looking forward to competitive basketball. I’m looking forward to seeing these amazing women being able to play on such a larger stage. We know that over the past few years, women’s basketball and the attention that is received has been on the uptick and, you know, we’re familiar with it. We’ve been here. We’ve been in the trenches covering it. And so now I’m excited that everyone else is finally starting to take notice to something that we’ve known or I’ve known has been great for just so many years. So, that’s what I’m really looking forward to. And I think that this new wave of talent that’s coming in, they’re ready to compete and I’m all for it.

Screen time: 9 hours and 50 seconds.

What’s your approach to building your brand on social media: I think my biggest thing is that I’ve always been unapologetically me. I remember in grad school, one of my professors had said to me, ‘When you become a professional, you have to keep your biases aside.’ But you look at certain broadcasters or radio personnel, who they root for. I think that’s been my biggest thing. I know, too, that I am a little bit of an overshare. I kind of share both the good and the bad of my life, the industry and people really resonate with that because it isn’t all roses. People always say [that] social media is a highlight reel, but I try to be super real with things. And so I’m just kind of a goofy person, I try not to take things too seriously, but also in the same breath, when life gets me down I share that with other people because I think that it’s really important to share that things aren’t perfect all the time.

I think that’s kind of how I built my personal brand. It’s just being true and open and honest all the time. And at the end of the day, I’m still a sports fan. I think that’s the biggest thing, too, is that a lot of the time you see reporters and they’re doing their job, of course, but they’re just tweeting things that are professional and I think I have a lot of fun with it. I still am a fan. At the end of the day, even when I’m covering the WNBA, when you see a sick player or a sick shot, you want to enjoy it the way you would as a regular fan. Yes, reporting is my job. And when I’m going to [do] a story, I’m going to do it without bias, but I still want to enjoy the game. Enjoy the players, enjoy the teams the same way any fan would…Yes, I think I’m good at my job and I try to be as professional and unbiased in my work, but at the end of the day, I’m still a fan and I like to pass on with it. That’s kind of why we all got into sports in the first place.

Thoughts on the growth of women’s sports and content creation: Thank you guys for showcasing these creators. I think it’s huge, especially in the women’s sports space. As much as women’s sports has been growing and we’ve seen the data grow and not even just in women’s basketball, but across women’s soccer you’re seeing like the pro leagues for volleyball and things like that…There’s so many people who have been covering the W. This is my fifth season and I still feel like a rookie because there’s been people who have had boots on the ground since the early days. It’s really amazing that you guys put in the work to showcase these incredible women who have been putting in the work since before everybody else saw the vision and now everybody’s catching up.

Screen time: 8 hours and 37 minutes.

When did you get into content creation: I created a Twitter account in like 2018 because I kept going on Twitter to check [game] scores. I figured I might as well create an account, so I just started out as a fan. But I think when I started to get more into the writing side, that’s when I started to meet more people, especially on WNBA Twitter, too. I think the first year that I started covering in 2021, people were very welcoming and it was just a matter of putting myself out there…Just to kind of put my name out there, I would comment on live games, things like that. I would share where the W games are on what channels because as we know, it can be a little bit difficult at times to accept those and so I think just by doing that, and getting my name out there and more people started to see me and they started to follow me as well. I think being from Toronto, too, there are a large number of Raptors fans that are now WNBA fans as well. I think when I moved into that space of covering a W, a lot of the fan base I had built from the Raptors side kind of follow through and move along with me through this journey. I think that’s just how my platform grew and my brand kind of became covering WNBA and women’s basketball as well as tennis because that’s also my other main sport that I love to watch and to cover.

What are you most excited about this season: I’m so excited to see how all the new additions to different teams kind of paired out, like with the Storm getting Skylar and Nneka… I think there was so much movement in the offseason and so I’m very curious to see a lot of players who are now wearing new jerseys after wearing, you know, one jersey for the entirety of their careers. I think that’s going to be really exciting.

Screen time: 5 hours.

What’s your approach to building your brand: Just kind of having fun with it. That’s kind of my biggest thing is just—I know I like to do video content. I like to be on camera, but ultimately for me, it’s just, [do] I want to watch this and do I have fun making it? And normally if I have fun making it, someone’s going to have fun watching it whether that be social media videos or YouTube videos or whatever that might be. Just kind of just having fun with it. And if I can have fun with it, someone else can have fun watching it.

I love women’s basketball. This is what I love to watch. If I wasn’t doing content for it, I would be talking about it the same way, just in a different manner. For me, my biggest inviting factor is the fact that I’m a fan just like everyone else. Yes, I am in the media. Yes, I am credentialed to things, but I’m a fan and I love women’s basketball.

What are you most excited about this season: I think you can feel the different level of excitement for this season coming into it. I’m personally most excited [about] all the new fans to be able to see what we’ve known about and how incredible that this League truly is. And a lot of that has to do with how widespread the talent is and how good I think the teams are this season. I’m ready to see these teams go to war and just have some good games. I’m excited for some real, genuinely good basketball this season.

Screen time: 11 hours.

How did you get into content creation: I think social media—I didn’t realize its power in connection with sports. I think until I was working at The Ringer and I just saw how not only the company’s media presence was important but each individual writer and personality had their own following. I was like, Wow, that’s really cool and I kind of had a talk with myself, OK, what do I want my following to really be about? I don’t want to have my hand in everything. What do I want the people following me to really follow me for?

I remember I went to my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, I was like, I want people when they think of the WNBA, that they mention my name [and] that they have me in those conversations. So, what do I need to do to do that? I learned by sharing my story with my fandom with the WNBA and with the Sacramento Monarchs, really just pulled at the heartstrings of a lot of people…Once I tapped into that fandom, that’s when I started wanting to grow the game by sharing more of those stories and more of those stories about the players as well. I’m not gonna be breaking news, but I want to make sure that players know that they can talk to me and I’m gonna see them as a human.

I’m going to make sure they know that I’ve been here from the beginning and as a former women’s basketball player myself, I see them. I’m not just here for the moment or the movement, I’ve been here.

What would your advice be to people, especially young Black women that are looking to get into the space and questioning whether they should go the traditional media route or content creation: I think having your own brand and going into content creation right now, you have the power to do that. I think that’s both a positive and a negative because sometimes as someone who went to journalism school. I have my degree in this, I’m on the same platform as somebody who has none of those accolades or none of that schooling. You can also just pop up and have your own video and make your own YouTube show, like, the power is very much in the hands of the creator.

[For] the longest time, I was so hesitant and so nervous and looking at a lot of people in the space and saying, well, I can’t do that. I’ll just stay over here or I’ll never get there, I’ll just stay over here.And once I just started and also going into freelance, I just really bet on myself. That is always my advice to young girls, especially young Black girls: you’re always told to stay in this box or stay in this lane or do things that everyone else is doing to get better. When I made the decision to cover the W NBA and women’s basketball, it was very much a, I’m doing something completely different than what you guys are wanting me to do or, you know, just to cover the NBA only. I followed my passion and I said, I have the skill set, I have the knowledge and I’m going to bet on myself.

Screen time: 8 hours.

What’s your approach to building your brand: I think honestly the biggest thing is just authenticity. Anyone who follows me on Twitter, anyone who listens to our podcast, I think you’re always getting me in my truest form. I’m always going to be a fan of my favorite players and I’m always gonna rep the teams and the players that I love while also trying to remain objective and provide insight and analysis and my opinion on things. So I think that rather than like having this perfectly curated brand where everything’s so pristine and whatever, I think I’ve went in the opposite direction where I’ve found that the easiest way to be myself and give people like original unique content is to kind of let that personal fan side come out a little bit more. I think that allows me to access a deeper level of storytelling when I’m writing pieces because it’s more about the person I’m writing about. I’m not as concerned with how it looks or whatever, I just wanna be spreading the stories of these players.

Favorite WNBA team: It’s two answers: the real answer is the Aces, and then the other answer is whatever team Kahleah Copper is currently playing for. For a long time, it’s been the Aces and the Sky, but now I’m gonna have to rep the Mercury, which is gonna be a little weird for me, but wherever Kai goes, I’m gonna be a fan of them. But Aces, you know, Jackie Young and A’ja Wilson are two of my all-time favorites.

Screen time: 4 hours and 20 minutes.

How did you get into content creation: I feel like everyone really started during COVID. I was like, well, I might as well just post some stuff on tiktok because that’s the thing and once school started opening up, I started doing like a little bit of basketball content with the varsity team that I was coaching and that would blow up here and there and then the big blow up was my niece and nephew being as cute as they are. Me being their aunt, it was literally nothing like that special—I mean, it is special to me that I’m their aunt but nothing that special where it was like some big break. It was just like, Wow, that girl loves her niece and nephew.

There was one video I did, it wasn’t even with the kids, it was a dancing video by myself and I kid you not every single comment was like, ‘Get it Auntie Nae! Go Auntie. Yeah, Auntie! I was like, OK, is that my name? Is that what people call me. So, that’s been the thing ever since then.

I’ve always been a fan of the W. I post Detroit Shock throwbacks all the time, but never really had the chance or really never knew l could be someone to talk about it in that way just because I’m not a reporter, I’m not a journalist. I just love the game, love being there. But I was in the right place at the right time: I was in Dallas at the Final Four last year and someone from the League was like, ‘Hey, I’ve seen some of your Tik Toks, I really want you to come to the draft next week…Before going into the draft, I was talking to my wife and I was just like, ‘I’m so scared. I don’t know anybody. I’m not sure how I’m going to be received there because I don’t know if people know me. I don’t want to step on toes. I just wanted to be in experience and all that. And my first interaction walking in, I turned around and I saw Aliyah Boston walking towards me. inside, I’m freaking out, I’m like, Oh my God, it’s Aliyah...That’s the moment I was like, OK, maybe I am supposed to be here.

What’s been your approach to content creation and building your brand: I don’t take a different approach at all with my personal versus my professional brand. I think that if you remain consistent, your audience knows where you are, what you’re going to do. And so by me just authentically wanting to really get to the meat of the story and get to know the players as humans, it’s beyond just rapid fire, right?… People want to get to know people but it doesn’t have to be those quick hitting things. I think I do a great job of long-form, get to know you content, as opposed to short form heavy hitting. I mean, I can do the short form but I keep that consistent in how I talk to people as humans and meet them where they are as humans with the way I tell stories. My personal brand, you see a lot of athletes just having fun, getting real, and just being open and trusting and vulnerable and recognized as a privilege. They feel comfortable enough to do that. And then you see that when I take it to a professional setting, I have a show with the WNBA called Off Top and that’s where we just sit down [and] I don’t have a preconceived notion of what I want to talk about. I just say, Hey, welcome to my Big Comfy Couch. And I let them take it where they want to take it. So I, no matter what I do between my purpose, personal brand or professional brand, I want to open up space for people to be themselves. And I want to facilitate that conversation in a way that it sticks with the general masses, and amplify that I’ve been a cheerleader to my core. And that’s what I bring in my journalism, too.

What are you most excited about this season: I’m really excited to see players take ownership of their stories. I’m really excited to see them step into a landscape that is ready to fully digest the fact that they belong there. And for them to be celebrated the way they’ve always deserved. And because of the empowerment around the game right now. It allows players to show up as fully themselves. So whether that’s translating by how they play basketball stylistically, or how they dress in the tunnel, or how they communicate their stories with media. I’m just excited about the individuality being showcased this season…

I want the general public to not be reliant on the bigger names and really know that when you look around in that locker room. For the W, there are 11 or 12 players in there. Every single person’s story matters. And so going into this season, every single person’s story should be told because we have so many more eyes on it. What I fear is that the legacy players, the players who have been around the super vets, they’re gonna be overshadowed in that. I want media to know like, it’s our responsibility to tell that history and it’s our responsibility to really go out and showcase the excellence. We have greats stepping away, [like] that Candace Parker retirement, which crushed me. And I never thought we gave her enough credit for how transformative she was. I’m a big Candace Parker and really I’m very underwhelmed about that. But like I don’t think we ever gave her enough credit about how transformative she was. And I want these vets [that] decide to step down and step away from the game, an active player role, for them to feel like they’ve been appreciated their entire career. And so, whether that’s us reconciling and having this heavy reconciliation in pushing their stories forward in a way we haven’t before, that’s what we need to do. We need to make the effort to really push them in to knowing that their flowers are there and they should receive them. 

Screen time: 9 hours and 37 minutes.

How did you get into content creation: I’ve always been obsessed with creating content. Even in high school, I had an anonymous Twitter page covering my high school sports. And then when I got to college, I was covering Wichita State Athletics [and] men’s Basketball was like, the biggest thing in the city. This was in 2016, 2017, I was so adamant about using my own social media or like different social media channels to promote our coverage, like the newspaper and everything. Long story short, I was told that using my social media is unprofessional and it wouldn’t get me anywhere. But I really didn’t listen to that. And that’s when I started Sports with Aliyah my junior year of college, and that’s where I’m like, Okay, I’m gonna write articles, do interviews, create content on my terms, and I know I can create an audience that likes me for me and my coverage.

From there, Sports with Aliyah has just grown so much. It was a talk show in Wichita— I’d love to get back to that—but a talk show or just going to any sports-related thing I could possibly go to and just show it from my point of view. I love focusing on things that make the athletes more human instead of just like their stats, like, I want to know their personal stories, I want to show their personalities. I also love the way basketball intersects with fashion, music culture, that’s just my favorite thing.

And when it comes to women’s sports, a lot of people saw me covering women’s sports as like a charity, like, Oh, that’s so nice that you’re covering the women’s game, too. And I’m like, ‘It’s not nice. It’s what I want to do.’ This is what I’m passionate about. That’s kind of how I approached it in my content. I have a lot of men’s sports fans following me, but I would just continue to talk about women’s basketball, women’s sports very casually [and adding] it in with my normal content, instead of just being like, Guys, look, I’m doing such a great thing by covering women’s sports. I’m just like, Yeah, this is what I’m talking about and get with it. And I think that’s kind of how I’ve kind of converted some men’s sports fans into liking women’s sports, and it’s been just integrated into my life at this point. 

What’s been your approach to building your personal brand: My approach has always been community first and not getting wrapped in with the numbers. I mean, it’s social media, things can go viral left and right. But what are you doing to sustain it? I’ve always valued a community, that’s why I started a group chat with my followers to help them break into sports or talk about sports. Community is everything and then also just capitalizing off of what makes me unique in the space. The human stories or the culture, I like to make a big deal out of the little things. I like to show what a normal broadcast wouldn’t show, those small moments between a player and a fan. Or, two players having a nice moment. I want to show things that you can’t see by just reading an article or watching ESPN or the broadcast. I think that’s been my key. 

Screen time: 8-9 hours.

How did you get into content creation: I feel like TikTok really became big my senior year of high school. [In] college, I had a very small platform, not really a lot of followers, but it just gave me a place to be creative and post about my life, post about being a student-athlete. I grew up watching a lot of YouTube and I feel like YouTube is definitely tedious, so having a platform where you can kind of share more short form videos and it’s an easier lift was really appealing to me. I kind of just got started there.

I also am a journalist, so I do some more traditional work, but I feel like TikTok is a place for me to kind of have my own little community and be a little bit more creative and do some untraditional things, whether it be sharing my opinions or doing fun interviews. That is really how I got into it and I’ve continued to post around big sporting events and just kind of giving my takes or getting opportunities to interview players and my platform has grown from there.

What’s your approach to building your brand: I think reporting and being a journalist is a huge part of my brand and I always want that to be the first thing that is conveyed when I’m posting and sharing online, but also sharing that fun side of me and knowing that a lot of these student-athletes who I’m interviewing, especially in college, are similar in age to me and probably people that I could be friends with if I wasn’t working because I was also a student-athlete. So, I totally get the ins and outs of what they’re going through. Trying to combine that perspective in the interviews, in my content, I think reaches them a little bit more because they’re human, too. They have their favorite artists off the court. They have hobbies that they like to do. I think it’s just a really good way for me to connect with these athletes.

Screen time: 5 hours.

How did you get into content creation: I had already been in the queer content creation space…Soccer’s always been my thing and that’s the thing I knew the most about—the intersection of queer and World Cup content. I was able to make like a bunch of like breakdown videos with the World Cup and now I just talk about sports and kind of try and make women’s sports as accessible as possible to as many people and tell the kind of human interest stories behind everything that happens. [It]s] just kind of the stuff I already am interested in and now I get to talk about it on TikTok.

What’s your approach to content creation: I think that a lot of it is that I think that I’ve created a community of people that watch my videos, they care about women’s sports, they care about women’s basketball, they care about what’s going on, and I like being around those people. And so it’s just kind of like, I, in my life, have had friends who I talk to about things happening in the W or things happening in the sports world. And now it’s like, I have a giant community of those people and like so many more friends to talk about…The thing that I always come back to is just like, I wanna grow the conversation and that kind of is the driving force [in] how many more friends can I get to talk about women’s basketball and all that, everything with?

Favorite WNBA team: I’m a DC girl. I’m excited for Aaliyah [Edwards]…that is gonna be exciting for us for the Mystics.

Screen time: 9 hours and 15 minutes.

How did you get into content creation: I have always been very vocal and extroverted and somebody that’s been taking pictures since I was a young age. I always felt that sharing videos [and] pictures as well as my thoughts as a way of bringing people into my life and I guess I never thought of myself as a content creator, I always just thought of myself that was kind of sharing what was going on in my life…

I’ve always just cared about curating. I would say not only an image, but not an image or a brand, but authenticating and showcasing my life, what I’m doing, what I aspire for, how I can help other people, how we can bring more people in. So I would say on Instagram, I really want us to just showcase the ups and downs, but also the possibilities for everybody in their life…On Twitter, which is the app that I have the most following on, I just talk. I’ve always been very vocal and I’ve always wanted to share how my background in African American studies and history has allowed me to look at a lot of things a bit more critically and provide some insight as well as my own personal feelings and thoughts.

What are you most excited about this season: The competition, the outfits, the brand deals that clients get. I think that the Liberty have the best court side experience with the Crown Club, with celebrities that come to games. It’s immaculate. I’m excited for the film pictures that I’m going to take this year—I think I’ve really found my lane in regards to capturing things between my phone and my cameras, and really being able to support W and be a face of the League and people know.

We get down in New York. I’ve been called the mayor. I wouldn’t consider myself as such, but it’s fun to know that when people are coming to game in New York, they know they’re gonna see me and that I’m gonna bring that energy to every game.

Screen time: 4-6 hours a day.

What’s do you think makes your content unique on social: I really like looking at and understanding personal development: why is a player growing? How did they adapt over an offseason? What did they start seeing differently? It’s amazing watching the consistency that they grow into, and understanding them as players and people is what I’m all about.

What are you most excited about this season: I’m excited about a plethora of things, but I’m most excited to watch the Seattle Storm find their way as a team this year. There’s so much talent coming together, and I can’t wait to watch Noelle Quinn fit everything together

Screen time: It’s around 8 in the off-season and then about 11.5 or 12 on average in-season.

The post WSLAM Presents: The WNBA Creators, Journalists and Creatives Making Waves and Growing the Game appeared first on SLAM.

Candace Parker officially announced on Sunday that she is retiring from the game after more than a decade. Parker is undeniably one of the most influential, and iconic, players in the history of women’s basketball.

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A post shared by Candace Parker (@candaceparker)

A champion and seven-time WNBA All-Star, Parker is also a mentor, a mother and an inspiration to many. As we celebrate CP3’s legacy, here’s a look back at some of the legendary moments throughout her career:

FIRST WOMAN TO DUNK IN COLLEGE GAME

Parker set the tone from the jump. Back in ’06 as a freshman at Tennessee, she defied the notion that women can’t dunk and showed the world that she can by becoming the first woman, ever, to dunk in the NCAA Tournament.

TOTAL DOMINANCE AT TENNESSEE

Playing for the late and great Pat Summitt, Parker dominated while suiting up for the Volunteers. Her college resume includes:

• Winning ’06 SEC Rookie of the Year.
• Being the fastest player in Lady Vols history to score 1,000 career points.
• Winning ’07 SEC Player of the Year.
• Leading the Lady Vols to back-to-back national championships.
• Averaging 19.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.9 steals, and 2.4 blocks per game.

THE ARRIVAL

Just one day after leading the Lady Vols to yet another NCAA national championship, the Los Angeles Sparks drafted Candace Parker as the overall No. 1 pick in the ’08 draft. Really, that was just the beginning for Parker, who was set to team up with Lisa Leslie.

THE ROOKIE’S REIGN

In her WNBA debut against the Phoenix Mercury, Parker dropped 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists—breaking Cynthia Cooper’s previous rookie record in a debut game.

Her dominance and skillset was undeniable. Parker became the first WNBA player to win both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same year. She was also pregnant with her oldest daughter at the end of the season.

“I was actually pregnant with [Lailaa] at the end of the year, my rookie year,” Candace told WSLAM for the cover of SLAM 233. “I accepted the MVP and Rookie of the Year trophy with my daughter and then from there it’s just been our journey.”

THE 2016 ‘CHIP

During a season that was dedicated to Summitt, Parker showed up and showed out during the 2016 season. After beating the Chicago Sky, 3-1, they advanced to the Finals for the first time since ’03 and went on to defeat the Lynx and bring franchise’s third-ever title back to LA. Parker was named Finals MVP.

“I remember a lot about that series. Just the grind, the focus, the energy that it took to even get through that series,” the 2016 Finals MVP told WSLAM. “I think it also speaks to my innocence, because in 2008, we had a chance to go to the Finals and we lost on a last-second shot. I had a number of baskets that rolled off the rim. And I think that recognizing that, like, we won off of a rebound putback…And everybody after that is telling us that we’re the best thing ever off of one moment. I think it just kind of speaks to how you gotta stay the course.”

RETURN TO THE CHI

It was the free agency announcement that shocked the world. After an illustrious career in LA, Parker announced she was taking her talents to the Chi, a decision that was as much about family and her life off the court as it was about her career.

“I believe a lot of things come full circle,” Parker told us. “I think just over the course of my career I realized how much important people have meant to my career. Coming back home, I mean, my dad fixed my blinds the other day, we went over to his house for Father’s Day, my mom cooks me pregame, picks up my daughter all the time. Dad brings doughnuts over sometimes for my daughter, like, it’s just, I can go see my grandma. I really respect the time that I moved away from home because I needed it. I needed to establish myself in my home and get away from that, but to come back, who I am now, to really appreciate it.”

In our SLAM 233 cover story, CP3 opened up about her decision to join the Sky, returning home to Chicago and more.

READ HERE

THE 2021 ‘CHIP

History. Not only did Parker play a key role in helping lead the Sky to the 2021 WNBA championship, the franchise’s first, but she was renowned for her leadership—in the SLAM 236 cover story, even former teammate Kahleah Copper praised her for it (read here).

TO VEGAS

Yet again, Parker’s decision to take her talents elsewhere, this time Vegas, was centered around family. Despite injury, Parker’s presence added to Aces’s star studded roster as the team went on to win their second title as a franchise.

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THANK YOU, CANDACE!

The post Looking Back at Candace Parker’s Legendary Career appeared first on SLAM.

W LEGENDS OF THE PAST

From the first woman, ever, to grace the cover of SLAM to the icons that changed the game. 

COP COVER TEE

W LEGENDS OF THE PRESENT

Breaking boundaries. Defying any and all expectations. For these women, limits don’t exist.

COP COVER TEE

W LEGENDS OF THE FUTURE

From the legendary impact of Dawn Staley to college basketball’s brightest stars—including Juju, Angel, Flau’jae, Paige, Azzi and Cameron—women’s hoopers don’t just have next, they have right now.

COP COVER TEE

SHOP THE WOMEN’S HOOPS COLLECTION

The post Celebrating the W Legends of the Past, Present and Future  appeared first on SLAM.

RTG Features have partnered with Heartland Film to launch the first annual event, which will take place February 16-18, 2024 at Living Room Theaters in Indianapolis. There will be a mix of world premiere titles, recent festival circuit favorites and iconic films.

In addition to screenings and post-screening Q&As, the festival will also feature panel conversations with filmmakers, player-owned production companies, and network executives in the sports film and documentary space. ESPN Films, celebrating the 15th anniversary of their award-winning 30 for 30 series this year, joins the festival as a Supporting Sponsor and will host a must-see conversation looking back at the basketball documentaries they’ve produced.

Check out the full lineup below.

Above the Rim

In New York City, where thousands of teenagers compete for very few chances to play professional basketball—and the fame and money that come with it—one talented young man must choose between a scholarship to college and immediate wealth in this drama set on the blacktop courts of Harlem.

Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks

Reggie Miller single-handedly crushed the hearts of Knick fans multiple times. But it was the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals that solidified Miller as Public Enemy #1 in New York City.

Hoop Dreams

Two ordinary inner-city Chicago kids dare to reach for the impossible—professional basketball glory—in this epic chronicle of hope and faith. Filmed over a five-year period, Hoop Dreams follows young Arthur Agee and William Gates and their families as the boys navigate the complex, competitive world of scholastic athletics, while dealing with the intense pressures of their home lives and neighborhoods.

Director Steve James and film subjects Arthur Agee and William Gates join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Amongst the Trees

Amongst the Trees follows an upstart men’s basketball program at Copper Mountain College—a tiny community college in the middle of the Mojave Desert in Joshua Tree, California—during the final week of their season. In just its second year of the team’s existence, the film drops viewers directly into the action as the Fighting Cacti make one last push for the playoffs.

Executive Producer Paul George and director/producer Jack Jensen join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot

In 2006, the top 24 high school basketball players in the nation descended on Harlem’s Rucker Park to compete in the first annual Elite 24. Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot follows eight of those players as they showcase their skills at the most legendary playground in the world.

The Syd & TP Show

World Champions and bench warming besties Sydney Colson and Theresa Plaisance are determined to become the faces of the WNBA, despite the fact no one asked them to. This buddy comedy series follows Syd and TP on their quest to become the most famous basketball players on earth through a mix of stunts, interviews, hijinks and a complete lack of shame.

This 90-min event will feature Syd and TP doing a standup routine, screening the pilot episode and a reel of the funniest sketches from their series, and a panel conversation and Q&A. This event will also be filmed for Season 2 of “The Syd + TP Show” so dress to impress! By purchasing a ticket and/or being present at the event you are consenting to be filmed for “The Syd + TP Show.”

Perfect in ’76

Revisit the journey of the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers and their renowned coach Bobby Knight who led the team to a perfect season of 32-0 and a national championship.

Stephen Curry: Underrated

Stephen Curry’s former Davidson teammate, Jason Richards, joins us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Candace Parker: Unapologetic

A wide-ranging, revealing, and often intimate portrait of WNBA player Candace Parker, one of the most transcendent women’s sports stars in history.

Candace Parker joins us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

D. Wade: Life Unexpected

For a decade, Dwyane Wade intimately documented his life and career with a film crew. The result is a remarkably candid portrait of one of the greatest NBA players of all time.

Blue Chips

Championship-winning coach Pete Bell runs the cleanest program in college basketball. But when he finds himself on the brink of his first losing season, Bell decides he must make a risky trade to protect his job: under-the-table dollars for talent.

Shattered Glass: A WNBPA Story

This trailblazing documentary is an exhilarating journey into the heart of professional women’s basketball, spotlighting the extraordinary lives, resilience, and triumphant achievements of WNBA MVPs Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Nneka Ogwumike, and Sheryl Swoopes.

Director/producer Andrea Buccilla and WNBPA Executive Director Terri Carmichael Jackson join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Handle With Care: The Legend of The Notic Streetball Crew

Handle With Care: The Legend of The Notic Streetball Crew chronicles the rise, fall and rebirth of The Notic, an upstart streetball collective from Canada in the early 2000s. While their creative basketball moves brought them global fame as teenagers, it set them at odds with the status quo in a battle involving self-expression, race and rejection. Driven by a twenty-year quest to finish their mixtape trilogy, the documentary charts how the group of friends from Vancouver played outside the confines of the NBA yet still left an indelible imprint on the game forever.

Directors Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux and Kirk Thomas join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Chang Can Dunk

Chang Can Dunk follows Chang, a 16-year-old, Asian American high school student in the marching band, who bets the school basketball star that he can dunk by Homecoming.

Writer/director Jingyi Shao and members of the cast join us for a special post-screening panel and Q&A.

Game Change Game

Game Change Game tells the story of a tumultuous basketball season plagued by once unimaginable circumstances.

The post The SLAM Film Festival is the FIRST-EVER Basketball-Focused Event: Buy Tickets, Full Lineup appeared first on SLAM.

After a whirlwind matchup between the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty that went down to the wire, Vegas are the reigning champs yet again.

Considering the game just ended, here’s a quick recap:

Nah, but in all seriousness, what a game. The final score? 70-69. With a title on the line, the entire Aces roster delivered: from their point gawd Chelsea Gray leading from the sidelines to A’ja Wilson’s pure dominance to the People’s Champ, Sydney Colson with the crazyyyy behind-the-back pass AND delivering the greatest post-game speech.

We won’t say we told you so, but…

Congrats to the M’VPeriodt A’ja Wilson, the Point Gawd Chelsea Gray, Sydney Colson, Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum, Kiah Stokes, Alysha Clark, Cayla George, Kierstan Bell, Alaina Coates, Candace Parker and head coach Becky Hammon and the entire Aces staff on a historic win. Champs.

Go follow @wslam to keep up with all of the postgame celebrations and more.

The post BACK TO BACK: The Las Vegas Aces are the 2023 WNBA Champions Yet Again appeared first on SLAM.

The eleventh overall selection in the 2014 WNBA Draft has emerged into a bonafide star and an offensive threat on the floor. She seemingly visualizes her next two or three moves before they even happen (and definitely before opponents know what to expect). Behind the back pass from behind the basket? No problem. No-look dime from outside the arc? Walk in the park.

“I try to be that calm within the storm, whether it is a game of runs or in different quarters,” Gray explained after Game 2 on Tuesday night. “It is not always me scoring, or getting assists to my name, it’s calling the right plays and calming everyone down.”

Chelsea Gray and the Aces starred on the cover of WSLAM 3. Read the cover story here.

Her patience, flare, and most importantly her creativity have allowed her to reach the success she has had so far. It is a nightmare to defend. Just ask the Dallas Wings. In Game 2 of the 2023 WNBA Semifinals, CG was dialed-in. There are few in the League that are more terrifying with the ball in their hands in the fourth quarter than Las Vegas’ offensive orchestrator. 

With the Aces up by seven with just under five to play, the “Point Gawd” herself took over. The five-time WNBA All-Star played a major role in 12 of Vegas’ final 18 points, six of which were free throws.

After accumulating five straight points herself, Gray found a wide-open Jackie Young in the paint for an easy score.

Gray isn’t just new to this, she’s stayed true to this her entire career, including in the final six contests of the 2022 postseason, where she averaged over 22 points per game while dishing out double-digit dimes in two of those matchups. 

At the conclusion of the 2022 Commissioner’s Cup Championship, Hammon stressed the importance of Gray’s leadership—not just as player, but the one calling the shots.

“She’s a huge part of what we do. She is the extension of the coach out there. Hell, I’m her assistant. I tell them all the time, ‘If Chelsea calls something and I call something, you listen to Chelsea. So, when the head coach calls something, you run it.’”

As it stands, the 2022 WNBA Finals MVP is seventh all-time in playoff assists, which means that she’s well on her way to eventually climb the rankings—she’s currently behind both Briann January and Candace Parker. 

Until then, we’re all witnessing Gray play the game at the highest level. Salute.

Action photo via Getty Images. Portraits by Atiba Jefferson.

The post Aces Star Chelsea Gray Continues to Prove Why She’s Been Crowned the ‘Point Gawd’ appeared first on SLAM.

Three years ago, the WNBA faced criticism over its hiring practices due to the lack of women in leadership roles, particularly in head coaching positions. Now, in its 27th season, women make up 75 percent of the head coaches in the League, six of whom are former WNBA players.

Read on to learn why it’s so important to have players as coaches and all of the intangibles they bring to the position. 

NANCY LIEBERMAN PAVES THE WAY

In 1998, Nancy Lieberman became the first player-turned-head coach in the W after assuming a dual role as general manager and head coach of the Detroit Shock. Lieberman, a New York City native, was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in 1997 at 38 years old. She played one game for the Detroit Shock in 2008 at the age of 50. The Hall of Famer is considered a trailblazer for her advocacy work related to gender equality in sports and for paving a new path for female coaches across both men’s and women’s sports.  

SANDY BRONDELLO: FIRST FORMER PLAYER TO WIN A TITLE AS HEAD COACH

After she was drafted with the 34th overall pick by the Detroit Shock in 1998, the first WNBA coach Sandy Brondello played for was Nancy Lieberman. The two had actually crossed paths a year prior in Phoenix. 

“I visited Phoenix to spend some time with Michele Timms, who I was quite close to, and I remember shooting around a little bit, and later I heard that Nancy was scared that I was going to take her spot,” Brondello jokes. “But I was injured, so I wasn’t taking anyone’s spot.” 

As a player, the Australian native’s WNBA career would last five seasons, with stops in Detroit, Miami and Seattle. Figuring out what comes next once the ball stops bouncing is a harsh reality that every athlete must face at some point. After 17 years as a professional basketball player, Brondello, then 36, had to confront the big question: What now?  

The answer came to her after the 2004 Olympics, when it became harder for her to recover from the multiple injuries she had sustained over the course of her career.  

“It was my choice to retire. I wasn’t forced out,” says Brondello. “I got to a stage where I played so much basketball and achieved all of the goals I set out for myself. It was all about what’s next. I knew I wanted to coach.”

Brondello’s desire to coach in the WNBA became a reality when she was offered her first assistant coaching job for the San Antonio Silver Stars (now the Las Vegas Aces) by then-head coach Dan Hughes in 2005. “That opportunity paved the way for where I am today,” she says. 

Using her experience as a former player to her advantage, Brondello was able to bridge the gap between the players and the coaching staff. In 2010, she was promoted to head coach of the Silver Stars, a decision she views, in hindsight, as a mistake. 

“Why I wanted to be a head coach and why I shouldn’t have [been] is because I was pregnant and had a baby during the season,” explains Brondello. “Trying to be a mom of two and being
a coach in my first head coaching job—it was tough. I should’ve prioritized being a mom right there because I didn’t have enough support, to be quite honest, to do my job at the highest level with one assistant.”

During that time, the WNBA only allowed one assistant coach per team, a role Brondello had filled with her husband, Olaf Lange. Together, they had to navigate both coaching and parenthood as a team of two.

The Silver Stars finished the 2010 season third in the West with a 14-20 record and eventually lost to the Phoenix Mercury in the conference semifinals.

At the conclusion of the season, Brondello’s and Lange’s contracts were not picked up. Using her experience in San Antonio to learn and grow, Brondello prepared for her next opportunity. 

Since 2005, she has served as either a WNBA head coach or assistant. 

In 2014, Brondello made history as the head coach of the Phoenix Mercury, leading the team to a 29-5 record and a championship in her first season, while also winning the League’s Coach of the Year award.

Now serving as the head coach of the New York Liberty after eight years in Phoenix, Brondello is on a quest to make history again by bringing New York its first title in franchise history. 

BECKY HAMMON: BREAKING BARRIERS

Last year, Becky Hammon joined Sandy Brondello as the only former WNBA players to win titles as head coaches when she led the Las Vegas Aces to its first championship in franchise history. 

“I played against Sandy, and then she coached me [in San Antonio], and now we coach against each other,” says Hammon. 

This season, the Aces and Liberty have been dubbed “superteams” due to their free agency roster additions. The Aces, with Hammon at the helm, are looking to win back-to-back titles, something that hasn’t been done since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2002. Two-time WNBA champion Candace Parker is on the roster, which already includes two-time MVP A’ja Wilson, veteran guard Chelsea Gray and former No. 1 overall picks Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. And the Brondello-led Liberty added Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot. 

“When she signed Stewie and that news broke, it must’ve been a couple of days later when I said, Oh, this is about to be fun, because you want to play against the best,” Hammon says.  

A student of the game, Hammon says she learned a lot from Brondello during her days playing in San Antonio, a true testament to the positive impact of having former WNBA players in head coaching positions. 

“Obviously, it’s not a prerequisite to be a great coach, to have to be a former player, but I think that there are so many great minds in the women’s game [that] just want to give back to the game that has given us so much. I respect that,” she says. “There are so many of us now that it actually speaks to the longevity of the League, now that we’re getting to cycle through having all of these players be head coaches. It’s a cool thing we got going on, [I] definitely want to keep it open and leave something for the next person coming in, opportunity wise.” 

Hammon admits that she never really thought about what she wanted to do after her playing days were done. “Back then, I was more worried about keeping my job and trying to get better every year,” she says.

In 2012, after seeing former player Stephanie White become a coach in Indiana, Hammon started weighing her post-retirement options. After sustaining a knee injury in 2013, she pivoted to broadcasting before officially retiring the following year. 

“When I retired from the League, I went right into the NBA. I had, like, two days off, so there wasn’t a lot of down time. It was one right into the other,” Hammon recalls. “There’s a pipeline now. There wasn’t always that.” 

Today, current and former players have more access to resources, like the NBA Coaching Development Program, that assist them with getting coaching opportunities. WNBA players like Candice Dupree and Kristi Toliver have benefitted from such programs. 

A six-time WNBA All-Star, Hammon is also helping to set a new precedent of pay equity for coaches across the League. In 2022, the Aces signed Hammon to a $1 million annual contract, the largest in WNBA history. 

“The rising tide lifts all the ships so that everybody moves up,” she says. “Investing into people is why I got into coaching, into leadership. It’s because I really feel like I’m mentoring the next generation of leaders with a really simple, straightforward message: Serve the people around you.” 

TRENDING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Each of the League’s dozen teams have taken advantage of hiring a former player to join their staff.

“It’s real intentional to re-engage former players. Not every former player wants to be a coach, but the ones who do, give [them] an opportunity,” says current Connecticut Sun head coach Stephanie White. 

A few years ago, the WNBA implemented a new League policy, allowing teams to carry three assistants (rather than two) on the condition that one is a former player (with at least a year of experience). 

In a League composed of over 70 percent Black athletes, this policy has helped to improve representation and diversity efforts within the WNBA hiring cycle. 

Atlanta Dream head coach Tanisha Wright is a by-product of former Aces head coach Bill Laimbeer’s coaching tree. Wright joined the Aces staff in 2020 and was hired by the Dream one year later. 

“Bill absolutely championed women and gave women opportunities to coach in the W,” says Wright. “He’s just somebody who saw the importance of having former players and giving women opportunities to impact this League in a special way.” 

Wright prides herself on helping to create opportunities for others, especially those who are often overlooked when it comes to second chances. This season, she added former Wings head coach Vickie Johnson to her staff after Johnson’s contract wasn’t renewed by Dallas. 

“It’s important for us to create opportunities for ourselves because we [Black women] often don’t get second chances,” says Coach Wright. “So if we have the opportunity to open the door for one another, then we need to do that. We need to leave the door open for the next generation coming.” 

Currently, one fourth of the League’s head coaches are Black. Seattle Storm head coach Noelle Quinn shared similar sentiments when she reached out to Pokey Chatman to join her staff in 2021. 

“Before I put Pokey on my staff, people weren’t checking for her anymore. I think that she is one of the best to have done it and continues to do it,” says Quinn. “If I have the opportunity to put somebody else on, then I’m going to do that. But not because they’re a woman or because they’re Black, but because they’re deserving…Representation matters and it’s not only important to have that on a coaching staff but [in] front office positions, too.”  

With the WNBA in its 27th season, it’s important to recognize those who have paved the way, while still acknowledging that there is still progress to come.

“It’s really important for our League to continue to find ways to embrace and bring back former players,” says White. “Whether that’s on the coaching side, the business side, general managers, ownership. I hope one day our League has a commissioner that’s a former player.” 

WSLAM 3 featuring A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young is available now.

The post These Former WNBA Players are Carrying on Their Legacy as Coaches appeared first on SLAM.

Remember a few years back when there were a bunch of people who were around hoops, but didn’t really actually hoop, and they were trying to tell hoopers to quit shooting the midrange? Yeah, nah, Kahleah Copper didn’t listen to any of that. The former WNBA champ and two-time All-Star possesses a middie that’s something out of an instructional video. It’s been a big reason she’s scored the ninth-most points in the W at the time of this writing.

The foundation of her shot is a fluid two-foot hop. It helps her establish momentum on the way up. Her release point is high, at the top of her rise, and it’s followed by an extended and long-held follow-through. Copper’s textbook progression should be studied everywhere.

Her journey to get here should also be studied. Not just the evolution of her shot into a two-dribble automatic machine, but the resolve she’s shown during her eight seasons in the League. It should be a lesson to young hoopers everywhere: This all takes time.

Copper as a freshman at Rutgers (5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds a game on 41 percent shooting) looks like a whole different person when compared to her as a senior (17.7 points and 8 rebounds a game on 50 percent shooting). Patience paid off when the Washington Mystics selected her with the seventh overall pick of the 2016 Draft. She had a solid rookie campaign for Washington, appearing in 30 games, and she was good enough that the Chicago Sky wanted her to be a part of the trade that sent former WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne to the nation’s capital.

Copper played through four full seasons averaging between 14-16 minutes and 6-7 points a game. She couldn’t crack the rotation in a real way in DC or Chicago. Her career drastically changed during head coach James Wade’s second season in the Chi in 2020. Coach Wade increased her minutes by more than double what she played in 2019.

Copper delivered.

In the 2020 wubble, Copper’s stats were more than solid: 14.9 points, 5.5 boards, 2.1 dimes and 1 steal per. Included in 2020 were a trio of 20-plus point games (all wins for the Sky), marking the first time in her career that she went for 20 or more on three separate occasions. The signs that she was evolving appeared in other ways, too. She recorded at least 1 steal in over half the games she played, her rebounding was way up (she got her first career game of 10 rebounds at IMG) and her three-pointer was much improved.

Though the Sky lost in the first round of the 2020 postseason, Copper and her squad were about to get a major roster addition, one that would fully unlock the potential of the North Philly kid. The arrival of future Hall of Famer Candace Parker in Chicago was the final push to get Copper’s game all the way turnt up. Parker was vocally adamant about Copper for the entire summer. She was constantly praising the energy she brought to the floor. With the voice of a legend in her ear, Copper realized what she was capable of.

The 2021 playoffs belonged to No. 2, who was officially stamped by winning the 2021 WNBA Finals MVP trophy. But before she accomplished that, she put up serious numbers: 17.7 ppg and 5.3 rpg. And she shot 52 percent from the field.

Her offense featured a lot of that still-improving jumper with a ton of attacking the rim. She’s both fast and quick, so anybody trying to stay in front of her? Best of luck. Surprisingly, though, as her individual star rose, she played more efficiently within the system that Coach Wade had constructed. About two-thirds of her buckets came off assists, swung from the fingertips of Courtney Vandersloot, Parker and Diamond DeShields. Copper was playing high quality, high efficiency basketball. She maximized success for herself and for her team.

During her cover shoot for SLAM 236, Copper said that her competitiveness has been nurtured since she was a young kid. It had been waiting to burst out of her from the days when she couldn’t get off the bench in DC. That championship run was the truest form of Kahleah Copper. It was her honest aggression in the brightest spotlight, merciless and unrelenting. Her numbers in the Finals tell part of the story: 17 ppg and 5.5 rpg on 50 percent. The rest of the story can be told in Parker’s own words after the final buzzer sounded in 2021.

“Just playing against [Copper] in L.A. all the time and just not being able to guard her, like, I feel like our games could be compatible, we could make each other better,” Parker told NBC Sports Chicago. “I’ve just been so proud of how she’s stayed the course all the time and just been great. I always tell her before the game, like, Show them what we already know. Every game. She did that this entire season.”

That season ended.

The next one began.

Copper continued to ascend as a singular talent in 2022. Her points per game, her rebounds per game, her assists per game and her shooting percentage elevated, and she notched the highest point total of her W career with a 28-point outing against the Indiana Fever. Copper was hooping at an even higher level than before, but the Sky lost in the second round of the postseason. Then Parker and Vandersloot left, and then deadeye three-point shooter Allie Quigley and former WNBA champ Emma Meesseman departed, too. All of a sudden, Copper was alone in the driver’s seat, responsible for leading her team.

That brings us to 2023. Coach Wade has clearly defined the role of his former Finals MVP. He needs her to score, create and compete as well as possible. Those two-dribble pulls in the midrange are out of necessity. Copper is running more pick-and-roll, responsible for reading more of the defense than ever before, even with her new and reliable backcourt mates Marina Mabrey and Courtney Williams along for the ride. This is officially her franchise now, as evidenced by the 16.6 ppg she’s currently averaging, which of course marks a career-best in that category.

It’s likely that by the time you’re holding this magazine in your hands, Copper has been named to her third All-Star team, where she’ll get the chance to build on what she did against the League’s best in both 2021 and 2022.

“I think I was the ultimate competitor,” Copper told us in her SLAM 236 cover story. “Even re-watching the games and seeing how locked in I was and seeing my intensity on defense. Getting hyped, just every little detail. I think that my competitiveness hit another gear.”

Copper got to feel the warmest sunshine imaginable with that championship in 2021. There were difficult times before that win, and there will be difficult times ahead. But it ain’t nothing. Don’t you dare ever count out the kid from Philly.

Photos via Getty Images.

The post With the Keys to the Chicago Sky, Kahleah Copper is Elevating Her Game to New Heights appeared first on SLAM.

Hot girl sh*t, never let ’em cool off…

To put it plainly, the Aces’ state-of-the-art practice facility is fuego. Located right next door to the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders headquarters, it’s a 64,000-square-foot facility equipped with everything an athlete could ever dream of. A pair of double doors leads you to their two practice courts, which are so shiny and new that you can see your own reflection in them (according to Front Office Sports, this area can seat more than 400 people). There’s a player’s lounge, a film room, an infrared sauna, a cryotherapy room and more. It’s hard to not just stop and stare at it all, especially knowing that most teams in the WNBA don’t have a facility like this (yet?). But then again, Vegas isn’t like anywhere else. 

And the Aces aren’t just any team.

WSLAM 3 featuring A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young is out now.

In a city full of flashing lights and high rollers, they’re the squad shining the brightest right now, with the best record in the WNBA (13-1) as we go to press. The night before our shoot, they had Michelob ULTRA Arena, also known as “The House,” rockin’ with a 31-point blowout win over the Minnesota Lynx. Afterward, a crowd of fans waited eagerly in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino lobby, holding posters and jerseys and hoping to take flicks with the reigning champs. Drive down The Strip and you’ll see that the Aces are modern-day rockstars. A poster of the starting five, including Candace Parker, hangs outside the arena. Nearby at the Aria Resort, there’s an entire Aces-themed cake and “sugar masterpiece” on display at the Patisserie, with a sign next to it that lists fun facts about the team, including: The Aces lineup boasts five US Olympic gold medalists in A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Candace Parker. 

“Everyone talks about the entertainment side, but you just knew that the sports side was brewing, and to be a part of it is truly amazing,” says Wilson. “It takes a village to build and grow anything, but when it comes to a sports team, I think Vegas really took us in. Vegas is my second home; I’m not afraid to say that I love it here.”

Vegas is now a certified sports town and has its WNBA franchise to thank for bringing the city its first-ever major professional sports title just last year. Now the other pro teams are catching up—the Golden Knights just won the NHL Stanley Cup last month, while NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has hinted at an NBA team possibly coming to Sin City, saying that Vegas “will make a great location for a franchise one day.”

Still, there seems to be some confusion about just how impactful the Aces are. When they started the 2023 season with a seven-game winning streak, the internet compared them to the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors. After the Knights won the Stanley Cup, President Joe Biden congratulated them on Twitter, calling the hockey team the “first major professional franchise in such a proud American city.”

Rather than diminish the Knights’ performance, let’s look at what the girlies have been doing for quite some time now. Plum, who was drafted No. 1 overall in 2017, has been a key piece of the franchise since it was located in San Antonio. She emerged from an Achilles injury in 2020 to become the 2021 Sixth Woman of the Year and is now an All-Star and All-Star Game MVP. Wilson was drafted No. 1 just a year after KP and has gone on to win Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, two MVPs the 2022 FIBA World Cup MVP and has been named an All-Star four times. Oh, and she also has an entire statue dedicated to her at South Carolina, where she won a national championship in 2017. 

Then there’s Gray, who was drafted in the first round back in 2014 by the Sun and is a four-time All-Star. She won a championship with the Sparks (alongside Parker) in 2016. After signing with the Aces as a free agent in 2021, CG got herself another chip last season and won Finals MVP. And then there’s Young, yet another former No. 1 pick, who won the Most Improved Player award and was named an All-Star last year. Add in the fact that one of the greatest players of all time, Candace Parker, signed with the team this past February, and the squad has reached a whole different level this year. They’re beating opponents by 20, 30 and, as we saw early on in the season against the Storm, sometimes by 40 points. Our four cover stars are all averaging double-figure points per game. 

With so much talent, how exactly does a team full of stars work so well together? Look no further than the set of our cover shoot. There’s a confidence to Wilson, Plum, Gray and Young that’s undeniable—the way they’re able to command a room and own the moment. As they pose for the camera, the four All-Stars collectively decide that they want to try a new formation, something no one else has done before on the cover of SLAM, let alone the past two WSLAM issues. In between takes, their chemistry is apparent, even if they might think no one is noticing. They help fix each other’s hair, they have a lot of inside jokes and seem to always be laughing and chatting about something. At one point, Gray starts vlogging and recording on Young’s phone; later, Plum jokingly interrupts Wilson’s interview about the Divine Nine.

First impressions are everything, though, and if they’re being honest, it wasn’t all laughs in the beginning for Wilson and Plum. Back when they were both playing on the USA Basketball U18 team, the two were roommates and didn’t exactly vibe. “We did not speak to each other at all,” Plum admits. “And it’s not because we [didn’t] like each other, but you know, it’s like a really awkward age. You’re just kinda like, Hi…” 

Flash forward to today, and their relationship has grown over the years into a “friendship and a bond,” Wilson says. They’ve watched each other grow from top recruits to stars in college to superstars at the pro level. “A and I, like, we just kind of been through it over the years,” Plum says. “There’s just a level of, like, what’s understood doesn’t need to be said, and I feel like that’s not just in basketball, but in life. And we relate on a lot of levels like that…I appreciate A’ja because I feel like she just remains true to who she is, regardless of the circumstances. And a lot of things are thrown her way—professionally, personally, things like that—but she just handles it with grace. And I just admire that.” 

There are moments when even those closest to you have to keep it a buck, and KP and A have been there, too. In Game 2 of the Finals last year, it was Wilson who told Plum to “get her shit together” amidst a rough shooting night. Real always recognizes real. 

“I’m gonna always push KP’s buttons, I don’t care how she’s feeling. I don’t care what’s going on, I want her to be the best,” Wilson says when asked about that game. “And if that means setting a bar so high that I know she probably can’t get to it, just like not missing a shot in a playoff game, I’m going to [hold] her to that standard. I want her to be that, even if I see her dipping down or feeling like she’s getting into her head, I’m gonna always be the first person to let her know, I’m not going for that shit. Like, Wake up. We’re in this together, and you’re not by yourself. You’re not alone.” 

Plum lets out a laugh and dishes it right back. “I mean, that’s nothing new. I be yelling at her, too! Y’all don’t hear it in the press conference, but it’s OK.” 

“KP always circles back,” Wilson adds. 

Plum, who was the second leading scorer in the League last season, has also figured out how to respond this year—even when opponents are trapping her on ball screens, she delivers with elite reads and assists to her open teammates. As their former competitor, Gray knows that firsthand. 

“Maaaaaaaan, it was just a lot of moving targets,” Gray says, when asked about the scouting report on the Aces. “You had to stay in front of Jack[ie]. KP was just, like, she’s a bullet down the court. A’ja can score in a bunch of different ways. If you have to just foul her, just foul her. I was just like, I just don’t want to switch. Let me have my matchup, let me just lock in on that. They just have so many weapons. They were really rebuilding, but at any given moment, they could just take off.” 

And they did. By 2020, the Aces finished with the best record in the League and made it all the way to the Finals. “I was just excited to join some great athletes. I’m here with people that are going to be in the Hall of Fame,” says Gray. “And I could confidently say that [about] everybody that I look to [on] my left or right, for sure.” 

The feeling is mutual when it comes to how they feel about Gray. “Being young in the League and having to guard somebody like [Gray], it was just tough every night,” says Young. “The only thing I could do was try to get up and pressure her. But, yeah, it didn’t really matter. It didn’t matter because, I mean, she’s gonna throw a behind-the-back pass, no-look pass.” 

Adds Plum: “Pretty much you don’t want to get caught on the wrong side of the highlight. I would just foul. Or when she turns her head, put your hands the other way.” 

Plum also spent most of the offseason with Young and saw firsthand how hard she works. While the guard out of Notre Dame might come off as being on the quieter side, her teammates admit that she’ll just be in her own world, for real—she stayed dedicated to putting in hours in the gym and conditioning. “People don’t realize the amount of time and work that she has put into her game, and I don’t think that she gets a lot of credit for that. People don’t really talk about that. I don’t know why,” says Plum. “Because there’s a reason that people hit her and bounce off.”

Young went from averaging just 6.6 points as a rookie to leading the team in scoring so far this year with 20.2 ppg (she’s also currently ranked sixth in the W). Gray used to call her “Silent Assassin,” and it makes sense why: she’s so lethal with the rock, whether that’s from three or beating defenders off the dribble. “She’s even talking and getting a little spicy a little bit more now,” Gray says. “She’s veering away from Silent Assassin, now she’s ‘30-point Nugget.’” New nickname alert. 

“We all had vital parts to the championship run last year, and then now where we are today…Jackie is a huge piece of that,” Wilson adds.

And then there’s Wilson, who has been an undeniable force on the Aces from the moment she arrived. Whereas most rookies need time to develop, She’s made an impact immediately by starting every game and averaging 20.7 points that season. Now in Year 6, Wilson is still bringing the heat to everything she does, all while ranking second in blocks this season with 2.2 per game. “A’ja [is a] whole bucket with personality on 10, but still hasn’t reached her potential either. I think I can say the same about all of them, like not reaching their ceiling,” Gray says. 

Individual talents aside, when asked what’s been the biggest factor in the team’s success—which includes leading the W in almost every major statistical category, from points to blocks to both field goal and three-point percentage—they each attribute it to something different. Ask Wilson and she’ll say it’s about accountability. Gray adds that they just don’t take things personally. KP feels like it’s two things, the first being that they each have that hunger within: “It just kind of permeates,” she says. “It’s just kind of like, Oh, Chelsea is on one today. I need to raise my level. You know what I mean? Or like Jackie—one day in practice, I’m like, Oh, you want to be Michael Jordan today?”

Then there’s how selfless they all are. “It’s really easy to have an ego,” Plum adds. “Because everyone is valid, like everyone could argue for why they should be able to get more, etc. And I just feel like people are just like, No, we want to win. And we understand that that little bit of sacrifice is probably the most important part to keeping this together.” 

As for Young, it’s also their “contagious” energy and the way everyone competes day in and day out. “I think that’s what makes us so great in general.”

If there’s one thing about the Aces that might surprise you, it’s their take on the whole narrative that they’re a superteam. “We were talking about it earlier, like people say superteam, super this, super that…I’ve never said that before,” says Plum.

“I feel like it’s more of the media and other people saying that, and [they’re] more worried about that than us,” adds Wilson. “Because our locker room, we ’gon keep it tight, we’re gonna be us [and] who we are every single time we step foot on that court. So when it comes to superteams and all this big rah rah rah, I don’t think we pay any attention to it, because at the end of the day, we have to perform at a high, high level, and we’re gonna do whatever it takes to do that.”

“We were picked fifth last year,” Plum also points out, to which Gray adds, “I don’t [remember] what it was, but it wasn’t top three.” 

Plum continues: “No one was saying superteam then, and we had the same exact roster, and we won. And then this year, you know, we add[ed] some pieces, but like…”

“Our core is still our core,” A’ja agrees.

Maybe that’s it, though. The sugar, the spice and everything that’s nice about the Aces is within them. All of them, from 2022 WNBA Coach of the Year Becky Hammon to every single person on the roster. There’s no secret formula to their success. 

“I think that’s also why people [are] always trying to figure out what’s going on in Vegas, because we just really have fun,” Wilson continues. “And it’s not for the cameras. It’s not—it’s just who we are. We make it fun because it’s our job, and we love what we do. But I think that’s a huge factor [for] people like, What’s going on over there? What y’all got going on? And it’s like, we have fun, but then on top of that, we win games. So it’s kind of like, what’s the secret sauce? We are.” 

Wilson’s words couldn’t describe the Aces’ momentum any better, especially as they look to capture another title and continue their reign as a dynasty in the making. Meanwhile, Vegas is hosting WNBA All-Star Weekend this year, and by the time you’re reading this, many of you will be there, holding this very magazine in your hands as the excitement and energy buzzes all around you.

After all, women’s basketball and the Las Vegas Aces are the greatest show on earth.

We’re tuned in, are you? 

Rise of a Dynasty. Exclusive WSLAM 3 Cover Tees are available now.

Portraits by Atiba Jefferson.

The post Aces Superstars A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young Open Up on How They’ve Built a Powerhouse in Vegas appeared first on SLAM.

“To finally be able to call myself a champion after nine long months there [means a lot],” says Howard, who’s basking in a rare break between seasons, Jordan Brand promos and her other commitments. “All that hard work that we put in. Also, being a champion meant that it was time to come home. I was extra excited about that.”

The feeling of confetti on her face is something Howard would like to experience with the Dream. “We were only one game out of the playoffs,” says the silky 2-guard, who averaged 16.2 points and 4.5 boards while knocking down a rookie-record 85 three-pointers. “This year, I expect us to be a playoff team and make a good run.”

Rhyne Howard is the future of the WNBA. Get your copy of SLAM 244.

To better its chances of seeing the postseason for the first time since 2018, Atlanta went out and got Allisha Gray from Dallas. The team also selected Stanford star Haley Jones and South Carolina forward Laeticia Amihere in the 2023 WNBA Draft. With the revamped roster, Howard sees the Dream’s future starting to take shape. “A lot of people are still questioning if we have enough [talent] or if we have that chemistry,” she says, “but I’m definitely excited about what we have in store.”

Does anybody have some gum? The images of Howard spinning a ball on her finger at the SLAM photo shoot are dope, but something’s still a little bit off. Rhyne’s mom, Rhvonja “RJ” Avery, says it’s gum that’s missing. Rhyne loves blowing bubbles when she spins. Someone finds the Dream star a few pieces of Bubblicious. The pics immediately start poppin’. Moms just know these things. 

Howard smiles when she chews gum and, really, just in general. But you’d never know it based off an on-court persona that comes off stoic and standoffish to some. Yeah, she’ll give you the Griddy on TikTok, but you won’t get much else during a game. “Say less, play more” has long been her MO.

But just because Howard doesn’t flex on ’em doesn’t mean she’s without emotion. “She comes off as very shy, but the kid is not shy,” says second-year Atlanta Dream head coach Tanisha Wright. “She has a funniness and humor about her that’s pretty cool. She’s not loud and she’s not boisterous, but she has a quiet competitiveness that comes out when it needs to come out at game time.”

When Howard hears of her coach’s comments, she adds, “I am shy. It affects how [people] talk to me. They’ll be scared to come up to me. I’m very open. I will talk to you. I won’t speak first, but I’ll have a conversation with you. I’ll joke and laugh. But I am going to feel you out a little bit just to see. But I feel like a lot of people are intimidated because I always look straight-faced.” 

Most parents know if their child has what it takes to be a standout in a sport. Avery certainly knew way back in the day when Howard was hooping as a child. When the other kids were frantically doing jumping jacks in front of the inbound passer, Rhyne’s mom was watching her daughter patiently scan the scene, looking to see how she could make a steal. 

“When she was 7, we were living in Virginia,” says Avery. “I was watching her play in a co-ed rec league. She’s already surveyed everything, trying to be one-up on [the opponent]. You can’t teach that.” 

By the time Howard was in eighth grade and living in Cleveland, TN, she was good enough to be on the high school varsity team. The squad’s first game of the season was the same night as the eighth-grade dance. Howard skipped the formal to suit up for the game. Even though she never put on a dress, she was still named queen of the dance. She didn’t have to make a choice between playing ball and going to one in high school. Different times of the year. She went to the prom. Won queen again. 

Though Purdue, South Carolina and Florida (where Avery herself once played) were attractive options for Howard’s next stop, Kentucky just felt different. Like her mom said, “It was far enough away, but not too far from home. It was a great fit for her because she could go in and make her mark.” With then-UK women’s head coach Matthew Mitchell at the helm, the locker room had a familial feel, too. Howard dug that. The Wildcats went 84-37 with three NCAA Tournament appearances while she was there.

It was at Lexington where Howard also befriended Terrence Clarke, the talented shooting guard out of Massachusetts. The two hit it off instantly. “When a men’s player comes to Kentucky,” Howard explains, “most likely they’re going to be one and done. They’re not going to have a lot of time and not going to have a lot of friends to hang out with. The first time I met [Clarke] was actually in the training room. He came in singin’ and stuff. I was like, Keep going. Go ahead. He actually ended up telling me that I was one of the first people besides his teammates to actually talk to him and be his friend.”

Howard continues, “They were having a rough season at the time. We were having a rough season. We would just go to the mall and just hang out and be there for each other and just talk and figure out what’s going on. Just being that ear, being that friend that we both needed.” She was big sis. He was lil’ bro. 

Clarke tragically passed away in April 2021 in a car accident only a few months before the NBA Draft. “It really hit hard when he was gone,” says Howard. “But I keep him alive when I play. I keep him alive all the time. I talk to his mom, too, just to check in on her. I’m actually going to send her this jersey and this magazine when it comes out. Just being able to have him as a part of my life, even for just a short amount of time, was a blessing. I wish everybody could find somebody like that.”

With her rookie season over and the franchise’s future in her hands, Howard knows that her voice may need to get louder in team huddles. Jones and Amihere are certainly going to lean on her for first-year guidance. Just about everybody in the Dream’s Gateway Center Arena will be depending on No. 10 when the team is down in crunch time.

“It makes your life easier as a coach because you know you have a player that’s capable of doing things that can help you win basketball games,” Wright says about Howard, who scored 20+ on 11 occasions her rookie year. “She definitely makes my life easier. But at times, you rely on her and you forget that you’re a team. That’s always an important piece that you have to keep in mind. We can’t just wait around and watch her go to work. We have to do it as a collective.”

One area where Coach Wright will be watching Howard more is on defense. An SEC All-Defensive Team member in 2020 and top five in the WNBA in steals a year ago, Howard can be a dawg on that end, too. “I’d love to see her utilize more of her tools,” says Wright. “She’s gotta expect more from herself on that side. She’s capable of doing much more than just catching and shooting.”

Howard agrees. “[Playing] overseas showed that I can be way more active than what I have been,” she says. “For the most part, I just use my length and my IQ to get a steal or get in the passing lane. But overseas, I was actually guarding the other team’s best player and doing a pretty good job, if I have to say so myself.”

Her mother takes things a step further. “She actually set her sights on doing what Candace Parker did,” says Avery, alluding to Parker’s ridiculous ’08 rookie campaign where she won almost every conceivable award, including League MVP. “I think she could be on that path to exceed Candace Parker and Breanna Stewart. She loves all of them, but she’s so competitive that she’s going to work to compete and be better.”

This whole magazine is dedicated to what’s next in the sport, right? When this generational talent gets her defensive game to match one of the most complete offensive packages in the League, mark our words: The future looks bright for the Dream and downright nightmarish for the rest of the WNBA. 

“I want to continue being that dog on the court that everyone says I am,” she says. “Continue to take accountability and have that consistency that I’ve been having. It only goes up from here.”

AVAILABLE ON SLAMGOODS

Portraits by Marcus Stevens.

The post Atlanta Dream’s Rhyne Howard is Going to be a Nightmare in the WNBA appeared first on SLAM.

“I just did my treadmill workout downstairs and lifts in the hotel before heading to the studio,” Parker said. “I call it my citizen workout. I was working out six days after we (the Chicago Sky) lost this year. I just wanted to compete at everything, whether it was dominos or beach volleyball. That’s my mentality because I hate losing. So right now, yeah, I’m game.”

“Let’s see if my body feels this way in January or February, but I plan to play. I plan to come back. Last year, it was the reverse. I couldn’t imagine lacing up the shoes again. I could not imagine going through Game 27 on the schedule. Then a switch flipped in February, and I was ready to go. I like to take the offseason and take my time, but right now, I don’t know if I’ve dribbled my last ball on the court.

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Parker is set to become a free agent, but according to Dietsch, Parker will likely only play for Chicago or Los Angeles. During her interview, CP3 spoke about her future in the WNBA, the recently announced documentary about her life, Brittney Griner, and her broadcasting career.

Over her 16-year tenure, Parker has accomplished a Hall-of-Fame career. She’s a two-time champ, 2016 Finals MVP, two-time MVP, 2020 Defensive Player of the Year, two-time Olympic gold medalist, 2008 Rookie of the Year, seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-WNBA selection, five-time All-Defensive pick, and a member of the 20th and 25th WNBA anniversary team.

The post Candace Parker: ‘I Plan to Come Back’ for 2023 Season appeared first on SLAM.

The 2022 All-WNBA First Team:

• A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
• Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm
• Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces
• Skylar Diggins-Smith, Phoenix Mercury
• Candace Parker, Chicago Sky

Heading the first team are unanimous selections A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart. A’ja Wilson adds her All-WNBA selection to her MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards. She averaged 19.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game this season.

Rounding out the first team are Wilson’s teammate Kelsey Plum, Skylar Diggins-Smith, and Candace Parker. Plum received her first All-WNBA honor, while Parker received her seventh All-WNBA selection, tying Tamika Catchings and Lauren Jackson for the third most First-Team appearances of all time.

The 2022 All-WNBA Second Team:

• Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun

• Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
• Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota Lynx
• Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks
• Jonquel Jones, Connecticut Sun

With her Second Team selection, Sabrina Ionescu makes her first All-WNBA team in just her second full season in the W. To cap off her iconic career, Sylvia Fowles received her eighth All-WNBA honor. 

A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces and Alyssa Thomas and Jonquel Jones of the Connecticut Sun continue to battle for the WNBA championship. Tune in to watch Game 4 on Sunday, September 18, at 4 pm ET.

The post A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart Headline 2022 All-WNBA Teams appeared first on SLAM.

Vandersloot has spent her entire career in Chicago, while Quigley joined the franchise in 2013 after a trade. The two have become synonymous with the franchise and played a significant role in Chicago winning its first title in 2021. Quigley is reportedly contemplating retirement, while Vandersloot is reportedly thinking about joining Seattle and ending her career close to her hometown of Kent, WA.

“Every single day, we are all committed, 100% invested into winning a championship and making history,” Vandersloot said per ESPN. “We fell short, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. It wasn’t for lack of commitment.”

Sloot said #skytown pic.twitter.com/x7fRG0cTLM

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) September 9, 2022

Quigley followed up by reflecting on her time in Chicago and expressed gratitude to the city and the franchise for helping her find her eventual wife in Vandersloot.

“I never imagined it ending up like this or having the career I had,” Quigley said. “Especially being able to do it in Chicago with my family, meet my wife, it’s unbelievable. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

This was a Vanderquigs-produced bucket#skytown pic.twitter.com/COXCID4U6f

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) September 9, 2022

The offseason has just begun in Chicago, with exit interviews set to begin soon. It remains to be seen what Quigley, Sloot, and Parker will do, but regardless of their decision, their status as franchise legends has been stamped after helping build the Sky franchise into must-see TV for WNBA fans.

The post Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot Contemplating Basketball Future appeared first on SLAM.

The Sky’s loss in a winner-take-all Game 5 against the Sun can be narrowed down by the fact that Chicago’s shot abandoned them during the biggest game of the season. Chicago ultimately shot 34.3 percent from the field and 32 percent from beyond the arc on Wednesday. They also squandered a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter, missing their final eight shots of the night.

“We haven’t had a quarter like that, and to end the season off it, (that) didn’t display what we’ve actually done,” Coach James Wade said per ESPN. “I just wish I could’ve got them a bucket, and I just couldn’t. It’s just a tough feeling.”

While the defending champs struggled to get anything going, the Sun came together and had the perfect response to Chicago’s Kahleah Copper getting in the face of Connecticut’s DeWanna Bonner. Instead of allowing the tense moment and jaw-jacking to get in their head, the Sun responded by putting an 18-0 run on Chicago’s head over the final 4 minutes to cement their place in the WNBA Finals.

All five Connecticut starters were double-digit scorers, led by Bonner and Jonquel Jones, who scored 15 points apiece. Chicago was led by Cooper (game-high 22 points.) Emma Meesseman (14 points and six rebounds) and Courtney Vandersloot (12 points, three assists, three steals) combined for 26 points. Candace Parker could only muster seven points, nine boards, three steals, and four blocks on 2-7 shooting.

“It’s tough,” Wade said per the Chicago Tribune. “It’s probably one of the biggest disappointments that I’ve had professionally — It’s hard to put into words right now. This is going to hurt me for a long time. Felt I could’ve done a better job of getting them a bucket. I couldn’t get them one.”

Chicago will look to figure out how to address their free agency concerns with Parker, Vandersloot, and Allie Quigley headed into free agency and possibly retirement for Parker. Meesseman is also set to hit free agency after her one-year deal expires.

The post Coach James Wade Calls Game 5 Loss ‘One of the Biggest Dissapointments’ of His Professional Career appeared first on SLAM.

The loss has put some things into perspective for Candace Parker, who expressed that she’s open to retiring during the lead-up to the 2022 campaign. Although Parker will tell you she doesn’t feel like she’s dominating like she once did, the two-time MVP did have a career postseason run and has been praised by her teammates and head coach for her leadership and “urgency” to win back-to-back championships

Parker posted five double-doubles during the playoffs, including four straight from Games 1-3 against New York and in Game 1 against Connecticut. Her 27 playoff double-doubles tie Tamika Catchings for most in playoff history. She also became the all-time leading rebounder in WNBA playoff history during Game 4 of the semifinals.

Parker ends her latest playoff run averaging 15.9 rebounds, 11.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.4 blocks per game on 44.9 percent shooting from the field.

Despite her individual success, Parker revealed that she is once again contemplating if she wants to walk away from basketball. She reiterated that she will take her time to weigh her options and that she has no intentions to “cheat the game.”

“I’m going to go back and reevaluate whether I’m able to continue to play at the level that I hold myself to,” Parker said. “And I think that’s the biggest thing; I don’t ever want to cheat the game. I won’t cheat the game.”

“So when I’m not able to go out and play and be the Candace that I want to be, I won’t play,” Parker said. “And I think that comes in the offseason.”

"I won't cheat the game"

After yet another dominate season for @Candace_Parker, she speaks on what the off-season will look like and talks about always wanting to play at her highest level pic.twitter.com/Q01tKqFJpE

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 9, 2022

During Game 5, Parker posted seven points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals, and four blocks.

Her three-pointer and Kahleah Copper’s three-point play gave Chicago a 10-point lead entering the fourth, but Chicago went cold and missed their last eight shots of the night. A scuffle between Copper and DeWanna Bonner led to the Sun reeling off a decisive 18-0 run to win Game 5 and stamp their date to the WNBA Finals against the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday.

“Of course, it was not intentional, but maybe we stopped attacking,” Courtney Vandersloot said. “(Maybe) we were scared to lose, rather than trying to win. But I feel like we got good looks; we just didn’t knock them down.”

The post Candace Parker On Her Decision to Play Next Year: ‘I Won’t Cheat the Game’ appeared first on SLAM.

Parker played a crucial role in Chicago taking a 2-1 series lead after dropping 16 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists on Sunday for her fifth double-double outing this postseason. So far, the two-time MVP is averaging 16.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.8 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game on 46.3 percent shooting from the field through the playoffs.

According to ESPN, the 2016 Finals MVP has also held Connecticut to 27 percent (14-51) shooting on shots she’s contested. Although the Tennessee alum balks at the idea she’s playing her best basketball, she believes her younger self was more dominant in the playoffs; Parker has put up career-high rebounding, assists, and blocking averages this playoff.

#skytown secured the DUB against the Sun 76-72.@Candace_Parker with her 27th career playoff double-double
16 pts
11 rebs
4 ast pic.twitter.com/NpR8aOwNvL

— WSLAM (@wslam) September 4, 2022

Parker’s uptick in production has come despite the Sun taking Chicago out of their comfort zone with their physical style of play, mucking up the defending champs’ offensive actions. Parker became the first player in W history to record a 15/15/5/5 statline in a single playoff game this postseason. Her double-double on Sunday was her 27th career playoff double-double, tied with Tamika Catchings for the most in WNBA playoff history.

Coach Curt Miller, a Spark assistant coach in 2015 before becoming head coach of the Sun, said it’s been “impressive” that Parker had improved her fitness, strength, and intangibles at 36-years-old. Miller also Parker “doesn’t take plays off anymore,” and that “it’s impressive to watch and I think it’s a big credit to her commitment to fitness, nutrition and strength and conditioning.”

“Her fitness and strength and the intangibles that she’s added late in her career is impressive,” Miller said per ESPN. “It’s not to talk about in ’15 she wasn’t, but she is really fit and plays with a really high motor and is physical. She doesn’t take plays off anymore. And it’s impressive to watch, and I think it’s a big credit to her commitment to fitness, nutrition, and strength and conditioning. She looks great.”

hard in the paint! pic.twitter.com/FkjCryRvcU

— WSLAM (@wslam) September 4, 2022

To that point, Parker admits that she’s changed her approach to maintaining her body after injuries hampered her season in 2019 and 2021; she now prioritizes treatment and recovery (cold tubs, electrical stimulation, acupuncture, yoga, and pilates).

She’s also strengthened her mental approach to the hardwood, which she believes has helped her stay at an elite level. Parker is focusing on the scouting report, ensuring she knows her opponents’ tendencies while figuring out a strategy to get to her spots. Parker also ensures she’s ready late in games when she needs to take over or make clutch plays to cement a Chicago victory.

“You can still get there; it’s just going to be different,” Parker said. “I look at guys like [the NBA’s Nikola] Jovic and guys that are slower that get to their spots. How do they do that? It’s like, really being a master of your matchup, and sometimes it involves slowing down and figuring out what the defense is giving you within a game.”

pic.twitter.com/zXlwOBz6Nz

— WSLAM (@wslam) September 4, 2022

Chicago has a chance to end their best-of-five semifinal series with a series clinching Game 4 win over Connecticut on Tuesday.

“I just want to win a championship because I like to win and because this team likes to win,” Parker said. “I don’t think I have anything else left to prove to myself and to the game. I don’t play for that.”

The post Candace Parker Speaks About the Intangibles of Her Game appeared first on SLAM.

During halftime of Chicago’s Game 3 win, Parker checked in on Williams’ match against No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit and was elated when she learned that Williams won the first set of the match. Williams later won the match and will live to fight another day before her expected retirement after her Grand Slam tournament appearance is over.

“I was keeping up at halftime,” Parker said per ESPN. “When I saw she won the first set, I was hyped.”

The 36-year-old has been openly contemplating retirement after a 14-year career where she’s earned career accolades like winning two WNBA titles, a Finals MVP, two regular-season MVPs, DPOY, and nine All-WNBA selections and two All-Defensive team honors.

Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam champion, winning the U.S. Open six times, the Wimbledon seven times, the Australian Open seven times, and the French Open three times. Even though they both have more playing days behind them than ahead, Parker admitted that their longevity comes from working on “the things you’re really good at” and “playing more of that mental game.”

“I know you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but we can better our tricks a little bit,” Parker said. “I think the game slows down and I think Serena, her serve, you don’t have to be mobile to serve (like she does). You’re not returning her serves. I think it’s just working on the things you’re really good at and playing more of that mental game.”

Parker will lead Chicago as they head into Connecticut for Games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday.

The post Candace Parker Sees Similarities Between Her and Serena Williams appeared first on SLAM.

We won. Serena won.

Today was a good day.#skytown #ReCrownSkytown pic.twitter.com/ozppJ4dRsB

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) September 1, 2022

Parker headlined Chicago’s five double-digit scorers with a 22-point, four-rebound, four-assist, and three-block performance. Emma Meesseman poured in 14 points, seven rebounds, and three dimes, and Allie Quigley contributed 13 points, followed by 10 points, four boards, and two assists from Kahleah Cooper. Courtney Vandersloot rounded out Chicago’s double-digit scorers with 10 points, eight helpers, one block, and one steal.

“When you have generational talents (like Parker), they’re just too good, too dominant,” Coach James Wade said per the Chicago Tribune. “Great wine just ages well. — You can’t put an age on that. What did Aaliyah say? Age ain’t nothing but a number.”

Parker also held the Sun to just six second-chance bucks on seven total offensive boards. Wade contributed that effort to Chicago’s will and physicality. Parker summed it up as Chicago simply making “shots hard” for the Sun.

Candace Parker helped Chicago get the DUB:

22 points
4 rebounds
4 assists

Series is tied 1-1 pic.twitter.com/K1WPbLwKz2

— WSLAM (@wslam) September 1, 2022

While the win ties up the semifinals at 1-1 between the Sky and Sun, Ace wants to see Chicago follow up the success with a better effort in Sunday’s Game 3. Playing your best basketball when your backs against the wall is a needed quality, but being able to dominate and establish your will from the beginning is even better.

“I think after a win is when we need to be even more focused,” Parker said per ESPN. “Come ready to play, come focused and come with the right mentality. I don’t think we had the right mentality in Game 1.”

The Sky responded well to Coach James Wade premonition that the team was “going to make shots” after shooting 35.3 percent in Game 1. On Wednesday, Chicago came out the gates, hitting six of their first 10 shots of the game, and finished the night shooting 32-63 from the field and 6-15 from beyond the arc. Chicago also hit 15-22 free throws.

Chicago held Connecticut to 45.7 percent shooting from the field. They also held DeWanna Bonner and Courtney Williams to eight points on a combined 3-16 shooting from the field. Jonquel Jones (23 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks) and Natasha Hiedeman (14 points and three assists against three turnovers) were the only double-digit scorers for the Sun. Connecticut never led after Jones hit a triple on the game’s first possession.

Wade also gave Parker props for her consistency and veteran leadership with championship experience since signing with Chicago last summer. Wade said he’s noticed that Parker has been especially ardent in her belief that Chicago can be the first repeat champs since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002.

“She wants to do everything in her power to get another championship,” Wade said. “And so that’s where I think you see, I wouldn’t say desperation, but urgency.”

Connecticut will host Game 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday.

The post James Wade Speaks on Candace Parker’s Championship ‘Urgency’ appeared first on SLAM.

During the regular-season, Chicago swept their regular-season series with the Sun 4-0. A continuation of their 3-1 series over Connecticut on the way to the Sky winning the 2021 WNBA title. So the Sun leaving Wintrust Arena with a 68-63 win over the Sun was even more rewarding. The Connecticut Sun hopes that it can be a precursor of things to come.

“This is just about whoever wants it more,” Azurá Stevens said per the Chicago Tribune. “Because they have beef with us from last year. … That’s the type of series this is going to be: Who wants it more, who’s not going to let the ball go.”

Candace Parker finished Game 1 with 19 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, four steals, and six blocks. With that statline, Ace became the first player in WNBA history to post at least 15/15/5 and five blocks. She fell short of the second ever 5×5 game in League history, a feat she achieved as a rookie in 2008.

Looking at the positives, CP3 had an All-Time GREAT performance.

Now we move to Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/D8J0ou8xz4

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) August 29, 2022

Stevens lauded Parker for the historical performance and gave CP3 props as the walking bucket and security blanket that the defending champs can lean on.

“She was able to keep us alive, especially in the second half,” Stevens said. “It was almost like whenever we needed a bucket, she answered.”

CP with the 3#skytown pic.twitter.com/ib9OMf7o0R

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) August 29, 2022

Chicago opened the fourth quarter with an 11-2 run to take a 57-56 lead with 5:13 seconds left on the clock. From then on, the Sky and Sun traded leads, with the critical moment coming after the Sun forced Sky into a shot-clock violation in the final minute of Game 1. The Sun took a 66-63 lead with 17.1 seconds remaining after a clutch bucket from DeWanna Bonner (15 points, nine rebounds, and five assists).

The final dagger of Game 1. @athomas_25 @DEEBONNER24 | #CTSun pic.twitter.com/NdClTBzftw

— Connecticut Sun (@ConnecticutSun) August 29, 2022

Parker had a chance to play hero one more with 7.4 seconds left, but she missed, and the Sky is down 1-0 for the second time in these playoffs.

The Sky didn’t lose on that moment alone, though. The Sun forced Chicago to shoot 35.3 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from beyond the arc. Kahleah Copper and Emma Meesseman were the only Sky players to score in the double-digits. Courtney Vandersloot (five points and two assists) didn’t score until the third frame, while Stevens, Allie Quigley, and Rebekah Gardner combined for 13 points.

The Sky will host Game 2 of the semifinals Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena before traveling to Connecticut for Games 3 and 4.

The post Azura Stevens on Candace Parker’s Historic Performance: ‘Whenever We Needed a Bucket, She Answered’ appeared first on SLAM.

The defending champs won two straight games to close out the series after the Liberty after New York shocked the Sky in Game 1 with a 13-0 run to steal the opening game. The Sky came back with a vengeance next time out and won Game 2, 100-62. The Sky being able to recapture that magic during Game 3 is a good sign to Coach James Wade, who believes Chicago has reached “another level of play” through the first round.

“I think after the first game, we’ve added another level of play or sense of urgency — we were able to keep out composure and respond — I think for us, it starts on the defensive end.”

Coach Wade on if the team has reached “another level”: “I think after the first game, we’ve added another level of play or sense of urgency….We were able to keep our composure and respond…I think for us it starts on the defensive end…”

— Her Hoop Stats (@herhoopstats) August 24, 2022

Wade’s confidence and evaluation couldn’t come at a better time for a Chicago team looking to be the first back-to-back champions since the Los Angeles Sparks did it in 2001-02. Those ambitions might happen, led by stalwart talents like Candace Parker, Kahleah Copper, Allie Quigley, and Courtney Vandersloot.

The post Coach James Wade Believes Chicago Has Reached ‘Another Level of Play’ appeared first on SLAM.

The defending champs were led by the combined 44-point effort from Kahleah Copper, Courtney Vandersloot, and Allie Quigley and the near triple-double effort from Candace Parker (14 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, and two blocks). The win was thanks to their balanced scoring, veteran leadership, and experience from last year’s run to the 2021 title.

Postgame, Copper, said that she learned a lot from Parker and Vandersloot, two W mainstays that have carved out fantastic basketball careers. Especially Parker, who has won two championships and was named Finals MVP in 2016. Parker has been named MVP twice, earned DPY honors in 2020, and voted to the All-Star Game seven times in her career.

“To see them really connect, I’m just like, ‘Wow,'” Copper said about Parker and Vandersloot’s leadership. “I’m just learning. I’m just sitting here and trying to do whatever I can do. That’s the experience, and that’s the leadership we need.”

Kahleah Copper on the Sky's veteran leadership in Candace Parker and Courtney Vandersloot: "To see them really connect, I'm just like, 'Wow.' I'm just learning. I'm just sitting here and trying to do whatever I can do. That's the experience and that's the leadership we need."

— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) August 24, 2022

Coach James Wade elaborated on that point while also lifting the veteran presence of Quigley and Vandersloot, who he believes embody what the Chicago Sky is about as a team and culture.

“I’m proud of the way they responded (tonight),” Wade said about his starting backcourt. “We love having the both of them, and when you think of Chicago Sky basketball, the names come to mind.”

Coach Wade on Quigley and Vandersloot: “I’m proud of the way they responded, (tonight). We love having the both of them, and when you think of Chicago Sky basketball the names come to mind…”

— Her Hoop Stats (@herhoopstats) August 24, 2022

The Sky will play the winner of the Sun-Wings series that will conclude with Wednesday’s Game 3.

The post Kahleah Copper Credits Chicago’s Success to the Leadership of Candace Parker and Courtney Vandersloot appeared first on SLAM.

CP3, and the “C” stands for “closing them OUT.”#skytown #ReCrownSkytown pic.twitter.com/o89y11FXQH

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) August 24, 2022

Kahleah Copper, Allie Quigley, and Courtney Vandersloot combined to score 44 points but the star of the show was Candace Parker, who led the Sky to their series win with a near triple-double effort, posting 14 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, and two blocks, including a layup that Betnijah Laney may have deflected. Emma Meesseman followed up with 12 points.

“I’m old, Holly,” Parker deadpanned when asked about coming up short on the fourth playoff triple-double in W history by Holly Rowe. “I’m old in basketball years. No, but our team did a good job of grinding it out and giving everything that they had, and I know I tried to do the best that I could. My shot isn’t falling right now, it will, but I know I can do other things for this team, and I think rebounding is my role but also getting great shots for our team.”

Chicago also knocked down eight three-pointers and hit 10-13 free throws in the game.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯#skytown pic.twitter.com/XMKIXCN4Nh

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) August 24, 2022

The Liberty were led by Betnijah Laney (15 points and five boards), Sabrina Ionescu (14 points, six rebounds, and four assists against five turnovers), and Natasha Howard (14 points and 11 rebounds).

Game 3 just seemed to go Chicago’s way in every way possible as the veteran unit relied on their championship experience to close out their first-round series. Anytime New York tried to spark a run, Chicago was right there with an answer. Chicago’s most decisive answer came in the fourth quarter after New York came out the gates with a 7-0 run, including a five-point possession from Ionescu, to cut the Sky’s 10-point to 68-65.

However, the sold-out Barclays Center crown happiness at the Liberty’s fight was short-lived. The Sky put the clamps on the Liberty as they only allowed New York to score seven points over the final nine minutes of the game. Chicago also forced Ionescu to miss her final five shots after her quick offensive burst.

The final nail on the coffin came courtesy of a series-clinching 16-0 run, including back-to-back triples from Quigley, to answer New York’s run and essentially put the game away as their lead grew to as large as 20 points.

“We stayed with it,” Parker said during her televised interview with Rowe. “I think we learned from Game 1. Letting our foot off the gas, we were up seven with three minutes left, and we kinda relaxed a little bit.”

“This is a great New York team, they gotta young core, they shoot the three well, so we really have to be disciplined, so when we lose our focus for a second, that’s why they jump back in the game.”

The Queen of the Fourth with an ABSOLUTE DIME to KFC #skytown pic.twitter.com/ZfBlwzgtQW

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) August 24, 2022

With their Game 3 win, Chicago has now won four consecutive elimination games, including back-to-back single-elimination games last year en route to the franchise’s first WNBA championship. The opening round matchup has been a good test for the Sky, especially after the Liberty shocked them in Game 1 with a 13-0 run to steal Game 1. The Sky returned to normal with a dominant 62-100 win.

The reigning champs will play the winner of the Dallas Wings and Connecticut Sun series.

The post Candace Parker Leads Chicago to Series Clinching Win Over New York appeared first on SLAM.

LIBERTY TAKE GAME 1!!!!!

— WSLAM (@wslam) August 18, 2022

New York was led by Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Howard, who scored a game-high 22 points apiece. Ionescu contributed seven rebounds and six assists, while Howard followed up with seven rebounds, three assists, and one steal.

“We’ve really just stayed committed to the process,” Ionescu said when asked about the Liberty’s first playoff win in seven years. “It’s important that we won a game for this organization, for New York, but there’s a lot of games left in us, so we’re gonna have to do it again.

The @Withings Player of the Game is @sabrina_i20 with an incredible playoff performance tonight!#OwntheCrown pic.twitter.com/SlZDI6MVrC

— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) August 18, 2022

The Sky were led in scoring by Kahleah Copper (21 points and eight rebounds), Candace Parker (17 points and 10 rebounds), Allie Quigley (18 points and five dimes), and Courtney Vandersloot (13 points and 10 boards).

The Liberty used a 13-0 run over the final 3:20 and forced Chicago to miss 10 of their last 11 shots of the game to secure the win. While Ionescu’s five points highlighted the definitive run, Marine Johannes’ over-the-shoulder dime to Howard was the play of the game.

“I was just being ready at all times,” Howard said about the tough dime she got from Johannes. “Because I didn’t know if she would pass me the ball. It kinda reminded me of a Sue Bird pass.”

Natasha Howard on this immediately iconic Marine Johannès pass: “I was just being ready at all times, because I didn’t know if she would pass me the ball. It kinda reminded me of a Sue Bird pass.” pic.twitter.com/sYzLi1TZJf

— Myles (@MylesEhrlich) August 18, 2022

The Sky will look to even the series up when they host New York for Saturday’s Game 2.

The post New York Liberty Steal Game 1 of Series Against Chicago Sky appeared first on SLAM.

Make that three in a row!

Plum: 25 PTS // 5 AST // 4-5 3PM // 61% FG
Young: 22 PTS // 5 REB // 42% FG
Wilson: 12 PTS // 6 REB // 4 STL
Williams: 12 PTS // 3 REB // 5-8 FG
Stokes: 9 PTS // 7 REB // 75% FG#ALLIN pic.twitter.com/qvz3z4YWk3

— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) August 12, 2022

The Aces were led by Kelsey Plum (25 points on four triples) and Jackie Young, who contributed 22 points, including 16 in the third quarter. A’ja Wilson and Riquana Williams followed up with 12 points apiece.

In Jackie Young we trust!@jackieyoung3 dropped 16 third quarter points finishing with 22 to help lead the Aces to an 89-78 W over the Sky.#ALLIN pic.twitter.com/NhbQQzY8oC

— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) August 12, 2022

Kahleah Copper scored a career-high 28 points to lead Chicago, the second time she’s done so in her career. Candace Parker followed up with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists, while Emma Meesseman scored 14 to round out Chicago’s leading scorers.

Heading into the final game of the season, Las Vegas and Chicago have identical 25-10 records, but the Aces hold the tiebreaker in the race for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Aces end the regular season on Sunday with a home game against the Storm. The Chicago Sky will take on the Mercury on the road this coming Sunday.

Court Vision pic.twitter.com/jyR4uuZdik

— WSLAM (@wslam) August 12, 2022

The post Aces Steal Top Playoff Spot After Win Over the Sky appeared first on SLAM.

With an assist to Crystal Dangerfield in the first quarter against the Mercury, Ionescu accomplished the feat at the 9:31 mark. She finished the matchup with 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists in the 76-62 loss to the Mercury

The Liberty, who are currently 13-19 for fifth in the East, have won three of their last four games.

“I definitely see the future in the organization that we’re building. Super excited for what’s to come,” she told SLAM back in March of 2021. “It definitely takes a village, it’s not gonna happen overnight, it’s not something that comes easy. The vision of seeing the organization get there and then all of the hard work that it’s gonna take to get there is really what’s exciting. That grind is why a lot of people play; it’s why I play. That’s really the fun part.”

The SLAM 231 cover star has garnered the crown of the triple-double queen since she stepped foot into the W as statistical marvel when she dropped 33 points, along with seven rebounds and seven assists in her second pro game. Then again, Ionescu has always been a bucket since her days at Oregon, where not only became the first NCAA player (male or female) to register 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists, but is also the all-time NCAA record leader in career triple-doubles.

WNBA legend Candace Parker even acknowledged that we’re in a new era and spoke on the type of player Ionescu is:

“I think it’s the new age of players, but I also think it’s the way the game is played now,” Parker said, “It’s more fast-paced now. Now, you’re seeing 90s and 100 scores. They’re setting the record for 3-point shots. So it’s more like made shots. When we were coming to into the League, I don’t know what the average was for points, but I’m sure it was way less than it is now. So you have more shooters, so you’re going to have more assists, and your playmaking is better. So I think it’s just a combination of, yes, the skill set of the players like Sabrina, but also, I think it’s the skill set of those that are around her that are able to knock down shots.”

The Liberty are set to play the Wings on Monday at 8pm.

The post Sabrina Ionescu Makes WNBA History with 500 Points, 200 Boards, 200 Dimes in a Season appeared first on SLAM.

The @chicagosky recorded their 25th victory of the regular season, marking the most wins in franchise history!

Caught up with @coachjameswade and @Candace_Parker to discuss what this means for the city of Chicago pic.twitter.com/w9CKthyrqq

— WNBA (@WNBA) August 8, 2022

Courtney Vandersloot led the way with 20 points and five assists, Candace Parker followed up with 20 points and 12 rebounds, Allie Quigley and Emma Meesseman contributed 15 points apiece, and Kahleah Cooper posted 11 points and four dimes. Meesseman also hit the game-winning triple after Parker beat a double-team with a pass to Meesseman in the corner.

“I think it’s great,” Coach James Wade said about the Sky’s win. “But it’s not really our main motivation. Always good to win. We have to see what this leads us to., but it always feels good to go in with a no. 1 record, but we still have a little bit more work to do to secure that.”

“We’re excited,” Parker added. “Building momentum going into the playoffs, we want to be playing our best basketball, but we also realize from last year it’s a new season once the playoff starts. So we gotta be focused. towards

Sky win. 25-8. Here’s the game-winner: beautiful set with Candace posting the switch, making the touch pass to Emma Meeseman who drains the game-winning three.

Sky have been so good in the clutch all year, and did it again. pic.twitter.com/qdKukk9TH6

— Ricky O’Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) August 7, 2022

The Sky host the Seattle Storm on Tuesday while the Sun looks to get back on track against the Los Angeles Sparks.

The post Chicago Sky Reach Franchise Record 25th Against Connecticut appeared first on SLAM.

“You can teach (rebounding) technique. You can teach a lot of things about boxing out. But at the end of the day: See ball, get ball, and that’s Sabrina.”@charlottecrrll on how crucial @sabrina_i20‘s rebounding is for @nyliberty and her own success: https://t.co/Hu9MDougLP

— The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) July 29, 2022

This season, Ionescu is averaging 17.2 points, 7.2 rebounds. and 6.2 assists per game. As of Friday, the Oregon legend leads all guards in rebounding, and her 6.2 rebounds per contest rank seventh overall in the League. Ionescu has recorded two triple-doubles to this point of the season as well. Ionescu’s AAU and high school coach, Kelly Sopak, said that Ionescu’s ability to attack the boards came after he played up in age and wouldn’t get the ball unless she did rebound.

Since Ionescu is such a rebounding magnate, she is the only primary ballhandler for a team who ranks in the top 20 for rebounds this season. Ionescu herself said competing with a higher level of hoopers that are more physical has been a “learning experience” but something that she’s going to do to help Liberty win games.

“First and foremost, she cares,” Sopak told The Athletic. “You can teach (rebounding) technique. You can teach a lot of things about boxing out. But at the end of the day: See ball, get ball, and that’s Sabrina.”

Her nose for the ball has impressed many players around the League, including Allie Quigley, who said that Ionescu’s “competitiveness and her fearlessness.” stand out the most about the young guard.

Candace Parker is another guard who has been impressed by Ionescu’s ability to record points, board, and dimes and see’s her versatility as part of the game’s evolution. Ionescu and Parker have recorded two triple-doubles, while Moriah Jefferson and Alyssa Thomas have one each. That’s six out of the 11-ever triple-doubles in the history of the WNBA.

“I think it’s the new age of players, but I also think it’s the way the game is played now,” Parker said. She’s tied with Ionescu for most triple-doubles in league history with three total. “It’s more fast-paced now. Now, you’re seeing 90s and 100 scores. They’re setting the record for 3-point shots. So it’s more like made shots. When we were coming to into the League, I don’t know what the average was for points, but I’m sure it was way less than it is now. So you have more shooters, so you’re going to have more assists, and your playmaking is better. So I think it’s just a combination of, yes, the skill set of the players like Sabrina, but also, I think it’s the skill set of those that are around her that are able to knock down shots.”

The Liberty (10-17) is set to return to action with a Friday night road game against the defending champion Chicago Sky (21-7).

The post How Sabrina Ionescu Has Become the WNBA’s Biggest Triple-Double Threat appeared first on SLAM.

While Plum and Wilson were outstanding, Chelsea Gray showed out and helped lead her team offensively in order to provide perfect scoring opportunities for the Aces. Gray was named MVP.

“At the end of the day, you can talk about the numbers and this and that, but she wins games, and that to me should be the most important thing,” Plum said of Gray, per ESPN. “She’s the MVP tonight, but she has been leading our team the whole season. I feel like, to be honest, she doesn’t get the love and credit she deserves, and I’m really, really glad that people saw that tonight.”

Earlier this month four of the Aces starters and coach Becky Hammon were honored at the 2022 WNBA All-Star weekend. However, Gray wasn’t among them. Even Plum kept it real that Gray deserved the recognition.

“She got snubbed this year,” Plum said. “I felt like we deserved five All-Stars. I know that’s not easy. She’s a competitor. She leads our team, and when we need plays down the stretch, Chelsea consistently makes big plays.”

Gray, who dropped 19 points, along with five assists, and four rebounds in Tuesday’s matchup, was quick to credit her team for the dub.

“My team balled out today. We hooped,” Gray said. “I know I’m the MVP right now, this should go to them right there. Super proud of this team and everything we accomplished.”

Along with the win, each player on the Aces were awarded $30,000 for winning, while Gray won an additional $5,000 for being named MVP.

Photos via Getty Images

The post Las Vegas Aces Win the 2022 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup, Chelsea Gray Named MVP appeared first on SLAM.

With their 20th win of the season, the @chicagosky are the first team to clinch a spot in the 2022 WNBA playoffs! pic.twitter.com/9HspEIagdX

— WNBA (@WNBA) July 21, 2022

The Sky won their fifth straight win on Wednesday and was led by Allie Quigley (18 points), Emma Meesseman (16 points and 10 rebounds), Kahleah Copper (11 points and eight rebounds), and Candace Parker (10 points and eight rebounds). Breanna Stewart scored a game-high 24 points, followed by 18 points from Jewell Loyd, and Tina Charles rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points and six rebounds.

“That’s amazing,” Julie Allemand (four points, two rebounds, two assists) said about the Sky getting their 20th win of the season. “I think we need to keep pushing, and we need to play every game like it’s just a game, and we have to win. When we think about it, that’s great, but we don’t have to focus on that too. We just have to think about the next game and try to win all the time. That’s our goal, to be first at the end of the day and just keep pushing.”

This never gets old to us.#skytown pic.twitter.com/RTx3DqYMl3

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) July 20, 2022

Chicago secured their tight win after Copper sank 2-4 free throws in the closing seconds of regulation.

The Sky return to action on Friday with a home game against the Dallas Wings.

The post Chicago Sky First to Clinch 2022 Playoff Spot appeared first on SLAM.

Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd has had a phenomenal career and is one of the WNBA’s bright superstars.

WNBA Champion, Olympic Gold medalist, All-WNBA First Team, WNBA All-Star, College Player of the Year, All-American. Pretty impressive list, right? That’s just a smidgen of everything under her belt.

However, it’s her work away from the court that pulls the strings of her heart.

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Loyd built a name for herself as an athlete. From the likes of the city’s greats on the hardwood like Candace Parker, Isiah Thomas, Cappie Pondexter and, of course, Bulls icon Michael Jordan, there’s a rich basketball history in the Windy City.

Jewell learned at an early age that she wanted to be more than just an athlete but also be of value and service to others.

Through Loyd’s partnerships as a professional, there’s a recurring theme and focus of support for the community.

Whether she’s working to revitalize The Warehouse gym back in Illinois, where she spent countless hours developing her skills as a basketball player, or helping to fight hunger, she believes in giving back to those in need—quite fitting for her name, Jewell.

During Women’s History Month, Loyd partnered with Los Angeles Lakers’ assistant coach Phil Handy’s 94 Feet of Game app and DJ Khaled’s We The Best Foundation for the Future of Basketball Is Female campaign. Through the initiative, 1000 scholarships will be provided to female hoopers along with access to essential basketball skills in order to propel the next generation of great athletes to be skilled, crafty and fundamentally sound.

Jewell Loyd pays it forward every chance she gets.

For someone enjoying the prime of her career with so much left in the tank, she finds the time to be of assistance to others in order to help their dreams come true.

We recently caught up with Loyd to learn about the importance of all of her endeavors, the impact she looks to make and why it’s important to her that she gives back and is a positive example to the next generation of athletes.

“I understood that I had a lot of resources from not just my parents but other people that wanted to see me prosper,” she says. “I understand that’s super important and not every kid has that. If I’m able to give that experience or help a kid achieve their goals or dreams and help be exposed to other things that they’re not always exposed to, that’s what I want to do. That’s always been a big thing [for] me and my family—to serve others.”

She further explains how serving others is something the Loyd family takes seriously.

“Something we talk about and is one of our main pillars of my family is to serve,” she says. “I look at all the things I do for the kids and the next generation. I have nieces and nephews and I’ll do the same with them as well. I always try to find ways to give back because I wouldn’t be here without the help that I received.”

Loyd takes the time to acknowledge those who contributed to her various successes. “I want to pay that back to the next generation of kids and athletes,” she adds.

On the court, she’s known as the “Gold Mamba,” a name given by her mentor, Kobe Bryant. Off the court, she’s simply a role model. With everything that Loyd does, there had to have been some sort of early inspiration used as the catalyst on her quest to help. And quite simply, she didn’t have to look very far. There were early examples of dedicating time to others, because it started in the home.

“For starters, for sure my mom—she worked in the Chicago Public Schools,” Loyd says. “It was always a different perspective since I grew up in the suburbs and my mom taught in the city. I would go to her school, and I would see that they wouldn’t have the things like our school district or would go on the same field trips as us.

“I understood that wasn’t fair and didn’t make sense to me. My mom always did a great job of bringing her students to Bulls games or going to the Art Institute. Anything that our district would do, she’d encourage and help her students do as well.”

Another inspiration for Loyd was Pokey Chatman, the then-head coach of her local WNBA team, the Chicago Sky. “Pokey played a huge role,” she says. “I was in the gym with her at a very young age. Seeing how she coached and how she taught while being in a power and leadership role. It was something you didn’t get to see often.”

Chatman served as the General Manager and Head Coach of the Sky until 2016. Loyd would often visit Sky practices in order to further develop her game and had the opportunity to get early insight into what would become her future as a professional.

“Getting to know her from that level and seeing it from a young age, to understand you have a voice and a reason to be here and you have value,” Loyd says, reflecting on Chatman’s teachings. “Between my mom and then Pokey as a coach in something I loved to do every day, it gave me perspective on how to treat others moving forward and how to really just use your voice and platform.”

Representation matters, and that perspective was important.

Now an assistant with the Seattle Storm, Chatman is able to see up close and personal what’s become of that young player who used to sit in on her practices.

“I remembered she was a special player. She knew how to play with and without the ball in her hands, but you could also hear her voice. She kind of reminds me of Seimone [Augustus] in that sense,” Chatman says, referencing the future Hall-of-Famer who played her collegiate career under Chatman at Louisiana State University.

“It’s like they’re doing it from their core and not doing it for the spotlight. If you don’t dig, you won’t know. It’s not anything for show or something that they’ll just dip in and out of just to show that they’re there,” Chatman adds about Loyd’s quiet approach to her community involvement.

There are often times when celebrities and people of status allow their work to be overshadowed by the ubiquitous attention surrounding their fame. That’s not the case here.

“When you get in Jewell’s space, you know she’s regular folk. You feel her spirit. She doesn’t want the attention but she wants to do right by people. It’s centered around her heart and what she wants to do,” Chatman says.

Loyd has all the makings of what many feel could be a perfect career. She knows how to win and has done it consistently. She’ll surely be known for the elite crossovers, the crafty step-back threes, acrobatic finishes around the rim and, of course, the thrilling buzzer-beaters. She’ll also have a lengthy list of championships and individual awards to her name.

However, what will probably stand out the most is the service to people and how she has been able to make a difference in the lives of those who looked up to her. She’s hands-on with the development of the next generation. The game is in good hands with her charitable efforts as she pays, or in her case, passes it forward.

“The basketball gets all the attention, and we [only] get a peek into the person,” Chatman says. “She’s quietly impacted the places that she’s occupied and I think that lives a long time because it touches so many people.”

WSLAM 2 is available now. Get your copy here.

Photos via Getty Images

The post How Jewell Loyd is Giving Back to Chicago and Inspiring the Next Generation of Female Hoopers appeared first on SLAM.

How do you measure legacy? More specifically, how do you measure the legacy of 15-year WNBA veteran Sylvia Fowles?

Do you measure it in championships? Fowles has two titles.

Is it in awards? She’s a two-time Finals MVP, the 2017 League MVP and a four-time Defensive Player of the Year. 

Or perhaps you measure Fowles’ legacy based on her international résumé? In that case, four Olympic Gold medals with USA Basketball sounds pretty solid. 

However, if you talk to Fowles, these are not the things that matter most. Everything Sylvia Fowles has accomplished in basketball has been to prove to herself and her close circle of family, teammates and fans that she can still ball. 

On media day, we asked Fowles’ 29-year-old Lynx teammate Damiris Dantas about playing with the legend during her last season. The Brazilian forward, who usually keeps her comments in English brief, perfectly described the true legacy of Fowles:

“I’m so happy because when [I started to play] basketball in Brazil, I see my Big Mom in here and I think, Oh my gosh, I hope one day I go to play this girl, because I watch video. I watch the games…in Brazil, and now I have good opportunity to play together. She’s so good not only in the court, outside the court. Good teammate. So for me, it’s more special to be here and play together [with] my Big Mom, Syl.” 

The 2020 Olympics were like no other. To begin, they weren’t held until 2021. The global coronavirus pandemic has impacted everything for the past two-plus years, let alone sports. Nevertheless, Team USA and athletes around the world prepared amid the unknown. For the United States, this meant a quest for five consecutive Gold medals under head coach Dawn Staley. 

Fowles averaged 5 points and 4.2 rebounds in her 62 minutes during the 2020 Summer Olympic tournament. Don’t be fooled by these numbers. They are more indicative of the depth of USA Basketball than any declining productivity on Fowles’ part. 

“Everyone knows that coming to Team USA your role pretty much changes,” the LSU alumna said last August during the Olympics. “You have to be mentally prepared, and it starts in practice, making sure you’re getting that starting five ready.”

Fowles accompanied Brittney Griner—who is currently missing the 2022 WNBA season after being, according to the US government, wrongfully detained on drug charges in Russia—as the center or true 5 position during the Tokyo Summer Olympics. The duo accounted for nearly 25 percent of USA’s 273 rebounds in six games. 

After securing her fourth Olympic Gold medal, Fowles announced she was done with her USA Basketball career. 

Stepping away from the national team was just the beginning of the end of the future Hall of Famer’s goodbyes. She’d have less autonomy regarding her exit from the WNBA and more specifically, the Minnesota Lynx, though. 

“I actually wanted no part of the finale at all. When we started talking about me coming back, I tried to express and stress to my agent and Cheryl [Reeve, GM and head coach of the Lynx] how I just wanted this thing to be smooth without the attention. And they was not going for it,” Fowles told the media in February when she announced that she’d re-signed for her 15th and final WNBA season. 

“So if I would have had my way, I think I just would have kept [it] under the radar only because I felt like this is my job. I appreciate, like, the love and the support, but I wasn’t looking for the big hoorah to say that this was my last year,” Fowles said.

The Lynx and the League have other plans. “We really want to take this entire season to celebrate Syl and the amazing person that she is,” Carley Knox, Minnesota’s president of business operations, told The New York Times in May. 

Although not what Fowles wants, this is what she deserves.

In recent years, basketball has evolved into a positionless game. At every level of men’s and women’s basketball, you find post players who have difficulty with their midrange and three-point shot—players who weren’t raised to play all over the floor. There are also post players who struggle in the paint. The same is true of guards who love to drive but struggle with turnovers. 

Two things that never goes out of style are defense and rebounding. As the shot charts for her post-position contemporaries have changed, Fowles has adjusted on the defensive side. She is the all-time leading rebounder for the WNBA. She has won championships while drawing defensive assignments against the aforementioned Griner and fellow MVPs like Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson and Candace Parker. 

Fowles is also the only active player shooting at a career 100 percent clip from three-point range, because she’s 1-1 from the arc. No misses! Jokes aside, Fowles has learned to contribute offensively with consistency, if not from the deep range we see as common with younger players like the Liberty’s 6-10 center Han Xu—who is 11-23 from the arc in her career, by the way. 

Fowles has eclipsed 6,000 career points (and counting), shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor and 73 percent from the foul line. Her consistency is what dreams are made of if you’re a general manager or head coach. 

Reeve believes the stat sheet doesn’t even tell the full story. 

“I think in terms of her dominance, physically, I think it starts there with her competitive drive, her passion, her will to win,” says Reeve, has coached Fowles since late in the 2015 season. “What that produces in the way of statistics and rebounding, look at where she is in double-doubles.” 

Fowles began her dominance in the post with the Chicago Sky. She earned All-Rookie honors and her first of 10 All-Defensive honors in Chicago. However, she missed most of the 2015 season as she waited for a trade. Fowles wanted out of Chicago, the franchise that drafted her second overall in the 2008 WNBA Draft.

Just as it looked as though she might miss the entirety of the season, the deal with the Lynx came through. Fowles averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds per game in her first 18 appearances with Minnesota. She ended the 2015 season as a WNBA champion and Finals MVP. And so continued her rise as perhaps the best center in WNBA history. 

“You know, where would she be if she [hadn’t] had a half season that was taken away from her in Chicago? The field goal percentage, just the way you have to scheme for the offensive rebounding, the defensive rebounding. So every statistical category that you can think of, Syl has dominated,” Reeve says. 

“Sylvia Fowles is a center in the truest form, and there’s not been anybody like her. And it’ll be a long time before there’s another Sylvia Fowles.”

The story could end right there. But the most consistent stat for Fowles is her infectious and joyous personality that outmeasures her 6-6, 219-pound frame. She is known off the court as Sweet Syl and if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of her hugs or smiles, you know exactly why. 

“I didn’t really truly understand the nickname Sweet Syl until I got here, because I never saw Sweet Syl when I was in a different jersey,” Lynx forward Natalie Achonwa said during Lynx media day. The Canadian has also battled against not-so-sweet Syl in international competition. 

When Achonwa arrived in Minnesota as a free agent last year, she was drawn in by Fowles’ leadership style. “The way that Sylvia plays and the dominance that she plays with is very different from her leadership,” Achonwa added. 

Fowles is described as sweet and a mother-like figure by her teammates. She is nurturing and encouraging as a teammate and part of her reason for coming back for one more year is to challenge herself to be an even better and more vocal leader. 

“I think that’s one thing that I lacked, was me being vocal. And being vocal was always a challenge for me. So I’m challenging myself to make sure I speak up as much as possible and teach as much as I can, too, while I’m here in my last year,” Fowles said during Media Day. 

If this is her last hurdle—well, that and proving she can still hoop, and even dominate, at 36 years old—Fowles won’t be disappointed. 

And neither will her fans. 

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 There was no playbook at that point in terms of what to do. “How could this happen?” Swoopes said in her 2013 documentary. 

Would she still have a job come that summer? Was her playing career over? What comes next? All questions that women, not only in basketball, have feared in one way or another when it comes to becoming a mother. 

 She eventually told her agency, team and the WNBA, all of which supported her through that journey.

 “I don’t know if anyone thought that was possible until [Sheryl] did it,” Houston teammate Tina Thompson discussed in the Swoopes ESPN documentary. “Once she did, then it became pretty normal.”

 “The day [Sheryl] came back was a big deal,” Swoopes director Hannah Storm shared with The Atlantic in 2013. “No one had ever done that before—especially not on a team sport.”

Sheryl returned to the court just five weeks after giving birth and helped the Comets to their first WNBA championship that same year (the first of four consecutive titles in the years to come). 

 She created the playbook for the future of the League, one filled with dynamic women who have dreams of having both a career and a family. 

WSLAM 2 is out now featuring Napheesa Collier and Dearica Hamby.

Do you remember when you first realized your mom was a superhero? When you’re little, it’s difficult to grasp exactly how much our mothers do for us. When you get a bit older, the teen angst starts kicking in and clouds our ability to see anything of reason. And when you’re older, you start to understand just how much our moms sacrifice for us. 

I remember I was always a dad’s girl. I loved basketball and played lots of sports. It bonded me and my dad. Didn’t seem quite fair to the woman who carried me for nine months to be a dad’s girl, but nonetheless, when I got older, I started really comprehending just how much she did for me. I learned about her hardest moments. I started realizing that there were likely things I’d never know about and began to understand the struggles she went through personally while doing her best for me. It’s what moms do. 

They get you to practice, stay up to make you dinner, check on your schoolwork, teach life lessons and do their best to protect you from the world. All while dealing with their own lives. They hold it down when it seems nearly impossible. 

Imagine balancing all those things on top of being a professional athlete. A job that at one point felt impossible to maintain once you became a mother. 

Nearly 26 years after Swoopes gave birth to her son Jordan, there are two young moms in the WNBA at different stages of motherhood for whom Sheryl set the stage. 

Dearica Hamby is in her eighth WNBA season, a mother to Amaya and a two-time Sixth Woman of the Year winner. Napheesa Collier, who was the 2019 Rookie of the Year, is now in her fourth WNBA season and just gave birth to 1-month-old Mila. 

Two moms on two journeys that were initially unexpected. 

Dearica had just averaged 6.1 points per game in her first season, with about 17 minutes of playing time per game, and she was ready to prove herself in year two when she found out her life was about to change.

How am I going to play basketball? How am I going to tell my coaches? Dearica thought to herself after she found out she was pregnant. 

“I was in my second year. I had a decent first year until my injury. I felt like I was back in redemption mode the second year, and I knew that this was a possibility that I was going to have to sit out once I told my coaches and the organization that I was expecting,” she tells WSLAM.

Napheesa’s journey has been a little different. She came into the League with a splash, averaging 13 points a game and taking home the ROY award. Just as her third season wrapped up, she took a test after being a few weeks late when the tiny plus sign appeared. 

“I feel like I didn’t have a lot of emotions at first because it’s just thing…I don’t know. It was just such a huge thing,” Napheesa shares. “That your life is going to change forever when that happens. So, it was just processing that. One of my first thoughts was, OK, I have to call my coach because I’m not going to be able to play, at least in the beginning of the season next year.” 

It’s that exact thought process that led WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike and the rest of the council to negotiate the elevation of resources for mothers of the League. Those new resources include a full salary while on maternity leave, a new annual child care stipend of $5,000, two-bedroom apartments for players with children and workplace accommodations that provide a comfortable place for nursing mothers, to name a few.

“I am so thankful that I came into the League when I did, because it was right on the tails of the new CBA, which gives so many things to new mothers that we didn’t have before,” Collier says. “You get so many things that allow you to come back and be a working mom, that the men obviously don’t have to worry about.”

These changes have been vital in empowering the women of the League to pursue their dreams of a career, and their dreams of having a family. Dreams that society has doubted. 

There’s an archaic mentality that women can’t be good mothers and  top-tier professionals. It’s a mentality that’s caused a lot of the fear and anxiety around pregnancies like Sheryl’s in ’97, to now with Phee and Dearica. 

“I think it exists because women are naturally caretakers and nurturers, and when you have a kid, you want to give all of that to the kid. I think there’s this fear that if I’m emotionally invested in this, I can’t also emotionally invest in basketball. But that’s just false,” Hamby says. “Personally, for me, I come to work, I do my job for the time allotted that I’m supposed to do my job, and then I go home and I’m a full-time mommy. I can separate the two.”

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The reality of working mothers extends well beyond the hardwood. Who could forget Beyoncé’s 2011 VMA performance of “Love on Top,” when, after holding nothing back as she poured her heart and soul into every word, B dropped the mic and hugged her stomach, revealing to the world that she was pregnant with her first child. Keep in mind, too, that she was wearing heels for her performance. Yet another example that women can truly do it all.

For every working woman, there are a ton of questions faced before and after giving birth. How much time can I take off? Will my boss be OK if I want to take some extra time? Will my job still be there for me when I come back? For professional athletes, one of the biggest questions on their minds is a scary one: Will I be able to come back and play at the same level as before?

Pregnancy naturally changes women’s bodies, immensely. Weight fluctuates, hormones increase, breast size changes, post-birth back pains are possible, just to name a few. The road back is not easy, but it’s not impossible. 

“I gave birth to her [Amaya] February 5, which was three weeks prior to my original due date,” Dearica recalls. “Those extra three weeks saved me, and I was able to get in shape in time for the season.” 

Returning to the court just about six weeks after giving birth, Dearica came back even better than before. She averaged 9 ppg, solidifying her spot on the then-San Antonio Stars roster, and in the seasons since has continued to elevate her game. 

“The most difficult part was training and thinking I would be OK from being away from her. I nursed, and so when I was gone, I really missed her,” the Aces star says. “When I was at workouts, it’d be like, Alright, hurry up and do this hour and a half workout. I don’t think I changed my clothes in time. I was sprinting back home to get to her. I just wanted to hold her.”

The sacrifices she made to make it work led her to some of her best seasons and two Sixth Woman of the Year awards. Now she’s on the No. 1 team in the League, a team that looks like the favorite to win a championship. 

Napheesa is just at the beginning of her comeback journey. Her daughter, Mila Sarah Bazzell, was born on May 25th of this year, and just a few weeks out, she’s now eyeing her return to the floor.

“I plan to approach my comeback really [with my] feet hitting the ground, running, trying to get back as soon as I can,” Collier says. “Especially because Sylvia Fowles is one of my favorite people ever. I would love to be able to play a couple games with her if I can. Since this is a short season, time is not on my side, but I really want to push my body as much as I can while still being healthy.”

There’s no doubt in our minds that Phee will return back and better than ever. Sheryl showed us the blueprint, and since then, Candace Parker, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Tianna Hawkins, Bria Hartley, DeWanna Bonner and many more have continued to inspire. 

Dearica is following their lead, and Phee’s got next.  It’s that momma strength. That little bit extra that these women have. 

“Honestly, I think it’s this mom [thing] that elevates players after they give birth, in my opinion,” Hamby says. “People will tell you all the time, I’m a different player than I was before I gave birth to Amaya. Just the toughness that I play with and the hunger and the drive and the heart that I play with, I think it comes from giving birth. You become a mom and it’s different.”

It also takes a village to raise a child, and one of the most beautiful things about the WNBA is how there’s a support system of 144 women who are there for them. To help them raise their children and to be there for one another. 

We see that with Amaya, whether it’s her prank wars with the Aces’ Kelsey Plum or her role as the unofficial team mascot. She’s always on the sidelines with a jersey cheering on her mommy and her friends (Hamby’s teammates). It’s evident just how special Amaya and Dearica’s bond is, but it’s even more so in the moments we don’t see. 

“Her teacher left me a message a few weeks ago and I happened to read it right before the game, which probably was a bad idea, but she said, Amaya’s so proud of you and she talks about you. You should see the way she glows when the students ask about you,” Dearica says with tears slowly welling in her eyes. “I think sometimes I’m hard on myself because I feel bad during the season that I’m not with her as much. For her teacher to say that and send me that, it meant a lot.”

It may be tough to not share as many mom-daughter moments as Dearica would like, but 5-year-old Amaya loves that her mom is a WNBA superstar. She gets to see what she could aspire to be one day and even share that with her friends at school.

Now Napheesa has the same opportunity to share the game that she loves with her newest No. 1 fan.

“I’m excited for the experiences that we’re going to have together,” the former ROY says. “Obviously, I hope she likes to play sports. But if she doesn’t, it’d be so cool to see what she’s interested in. Does she want to play an instrument? What’s she going to be like? What are her interests going to be? Maybe she’ll introduce me to new things that I’ve never tried before.”

That’s the beauty of motherhood. The journey, the unknown and the things you get to experience together for the first time. 

For Dearica and Napheesa, it’s not always going to be easy. There are going to be hard times and setbacks, but that’s not going to stop them from doing what they have to do to create the best life for their daughters. They’ll hold it down through those tough times and show their daughters that there are no limitations to what a woman can do. 

And to Mila and Amaya, you may not realize it yet, but your moms are superheroes. Not just to you, but to women everywhere. 

Napheesa Collier portraits by Lawrence Bryant, Dearica Hamby portraits by Alex Woodhouse // Action photos via Getty Images.

Napheesa’s hair: Cameron Myers, makeup: Tara Lowery // Dearica’s hair: Sabrina Jackson, makeup: Heather Bates

The post Napheesa Collier and Dearica Hamby on Balancing Basketball with Motherhood While Inspiring the Next Generation appeared first on SLAM.

At just 24-years-old, Ionescu has already recorded three career triple-doubles. She also joins Parker as the only player to have multiple triple-doubles in the same season.

The Liberty snapped a two-game losing streak thanks to Ionescu’s brilliance, and the team’s 116 points are the most in franchise history. The wild back-and-forth contest saw the Liberty and Aces score a W-record 223 combined points. New York and Las Vegas combined to make a League-record 31 three-pointers, with the Liberty hitting 18 shots from beyond the arc. 

Ionescu also made history as she became the first player in WNBA history to record a triple-double without committing a single turnover.

“I was just really trying to take care of the ball, I thought that was really important,” Ionescu said after the game, per ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel. “As a point guard and the primary ball-handler, just wanting to continue to work on that part of the game.

She also shot a career-high 7-of-8 from three and an efficient 10-of-13 from the field.

“I’m just trying to be the best that I can every time I step out on the floor. It’s me versus me. I’m trying to get better and continue to learn from all the situations that I’ve been put in.”

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After a 1-7 start to the season, New York is now 9-12 and within a half a game of the playoffs. The Liberty has a Thursday night road game against the Phoenix Mercury to end the first half of the season.

Ionescu will represent New York on Sunday as an All-Star starter for Team Wilson, led by Aces star A’ja Wilson.

The post Sabrina Ionescu Records First 30-Point Triple-Double in WNBA History appeared first on SLAM.

Taurasi and Bird embark on this moment together as they did back in college when they won the national title for Connecticut in 2002. From college to the WNBA, they both have had legendary careers. 

Taurasi is a ten-time All-Star and the WNBA’S all-time leading scorer. Bird is a 12-time All-Star and has won four WNBA championships. 

These two future H alls of Famers will be the second WNBA athletes to grace the cover in NBA 2K history. The first WNBA athlete on the cover was Chicago Sky’s Candace Parker on NBA 2K22. 

“It really is an incredible feeling to see your hard work memorialized on the cover of a game like NBA 2K23,” Taurasi expressed. “There are so many kids that dream of pursuing a professional basketball career, and they can now also dream of being on the NBA 2K cover, whether they want to play in the NBA or WNBA.”

Along with showing future hoopers that anything is possible, Bird and Taurasi have partnered with 2K Games to help kids around the country begin their journey. The two pledge $100,000 to Every Kid Sports, a national nonprofit that helps children play recreational youth sports, allowing kids the opportunity to join youth basketball programs across the country. The donation will also cover registration fees for low-income families. 

“I’m honored to be on the cover and even more honored to use my legacy to provide these opportunities for the next generation.” Bird explained. 

The post Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi Set to Make NBA 2K23 appeared first on SLAM.

The other nine players included are Margo Fydek, Lisa Leslie, Deanna Nolan, Temeka Johnson, Courtney Vandersloot, Chelsea Gray, Sherly Swoopes, Sabrina Ionescu, and Candace Parker. 

“If it wasn’t for my teammates, I definitely wouldn’t have got it,” Jefferson said, “I didn’t realize I had seven rebounds at the time, and everybody was yelling at me. So at that point, I just started flying everywhere to try to get a rebound, and it worked out.”

Jefferson recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists during Minnesota’s 92-64 win over the Wings. Jefferson not only finished with her first triple-double but also posted the first in franchise history. The accomplishment came after Jefferson’s teammate, Aerial Powers, told the team on notice that Jefferson only needed three rebounds to accomplish the feat.

“I put everyone on notice. She only needs three. Y’all box out and let her get the rebound,” Powers said. 

When Jefferson completed her last rebound for the night, her teammate was just as excited as she was.

“We’re really happy for her to fly around and get some rebounds,” Coach Cheryl Reeve said, “It’s awfully special for Mo. Obviously, it’s her former team. There’s some motivation there,” Reeve mentioned. 

Jefferson is averaging 13.4 points, 5.7 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 30 minutes per game. The Lynx host the Aces on Friday, looking to win consecutive games for the second time this season.

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The players selected include Ariel Atkins, Kahleah Copper, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Dearica Hamby, Natasha Howard, Rhyne Howard, Jewell Loyd, Brionna Jones, Emma Meesseman, Arike Ogunbowale, Alyssa Thomas, and Courtney Vandersloot.

2022 WNBA ALL-STAR RESERVES:

Ariel Atkins, Kahleah Copper, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Dearica Hamby, Natasha Howard, Rhyne Howard, Jewell Loyd, Brionna Jones, Emma Meesseman, Arike Ogunbowale, Alyssa Thomas, Courtney Vandersloot. #WNBA |

— Khristina Williams (@Khristina) June 28, 2022

Howard, the rookie out of Atlanta, will make her All-star game debut while the Chicago Sky send a mob over with their championship core all making an appearance. The Sky will be represented this year by Kahleah Copper, Courtney Vandersloot, Emma Meeseman, and Candace Parker, who was voted in as a starter. 

The All-Star starters were announced on June 22, including Candace Parker, Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum, Nneka Ogumike, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu. The captains for the All-Star Game are A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart. WNBA legend Sue Bird joins Team Wilson as a co-captain, while Sylvia Fowles will join Team Steward.

Wilson and Stewart pick their teams on Saturday afternoon, with the starters chosen first and then the 12 reserve players. Since Wilson led in fan voting, she will have the first pick on Saturday. 

The post Kahleah Copper, Skylar Diggins-Smith Headline 2022 WNBA All-Star Game Reserves appeared first on SLAM.

At 13-5, Wade has led the Sky to the best record in the Eastern Conference. He will coach Team Stewart, named after Seattle Storm star Breanna Stewart. 

Wade was named WNBA Coach of the Year in 2019 and guided Chicago to its first WNBA Championship in 2021, making him just the third Black coach in the W ever to win a ‘chip.

“I know that my rise to this place is unique. It’s not common,” Wade told SLAM and the Black Coaches Association back in January. “Every time I go to work, every time I get up, I know I’m not doing it for me.”

He began his coaching career as an assistant with the San Antonio Stars from 2012 through 2016. Wade also served as a player development coach with the Minnesota Lynx, working directly with players like Sylvia Fowles (who will serve as co-captain at All-Star this year). He also coached multiple overseas teams before landing in Chicago in 2019.

“I was like, Hey, Syl, this is what’s going to happen. We’re gonna win MVP,” Wade recalled. “She was like, Let’s do it. I was like, We’re gonna win Finals MVP, we’re gonna win everything.” 

Earlier this year, Wade was selected to join the USA Women’s National Team coaching staff for training camp and the FIBA World Qualifying Tournament.

“Very humbled to be a part of the All-Star game here in Chicago,” Wade recently tweeted. “So excited for my staff and our players chosen!!!”

Wade will face off against Los Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon, who will coach Team Wilson, led Aces star A’ja Wilson.

The WNBA’s 12 head coaches will vote on the reserves which who be announced on Tuesday.

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The other six starters include Sabrina Ionescu, Candace Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, Jonquel Jones, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young. An incredibly talented and fire list for this year’s All-Star game. 

It’s a bitter-sweet moment in WNBA history with four-time WNBA champion Bird retiring after the 2022 season. She was the most selected player for the AT&T All-Star game, earning 13 selections. 

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that Brittney Griner would hold a place as an honorary starter. The Phoenix Mercury center has been selected for the AT&T All-Star game six times before and will be there in spirit for her seventh selection. 

The League’s head coaches will vote for the 12 reserve players. Coaches will vote for three guards, five frontcourt players, and four players from either position. The announcement will be made Tuesday, June 28. 

The captains will pick their All-Star rosters on Saturday, July 2, from the eight starters and the 12 reserves that the coaches voted for.  

The post WNBA Announces Starters For 2022 All-Star Game appeared first on SLAM.

Despite a 41-point first quarter from Las Vegas and a 28-point deficit, Chicago proved they would be fighting champion after taking down the League-leading Aces, 104-95. The Sky came back after outscoring Las Vegas 53-33 in the second half. Courtney Vandersloot led Chicago’s historic effort with a 25-point and eight assist performance.

“No matter what’s going on in a game, we believe we have a chance to win,” Vandersloot said. 

The historic game was a fast-paced affair that led to a record-tying nine players finishing the night with at least 15 points.

Vandersloot’s wife and backcourt mate, Allie Quigley (13 points and seven dimes) credited the Aces’ playstyle for the track meet vibe of the game and talked about how it felt as they chipped away at Las Vegas’ lead.

“They’re such a fast-paced team and so are we, there wasn’t time to worry about the next play or even the score. It was just, ‘OK, just keep chipping away, chipping away’” Quigley said. 

Chicago’s all-around teamwork helped them secure the dub. The Sky handed out 34 assists, the third most in WNBA history. Among players like Vandersloot and Quigley, Candace Parker had a 17-point and 10 rebounds double-double, and Azurá Stevens followed up with a season-high of 19 points. 

The post Chicago Sky Send a Message With Historic 28-Point Comeback Against Las Vegas appeared first on SLAM.

One landmark case allowed Parker to go from a young girl ballin in the suburbs of Chicago to a McDonald’s All-American that thrived at the University of Tennessee, and then a No. 1 draft pick for the WNBA who’s played her way to a Hall-of-Fame-worthy career during her 13-year career. Parker is amongst the countless women in America that made the most of the opportunities she got after Title IX was enacted 50 years ago.

Since Parker was young, her parents instilled a belief that she could be anything she wanted. Even people like her college basketball coach, coach Summit, showed Parker to fight for what she deserved regarding inequality. Parker witnessed the differences between male and female athletes very quickly. 

“But I always saw it, whether it was in travel or when I got to college and saw it in the stipends or the size of the [national championship] ring. You see it in representation and marketing- the billboard outside the arena are football even though we won eight national championships,” Parker explained.  

Though Parker experienced some negatives under Title IX, she also credits it for giving the career opportunities that she could’ve never imagined. Opportunities that led to Ace winning two WNBA championships with a Finals MVP earned two MVPs and was named to six All-Star teams during her Hall-of-Fame-worthy 13-year career in LA and Chicago.

“I would not be sitting here today without Title IX. And I thank those that paved the way for me and provided me with the opportunity for the world to even look at me and say that I could be not just a player but a broadcaster. That I could sit there and speak about sports,” said Parker.

The 50th anniversary marks both improvements and accomplishments for Title IX but, most importantly, gives people like Parker room to tell their stories.

The post Candace Parker Speaks On the Significance of Title IX in Her Life appeared first on SLAM.

Ionescu dropped 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists, marking her first WNBA triple-double since May 2021. The third-year guard also secured her triple-double through three quarters, making her the first player in WNBA history to do so.

Sabrina is a PROBLEM. pic.twitter.com/NO5e4V6PaK

— WSLAM (@wslam) June 13, 2022

She and Chicago’s Candance Parker are the only WNBA players who have had a triple-double in multiple regular-season games. Courtney Vandersloot and Hall-of-Famer Sheryl Swoopes are the only others to record multiple-triple doubles in a career. Both posted triple-doubles in playoff games. 

“I don’t care about the triple-double; we didn’t win,” Ionescu said Sunday, per ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel. “I’m just trying to do my part, continuing to get better every single day, continuing to learn from my teammates, from this coaching staff.”

The Liberty started the season with a 1-7 record and have gone 4-2 since. Ionescu, a former Oregon standout and No. 1 overall pick in 2020, has averaged 24 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 6.5 assists during New York’s most recent six-game stretch.

Ionescu is averaging 17.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game this season.

The post Sabrina Ionescu Becomes Youngest to Post Multiple Triple-Doubles appeared first on SLAM.

At 36-years-old, the Tennessee legend has more playing days behind her than in front. During an appearance on WNBA Weekly, she told host Kristen Ledlow that 2022 could be the last time she laces it up.

“That is how I’m entering the season,” Parker said, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. “I mean, I don’t know, I don’t know what the future holds. I know my contract is up after this year. And there will be decisions to be made.”

sorry about the quality but uh candace parker said she’s operating under the assumption this is her last year?? pic.twitter.com/Ze2LJyzgjo

— whitney medworth (@its_whitney) May 6, 2022

After helping lead the Chicago Sky to their first-ever title last season, Parker revealed that she was “ready and really thinking about” leaving the hardwood after realizing how hard of a time she had just to work out and begin ramping up for a new WNBA season. However, Ace said her daughter convinced her to give it more go around. She also wants her son, Airr, to watch her play.

“I’m game for playing five, six more WNBA seasons if I could literally have an easy button of getting in shape. It’s the easy button; that’s the problem,” Parker said. “It’s the being in the studio, which I love, but then waking up in the morning and working out before going on air. It’s the travel. It’s the offseason.”

“So I think the first workout that I did at the end of October, I was like, ‘Yeah, I really might retire.’ That’s how close I was. I was literally looking at my exercise bike, and I was just like, ‘Yeah, that might have been a good time to retire. I don’t want to do this.’

Chicago begins their title defense on Friday against the Los Angeles Sparks.

The post Candace Parker Open to Retiring After ’22 Season: ‘That Is How I’m Entering the Season’ appeared first on SLAM.

“I can’t wait to be back, especially with our core returning,” Copper said. “We want to run it back, and we know it won’t be easy, but with all of us 100% committing and making sacrifices for each other, I really like our chances. Chi-town, let’s get it!”

Last season, Copper averaged 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists on 45.9 percent shooting from the field on the way to her first All-Star appearance. During the Sky’s playoff run to become the first sixth seed in W history to win a title, Copper averaged 17.1 points per game.

Since joining the Sky, Copper has cemented herself within the franchise record book, ranking in the top-10 in games played, points scored, field goals made, field goal accuracy, made three-pointers, and free-throw percentage.

The upcoming season will be Copper’s seventh in the League and sixth with Chicago and will be running it back with Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, and Azura Stevens. The only significant contributor to the Sky’s championship that won’t be returning is Diamond DeShields. She is headed to Phoenix after Chicago moved her in a sign-and-trade deal in early February.

The post Chicago Sky Re-Sign Finals MVP Kahleah Copper appeared first on SLAM.

“Philly Kah is the ultimate competitor, just a dog,” Copper says over the phone. “Like, just a real representation of flat-out toughness. I think it’s important for me to be like that, and for me to be able to even flip the switch once I’m off the court. But, when I’m on the court, like, I’m just so locked in, in this zone. That’s just who I am.”

It’s December, and Copper is calling from Spain, where she’s been suiting up for the Perfumerias Avenida in the EuroLeague this WNBA offseason. Fresh off her “world tour” of winning a chip and putting everyone on notice, she took three weeks off from basketball, went to Philly for her first SLAM cover shoot, and then quickly jetted off to Europe, where she admits that even her teammates noticed that she “talked different.” 

“[They were] like, Wow, you’re so much nicer than we thought. We didn’t think you were mean, but like, we didn’t think you was this nice. And I’m like, Yo, that’s really not me. On the court, that’s really Philly Kah.” 

SLAM 236 featuring Kahleah Copper is OUT NOW!

Chicago Sky head coach James Wade explained it perfectly: “It’s like when she gets on the court, she has something like, You ain’t taking my candy. Like, this is my game, and you can’t have it. And if you try to take it, I’mma show you…It’s just a toughness. It’s that North Philly.”

North Philly is the place that birthed her intensity, nurturing it in the parks on 33rd and Diamond, where she’d play against the guys, and then on 32nd and Berks Street against her own cousins on a “makeshift” rim they’d built near both of her grandmothers’ houses. 

“Now this is some Philly shit,” Copper says, as she explains over the phone how the rim was created. At first, they had a crate, but then “someone” stole a blue-trimmed Lifetime shatter guard backboard from the park and nailed it to a street pole. That’s where it all started. 

“I think that really heightened my competitiveness, because I always wanted to beat them. It was never like, You a girl and  you can’t play. It was just like, You need to be tougher. We all out here playing, it don’t matter that you’re a girl. Be tougher.”

That toughness never left her, and this past season, the world watched Philly Kah take her full form. During the regular season, Copper averaged 14.4 ppg. During the playoffs, those numbers jumped to a playoff career-high 17.7. She played with an energy that couldn’t be contained, or defended, from anywhere on the floor. Not in the first round against the Dallas Wings, where she shot 71 percent from the field, knocked down pull-up jumpers with a fury and effortlessly caught no-look dimes from Courtney Vandersloot in transition. Or, in the semifinals, when she dropped a playoff-career high 26 points against the Connecticut Sun in a Game 3 win to help give the Sky a 2-1 series lead.

“I think my competitiveness just reached an all-time high. I think I was the ultimate competitor…Even re-watching the games and seeing how locked in I was and seeing my intensity on defense. Getting hyped, just every little detail. I think that my competitiveness hit another gear.”  

That fire poured out of her in the Finals against the Phoenix Mercury. In the second quarter of Game 2, after Sophie Cunningham caught an outlet pass from Diana Taurasi and missed the layup, Kah was right there, diving onto the floor and muscling her way to try to snag the loose ball. As the refs blew the whistle, she jumped up, got right in Cunningham’s face and gave her the look. 

The photo that was captured became so iconic that Copper even put it on a t-shirt. “Yo, I love that picture. That’s Philly Kah right there,” Copper says. “They expect us to be all good and happy and shit, like, that’s not how it goes. We are the best at what we do. We are super competitive.” 

Oh, and just to be clear, Copper doesn’t have any beef with Cunningham. “People keep asking me if I have beef with that girl. I won a chip, that’s over with,” she says.

That’s just what happens when you challenge the kid from North Philly. She’s been dominating since her high school days at Prep Charter, where she emerged as one of the top ranked prospects in the country and was named a McDonald’s All-American. The legacy continued at Rutgers where she learned from the legendary C.Vivian Stringer and established herself as one of Rutgers’ most dominant scorers ever, finishing her four-year career as the program’s third all-time leader in points. 

By the time the 2016 WNBA Draft came around, Copper, who was selected with the No. 7 pick by the Washington Mystics, knew she wanted to carry the Rutgers legacy for Coach Stringer, for the program and for her own family. Her mother, grandmother and great grandmother have all had breast cancer. Sharing that moment on draft night with her grandma, specifically, was special. 

“I was in college, and she had [it] and didn’t tell me,” Copper says. “When I finally found out, she was like, I didn’t want to distract you. You’re trying to accomplish goals and I know that you’re going to do it…I think she held on to every pain that she had, or whatever the case may be, just for her to be able to share that moment with me. I’m just so grateful that she was able to see the seeds that she planted really blossom. And to see me reach one of my ultimate goals.” 

Copper came into the League with the sole focus of wanting to make an impact and be whatever the team needed her to be that year. And she did. As a rookie, she came off the bench and averaged 6.2 points in 16.2 minutes, a modest start to her pro career. But when she went to play overseas, she started seeing a “whole bunch of shit on Instagram” that a trade could possibly happen. Next thing she knew, she got a call from Mystics head coach Mike Thibault with the news: She had been traded to Chicago.  

“I was mad,” she admits. “I was close to home [in Washington]. My family was coming to the games, my grandma was coming to the games. Once I got to Chicago, it was a little more difficult for them to come.”

Her first season with the Sky was, in her own words, “a lot.” Copper didn’t get as much playing time as she had the season prior in DC, only 14.3 minutes per game, averaging just shy of 7 points a game. That would be the case for the next few years. But she knew that this was the WNBA, and the process wasn’t ever going to be easy. “That’s how you build your character. That’s how you build that toughness. Most people can’t handle a little bit of adversity, so for me to have it so early in my career, well, that was good.”

She decided that she needed to refocus. She had a conversation with Wade about her growth and what she needed to do to take it to another level. “He was just like, We’re going up from here. We’re never looking back. You’re going to be that player for us….There’s nothing like having somebody truly believing in you because that changes everything. Especially your head coach. When [your coach] and your teammates genuinely believe in you, and want you to win, a different person comes out.” 

She played with a vengeance during the 2020 WNBA wubble season, listening to Dreams and Nightmares before every game. As a full-time starter, Copper posted career-highs in nearly every category, including points (14.9), assists (2.1) and rebounds (5.5) per game. Not only did Wade believe in her, but she believed in herself. She was putting the work in and now seeing the reward. 

“I think that I’ve always believed in myself, and I think I was able [to] because of how I prepared. Prepared in a sense of putting the work in…Even rewinding to the bubble season, there’s people who are always like, I want to play more. I deserve to play more. But when you get more time, what do you really do with it? I was always like, When the preparation meets the opportunity, I’m gonna be ready and I’m never gonna go back.”

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She spent the offseason as an assistant coach for the Purdue Northwest women’s basketball team and then returned for the 2021 season with two clear goals: become an All-Star and win a championship. To get there, Wade challenged her to become an even better defender. And then there was the arrival of Candace Parker, who pushed her every day to be the player the team needed her to be. 

But the road to a championship wasn’t an easy one. The Sky battled through a seven-game losing streak early on in May, only to come back and embark on a seven-game winning streak by June. Still, many doubted that the Sky could make it all happen. Copper admits that at one point during the “bumpy season,” she could have “went one or another way,” and while she won’t go into too much detail about it, she does reveal that she and Parker had to have a conversation. 

“When she hears this, however it’s translated or whatever, she’ll know exactly the conversation that we had,” Copper says. “[It was] just about me having growth and me being mature. I think that without that conversation, the season would not have gone the way it went. We’re so much the same—stubborn. So stubborn. She’s worse than me, but she knows when to be super stubborn and when [to be] like, OK, alright. And that’s the point that I needed to learn, like, OK, you pick and choose these battles.” 

In the end, those moments are what has shaped her into the champion she is today. This offseason, Copper found herself sitting in her room in Spain, thinking about the “long ass year” that she’s had and how she’s stayed the course and trusted the process. Not only did the Chicago Sky make history by winning the first title in franchise history, but Copper has cemented her own legacy.  

“I’ve got legit superstars on my team, like, Finals MVP could have easily gone to anybody. Allie [Quigley] hit big shots in that game, we wouldn’t have won that game without her. Candace’s leadership, period, outside of her game and what she does for us on the basketball court. Then you got [Courtney Vandersloot], who sets everybody up. I feel like we have so many great players that, for it to be me, is—I feel like it’s a testament to what I’ve been through and just a reward for, just everything.” 

Even on the highest mountain top, Copper is ready to ascend to another level. To become the type of player who can help orchestrate an offense, not just dominate within it. When Spain played against Russia this past December, Copper talked to Vandersloot about how she can be unguardable. 

“I think the next level for me is being a better passer. I was telling Sloot, You think I’m unguardable? You know how hard it is to plan to play against you?…If I’m out here driving and dropping dimes, now the weak side don’t want to help ’cause now I’m that good of a passer, so now there’s no weak side and I’m shooting the three. That’s unguardable. I think that people don’t understand [that] there’s so much more to being unguardable than just to create for yourself. When you’re able to create for other people, that’s it. 

“And when I tap into that, it’s over.” 

Photos via Getty Images and Johnny Lewis.

The post Kahleah Copper on Her North Philly-roots, Emerging as Finals MVP and Becoming ‘Unguardable’ appeared first on SLAM.

Bird is currently an unrestricted free agent and cannot negotiate a contract with the Storm until the period officially opens on January 15. Players can then sign on February 1. She has played her entire career for the Seattle Storm since being drafted by the team in 2002.

GUESS WHO’S NOT GOING ANYWHEREEEE?!?!

BRB, going to cry happy tears @S10Bird pic.twitter.com/ZzTzFYrs3s

— WSLAM (@wslam) January 7, 2022

The four-time champion was recently named to the W25, a list of the top 25 players that have ever played in the W out of 72 nominees. To be considered, players had to have competed in the WNBA for at least two seasons and fit at least four of seven criteria:

• Winning a major individual playing award.
• Selection to at least one All-WNBA Team at any level.
• Selection to at least one WNBA All-Defensive Team at any level.
• Selection for at least one WNBA All-Star Game.
• Member of at least one WNBA championship team.
• A ranking among the top 40 career leaders in any major statistical category, as of the start of the 2021 season.
• Winner of the WNBA’s season-long Community Assist Award.

10 of the W25 are current players: Sue Bird, Tina Charles, Elena Delle Donne, Sylvia Fowles, Brittney Griner, Angel McCoughtry, Nneka Ogwumike, Candace Parker, Breanna Stewart, and Diana Tuarasi

Who’s y’all GOAT in the W?! pic.twitter.com/ILq6zHk7fi

— WSLAM (@wslam) September 5, 2021

Bird has put up 12.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game for her career. As the oldest active player in the W, she leads the league all-time in assists, games and minutes played, and turnovers. The 12-time All-Star ranks in the top 10 in multiple categories, including points, three-pointers made and attempted, steals, points, and made, missed, and attempted field goals.

Among her career accolades being voted All-WNBA eight times and led the league in assists three times. She has also won 10 medals with Team USA, making her the most decorated basketball player, man or woman, ever. She is one of only one of 11 players ever to win Olympic gold, World Cup gold, a WNBA title, and an NCAA title.

The post Sue Bird Announces Her Return For Another Season appeared first on SLAM.

Surrounded by her parents Damon and Shwanda, as well as other loved ones, Evans receives the long anticipated, and overdue, call from the Dallas Wings. She has been selected first in the second round with the 13th pick in the draft. For Evans, this beautiful moment came with slight disappointment—she expected to be drafted much higher. 

“Honestly, I was a little disappointed because I thought I should have [gone] earlier,” Evans says looking back. “Everyone that I talked to prior to the draft told me that I was a first round pick, for sure. Early on, top five, lowest would be like top eight that I [would]  fall, so it was surprising to me but it was also a blessing.”

Despite sliding a few spots down the board, the moment was still a dream come true. 

“That’s something that I dreamed about. Hearing my name being called was something that I’ve always wanted. So it was still something that I look at, and thank God for, because like I said, that’s what I worked for my whole life. And I finally did it.”

For Evans, her spirituality is what keeps her optimistic and hopeful no matter what occurs. Being a 5-6 guard (on a “good day” she once tweeted) came with being overlooked, and for her, this was another moment where she knew that trusting the process was key. Throughout her basketball journey, Evans has had to look past perfection and remind herself not to rush things. She believes that God always has a plan and timeline. 

Evans is from Gary, Indiana, a small city that’s sent a handful of players to the pros, including Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson (Bucks), Dick “Skull” Barnett (Knicks) and Wilson Eison (Lakers). Her hometown instilled a sense of toughness in her, as she saw things around her neighborhood that forced her to grow up fast. 

“Growing up in Gary groomed me into the person I am today,” Evans says. “It made me tough, it made me blue collar, It made me appreciate the little things in life as well. Not to take anything for granted. Seeing people that I grew up with get killed or go to prison for something that could have been avoided is sad watching but that was just the reality. I will say it helped me mature quicker than usual. But it made me the person I am today.”

The game has another way of teaching you how to deal with adversity. After spending a little over a month on the Dallas Wings’ roster, Evans was traded to the Chicago Sky, which meant she was less than an hour away from the 219. She found a sense of comfort in the move.

“I think it was the best move for me,” Evans tells SLAM. “Me being close to home, me being able to be the backup point guard for [Courtney] Vandersloot and learn from her is huge.Dallas had a lot of guards so I didn’t think that was the best fit for me. And that’s okay, because it’s a lot of girls out here that’s really good. So, finding the right fit in an organization is important in this League.”

Chicago presented the perfect opportunity for Evans to thrive, as she joined a stacked roster with perennial All-Star veteran Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, as well as elite hooper Diamond DeSheids and Kahleah Copper. Assistant coach Olaf Lange and Parker were two people that really welcomed the rookie with open arms.

“Candace is somebody that I always wanted to get pictures with after games and I never could because it was always so hard,” Evans says. “I always used to go to the Sky games and I used to see Vandersloot, even Sylvia Fowles when [she] was on the Sky. So going from watching them and then playing with them and then also playing against two of my favorite players in the Finals was honestly mind blowing, because it’s like, I’m really here.”

Although Evans’ career started off as somewhat of a roller coaster, it’s been nothing short of full circle moments. She played in 23 regular season games this past season and was named to the WNBA All-Rookie team, averaging 3.9 points and 1.2 dimes. 

The former 2x ACC Player of the Year went from being overlooked in the draft to now sending the Dallas Wings home in the first round of the playoffs and winning a WNBA championship against Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury in front of 10,000-plus fans in Game 4 of the Finals.

“Honestly, that was the best time of my life, especially being able to do it with my family, with my friends, the people that I grew up with close to home,” Evans says. “It was big because I think when you do it with people that [have] been there with you from start to finish, it makes it a little better just because they know how hard it’s been, they know what I’ve been through—they know how bad I’ve been wanting the championship, and to get it at the highest level was crazy.”

Someone who can truly speak to the testament of Evans’ basketball career and how far she’s come is her former Westside High School coach and Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer Rodney Fisher. He first started coaching Evans when she was in the fifth grade and became her coach again once she started attending Westside. It was her defense that stood out to him most. 

“That’s what sold me,” Fisher tells SLAM. “She was just outstanding and relentless on defense. Couldn’t shoot the ball, didn’t have the handles, but you [could] see her willingness to learn and just how hard she played. Just a great, great attitude. The will to win. The time that she put in, even in the fourth and fifth grade, she put in the time. So everything she’s gotten she’s earned.”

Leading the pack at Westside her junior and senior year of high school, Evans scored 2,832 career points, the fifth-most in state history. As a senior in 2016-17, she helped lead Westside to a 20-7 record while averaging 36 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 6.2 assists. 

She had her options of playing at Purdue, Tennessee or Louisville, and ultimately chose to take her talents to the Cardinals and suit up for head coach Jeff Walz. Her four-year career at UL was nothing short of spectacular: as a freshman, Evans was named to the ACC All-Freshman team in 2018 and the following season she doubled her scoring average from 5.1 points to 10.4, earning ACC Sixth Player of the Year.

That was just the beginning: she turned things up as a junior and became the first player in the history of the conference, men or women, to go from Sixth POY to ACC Player of the Year. As a senior, Evans averaged 20.1 points and played a key role in leading the Cardinals to the Elite Eight.

“Louisville was the stepping stone to get to where I really wanted to go in life. Obviously, graduating college and playing at that level was huge too because that’s something that I wanted to do as a younger kid, and being able to finally do it was huge,” Evans tells SLAM. “Louisville helped groom [me] and made me better on and off the court.”

With all that she’s accomplished throughout her career, Fisher says that Evans hasn’t switched up at all. She’s still just a kid from Gary.

“She’s got so many accolades from high school to college and being drafted, but she’s always level-headed. It’s never about her,” Fisher says. “She still comes over to the house, you know, whenever she can. She makes everybody feel like I’m really something special. And she doesn’t have to do that.” 

Photos via Getty Images.

The post Just a Kid From Gary: How Dana Evans Went From Being ‘Disappointed’ on Draft Night to a WNBA Champion appeared first on SLAM.

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As part of the arrangement, she’ll promote the brand in television commercials, social posts, product collaborations, and events. She will also be participating in the brand 2022 equity efforts. Like her first NIL deal with StockX, Bueckers will also prioritize elevating women in sports and women’s basketball in particular.

“It was a blessing to win Gatorade Player of the Year in high school, and now it’s truly surreal to be an official member of the Gatorade Family,” Bueckers said in a news release. “I know this is just the beginning of our partnership and can’t wait to get to work with Gatorade to drive impact in the community and on the women’s game.”

A point guard. A leader. A Bucket And now, the newest member of the Gatorade Family. Welcome to the squad @paigebueckers1 pic.twitter.com/of4C0uMAPc

— Gatorade (@Gatorade) November 29, 2021

Bueckers becomes the latest to join Gatorade’s elite roster of female athletes, including Serena Williams, Olympic gold-medal hurdler and sprinter Sydney McLaughlin, Elena Delle Donne, Abby Wambach, and Candace Parker.

“I know this is just the beginning of our partnership and can’t wait to get to work with Gatorade to drive impact in the community and on the women’s game,” Bueckers said in an email via Bloomberg.

Other UConn players to sign major NIL deals early on in the season include Azzi Fudd, who signed major NIL deals with Chipotle and BioSteel, and Olivia Nelson-Ododa, who partnered with fitness apparel company Fabletics. Both Christyn Williams and Caroline Ducharme recently signed with Excel Sports Management to manage their NIL deals. 

The post Paige Bueckers Is the First Gatorade Endorsed College Student-Athlete appeared first on SLAM.

Led by WNBA All-Star Candace Parker, WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper and standouts including Allie Quigley—who finished with a team-high 26 points—the Sky have won the first-ever ‘chip in franchise history.

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An emotional Parker, who finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds, also acknowledged the impact that the late-Kobe and Gigi Bryant had on the WNBA:

“I think Kobe and Gigi have meant so much to our League,” Parker said per Yahoo! Sports. “So the advice I got from Vanessa before the game was, ‘Play Gigi’s way.’ And I think we’ve done that. We did that all playoffs. And so I just want to acknowledge [Kobe’s] contribution.”

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The win is not only a momentous occasion for Parker, who is now a 2x WNBA champion, but for the city of Chicago. Even Chance the Rapper, who promised to get a tattoo if the Sky won Game 3, told NBC that he’ll be fulfilling that promise.

Parker had shared in her SLAM 233 cover story just how special it was for her to return home:

“I believe a lot of things come full circle,” Parker said. “I think just over the course of my career I realized how much important people have meant to my career. Coming back home, I mean, my dad fixed my blinds the other day, we went over to his house for Father’s Day, my mom cooks me pregame, picks up my daughter all the time. Dad brings doughnuts over sometimes for my daughter, like, it’s just, I can go see my grandma. I really respect the time that I moved away from home because I needed it. I needed to establish myself in my home and get away from that, but to come back, who I am now, to really appreciate it.”

While Parker has continued to solidify her legacy, teammate Kahleah Copper emerged as a superstar in the Finals, averaging 17 points and 5.5 rebounds in the series. As her teammates chanted “KFC,” Copper was named the 2021 WNBA Finals MVP after winning her first title.

Per CBS Sports, Copper says that Parker really pushed her to step up her game:

“I just lived up to the challenge and her expectation,” Copper said. “It felt like it was really far for me at first but every day she consistently told me what I could bring to this team and I just continually brought it every single day.”

The post Candace Parker and the Chicago Sky are Crowned 2021 WNBA Champions appeared first on SLAM.

Tonight, Parker and the Chicago Sky will take on the Phoenix Mercury for Game 3 of the WNBA Finals. Ahead of the matchup, adidas will be giving Chicago youth the opportunity to be attend the game at Wintrust Arena and witness all of the action.

The Three Stripes will be providing 150 tickets to adidas Legacy Girls and Boys basketball programs to tonight’s game. adidas Legacy is a high school basketball platform that aims to “unite, empower, and inspire the next generation of creators” from underrepresented communities. The program, which currently consists of 1,000 student athletes from 30 public high schools in three cities—Los Angeles, New York and Chicago—intends to “provide access to resources and opportunities” specifically through mentorship.

Just as Parker has served as an inspiration to many both on and off the court, the adidas Legacy program wants to help young hoopers around the country realize their own potential and open their eyes to new possibilities for their future.

In order to elevate the program, adidas has pledged $1 million to the Scholarship Fund for Legacy alumni. This initiative is part of an even larger $3.7 million commitment from Three Stripes to create scholarships across different programs for Black and LatinX youth over the next four years. adidas will also partner with the United Negro College Fund to manage the scholarships through 2024.

For more information about the program, visit www.adidas.com/us/legacy

The post adidas Provides Legacy Girls and Boys Basketball Programs With Opportunity to Attend Game 3 of WNBA Finals appeared first on SLAM.

When we think about the greatest players in the history of the WNBA, it can get overwhelming pretty quickly. A crowded field gets tagged with the GOAT label, something that’s only going to increase as players like A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart keep building their résumés.

A greater complication still is the nature of that greatness varies widely. Among those who I see as undervalued within the all-time list are Tamika Catchings, who has a very strong case for best ever, Sylvia Fowles, a center in a positionless world, and Katie Smith, a precursor for so much of the modern game.

A stat I love to use to cut through the arguments and organize my own personal list—with the understanding, even the pleasure in seeing, that others vary—is win shares, a stat you can find at the great Basketball-Reference.com. 

And at the very top of that list isn’t Diana Taurasi or Sue Bird or Lisa Leslie, all greats to be sure. It is Catchings. And the battle isn’t close.

Catchings was worth 93.66 win shares in her storied career with the Indiana Fever, which is not just the highest mark in League history, it laps the field. Lauren Jackson is second at 73.03. No one else is above 70. To put that in perspective: it means Catchings isn’t just better by this metric than anyone to ever play in the WNBA, she is nearly 29 percent better than her closest competitor.

I am, full disclosure, obsessed with this number. No other sports league has such a disparity. So it pleased me to no end to get to ask Catchings herself what she thought it meant.

“I think from my standpoint, you would just look at the type of player that I was, not necessarily a single-focus player,” Catchings says. “And a lot of that came from [Catchings’ collegiate coach] Pat [Summitt], really learning how to become a better defensive player and a well-rounded player.”

Catchings is right, specifically in that defense is her separator. She was, let’s not forget, a fantastic offensive player, and her offensive win shares reflect that—57.14 place her second all-time, behind Diana Taurasi.

But on the defensive end, she was good for another 36.52 win shares. Only Lisa Leslie cleared 30 among all other players, and Catchings did it at 6-1.

“There’s a lot of words that you could use to describe Catch,” recalls current Indiana Fever head coach Marianne Stanley, who coached against Catchings for years and now works with her in Indiana. “I would say, relentlessly competitive. And, indomitable—no matter what, she’d show up and compete, and believed that she could win.”

She did plenty of that—no team that Catchings was part of missed the playoffs from 2005-16, including trips to the WNBA Finals in 2009, 2012 and 2015, with Indiana winning it all in 2012. Catchings consistently elevated her teams above the general expectations for the group, with players who often didn’t defend nearly as well before or after their time in Indiana finding another level next to Catchings. 

And lest you think that doesn’t show up in the box score, well: she finished her career with 1,074 steals. No one else has 1,000. Or 900. Or 800. Second is Ticha Penicheiro with 764. The active leader is Sue Bird, who entered the second half of the 2021 season at 681. If Bird maintains her current steals-per-year pace, she’d pass Catchings sometime in the 2032 season, when Bird would be 51.

For a player who debuted in 2002, Catchings was every bit the vital, compelling figure in the League by the time she retired on her own terms in 2016, an Olympic Gold medalist and once more, a part of a playoff team. 

Now she’s a general manager, looking for players “that are willing to play and give everything that they have on both ends of the court.”

Sounds familiar for anyone who saw Tamika Catchings play.

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She’s got her memories, too, and the League’s preeminent defender remembers one scorer who gave her more trouble than anyone else.

“When people ask me who is the toughest player you ever played against, for me, it’s Katie [Smith],” Catchings says. “I never played a good game against her. She was tough. And, you know, one of those players that—not necessarily the quickest, fastest, whatever, but she just knew how to use her body.”

Smith also understood the value of the perimeter shot, and her 906 made threes was a record for the WNBA until first Taurasi, then Bird passed her. But many of their attempts from beyond the arc have come during a period when the WNBA is taking many more threes as a whole, while Smith, who debuted in 1999 after starring in the ABL, was ahead of her time.

Smith was 5-11, but a strong 5-11, and a defensive problem when she’d post up just as much as when she’d flash outside. There’s a reason her 59.77 win shares rank her eighth on the all-time list, ahead of luminaries like Bird, Candace Parker and Sheryl Swoopes.

“You know how now they’ll call [someone] a bucket?” Stanley says. “Katie was a bucket. A certified bucket.”

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But if her offensive game presaged what was to come—the current WNBA of four-out and five-out—Sylvia Fowles is reminding everyone that true greatness transcends the trends of the League.

Fowles ranks fourth on the all-time list in win shares with 67.38, just behind Diana Taurasi and ahead of all other WNBA players. But while Taurasi is 39, Syl is still just 35, and well on her way to not only another season as good as she was throughout her 20s, but better. This comes despite an offensive repertoire that doesn’t take her far beyond the restricted area—her lone three-point attempt, which she made, came back in 2010—but a combination of brilliance in the paint and defensive prowess that has her among the favorites to win Defensive Player of the Year in 2021 has her Minnesota Lynx in championship contention once again.

Stanley remembered trying to gameplan for Fowles back in college, when Stanley was on C. Vivian Stringer’s staff at Rutgers, and the Scarlet Knights faced Fowles and LSU, a program that reached the Final Four in all four of Fowles’ collegiate seasons. It was an impossible task to stop Fowles back then.

“But from that moment forward, she has, every year, just gotten better,” Stanley says. “And when she started in Chicago, I think she was still in the early stages of becoming what she was to become once she got to Minnesota. And there hasn’t been a more dominant center in the game.”

Despite their very different skill sets, Catchings sees much of what made her great in Fowles as well, a teammate of hers overseas, and her rival in that 2015 finals that went Minnesota’s way.

“I think it’s really been a testament for her to be able to continue to grow, not necessarily at just the center, but to be able to grow as one of the leaders in our game,” Catchings says.

She urges her own young center, Teaira McCowan, to watch everything Fowles does, and take it in.

This, too, will blur the lines of greatness. Fowles is still playing. Catchings is a GM. Smith is an assistant coach with the Lynx. WNBA royalty is part of shaping the generations of greatness that follow. 

WSLAM 1 featuring Arike Ogunbowale, Diamond DeShields and Betnijah Laney is out now!

Photos via Getty Images.

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Diamond DeShields believes her name suits her well. At 26 years old, the Chicago Sky guard has had her share of highs, lows and criticisms—most of which she’s not quite ready to discuss. 

“Honestly, if I had to sit here and talk to you about it, we would be on the phone for a few hours. So it’s been, it’s been a lot. But, for me, to just be out on the floor right now playing basketball is the most gratifying thing I could have ever experienced,” DeShields tells WSLAM. 

What she is willing to share is her basketball bucket list for the next five years:

1) Be a WNBA MVP contender

2) Be an Olympian

3) Win a WNBA Championship 

And so beins a journey to unearth the rare talent of Diamond DeShields. 

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There isn’t any particular story behind her name. Although, as the eldest daughter of Tisha and Delino DeShields Sr, it was a guarantee her first name would start with a “D.” 

“All of my siblings’ names start with the letter D, so that’s a real thing in my family.”

Delino Jr is the eldest, followed two years later by Diamond. D’Angelo, Denim and Delaney round out the other DeShields siblings. While her name may not have any special meaning for her and her family, it does evoke specific thoughts, emotions and even song lyrics. 

“I love to hear it!,” DeShields exclaims. “Just hearing the word ‘diamond,’ you hear it so often. It’s cool to have it be a reference for so many different things. I’ve embraced it, the different meanings of the word and what it can represent.”

“I think that it fits me perfectly because of all the things that a diamond has to go through. All the obstacles and the pressure and the process that it has to go through. I think that it’s very in line with my life story and all the things that have happened so far.” 

Athletes raised DeShields. Her mother was an All-American heptathlete at Tennessee and her father played 13 seasons in the MLB and is currently the Cincinnati Reds first-base coach. Sports are the family business. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine that coming from such a pedigree brings intense pressure. However, that’s not how DeShields describes it. 

Being in a home of professionals primed her for the next step, elite NCAA basketball. Playing at the University of North Carolina, DeShields won ACC Rookie of the Year and earned All-ACC First Team and ACC All-Freshman Team honors during the 2013-14 season. Wearing No. 23 in baby blue, she averaged nearly 18 ppg for the Tar Heels and helped UNC to the Elite Eight. 

Her stellar rookie season would be the last she played at UNC before transferring to her mother’s alma mater, Tennessee. DeShields was humble and gracious but also vague about her decision which left her vulnerable to criticism. She expressed she was unhappy at UNC but kept any other details to herself. 

The transfer to Tennessee cost DeShields a year of eligibility, but it was the right decision then, as she took advantage of the time to get surgery to alleviate severe pain from a stress fracture in her left shin. At Tennessee, DeShields went on to add SEC All-Tournament Team (2016), AP All-SEC Second Team (2015-16) and WBCA Honorable Mention All-American (2016-17) to her list of accomplishments before forgoing her final year of eligibility. But, once again, DeShields fielded criticism for her decision. 

DeShields told ESPNW she was “content with every decision that I have made. I know my heart, and I never done wrong by nobody.” 

She said goodbye to what she called a mediocre college career and went to Turkey to get her first taste of professional women’s basketball. By the middle of her next professional season, DeShields was in New York City for the 2018 WNBA Draft, where the Chicago Sky selected her third overall. 

DeShields shone brightly in her rookie season, averaging 14.4 ppg and 4.9 rpg and making the All-Rookie Team. She followed that year with a standout season, averaging a career-high 16.2 ppg and bringing down 5.5 rpg while starting all 34 games. She garnered her first All-Star bid and capped off the weekend by winning the All-Star Skills Competition. And best of all, she helped the Sky snag their first playoff berth since 2016. 

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As was the case for many people, 2020 deflated DeShields progress toward her three goals. To boot, her departure from the Bradenton wubble again sparked a conversation about her fitness, dedication and the like. So the “bullshit,” as Diamond calls it, had some impact on her, but she’s still not ready to reveal to what extent. Not entirely, not yet. 

“I have a story, and I’m waiting on a moment. I’m waiting on a moment to tell it when I feel comfortable. But for right now, it’s still being written out. So I’m very much still in the process.”

As of this writing, DeShields has started all 22 games for the Sky after playing in only 13 games last season coming off the bench. 

“I think her level of intensity has been at an all-time high…She’s probably not at 100 percent, but she’s close to it,” Sky head coach James Wade told the media on August 13. “She’ll find a rhythm, and you’ll continue to see growth in her as time goes on.” 

Halfway through the 2021 season, DeShields is inching closer to her 2019 stat line. But how close is her best compared to this season’s MVP pace?

If we look at the last three WNBA MVPs—A’ja Wilson, Elena Delle Donne and Breanna Stewart—DeShields is a few percentage points off their MVP season numbers. Wilson averaged 20.5 points last season, about 4 more than DeShields in 2019 (16.2). Additionally, the three most recent MVPs shot at least 46 percent from the floor; DeShields is currently averaging 40 percent. 

Achieving WNBA MVP has historically meant a trip to the Olympics. DeShields has won Gold medals with USA Basketball on multiple occasions, including the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup, 2015 World University Games and the 2012 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup. All signs point to her being on track to make an Olympic roster sooner than later. 

While the omission of former WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike called into question the transparency of the USAB selections system, DeShields says she knows where she stands. 

“I heard a lot of good things about my chances as far as being on this past team. Obviously, it didn’t happen. But I get good feedback from all the coaches, so I plan on doing everything that I can to put myself in a position to have it be so obvious that you need to have me on that team, that you can’t deny having me.”

DeShields’ third and final goal is to win a WNBA championship. The Chicago Sky hasn’t reached the conference semifinals since 2016, and therefore never since the new playoff format was introduced in 2017. In two postseason appearances, DeShields and the Sky are 0-2. However, with every year, the team grows more experienced, and experience matters in the WNBA. 

Take this season. The Chicago Sky were 1-7 while former MVP and two-time WNBA champion Candace Parker was sidelined with an ankle sprain. Then, in their final 10 games before the Olympic break, the Sky went 7-3, including a franchise-best seven straight wins in June. 

Parker is a huge help, but DeShields quickly mentions other veterans like backcourt duo Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot. 

“Candace is an extra emphasis on, like, the little things, and the mindset and competing. But we have veterans on our team, and I don’t think they get enough credit for what they do and the way that they lead us. Honestly, part of the reason why I am who I am in the League right now is because of Sloot and Allie.” 

She’s leaning into the journey. “I’m doing all the right things. So, it’s only a matter of time. What does Joel Embiid say? Trust the process. I live by that. Trust the work, and the results will come.”

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The Chicago Sky sit in sixth place as we went to press, good enough for a first-round bye but not good enough to skip single-elimination altogether. That doesn’t matter much for DeShields. After being on the brink two years in a row, she sees no reason Chicago can’t find their way to a playoff series.

“We just have to believe in each other, trust in each other, trust in James, trust the system, trust the schemes. I don’t see why we couldn’t. I don’t see why not.”

DeShields believes that all of her goals can be achieved in the next five years. After that, we shall see where the universe takes her. She’s shown an interest in fashion, is a spokesperson of affordable eye care in partnership with Oakley and feels strongly about athletes developing multiple streams of income. Her days of playing overseas are coming to an end. Instead, DeShields will focus her offseason on real estate. 

“I’m like a month or two out from obtaining my real estate license in the state of Illinois. Real estate is something that I enjoy, whether it is as an agent, broker, or as an investor. 

“I don’t want to be one of those players that’s like, Oh, shit, like, what do I do now? But, you know, because you see it, you see it so many times, you know? I want to be smart about my money, smart about what I’m doing with it, where I’m putting it, where I’m investing.”

These next five years, on and off the court, are all about adding value to her legacy. So we asked again. What does her name mean? How does DeShields embody the rare beauty of a diamond? 

“You know, I think that I would probably be the opposite of it,” she says. “All my life, I thought I was special. But, the reality is, when you go through life and you get humbled in some of the ways that I have, I just feel like everybody’s special. I hope that when it comes time for me to tell my story that I can encourage somebody. Everybody goes through pressure situations, but, I feel like there’s a diamond in all of us to be discovered, you know?”

Go behind the scenes with Diamond, Betnijah and Arike for their WSLAM 1 cover shoot!

Portraits by Raven B. Varona. Follow Ravie B. on Instagram, @ravieb.

Action photos via Getty Images.

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The 2K22 cover athlete dropped a season-high 25 points in the Sky’s 107-75 blowout win over the Storm to complete a two-game sweep. Parker, a two-time WNBA MVP, also grabbed nine rebounds, swatted away two shots and shot 64.7 percent from the field in her dominant performance.

.@Candace_Parker doing Candace Parker things vs. the Storm pic.twitter.com/hWnT0A0enh

— ESPN (@espn) August 30, 2021

Scoring 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field in the first half, it was clear it was Parker’s night from the start, and the Sky held an impressive 63-41 lead over the Storm at the end of the first half.

MANNN LISTEN @Candace_Parker is in her BAG

She’s up to a season-high 25 PTS

https://t.co/JfTF2DcGkZ pic.twitter.com/arpJxBjfWt

— WNBA (@WNBA) August 29, 2021

Just two games removed from moving up to No. 11 in the WNBA’s all-time assist leaders, Parker now looks to lead the Sky toward their fourth straight win on Tuesday night, as they face off against the Phoenix Mercury.

The post Candace Parker Scores Season-High in Sky’s 107-75 Win Over Storm appeared first on SLAM.

Parker will be the first female cover athlete in the history of the NBA 2K franchise, marking the W’s 25th anniversary.

Extremely proud and humbled to be the first female cover athlete in the history of @NBA2K

I’m honored to work with a company that’s investing in women and betting on us to succeed. I’m hopeful there will be many more badass females to follow pic.twitter.com/WJan4YE7Qt

— Candace Parker (@Candace_Parker) July 14, 2021

“Everyone is looking at it that it’s impacting little girls, but it’s also impacting little boys and young men and young women and men and women,” Parker said. “I think our game is different than the NBA; now it’s embracing that fact. Now more than ever, fans want to follow the athlete. Through social media, through video games, it’s adding and benefiting the WNBA.”

The two-time WNBA MVP and Chicago Sky forward joins Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic—who was named the cover athlete of the regular edition—Los Angeles Laker legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant and Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki, who were recognized as the cover athletes for the NBA’s 75th anniversary edition.

75 years since the NBA was born
3 legends of their era

Introducing our #NBA2K22 75th Anniversary Cover Athletes @KDTrey5 @swish41 @kaj33

Pre-order now https://t.co/vvOEdFGQaU pic.twitter.com/3ZrU9NlZ1i

— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) July 14, 2021

Huge honor to be on the cover of #NBA2K22. Thanks @NBA2K! pic.twitter.com/ptIhpVNUdN

— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) July 14, 2021

After being snubbed from the 2021 Olympic roster, the two-time gold medalist will be commentating the medal rounds in Tokyo as a studio analyst for NBCUniversal

The WNBA’s 25th anniversary special edition cover featuring Parker will drop on Sep. 10.

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Chief among the recent comments made by the W’s stars are those made by Chicago Sky forward Candace Parker, who revealed she’s coming for three-time All-Star and Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray ahead of tonight’s matchup.

. @Candace_Parker ‘I am going at Chelsea Gray’. on who she is gunning for at the #WNBAAllStar Game.
Just watch this for @_ajawilson22 ‘s reaction & @cgray209 ‘s response. Wednesday’s @WNBA All-Star Game is going to be fun to watch (@LVAces @chicagosky ) #WNBATwitter pic.twitter.com/TWHMzcUA5z

— Lindsay Dunn (@LindsayDunnTV) July 14, 2021

“Im going at Chelsea Gray just FYI. She may have been my teammate for years, but the first time down the court, I just need a back screen and a switch and her on the block and that’s all I need,” Parker said.

Parker and Gray were teammates on the Los Angeles Sparks from the 2016 to 2020 seasons, winning a championship together in 2016 – creating the perfect atmosphere for some friendly competition.

Gray laughed, alongside her Aces teammate A’ja Wilson before shooting back.

“Imma try and go one-on-one against her a little bit, sauce her up a little bit. She gonna probably try to post me up and do the little fake over my head. I swear I’m not going to go for the fake, but I’m excited for that,” Gray said.

The 2021 WNBA All-Star game pits the Olympic roster, Team USA against Team WNBA as the league prepares to take a month long hiatus in anticipation for the Tokyo games. With Team USA completing for their seventh straight gold medal, this years WNBA All-Star game is set to be a more competitive, invested environment tonight on ESPN.

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The two Jay references on her cover are a preview of our story on one of the best players ever. Even though she left for a minute, she was always carrying Chicago with her. 

Get your copy of SLAM 233 featuring Candace Parker on SLAM Goods.

To learn more about her journey, and the glory of her return back home, read her cover story here.

SLAM 233 is also available now in these exclusive gold and black metal editions. Only 60 copies are available in black, and 94 are available in gold.

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It’s an early morning off day for the Chicago Sky, who are playing the New York Liberty in a back-to-back series. Candace arrives in her practice gear and backpack ready for her SLAM cover shoot, and the minute she recognizes Jay-Z’s “Heart of the City” playing, she lights up and starts rapping every lyric. As she waits for the set to be ready, she picks up a ball, starts shooting around and continues spilling out every word of the song without missing a beat. At first glance, you wouldn’t think she’s the champion, TV analyst and overall legend that she is, but rather just a kid who loves to hoop, joke around and listen to Hov’s best bars. But then the list of accolades that goes on for pages and all of the historic moments in women’s basketball that she’s made happen to come to mind and you remember the greatness that is Candace Parker.

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It all began in the suburbs of Chicago, where the Parker family enjoyed all things together. Debates, watching movies, listening to ’90s hip-hop, but most important of all, basketball. The love for the game was immediate for almost the entire family. Almost.

“I think my memories of growing up in Naperville were just following my brothers around everywhere,” Parker shares with SLAM. “My parents always told me I could do everything and more, so I think those are kind of my first memories. Going to the basketball park, going to games, those were our weekends. We went to the park every weekend and played H.O.R.S.E. as a family. My mom had a video camera, we had Sunday dinners…We always ate one meal together at the table. I think those are my fondest memories.”

Her father Larry was a standout player at Iowa, her oldest sibling, Anthony, picked up the game immediately and was selected in the 1997 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets, and middle brother Michael played from day one as well. It was an instant connection to the leather ball from the start for most of the kids in the Parker family except for one. This curious young girl wanted to pave her own journey in something new, but as the saying goes, life had another plan for her.

“When I picked up a basketball, I didn’t want to pick it up,” the 14-year WNBA veteran recalls. “I played YBA growing up, which was a great experience, but I didn’t want to play basketball, I wanted to have my own thing. I wanted to play soccer. When I watched the ’96 Olympics, I wanted to be an Olympic soccer player. I wanted to be like Mia Hamm, like Briana Scurry. I wanted to be like all of them.”

It’s insanity to think that we almost missed out on the greatness that is CP3, but Mama Parker knew what Candace could do in the family business of basketball.

“It was kind of my mom who pulled me aside, because at the time my brother was brilliant and played basketball, my other brother was pretty smart and played basketball…Anthony’s gonna kill me for that,” Candace says with a laugh. “But they were just so great, you know, and I didn’t know if I could follow in their footsteps. I remember my mom being like, Baby, you can do both, you can do anything you put your mind to.”

From that moment on, Candace started focusing on basketball more and more. Trips to the park to practice on her own became regular and she gradually fell in love with the family business. While that love may have been gradual, her gift for the game was evident immediately.

“I just remember being in the gym in seventh grade and everybody before school would come in early and play and we would have basketballs and soccer balls. I just remember grabbing a tennis ball and going up and dunking,” the five-time All-Star reflects. “One of the substitute teachers was like, Uh, could you do that again? I was like, Yeah! And just went up and dunked. After that he was like, How old are you? And I was like, I’m 13, and he just shook his head.”

That’s really how it was for the insanely talented 13-year-old who had just only recently fully committed to the sport. By her sophomore year, Parker was already leading Naperville Central to state championships and was one of the highest ranked players in Illinois, but that wasn’t enough for her.

“I remember in eighth grade I was rated as one of the best players in the state and I was like, In the state?! I don’t want to be top in just the state. So, I think it was always that motivational thing,” she says.

Intensely competitive was her nature, built not only by her family, but her environment and the Chicago area as a whole. The first glimpses of top women’s talent at the amateur level on a national level started during her high school years, but the local coverage was one thing that was always constant in the ’Go.

“In terms of youth development, in terms of following kids from the time they’re in fourth or fifth grade, even before social media, that was Chicago,” Parker says. “Hoops Prep, you could watch Eddy Curry, Cappie Pondexter and I think that bred the next talent. I watched that and wanted to go out and work on my game so I could do that.”

The level of competition in the area constantly motivated Candace. She continued grinding and ended up making history along the way, becoming the first woman to win the slam dunk contest at the 2004 McDonald’s All-American Game.

Although Naperville Central’s star continued on her meteoric rise to national stardom, aspirations beyond college weren’t something that she thought of often while growing up. At the time, the WNBA had just formed and there was no real precedent for Candace to believe that going pro was a possibility.

“I really didn’t start thinking about professional basketball until I was probably in high school. My brother got drafted when I was in middle school, and I remember that was the coolest moment for our family, because I had all the posters, SLAM posters and SLAM covers. Allen Iverson was my idol. I really loved basketball, but I didn’t really start thinking of it professionally until my brother got drafted and then that was a real thing,” the 2013 WNBA All-Star MVP says.

It was the reality for young girls back then. Many didn’t believe that professional sports were something they would be able to pursue as a career beyond college, but once that possibility arose for Candace, there was a new goal to achieve. With that came the decision of where to spend her next four years preparing for the WNBA, which meant finding the right coach to help build her career.

And then Pat Summitt came along.

Tennessee wasn’t a program Candace had always envisioned herself playing for, mostly because they won so much under Summitt’s reign while she was growing up. Parker liked being the underdog. She wanted to help build something special and new at the next level. With the Lady Vols having gone through a championship drought in the late ’90s, the dunking superstar was ready to restore the winning culture at Tennessee. In November of 2003, she made it official and committed to play for Pat.

“It was my sophomore year, and she came to see me play, I’ll never forget it,” Parker says. “In North Carolina, at the tournament, she sat to the left of the bench. She had her bright orange stuff on, and that was a moment. That was one of those moment pictures that I took in my mind, because that was something I dreamed of. Watching her, I think as a basketball coach was extraordinary but watching her as a person was even more. That’s why I think my parents wanted me to go there, because they wanted me to have a strong woman as a leader to kind of show me more than just basketball.”

Just like destiny had planned, it was a moment and a person who would change her life forever.

From the very beginning, Candace had a special relationship with Coach Summitt, one filled with deep respect and a mutual desire to make each other better people, not just better players or coaches. With that bond from early on, Pat made good on her promise to help develop Candace—“as a player, as a person, and a student. We can have a lot of fun in the process,” the Lady Vols head coach penned in a recruiting letter to the budding star.

A few years later, Candace brought the winning back to Tennessee, helping lead the Lady Vols to back-to-back NCAA titles in ’07 and ’08. But even more important than that, she grew as a person and learned more than she could have ever hoped from the legendary coach.

“It’s weird, because when you’re going through it, you don’t understand the impact that it’s gonna have,” Parker says. “At 18-22 years old, I don’t think I understood the impact that she was having on my entire life. But to be able to see a role model, even the way I parent as a career mom now, I watched her balance that and she was always present. I think that’s the biggest thing, being present in the moment, making sure that the people around you understand how important you are to them. And I also think that it’s no longer a do-as-I-say, it’s a do-as-I-do. There’s a lot of people that can say stuff, but if I’m not seeing it on a daily basis, then you’re not gonna believe it. And I think everything Pat, you know, from winning championships, to battling a terrible disease, she did it with so much grace.”

Just days after winning her second NCAA title, Candace was drafted first overall in the 2008 WNBA draft to one of the best franchises in the League, the L.A. Sparks. Her first season would be one of the most memorable years in the history of the League. In her first game, she dropped 34 points, setting the record for most points scored in a career debut. Then, a month later, Candace threw down a dunk against the Indiana Fever, making her the second woman in history to dunk in a game (Lisa Leslie was the first, in 2002). By the end of the season, she averaged 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game and became the first player to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season.

Impressive doesn’t even begin to describe what she did in 2008, not to mention the part that no one knew during the season.

“I was actually pregnant with [Lailaa] at the end of the year, my rookie year,” Candace says. “I accepted the MVP and Rookie of the Year trophy with my daughter and then from there it’s just been our journey.”

And so began one of the biggest transitions of her life that she’s most thankful for.

“I think it kind of taught me to bemore selfless. It’s not just about basketball, there’s more to life than just basketball, and I have her to thank for that,” Parker says.

While she had already accomplished so much, there was one thing that the new mom and Sparks’ star had on her mind—a WNBA Championship. In 2016, the opportunity finally came along, and while she was on the cusp of the elusive title, there was something else on her mind.

Pat Summitt lost her battle with Alzheimer’s disease in June of 2016. With that, the world lost a legend and role model, but for Candace, she lost a mentor. In one of the toughest years of her life, Candace knew that season just meant more. It was about more than just winning a championship for herself; it was for the woman who guided her journey to that title.

In a grueling series for the ages against Maya Moore and the Minnesota Lynx, it all came down to a winner takes all Game 5. With the clock running out and no timeouts left, Nneka Ogwumike grabbed her own rebound and made the game-winning putback. It was a moment and a series fans will remember forever.

“I remember a lot about that series. Just the grind, the focus, the energy that it took to even get through that series,” the 2016 Finals MVP says. “I think it also speaks to my innocence, because in 2008, we had a chance to go to the Finals and we lost on a last-second shot. I had a number of baskets that rolled off the rim. And I think that recognizing that, like, we won off of a rebound putback…And everybody after that is telling us that we’re the best thing ever off of one moment. I think it just kind of speaks to how you gotta stay the course.”

It was a moment that only further cemented her place in L.A. sports glory.

Get your copy of SLAM 233 featuring Candace Parker NOW!

Los Angeles is a place that will forever have Candace’s heart. It was where her daughter grew up, where she herself grew up, and where she had some of the best moments of her life, both on and off the court. After that season, Candace started a second career while managing basketball, which of course included more basketball. She went on to join the Turner family and the NBA on TNT cast where you’ve seen her school Shaq and clown around with Chuck, Ernie and the gang.

“I am a basketball junkie. I love it as a player. I love it as a fan,” she gleams.

After 13 seasons in L.A. though, it was time for a change. In a surprising move, Candace made the decision to sign with the Chicago Sky this past winter.

“Chicago is where my family raised me, where I first learned the game of basketball and where I first fell in love with this orange ball. I am excited to continue the next chapter of my career where it all began. To my new teammates, my new organization, and my new fans: I’m home,” Parker announced with the Chicago Sun Times.

There was something about coming home that just felt right to Candace. She was ready to share the place she grew up in with her daughter, take her to Colonial Special (one of her favorite restaurants in Chicago), or to the park where she grew up playing and that’s now named after her.  

“I believe a lot of things come full circle,” Parker says. “I think just over the course of my career I realized how much important people have meant to my career. Coming back home, I mean, my dad fixed my blinds the other day, we went over to his house for Father’s Day, my mom cooks me pregame, picks up my daughter all the time. Dad brings doughnuts over sometimes for my daughter, like, it’s just, I can go see my grandma. I really respect the time that I moved away from home because I needed it. I needed to establish myself in my home and get away from that, but to come back, who I am now, to really appreciate it.”

It’s a move that’s made the Sky, with a highly athletic and energetic roster and one of the best backcourt duos in the League, one of the favorites for the 2021 WNBA title. While the goal is to bring a championship home, the future is about more than just basketball for CP3.

“This next chapter,” Parker says, “I’m really enjoying the moment. Like I say all the time, I have way more basketball behind me than I have in front of me, I can promise you that. But one thing I’m never going to do is cheat the game. I have a circle of friends that I told 10 years ago that when it’s time, you need to sit me down and have an intervention if I don’t see it myself.”

Candace was always destined for the game of basketball and we have Mama Parker to thank for making it happen in the beginning. While her love of the game has always been at the forefront, it’s been about doing something bigger, about making an impact on young girls’ lives, whether it be within the game of basketball, another sport or in the boardroom.

“I think when you’re able to change something, you know, if you’re able to leave any type of change within something, I think you’ve established and developed a legacy. I hope that I have made a difference and I have changed certain things that have always been. I think that that’s going to be the legacy, and I hope that’s the way it is in the next chapter.”

SLAM 233 featuring cover star Candace Parker is available now in these exclusive gold and black metal editions. Get your copy on SLAMgoods.com.

Cover story portraits by Jon Lopez. Photos via Getty Images.

The post It Was Destined: Candace Parker and the Glory of Going Back Home appeared first on SLAM.

Straying away from the typical East-West format due to the Olympic year, fans have been anxiously awaiting the list of their favorite players that will get their chance to face off against Team USA.

That being said, the All-Star roster is loaded on both sides, featuring veterans and a few newbies as well.

First-time All-Stars include: six-year veteran Betnijah Laney (New York Liberty); second-year forward Satou Sabally (Dallas Wings); seven-year veteran Dearica Hamby (Las Vegas Aces); third-year guard Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas Wings); sixth-year wing Kahlea Copper (Chicago Sky); six-year veteran Courtney Williams (Atlanta Dream); and five-year pro Brionna Jones (Connecticut Sun).

Notable players returning to the All-Star Game include two-time MVP Candace Parker (Chicago Sky), four-time All-Star Liz Cambage (Las Vegas Aces); and three-time All-Star Jonquel Jones (Connecticut Sun).

Team WNBA and Team USA will face off in Las Vegas on July 14 at 7pm (ET) on ESPN.

The post WNBA Releases 2021 All-Star Roster appeared first on SLAM.

Parker will join the Eastern Conference playoff contender and immediately bolster its already impressive core. In her 13th season with the Los Angeles Sparks last summer, Parker averaged 14.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

The move will serve as a homecoming for Parker who grew up dominating the Illinois hoops circuit before heading to Tennessee for college. In 2021, she could slot in to Chicago’s frontcourt alongside 2020 breakout star Azura Stevens.

The Parker signing could signal the end of Cheyenne Parker’s tenure with the squad. Cheyenne Parker is the lone unrestricted free agent on the Sky this offseason.

There was no All-Star Game held in the bubble last season but the 2019 WNBA event saw three Sky players – Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley and Diamond DeShields – represented.

Adding Parker to that bunch, not to mention Stevens and Kahleah Copper, makes Chicago an early contender for the 2021 title.

The post Candace Parker, Chicago Sky Agree to Deal appeared first on SLAM.

The L.A. Sparks rookie has blown up since she received coverage from big-time networks like BET and social media love from Champagne Papi himself. As her social following has grown to over half a million, the rest of the world has been catching up to what’s been true since Day 1: Te’a Cooper is that hooper.

Her journey began in Montclair, NJ, where she was born and raised before her family made the move down south.

It was in Jersey where she really began to grow into who she is today and how she’s carried herself throughout her career so far.

“I feel like New Jersey really made my mindset and then my personality,” Cooper tells SLAM. “I feel like I changed a little bit more being in Atlanta, because that’s where I grew up, but New Jersey, because you see so many people without, and with hard lifestyles, and they still happy, they still walking around.”

Moving to Atlanta was a big change for her family, but it’s where she started making the first of what would eventually be many headlines.

Basketball is a family business for the Coopers. Her dad, Omar, played, along with her older sister Mia, and younger twin brothers, Sharife and Omar Jr.

From early on, it was clear that the second daughter in the Cooper family had a special talent for the game, and by sixth grade she was already playing on an AAU team filled with eighth and ninth graders.

When she began her freshman year at McEachern High School, she’d already been playing with most of the girls on the team for three years. Some of those teammates included Dominique Wilson, who went on to play at NC State, and Pachis Roberts, who joined the Bulldogs at UGA.

Even on an experienced and stacked team, Te’a was named a starter in just her first year. That’s how good she was. She went on to average 11.2 points, 4.7 assists, 3 steals per game, and shoot 65 percent from the field. Her efficiency and maturity on-court helped the team go undefeated that season.

“My freshman year was pretty easy, being that I grew up with them and they were like my sisters,” she says. “I had my dad—my dad been there every step of the way. I mean, he was basically my coach. Let him tell it the way he sat on the sidelines. They helped me. They led me, they wanted me to be a part of the team, so that just makes it even easier when you’re wanted.”

And just like that, the young guard’s career took off.

She went off yet again in her sophomore year, averaging 18.5 points, 5 assists and 4.3 steals per game. She continued leveling up each year and managed an insane 27.3 points, 7.3 assists and 3.5 steals per game during her senior year. By the end of her high school career, she led McEachern to three state titles and finished as one of the top ranked guards in the Class of 2015. She was the McDonald’s All-American Game Co-MVP, played in the Jordan Brand Classic, was named Georgia’s Miss Basketball for consecutive years (2014, 2015), and the list of accolades goes on and on. 

“I think playing with older people, and you’re not there yet, you kind of come up with ways to do what they’re not doing,” she says. “I felt like they were so good at certain things, that they weren’t doing other things. If she was a scorer, then I’ll be a defender, type of stuff. I really learned a lot about scoring without the basketball in my hands. When you’re in high school, you always have the ball, you can bring it up, keep it [forever], there ain’t no shot clock. I can make a thousand moves and get to the basket, by five people.”

As a highly touted prospect, she had her choice of colleges to pick from when it came to decide where she would play at the next level. Ultimately, she committed to the Lady Vols at the University of Tennessee, and it was there that she truly realized what the game meant to her. Following her freshman year, she suffered a left knee injury that kept her sidelined for the entirety of the season.

“Oh, Lord Jesus,” the Sparks guard says. “When you’re injured, you don’t work out with the team. You work out by yourself. As a freshman, you don’t have a car, and you don’t know anybody enough for them to want to take care of you. Fortunately, I had went to school with Diamond [DeShields], and we grew up as best friends, but I was injured, and, of course, she had to work out with the team.” 

“I had to go to practice at, like, six in the morning by myself, and my dramatic self, I felt like I was all alone. I’m like, it was just me against the world. You know you play sad music to make you sadder? Jhene Aiko has a song called ‘W.A.Y.S.’ and I had it on repeat, walking through the gym, and I worked out by myself. You don’t have anybody to push you when you’re working out by yourself, but I had to run sprints by myself, like, who was I racing? I had to find that in myself and that was…ooh, it took me a minute to do that,” she continues.

It wasn’t just her life on the court that changed during the year of rehab, but also some of her approaches to life in general.

“It took me sitting out to realize a lot about basketball, and I had to focus on relationships, getting to know people, seeing what they like, what they don’t like, what moods they’re in, how to talk to people in their certain moods to get us all on the same page. I feel like when you are selfless and you put a lot of your energy into other people, it makes life so much easier,” says Te’a.

Just like the lyrics to the soft melody she listened to each day on the way to the gym during that tough year, she showed the world that she can “keep going.”

After transferring to South Carolina and then eventually to Baylor, where she finished her college career, Te’a stayed true to the grind and put in hours upon hours in the gym. It was nothing new as she always put endless time toward perfecting her craft, but this time it meant something more. This time it was to prove to herself and everyone else that she could still make it to the next level.

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A post shared by Te’a Cooper (@tea.cooper2)

It was when she saw the WNBA mock drafts that she knew her hard work was paying off.

“ESPN picked the top 10 people to watch for the draft. That’s when I was like, Oh shoot, I think maybe I can make it. Like, what??? Then before that it was just like, you don’t know. A lot of people have opinions, like, Oh, she’s good, some people say you’re bad, some people say that you’re overrated, you’re underrated. I mean, you really don’t know until they call your name, that you actually did it,” she remembers.

And in April, 2020, she heard her name called. The Phoenix Mercury selected the Baylor guard with the 18th overall pick in the second round of the WNBA draft.

The moment of celebration lasted a short while as financial implications of COVID-19 impacted roster sizes, and Cooper was waived just a few weeks after the draft.

“My brothers were home,” she says. “This was my first time, in a long time, just being here with my family, quarantine hit. I was practicing with them again. That’s really what I just kept my mind on. I didn’t really think about it.”

And then the call came from the one team she always dreamed of playing for; the L.A. Sparks.

“I was leaving the gym, and I had another workout. I was so tired, and I was just like, Man, I’m going home. I’m on my way home, and Michael [Fischer], the GM called me, and he was talking and I’m listening. I’m like, What? What are we talking about?”

She didn’t believe it until the contract arrived, and when it did, everything fell into place.

With the season shortened due to the pandemic, Te’a had to quickly prove herself to one of the most veteran teams in the WNBA. But this was nothing new to the high school prodigy who was used to playing with more experienced teammates. It was a natural fit.

Under the guidance of future Hall of Famers Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike, as well as point god Chelsea Gray and head coach Derek Fisher, Te’a went on to have a strong rookie season. Playing an average of 17 minutes off the bench, she averaged 7 points per game and shot 45 percent from the field.

“It was the coolest thing, like, Nneka’s a sweetheart. Nneka’s an awesome person, so is Candace. Chelsea really helped me a lot, and then me and Seimone were always together. Yeah, all of them were so cool. They were so helpful,” the rookie says.

And, from the Sparks’ Instagram account, it’s easy to see how much fun the crew had in the bubble. Not only that, but you can also see how her L.A. teammates caught on to just how much star power Te’a had. At one point, Brittney Sykes had to step in and be her “bodyguard.”

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A post shared by Los Angeles Sparks (@la_sparks)

“I don’t even remember how it started. Oh, I think some of the workers wanted to take some pictures with me, and I was just showing support. We had to go to a game, and she was acting like she was my bodyguard,” says Cooper.

Her teammates got jokes, but the buzz around Te’a is very much real.

The recent Jordan Brand signee is always swagged out in big shades, icy jewelry and designer clothes, bringing the Cooper family mantra “It’s a lifestyle” to the WNBA.

“I think my dad started that. I felt like every time we went somewhere, he always made sure we had, or he had, me too, something new on. I think it is a lifestyle for all of us. Yeah, I think we’re all pretty extra. I guess I can agree to that,” Te’a chuckles.

That energy, combined with her dedication to her craft, is what makes her the next star of the League.

While she awaits the news on next season, Te’a is staying in Atlanta with her fiancé, Dwight Howard, constantly training every day and making sure her body is ready for the future, whenever that is.

But you best believe she’ll be ready for the moment no matter what, and you better be ready, because you don’t want to miss the show that is Te’a Cooper.

—

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Portraits taken by Diwang Valdez. You can follow Diwang on Instagram @diwangvaldez and see more of their work at https://diwangvaldez.com/

The post The Te’a Cooper Show is About to Take Over Los Angeles appeared first on SLAM.

She can stick around at Texas for her senior season next year, anchor a team under head coach Vic Schaefer that will add a hugely talented incoming class to a group already building toward Big 12 contention this season, and set some records at her home state school. Schaefer has a propensity for turning players into pros, as his stars at Mississippi State, Victoria Vivians and Teaira McCowan, can tell you.

Or, as someone turning 22 years old in the 2021 calendar year, Collier is eligible to forego her senior season and hear her name called early on in this spring’s 2021 WNBA Draft.

A consensus is building around the idea that Collier’s name could be called first overall, meaning this telegenic personality with designs on a broadcasting career could be Brooklyn-bound, now that the New York Liberty have won the top pick in the draft lottery for the second straight year. That would mean Sabrina Ionescu would be the one feeding her the ball.

No. Bad. Options.

When decision time comes, Collier will sit down with Schaefer and her mom, Ponda, to figure out the best course. If and when WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert calls her name first, those words will echo what her father, the late Elliot Carter, always told her. 

The two spent endless days and nights on the Collier driveway, her father unafaid to block her shot and challenge her to keep getting better. Still, his words of encouragement to her, they never stopped.

“He would tell me, You’re going to go No. 1 in whatever you do,” Collier says. “And crazy—I was number one coming out of high school, now they’re saying I’m number one going in the draft. So that definitely drives me.”

Collier enjoys the gift of genetics when it comes to hoops—Elliott started at Montana State-Billings, and Ponda played at Southwestern University in Texas. But she understands that the gifts are where the work begins, too, a lesson Elliott hammered home to her. He’d know: he was a walk-on in college before he was a starter.

There’s been no danger of that for Collier, who experienced a long recruitment, getting her college scholarship offer back in middle school, from the woman who eventually became her first college head coach at Texas, Karen Aston. At Aston’s summer basketball camp, she took notice of the seventh-grader who didn’t look much like a middle schooler.

“We were just shocked at the things she could do at that age,” Aston recalls. “I mean, from a skill perspective, I remember very directly thinking I haven’t seen kids, even a lot of older players, make post moves [like her]. It was obvious that she was going to be really special.”

Even so, Collier did not find stardom in her freshman year, starting just one game on a team with a crowded frontcourt that included Jatarie White and future New York Liberty forward Joyner Holmes. Aston knew the moment she sat down with Collier for her end-of-season meeting that next season would be different. As she laid out the things the rising sophomore needed to work on, she saw Collier immediately process it, accept it and then want to get right to work.

“She just has this way about her,” Aston said. “It’s always, What’s next? It’s always, How do I attack and be better?”

Collier challenged herself the same way she did during every driveway session with her father, and by next season, she was ready. She started every game as a sophomore, averaging 13.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and shooting 35.4 percent from three—a stat line that has WNBA talent scouts excited to add her to the League and, until then, the first name on college scouting reports when Texas comes to town.

North Texas knew they had to stop her, but their game plan to slow down a preternaturally smart Collier, who now sports a next-level physique that allows her to bang with the biggest collegiate centers, can only take them so far. 

Forty-four points later—on 14-17 shots—she registered the fourth-highest scoring game in Texas history.

let ’em know #TexasFight x @CharliC_14 pic.twitter.com/p00dLbIYcc

— Texas Women’s Basketball (@TexasWBB) November 30, 2020

There’s a reason Collier was Vic Schaefer’s first call when he took the head coaching job at Texas. What he’s learned in the months since he got there speaks volumes about her work ethic and long-term goals as a player.

“Her work ethic and how hard she goes even when she’s the only one in the gym is really apparent to me,” Schaefer says. “So you confirm what I thought I knew going into the whole deal. She has a chance to be really special for us.”

She has a vision of becoming a pro like Candace Parker, one that dates back to the first time she put on a CP jersey as a young girl. To get there, she sets daily goals that she tries to accomplish.

For instance, she spoke with frustration about her performance against Texas A&M—a desire to recognize the double- and triple-teams faster, and to find her open teammates sooner.

When it was pointed out to her that she still had double figures by halftime—she finished with 14 and 12 in the game—she laughed. Stopping Charli Collier is a relative term. Even so, she wants to get better at facilitating from the wing, getting more time at the 4 along with the work Texas needs from her at the 5. It’s less a Candace Parker profile, game-wise, than an A’ja Wilson one. 

The 2020 WNBA MVP. 

No wonder all her career choices are good ones.

She’ll make the right call based on those bigger life questions, but she’s not immune to the lure of checking out the mock drafts, either. This past summer, Collier found herself sitting in her room, reading them with her name at the time, imagining what her father would say about it. Her eyes shimmer, and her hands gesture at the camera for emphasis. The future broadcaster is making a point about herself.

“When they say ‘Charli Collier,’ and they say, ‘No. 1,’ that to me is just speaking into existence what me and my father talked about.”

It’s just a matter of when, not if, for Charli Collier. 

—

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Howard Megdal is a contributor to SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @howardmegdal.

Picture courtesy of Texas Athletics.

The post Charli Collier is the Sure-Fire Number One Pick in the 2021 Draft… If She Declares appeared first on SLAM.

In 13 episodes, Melo goes in-depth about everything he knows about the game, both mentally and physically. “It’s time we give everyone a true behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to get to the top,” Melo writes on Instagram.

In creating Through The Lens, Anthony and co-founder Alex Bazzell—a top NBA/WNBA skills coach—emphasized gender-balance among their athlete and talent packages. The platform aims to equally represent young men and women at the highest level.

In addition to Anthony and Hawks All-Star Trae Young, Through The Lens also features WNBA great Candace Parker, Lynx All-Star Napheesa Collier and 2020 WNBA No. 1 pick Sabrina Ionescu. Subscribers can also learn the secrets of top industry professionals such as Shams Charania and Cari Champion.

“I’m proud to be part of a team that’s helping set the next generation up for success by showing them that their potential on and off the court is limitless,” Melo says.

Constantly adding to his skill set, Anthony says his curiosity helped him and Bazzell choose the team of athletes for Through The Lens. Anthony wanted his 13-year-old son Kiyan to be able to learn from these players too.

Parker, a WNBA champion and MVP, was excited about the values behind the platform and the opportunity to share her actual on-court teaching and mindset.

“I am excited to be a part of a platform that not only values females in basketball but puts them as a priority,” Parker writes on Instagram.

All packages on Through The Lens showcase drills, mindsets and work ethic, as well as full-access interviews and on-court technique. For more information, visit throughthelens.com and @throughthelens on Instagram. 

—

Ryne Nelson is a Senior Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @slaman10.

Photos courtesy of Josh Sobel

The post Carmelo Anthony Launches Basketball Coaching Platform appeared first on SLAM.

We compiled some of their best posts as they congratulated President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their historic win.

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We are so much stronger when our differences bring us TOGETHER rather than tear us apart!!! Congratulations to @joebiden & @kamalaharris – biggest voter turnout in American history!! Let’s keep the momentum going and shape a more inclusive and equal America

A post shared by Chris Paul (@cp3) on Nov 7, 2020 at 10:30am PST

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And she’s from Oakland. Congrats @kamalaharris

A post shared by Damian Lillard (@damianlillard) on Nov 7, 2020 at 11:01am PST

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#BidenHarris2020 @kamalaharris @joebiden

A post shared by Candace Parker (@candaceparker) on Nov 7, 2020 at 11:36am PST

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Mood

A post shared by Bradley Beal (@bradbeal3) on Nov 7, 2020 at 9:43am PST

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Leggoooo

A post shared by Angel McCoughtry #35 (@mccoughtry) on Nov 7, 2020 at 9:44am PST

The post NBA, WNBA Players React To Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Winning Election appeared first on SLAM.

Bird, who will turn 40 this month, missed half of the abbreviated 22-game regular season with a bone bruise in her knee. The SLAM 228 cover subject will suit up for the Storm as they take on the Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals tonight.

Making her debut at No. 4 on the list, Liberty rookie Sabrina Ionescu appeared in just 3 games this season before exiting the wubble with a Grade 3 ankle sprain. The former Oregon star and No. 1 pick in the 2020 Draft could be a face of the league for years to come.

Despite not playing since 2018, four-time WNBA champion Maya Moore appeared at No. 5 on the list. Moore, 31, decided to take off a second consecutive season to focus on reform in the American justice system.

Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne ranked No. 8 on the list despite sitting out the season due to health concerns. Delle Donne, who suffers from Lyme disease, was inexplicably denied a medical exemption from the league.

Top-10 Most Popular WNBA Jerseys:

1. Sue Bird, Seattle Storm
2. Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
3. Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
4. Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
5. Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx
6. A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
7. Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm
8. Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics
9. Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago Sky
10. Satou Sabally, Dallas Wings

The post Sue Bird Tops WNBA’s Most Popular Jerseys List appeared first on SLAM.

The season tips off on Saturday, July 25 at noon ET with the Storm against the Liberty. Below is our 2020 preview to get you ready for the action. Let’s go.

EAST

1. Chicago Sky

If there’s one team everyone in the League should fear this upcoming season, it’s the Sky. This Chicago group is one of the youngest in the League, so it’s no surprise that they are also one of the most athletic. Behind prolific scorers in two-time Three-Point Contest champion Allie Quigley and Diamond DeShields, the Sky were second in scoring last season, just behind the champion Washington Mystics. Not only that—they were also  second in assists, in large part due to Courtney Vandersloot, the record holder for most assists in a single season. In keeping core pieces like Stefanie Dolson, Cheyenne Parker and Gabby Williams, while also picking up Sydney Colson and Azura Stevens, Sky Town has a lot to look forward to in the 2020 campaign.

2. Connecticut Sun

Connecticut came just short of the championship in 2019 with one of the strongest rosters in the WNBA, but this year’s roster looks slightly different. Although they’ll be without leading scorer Jonquel Jones, who has chosen to sit out over health concerns due to COVID-19, they won big time in acquiring DeWanna Bonner during free agency. Along with veteran guards Alyssa Thomas and Jasmine Thomas, Bonner will help fill the major scoring void. The big question for the Sun revolves around team chemistry, having lost on-court leader Courtney Williams, as well as having picked up multiple free agents this offseason.

3. Washington Mystics

The reigning WNBA Champions will aim to defend their title in 2020, although they’ll be without some major pieces. They took a big hit during free agency in losing Point God Kristi Toliver, and will be without 2019 MVP Elena Delle Donne and free-agent signee Tina Charles due to health concerns over COVID-19. Washington added vet Essence Carson to help fill the void of Natasha Cloud, who has chosen to sit out the season in order to focus on the fight for social justice. Even without some serious offensive pieces, they still have last year’s Finals MVP Emma Meesseman, who will need to step up once again if the Mystics are to make another deep playoff run.

4. Indiana Fever

Indiana has struggled since their last playoff appearance in 2016, but this new squad could be considered the sleeper of the League. With lottery picks in the most recent drafts, the Fever are now young, quick and hungry to win. Indiana’s biggest strength is their talented bigs, including Natalie Achonwa, Teaira McCowan and the 2020 No. 2 overall pick Lauren Cox. They also have strong young guards in Kelsey Mitchell and Victoria Vivians, who returns this season after missing last year due to a knee injury. Behind the veteran leadership of Candice Dupree and Erica Wheeler, as well as former Mystics assistant and new head coach Marianne Stanley, Indiana’s ceiling is extremely high.

5. Atlanta Dream

Having lost Angel McCoughtry during free agency, Atlanta has a lot of question marks around this upcoming season. With significant movement in the offseason, the Dream’s roster has several new faces playing together for the first time. Courtney Williams and Shekinna Stricklen join the team after a WNBA Finals run with the Sun last season, and therefore will need to provide leadership in the locker room. Additionally, their frontcourt crew of Elizabeth Williams, Glory Johnson and Kalani Brown is extremely strong. The future definitely looks bright for the Dream, as they also picked up scoring sensation Chennedy Carter in this year’s Draft.

6. New York Liberty

The team with the most unknowns is the new Brooklyn crew. With one of the most inexperienced rosters, new head coach Walt Hopkins will need to rely on veterans Layshia Clarendon, Amanda Zahui B and Kia Nurse to help transition the rookies into the pros. That being said, the Liberty have some of the best prospects from this year’s draft, including NCAA phenom Sabrina Ionescu and former Husky Megan Walker. If Sabrina, Megan and the rest of the rookies are able to adapt quickly, the Liberty could have a surprisingly successful season. New York will be without Asia Durr, though, who decided to opt out of the 2020 season due to health concerns over COVID-19.

WEST

1. Seattle Storm

The 2018 championship team is finally back together after a year of many injuries, and we have a feeling they’re about to pick up right where they left off. Stewie is back, Sue is back, and the best part is that a lot of the younger players now have more experience to help take Seattle back to the top. We witnessed Jordin Canada and Jewell Loyd really come into their own in 2019, leading Seattle to the second round of the playoffs. With last year’s Defensive Player of the Year Natasha Howard, as well as new additions in Morgan Tuck and Epiphanny Prince, the Storm are destined for another title run.

2. Phoenix Mercury

Skylar Diggins-Smith, Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi are the new “Big Three” of the WNBA, and they’re likely to take the Mercury near the top at IMG this summer. Phoenix already had a stacked roster and the addition of one of the best scoring guards in the League only makes them that much better. With Bria Hartley and 2019 champion Shatori Walker-Kimbrough joining the mix, there’s no doubt that Phoenix has the deepest roster in the League. Diana “The GOAT” Taurasi is back this year after missing most of last season due to injury, which makes Phoenix one of the early favorites to win it all. 

3. Las Vegas Aces

The Las Vegas Aces are one of the top teams to watch in 2020. In another major free agency move, Vegas picked up Angel McCoughtry, who adds the experienced guard play they have been missing. Although they’ll be without Liz Cambage (due to health concerns over COVID-19) and Kelsey Plum (due to a torn achilles suffered in the offseason), the Aces roster is still strong. With some of their major players missing, 2018 Rookie of the Year A’ja Wilson is set to have another breakout season and potentially be an MVP candidate.

4. Los Angeles Sparks

You know the competition in the West is great when the Sparks are somehow in the middle of the pack, even though they have one of the greatest players ever hooping for them. The big question for L.A. this year is how Coach Derek Fisher implements his offensive system with top scorers Candace Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, Chelsea Gray and Riquna Williams. The Sparks also picked up Brittney Sykes and longtime rival Seimone Augustus. If Coach Fisher and his staff are able to put together a game plan that gets everyone on the roster involved, the Sparks could be the team to beat in the West.

5. Minnesota Lynx

Cheryl Reeve’s Lynx look a lot different than most years, as they continue their rebuilding period. Their leader, Maya Moore, has continued her inspiring path of pursuing social justice reform, which leaves Sylvia Fowles as the veteran in the locker room. The Lynx have lots of promising young talent on the roster, including 2019 Rookie of the Year Napheesa Collier. They also picked up some strong prospects in this year’s Draft with Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Crystal Dangerfield. With sharpshooters Rachel Banham and Lexie Brown, the Lynx still have a chance at a solid season that could help develop a lot of their talent for the future.

6. Dallas Wings

Dallas has the most inexperienced roster in the West, but don’t let that fool you—they have some true bucket-getters on their squad who are poised to have big seasons. All eyes will be on 2019 Rookie of the Year runner-up Arike Ogunbowale, who averaged 19.1 points per game in her first season. Most exciting, though, is their pickup of Katie Lou Samuelson, who didn’t see much playing time with Chicago last year. As a UConn product, you know she’s bound to be a sponge and learn quickly how to be implemented into the offense, especially under head coach Brian Agler. With the addition of top prospects Satou Sabally and Bella Alarie, the Wings are low-key our favorite to shock the League this season, potentially even clinching a playoff spot.

—

Camille Buxeda is a Senior Content Producer at SLAM. Follow her on twitter @CamilleBuxeda.

Photos via Getty.

The post 2020 WNBA Season Preview appeared first on SLAM.

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We brought Sheryl Swoopes, Angel McCoughtry and Lexie Brown together with host Ros Gold-Onwude to learn about their perspectives as Black women in sports. 

Part 1 of the roundtable can be found here.

Gold-Onwude: Angel and Lexie, how do you feel the WNBA does as far as marketing players?

McCoughtry: I still remember that episode of you guys on Martin [to Swoopes]. That was the best thing ever. He was challenging Gina saying that women can’t do what men can do. And then she brings these WNBA players [to play]. That was the best thing ever for us to see growing up. To add on to that, people don’t know LeBron personally, but they know LeBron. Does that make sense? So if someone doesn’t know Lexie Brown or Angel McCoughtry, why are they gonna come to the game? They don’t know who they’re watching. Our commercials are only on when we have a game. Then people don’t even know when we have a game. You can see an NBA commercial when you’re watching primetime TV. I think, too, some of the NBA players can grab some of us and say, Hey, I want Lexie in this State Farm commercial with me. They need to get to know who she is as well. I think we can all work together to get more of these girls known. Yeah, we know Diana Taurasi. We know Sue Bird. But they should know Lexie Brown. I think we can do a better job at that.

Gold-Onwude: MVPs and star players have gotten promoted. Sheryl, you, Cynthia Cooper—I knew everything about you. Growing up in New York, I knew Teresa Weatherspoon. Candace Parker. I’m a big Cappie Pondexter fan. But maybe you’re talking to somebody who’s a little biased because I’m an actual women’s basketball fan. We’re talking about the casual fan. How do we get them in line with knowing everybody? I remember networks like ESPN did things like “The 3 to See” with Skylar Diggins and Britney Griner and Elene Delle Donne. It was just about the top players. How do you get to that next level? Maybe like with you Lexie, someone who’s a star but young and coming up, how do we learn more about your story the way we might learn about a role player on an NBA team?

A lot of times the stories around women’s sports tend to be “good girl stories,” all good news, all positive. Could the WNBA benefit from having more real, honest characterizations of who the personalities and players are in the league?

Brown: I’m coming from college and it’s the same there. You know the three top players, they all look the same, they might not even be the best players but they all look alike. There’s a certain look that I think people try to push out. I think our league has the most colorful personalities from top to bottom. The beautiful thing about our league is that there’s not a lot of us, so we really all do know each other pretty well. There are a lot of stories that need to be shared. And just because they’re real doesn’t mean they have to be tragic or sad, they just have to be real. Everything doesn’t need to be a good girl story, like you said. I think that this younger group of WNBA players has tried to take it into their own hands, using social media and their followings and things like that. I personally have noticed that even sometimes when we reach out to the league: Oh, we have this idea. They turn it away. They don’t want it. They don’t want anything to do with it. So that’s forced us to go our separate ways and find our little fan groups separately. When you go out somewhere and say that you’re a professional basketball player, they get super interested. You tell them that you attended Louisville and Duke and then people lose their minds. There are so many stories to tell.

McCoughtry: It’s hard to work really hard at something and it’s like, Man, does anybody notice that I worked this hard? I have an ice cream shop here in Atlanta. Kandi Burruss from the Real Housewives of Atlanta was actually the owner of the building, so I rented from her which was awesome. Todd was her husband. They were doing a mural out back [of the building]. I go out back to look at it, they’re putting all the sports teams logos on this mural. So I asked the guy, Where is the Dream logo gonna be? He was like, Dream, what is that? I don’t know nothing about that. I said, Todd, the mural outside is dope, but you’re forgetting one thing. The WNBA logo. We’re the only women’s professional sports team in the city and you forgot about us. He was like, Oh my god, my bad! My bad! You come to my ice cream shop every day, we’re friends, and you forgot to put the only women’s professional team’s logo on this mural. I have to send you guys a picture of this mural. If you look at it now, we’re at the top. The fact that I had to fight for that. How do you forget?

I have another story for y’all real quick. I’m at the NBA Awards and PR says, Come over and do some interviews. I come over to do the line on the red carpet and they’re all like [looking]. [They said], Excuse me, we want the players. So I walked to the next person. They were like, Excuse me, we’re waiting for the players. I’m a player. I’m a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist. Really? I went down that whole red carpet line, nobody looked at me twice. I felt kind of belittled. It was just like, That’s what you guys really think of us? I wasn’t even considered a player. Those are the things that definitely have to change.

Gold-Onwude: Let’s talk about how mainstream media and entertainment treat WNBA players. It’s not just that the WNBA has to market [players] better. Sports reporters, people who cover sports, will say things like, The first pro championship to come to Seattle, or something. And you’re like, Well, what about the Seattle Storm? You see it over and over again. I feel like every year there’s a correction of a professional sports broadcaster with credibility dismissing the credits of a WNBA championship.

Swoopes: The other part of that, too—and I’m not saying you, [Ros], because I don’t think you do it. But even as commentators or broadcasters or analysts, when you’re watching games, college or WNBA, we compare girls to boys all the time. When you’re watching college games, you’ll say, Oh, so and so reminds me of Kevin Durant or Steph Curry or James Harden. No, she reminds you of Angel McCoughtry or Lexie Brown or Candace Parker. You know what I mean? We’ll talk about what everyone else is not doing to promote the league and help us grow the game, but we don’t help ourselves grow the game.

Gold-Onwude: I hear that a lot and the strategy there is trying to capture that casual fan who might know the NBA player more than the WNBA player and create some kind of connection. But I’ve often felt that women’s basketball shouldn’t be compared to men’s basketball because they are separate and different games and businesses. Lexie, I’ll take it to you. When we talk about women’s basketball, should it be compared to men’s basketball in your opinion?

Brown: I know when I was younger, there was a point where I was looking up to NBA players. And then when my dad got into coaching in the WNBA, he kind of shut all that down. He was like, Nah, you’re going to model your game after all of these players. So even through middle school and high school, my favorite player was Kristi Toliver. I loved her at Maryland; she was the reason why I committed to Maryland. I basically modeled my entire game after her up until I got to college, honestly. I do agree with what people say, that they’re trying to capture the casual fan by comparing to NBA players—I do understand that. But I feel that at this point, we’re trying so hard to capture so many casual fans, we just need to capture a new fan. Maybe mentioning a WNBA player will have them [thinking], Oh, I wonder who that is. They’ll go look up the WNBA player and discover this whole league filled with women who can hoop their asses off. I am guilty of comparing people to NBA players, definitely; but as I’ve gotten older, gotten to know these players and paid a little bit more attention, I’m able to compare a lot of players to WNBA players instead.

Gold-Onwude: Sometimes the public criticism and jokes that we see are happening even in popular culture, like television shows such as Family Guy or Black-ish, which is a show about uplifting Black culture and here they are cracking jokes about a league that is predominately Black. I’m a fan of the show but it was disappointing to see those kinds of jokes and it continues to permeate that it’s OK to make fun of a group of excellent women. First I want to ask, does it hurt when you see that?

Brown: Not as much as it used to. You look at the people who are making these comments and you’re like, They must be jealous or something. It’s been hard for me to understand, with men specifically, why they have such a problem with women being good at anything. Not even just sports, just anything. It’s weird. I can’t figure it out. I can’t wrap my mind around it. Men can be good at things and women can be good at things. It’s that simple. But the jokes are played out. I will say they haven’t come up with anything new. It’s the same jokes coming from a page with an egg as the icon. We must be doing something right if people are upset at how amazing and successful we are.

McCoughtry: I like how you put that. I had one last night, Lexie. I was saying how our season was going to start at the end of July and I was like, It’s going to be weird not having any fans. Guys were like, You should be used to that.

Brown: That’s the other thing. They say something crazy and you’re like, F off, and they’ll either message me or tweet me later saying they were just playing and they’re a huge fan. I’m just convinced that people want a reaction because they’re bored and sometimes we give in to them.

Swoopes: It’s easy to sit behind your phone or computer or something and run your mouth. It’s easy to do that. But if you met that person or saw that person in the store or on the street or whatever, they’re not going to say anything. To me, some of the comments that I read on social media, I honestly laugh at them. Like, really? It’s so stupid. You have to laugh at it. For me personally, and I don’t play anymore, but for some of the things like Black-ish; when I see that, I’m like, really? I don’t feel like that hurt me personally, but it hurt us. I think that hurts the game—when we’re still trying to grow it and get fans and talk to people about how incredible these women are, not just at basketball, but how incredible these women are. A show like Black-ish, that’s what’s funny to me. You want to make fun and poke at who we are and our game. That’s the part that drives me crazy. I could care less what some of these assholes have to say on social media.

McCoughtry: Here’s the thing, they want to compare us to greats. For example, I’m at a restaurant and I’m telling this guy, Hey, you should come to a WNBA game. He’s like, Why should I come watch you guys play? Can you jump as high as LeBron? No. Can you run as fast as LeBron? No. Well, why should I come watch you play? I said, I run faster and I jump higher than you. You can’t even compare to me, so why would you say that? He kind of got quiet [after that]. Just the fact that you’re comparing me to a freak of nature like LeBron, but you can’t even compare yourself to me, but you’re knocking me—a woman who’s doing incredible things in life and playing a sport.

I want to dig deep. I ask my male friends, When you guys were younger, what were you taught about women? That women couldn’t do anything? They’re like, No, we were just taught to be easy on girls, not too rough. So nobody ever taught you to knock women in sports? No. So where does that come from? Is it taught behavior? To me, it feels like racism. It’s a form of racism. It’s a taught hate.

—

Click here for part 1 of the WNBA roundtable.

100 percent of proceeds from SLAM’s new issue will be donated to the Social Change Fund. Grab your copy here.

Photos via Getty.

The post LET’S KEEP IT REAL: WNBA Roundtable About Racism & Sexism, Part 2 appeared first on SLAM.

Augustus joins an L.A. squad anchored by Candace Parker and the Ogwumike sisters but supplemented now by players like her and fellow 2020 veteran addition Kristi Tolliver.

Augustus brings a loaded resume to her new job, including four titles won with the Lynx between 2011 and 2017. She’s an eight-time All-Star that got off to a late start in 2019 on account of a knee injury and never fully hit her stride on a Minnesota team transitioning between eras.

Augustus averaged 10.3 points per game for the Lynx in 2018 and averages 15.9 points per contest for her career.

The post Seimone Augustus Signs Contract With Sparks appeared first on SLAM.

Previous stories:

LIVE FROM MADISON STREET: Zach LaVine Talks Playing in Chicago

ALL OF THE LIGHTS: Remembering 1988 All-Star Weekend in Chicago

BORN & RAISED: Allie Quigley Has Been Repping Chicago Since Day 1

HOMECOMING: Kendrick Nunn’s Journey from Chicago to the NBA

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Dear Chi,

We different. We know this. Not Paris different, not Harlem different, not Vegas, Lagos, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Sydney, New Orleans or South Central different. We stay a city within our own nation within our own world. Our flow, the way we roll, the way we think, feel about and react to things, the way we create, what we create, the reasons we create, different. We exist different.

This game ain’t just a game. It’s our export to the world. Our soul we keep. We bringin’ it back like it’s ’88. All-Star Weekend. Reminding the world who we are, where we stand and—more defiantly—what we stand on and for. We didn’t invent this game, just mecca’d it. GOAT’d it. Because we don’t follow our passion, we follow our effort. We don’t chase the end result, we embrace the process. While others trend set, we invent. We don’t just play D, we protect, baseline-to-baseline. Tony Allen and Pat Bev style. 

The mid-February classic that returns to us after a 32-year break is the culmination of decades of post-Jordan inspiration. It’s us contributing to the game in ways unmatched by any other place in the world. Since Jordan’s coming-out party that weekend (the same weekend that saw Mike Tyson marry Robin Givens here, too), the weekend where he ascended above the game and made the pound-for-pound alive title all his, all we gave to the game was the following: D-Wade, D-Rose, the Parkers: Candace and Jabari, KG via South Carolina, Tamika Catchings, three-time world champs Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. Antoine Walker, Evan Turner, Cappie P, Michael Fin, Q-Rich, Jon Scheyer, officials James Capers and Marc Davis, the aforementioned Allen and Bev, Morgan Tuck, Juwan Howard, Jalen Brunson, Tyler Ulis, Sherron Collins, Will Bynum, Corey Mag, Jewell Loyd, Jamie Brandon, Ronnie Fields, the Pargos (Jannero and Jeremy), the Browns (Shannon and Sterling), and oh yeah, a kid named Anthony Davis. And they say the Dream Team changed the game. 

Shy people run. Chi people run things. We live by truism, not by code. A truism that creates a different character of man, woman and child that shed sweat on the streets that we call neighborhoods, on these courts we call home. It reflects who we are individually; it reflects what we rep as a city. Our character is defined between the water of Lake Michigan and the concrete of Kedzie; by the wind that hits our skin but never touches our bones; by the chain nets that hang from iron halos and nylon that will create string music inside the United Center come February. 

We are represented by Jake and Elwood, Cochise and Preach, Kanye and Parkay, Jordan and Pippen. We live by the difference between taking a gamble and being ambitious. Doubt to us equals not being prepared. Something we know nothing about. Our “Big Shoulders” alias comes with pride because it wasn’t given to us: we earned it. The world has always been resting on them. Second City to no one. And for those who don’t believe it, just ask someone from here during All-Star Weekend. We are not ashamed to remind those who don’t know or forgot who we are. We don’t argue, we simply disagree. We don’t create enemies, we just have low tolerance for all things faux, fake or phony. We don’t “friend” or “like” people we don’t know. We believe in shaking peoples’ hands. Eye to eye, I for I.

The new awakening has arrived. In the form of a basketball showcase we call the “Black Super Bowl.” We are its host. Here to put on, display our coexistence with a game that is, to us, what hip-hop is to NYC, film and movies are to L.A., modern technology is to Silicon Valley, capitalism is to Wall Street, corruption is to Capitol Hill, coffee is to Seattle, Nike is to Portland, Mickey Mouse is to Orlando, Donald Glover is to the ATL. That connectivity, that association. That bond shared between our city and this game called “ball” that is inseparable, undeniable and unconditional. That love.

So let’s show the world how we do. The real we. Where we shoot hoops, not people. Where presidents are from, not prisoners. Where we open the city’s door and say, “Take your Jordans off. Relax. Watch the carpet. Don’t chill, Chi-IL.” And let all visitors know that while other places play the game, we live it. And that sound everyone will be hearing all weekend is not basketballs dribbling.

It’s our heartbeat.

—

Scoop Jackson is a senior writer for ESPN.

Photos via Getty and Matthew Yarnell.

The post DEAR CHI: A Love Letter to Basketball in the Windy City appeared first on SLAM.

Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash near Calabasas on Sunday morning. Bryant was 41.

For two decades we witnessed the greatness of Kobe on the floor. Drafted 13th overall in 1996, he spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant was an 18-time All-Star, five-time champion and the 2008 MVP. He was named to 15 All-NBA teams and won two gold medals as a member of Team USA. Both of his jersey numbers, 8 and 24, were retired by the Lakers in 2017.

Bryant recorded 33,643 points throughout his remarkable 20-year run, which ranks fourth in NBA history. LeBron James passed Bryant on the all-time scoring list on Saturday night, less than 24 hours prior to Bryant’s death.

Regarded as one of the fiercest competitors and hardest workers ever to play the game, Bryant was an inspiration to people across the globe. His unique approach to all endeavors—coined the “Mamba mentality”—led him to accomplish remarkable things. He chased goals relentlessly. He pushed himself to the furthest possible limits, playing through injuries and constantly defying the odds. His confidence was unshakable. He was the embodiment of passion, determination and perseverance.

Following his retirement from the NBA in 2016, Bryant pursued new ventures with the same level of intensity that he brought to basketball. He coached Gianna’s AAU team (The Mambas), published multiple books and won an Oscar for his animated short, Dear Basketball.

Bryant’s many peers and passionate fans took to social media to react to the devastating development and express their deepest condolences:

NBA commissioner Adam Silver released this statement:

“The NBA family is devastated by the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna. For 20 seasons, Kobe showed us what is possible when remarkable talent blends with an absolute devotion to winning. He was one of the most extraordinary players in the history of our game with accomplishments that are legendary: five NBA championships, an NBA MVP award, 18 NBA All-Star selections, and two Olympic gold medals. But he will be remembered most for inspiring people around the world to pick up a basketball and compete to the very best of their ability. He was generous with the wisdom he acquired and saw it as his mission to share it with future generations of players, taking special delight in passing down his love of the game to Gianna. We send our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Vanessa, and their family, the Lakers organization and the entire sports world.”

And from Michael Jordan:

“I am in shock over the tragic news of Kobe’s and Gianna’s passing. Words can’t describe the pain I’m feeling. I loved Kobe—he was like a little brother to me. We used to talk often, and I will miss those conversations very much. He was a fierce competitor, one of the greats of the game and a creative force. Kobe was also an amazing dad who loved his family deeply—and took great pride in his daughter’s love for the game of basketball.”

There was a gathering outside the Staples Center, where the Grammy awards were held on Sunday night, shortly after the news broke. Inside the building, two bright lights shined on Kobe’s numbers hanging from the rafters during the music celebration.

Though the mood in arenas was somber, games were still played. Teams honored Bryant’s legacy with various, powerful tributes, such as this:

Players and coaches were clearly emotional, still struggling to process the sudden heartbreak.

Bryant was extremely devoted to his family and is survived by his wife, Vanessa, and three daughters—Natalia (17), Bianka (3) and Capri (seven months).

Our thoughts and best wishes are with everyone affected by this inconceivable tragedy.

Mamba Forever. 

The post The Basketball World Mourns the Death of Kobe and His Daughter Gianna appeared first on SLAM.

A 4-star prospect in the 2021 class, Julian’s getting plenty of attention, but his sister is on another level: Angel entered her senior season at Baltimore’s Saint Frances Academy as a 5-star prospect gunning for the top spot in 2020. At 6-3, she’s a true unicorn—”the kid can play five positions and guard five positions,” says her trainer, Jimmy Price—with a passion for the game that separates her from pretty much every other player in the nation.

“She’s a fierce competitor,” says her AAU coach, Ron James.

“She got heart, more than anything,” says Julian.

“She’s fiery,” says her mom, Angel.

“She’s feisty,” says Price. “I’ve never seen a player who wants to win the way she does.”

And it’s been this way pretty much since day one.

Reese remembers being 4 or 5 years old, tagging along to practice when her mom—who played DI college ball and professionally overseas—was coaching a team of older kids. “I tried to play with them, but I couldn’t even get the ball up to the net, so they didn’t really let me on the court,” she recalls. “So I used to just dribble around the gym.” When she suited up on that rec league squad with her brother a couple of years later, she was the only girl on the roster. Clearly, the passion was always there.

It wasn’t long after that she started showing the skill to go with it. As her mom remembers, Reese was in fourth grade “playing on the sixth-grade team, and at that point I thought, ‘Oh, she can be something special. She has the heart for the game.’”

Reese says she didn’t fully realize her own potential until her freshman year, when she and her teammates traveled to the GEICO Nationals. “I was playing against these seniors, Tennessee commits, Notre Dame commits, all these top girls in the 2018 class, and I was getting buckets against them,” she says. “I was like, Dang, I feel like I got this.”

That run boosted her confidence, but she never got caught up in the hype—especially when she felt the hype was lagging. “I’m really passionate about the sport. I just love it,” she says. “I’ve cried over this so many times thinking I wasn’t good enough, why I wasn’t ranked as one of the top players, why everybody else got offers as early as they did. I don’t take anything for granted.” She’s clearly not the complacent type, but Reese at least doesn’t have to worry about rankings or offers anymore: Next fall, she’ll make the short trip to College Park to play for her home-state Terrapins, news that her family—especially her grandparents—are thrilled about.

There aren’t many holes in her exceptionally well-rounded game—she cites Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons, A’ja Wilson and Candace Parker among the players she emulates—but extending the range on her jumper remains the priority. On the court, she says her mindset heading into college is “do whatever it takes, play whatever position coach wants me to play, whatever it takes to help the team win.” Off the court? Reese is already looking to her post-playing career, and she’d love to get into broadcasting or modeling. Whatever she’s doing, Reese says, “I just want to be in front of the camera.”

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 225

Ryan Jones is a Contributing Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter at @thefarmerjones.

Portraits by Peter Grill.

The post Maryland Commit Angel Reese Is a True UNICORN appeared first on SLAM.

This is Sabrina Ionescu’s home court. 

Ionescu is now the NCAA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles, entering her senior season with 18 of them. She’s all but a lock to be the No. 1 pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft. But before all of that happened, she was playing here, at Larkey Park. 

“I played at a few parks in Walnut Creek but Larkey Park was the one that we went to a lot of the time. I would say one of my earliest memories is just playing at the park,” Ionescu tells SLAM. “Pickup games, random games with my brother. Once I got older, obviously started playing on a team, but always the small memories of playing in the front yard or at the park.”

Her story is playing out like a Hollywood movie. Ionescu was good enough, tough enough, strong enough to play with the boys. But they didn’t always let her. She would have to watch sometimes. Then she would get to play other times.

“I always had a Tweety Bird shirt and they told me that I wasn’t allowed to play until I got rid of the shirt,” she remembers. “And so I went home and changed my shirt, came back and then they let me play. So I never wore it after that moment.”

When she did get to play, they wouldn’t pass her the ball so she started to grab it off the glass, push it up the court and dish it to an open teammate while the defense swarmed to get what they thought would be an easy steal. She’s been developing a skill set to stack up triple-doubles ever since she was a kid. 

“She is a pass-first player,” Kelly Graves, her head coach at Oregon, says. “People know how much she scores. 

She gets a lot of attention for her rebounding. But, I think, fundamentally, she is about the team. Her ability to see the floor, to be one step ahead of the defense is incredible. She knows her teammates are open before they know they’re open and that you just can’t teach. That’s innate to the elite players.”

And Ionescu is the most elite college basketball player in the country. The game she built at Larkey Park has her close to becoming the one and only NCAA women’s basketball player to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in a career. Her three years as a Duck have seen her register 18 points, 7 rebounds and 7 dimes a game. And her junior season, in which she led Oregon to the Final Four, wrapped up with her best numbers yet—averages of 19.9 points, 8.2 assists and 7.4 boards were complemented by 42 percent shooting from distance and 88 percent shooting from the foul line. Her squad had a 33-5 record. 

“She’s made us relevant in the national championship discussion,” Graves says. “Now we’re a national program. Obviously she has great teammates and everybody has helped, there’s no question about that. But she’s really been the face of that resurgence.”

It’s normal for Ionescu to get stopped whenever she’s on campus. The days where she can walk around and not get noticed are mostly gone, replaced by moments when people want photos with her or when they want her to know that she’s appreciated. Everybody wants to be a part of history. And Ionescu is living, walking, talking, breathing history. 

Her 18 triple-doubles are the most—by a woman or a man—in the history of the NCAA. More than Diana Taurasi. More than Candace Parker or even Wilt Chamberlain. She busted up the record that Kyle Collinsworth set while he played at BYU when she got her 13th triple-double in December of 2018.

“I remember getting my first triple-double my freshman year and we were in Hawaii,” she says. “I had no idea that I had gotten it because the stats weren’t up anywhere. But I remember after the game Kelly came up to me and just handed me the box score and that’s all he said. He said, ‘Congrats, not a lot of people do it.’ Just handed me the box score and I had no idea what he meant. I was trying to look at the box score and see was it how many points we scored in a half? I was really confused at what he was talking about. I was like, Oh, I got a triple-double. I was like, OK. That was it.”

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Ionescu, for as long as she’s been recording those triple-doubles, has always insisted it’s not about numbers. She’s just doing what it takes to help her team win. 

“I just don’t like to lose,” she says. “In anything that I do, whether it’s basketball or anything, I’m just super competitive. Going into every game, into every practice, I’m trying to be the best version of myself. I’m not really playing against anyone, it’s really just me trying to be the best version that I can on the court, off the court.”

Ionescu says that her twin brother, Eddy, and their older brother, Andrei, never took it easy on her. Blood and tears were common for her when she was growing up at Larkey Park. But those moments helped her become the no-mercy-machine she is now. Clutch moments mean nothing to her. She’ll just walk up the floor, drill a dagger three-pointer and walk back to the bench while the other team scrambles to call a timeout. Because she’s not going to lose. And if she does take a loss, she’s going to make sure it won’t happen again. 

After getting beat by Baylor in the 2019 Final Four, Ionescu all but promised a natty to the Ducks in 2020. She’s gonna deliver. Her game is a terrifying mixture of basketball’s most deadly competitors. 

Her desire has been shaped by following Kobe Bryant. Her floor general skills have been refined by studying John Stockton. Her jumpshot has been honed by watching Stephen Curry. 

“I’d pull up John Stockton’s videos from when he played and watched that on the computer,” Ionescu says. “I’d watch Kobe’s. It was cool because I was able to watch them growing up and if they did something, I would go back in the yard and try to do it myself.”

But it was more than just watching Curry and the Warriors or old grainy footage on YouTube. The way that those players hooped can be seen in Ionescu. Like her coach says, she sees the game before things happen. She can read defenses, bend them to her liking. She knows when to step up for the shot and when to drop a laser feed off the bounce. 

“The more basketball you watch and the more you pay attention, that only helps your IQ,” the point guard says. “Playing with guys, they were a lot bigger and stronger and so I had to see things early and I had to be able to make passes in order to be able to play with them. Just starting at a young age, being thrown into a game like that has just helped me now. Now the game kind of slowed down for me just because of how sped up it was when I was younger. 

“I was just back there and it’s cool to see that they watch our games and they keep up with me,” she says about all the guys in Walnut Creek. “Now they all want me on their team. It’s just different from when they weren’t allowing me to play with them.”

They can recognize the expert-level that Ionescu plays the game at. And so can Kobe. Sabrina gets excited when talking about the time that the Black Mamba and his daughter, Gigi, showed up at one of her games last season. 

“We were just warming up and all of a sudden he goes and sits courtside,” she says, like she still can’t believe it. “I was like, Oh my gosh, that’s Kobe Bryant at our game. That was just awesome. He came back into the locker room and spoke to us and signed our shoes. It was really cool to be able to meet him and talk to him like an actual person and not someone that I just watch game film on.”

It wasn’t that long ago that she was recreating his moves at Larkey Park, under the big, tall, green trees. And it won’t be that long until she’s in the W, playing pro ball at Staples Center, the same court that he used to play at, under the big, bright lights. More triple-doubles and a national championship, it won’t be that long until those become reality too. 

But for Coach Graves, Sabrina Ionescu is already a superstar. 

“She’s gotten better skill-wise but I think where she’s made the most improvement is in leadership and being a great teammate, handling lots of pressure, expectations,” he says. “She has just become, I think, the entire package when it comes to what you would expect and want out of an elite athlete. She inspires me. She inspires her teammates. When you talk about what you want in a human being, she fits it all.” 

—

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Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Photos by Ashley Walters and via Getty.

Additional reporting by Camille Buxeda.

The post MIGHTY DUCK: Sabrina Ionescu Is Coming for the National Title 🏆 appeared first on SLAM.

Taurasi had her own kicks back in 2006. The Nike Shox DT came and went quickly and it’s already, unfortunately, been forgotten. It was a funky-looking silhouette built on Nike’s patented Shox technology. The cushioning was mixed with Zoom Air and it trailed up to a big overlay that covered the midfoot and eventually wrapped around the collar. Taurasi only played in them for one season. She’s been playing in LeBron PEs ever since.

Taurasi, a three-time WNBA champ and four-time Olympic gold medalist, is the last woman sponsored by Nike to get a signature sneaker. The last woman to get a signature in the WNBA is Parker, who has two WNBA MVP trophies, two gold medals and a WNBA title. She’s consistently been laced in the latest adidas options ever since the early 2000s and adidas hooked her up with three of her own pairs, the last of which was in 2012 when the Ace3 came out.

It’s a stark, stark contrast from when women’s basketball exploded into the mainstream in the mid-’90s. Chamique Holdsclaw, Dawn Staley, Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, Rebecca Lobo and Nicki McCray were all given their own kicks by Nike, adidas, Reebok and Fila back in the day.

And then there was Sheryl Swoopes, a pioneer in basketball sneakers. Nike made seven different signature sneakers for Swoopes and she wore them as she was winning four consecutive WNBA titles with the Houston Comets and three Olympic gold medals. The impact of the first Air Swoopes still moves the Hall of Famer.

“I remember going to Portland, walking in the room and just seeing all of the stuff,” Swoopes told SLAM at the 2019 WNBA Draft about the first time she saw her signature sneaker. “It seemed so surreal to me at the moment. To walk in and, not only see any shoe, but to see my shoe, with my name on it, and to know that there were gonna be little girls out there, and hopefully little boys too, that have an opportunity to wear a women’s basketball shoe… I love Michael Jordan, but you don’t have to go and buy the Air Jordans anymore. You can go and buy the Air Swoopes. Even today, to say that, I’m like, ‘Wow that really did happen.’ I still get emotional to this day when I think about it.”

But there hasn’t been another player able to feel that type of emotion in nearly 10 years. Even as the talent level has soared across the W and players have taken strong stances against political and racial injustices, developing rock-solid personal brands, no company has stepped up with a sneaker.

The most that the brands do is give a select few players their own team-specific colorways. Parker is always playing in purple and gold kicks, Bird has been given the reigns to the Kyrie line and Taurasi has gotten Phoenix Mercury-themed LeBrons ever since Nike did away with her sneaker. Some of the league’s best young players get featured in marketing campaigns by Nike and adidas, where the spotlight shines on them briefly. But it’s not enough for Breanna Stewart and Nneka Ogwumike, two former MVPs, to get a couple of seconds of airtime in a branded Instagram video that also shows men with their own kicks.

If the high level of skill and the social awareness weren’t enough, the W is filled with huge sneakerheads, now more than ever. There will be old pairs of Kobes, the newest adidas and a wild custom pair on any given night during the summertime. Sneakers matter to them and to their fans.

“I remember in middle school I had Cynthia Cooper’s sneaker,” the W’s Sneaker Queen, Tamera Young, says. “Our team, actually, had it. It’s something for the kids as well that looks up to us. If you had WNBA players that have sneakers, it’s something that little girls could look up to.”

“It would just be an inspiration to young players to be able to wear shoes of their favorite women’s player,” the Chicago Sky’s Diamond DeShields says. “Visibility is key. I believe this would help promote that and ultimately contribute to the common goal of growing the league as a whole.”

The 24-year-old DeShields debuted the “Chicago” Air Fear of God 1 recently, a move co-signed by the sneaker’s designer, Jerry Lorenzo. He personally thanked DeShields in an Instagram post that went out to his one million-plus followers.

“It’s all a part of the evolution of the sport,” DeShields says about a woman having her own sneaker. “At what point is it gonna become normalized for women to share the same platform and opportunities as men? ‘Never’ won’t last in regard to this question so why not now?”

Like DeShields, a few women have been able to show off high-profile pairs. The Aces have a heavy-hitting duo in Wilson and Kayla McBride, both in terms of bucket-getting and sneaker-wearing. Wilson is the first WNBA player to get player exclusive Adapt BB colorways. She first rocked her personal colorway of the auto-lacing sneaker at NBA All-Star Weekend and then went on to debut the “Air MAG” Adapt BBs. And McBride was the first to launch the “NASA 50” colorway of the PG3. Tina Charles and Odyssey Sims got to break out the “SpongeBob” and “Patrick” Kyrie 5s. And the first player to wear the Nike Freak 1 on-court wasn’t Giannis Antetokounmpo or one of his brothers—it was Dallas Wings rookie Arike Ogunbowale.

“We’re at a time where we deserve our own signature shoe,” Wilson says. “It would help the WNBA’s evolution because that’s just a huge step of getting us out there as players. That is a big step. Of course, my favorite Dawn Staley and Sheryl Swoopes, they had their shoes but we need to bring that back. It brings a lot more coverage to our game and notice to our game. That’ll just help our game evolve.

Go down the line and look at the rest of the league and you’ll find ‘heads on every team, players that not only mess with sneakers but that can also truly hoop. Jewell Loyd, Elena Delle Donne, Chiney Ogwumike, Kia Nurse and Seimone Augustus are a few of the best players in the WNBA and a few of its biggest sneakerheads too.

Augustus, a future Hall of Famer that has four rings with the Minnesota Lynx, has been wearing customs for the last two seasons thanks to Salvatore Marcum. Marcum runs Mpls Customs and, in addition to working with Augustus, has also worked with Collin Sexton, Langston Galloway, Josh Okogie and a handful of NFL players.

“These women work harder than anyone I know,” Marcum says. “The passion is there, the love for the sport is there and the signature shoes would be a great step in the right direction for them as a whole to reach the publicity they deserve.

“Seimone’s a player I personally look up to,” Marcum continues. “We’ve done a lot of shoes together to bring awareness to things, such as the ‘Care Bear’ shoes for Pride Month and the native shoes for Native American Heritage Night.”

As Marcum notes, Augustus is one of the players that uses her platform to highlight what’s most important on a personal level. Los Angeles Sparks rookie Marina Mabrey recently did that too, when she used her platform to go after the incessant trolls that constantly leave sexist comments on social media. Mabrey rolled up to a game wearing a shirt with an image of a basketball court that read, “This is my Kitchen.”

“Sneakers are a symbol of a favorite player no different than a jersey,” Mabrey, a collegiate national champion at Notre Dame, says. “The more involved the fans are, the better the league will be. The evolution of basketball begins with participation of the fans. When young girls express their love of the game, we want them to want to be WNBA players.”

Mabrey agrees that a WNBA player with a signature sneaker would help to grow the women’s game and showcase all the skill that doesn’t get highlighted enough. DeShields seconds that.

“It would just help create more iconic players in the league,” DeShields says. “The biggest stars of the NBA have their own shoe, so I think creating that hierarchy within the W would only elevate the popularity of the game as a whole.”

It would also celebrate this group of the world’s best basketball players. It would be definitive recognition of the work they’ve put in and the respect they deserve. In basketball, the sneaker is a status symbol, a marker of the elite. It doesn’t get more elite in women’s basketball than the WNBA.

“It’s super important for us, as women, to have a signature shoe,” the Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner says. Griner’s list of accomplishments runs deep. She’s got a WNBA title, an Olympic gold medal and two DPOY trophies. Plus, when she was drafted in 2013 as the No. 1 overall pick, she was signed by Nike as part of a trio with Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins. It was a big signing at the time but all Griner has to show for it is a couple of PEs through the years.

“With our league being around 20-plus years now and all the hype behind us, women’s sports across the board, from Serena [Williams] in tennis to Megan [Rapinoe] kicking ass at soccer, it’s really time,” she continues. “Everybody always asks, ‘Where’s the shoes?’ It’s not just girls asking. Guys are asking. It’s time to test the waters. Not a shoe where we already had it and we throw a name on it. Actually sit down with the player, let them design the whole shoe and get it out there. Across the board, all brands, everybody. Everybody needs to start doing it. It’s time.”

—

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Additional reporting by Camille Buxeda.

The post No More Waiting: Give the WNBA Its Own Signature Sneakers appeared first on SLAM.

Entering its 23rd season, the WNBA has more talent than ever before, making final roster cuts even more excruciating for teams.

The WNBA season will tip off tonight with the Wings visiting the Dream at 7:30 p.m. EST. Check out the 12-player, opening-night rosters for every WNBA team below!

(NOTE: Some opening-night rosters do not include players on the temporary suspended list while injured, sitting out or fulfilling overseas commitments.)

ATLANTA DREAM

Alex Bentley (G)
Monique Billings (F)
Jessica Breland (F)
Maite Cazorla (G)
Nia Coffey (F)
Marie Gülich (C)
Tiffany Hayes (G)
Angel McCoughtry (GF)
Renee Montgomery (G)
Haley Peters (F)
Brittney Sykes (G)
Elizabeth Williams (C)

CHICAGO SKY

Kahleah Copper (GF)
Diamond DeShields (G)
Stefanie Dolson (C)
Jamierra Faulkner (G)
Chloe Jackson (G)
Jantel Lavender (FC)
Astou Ndour (C)
Cheyenne Parker (F)
Allie Quigley (G)
Katie Lou Samuelson (GF)
Courtney Vandersloot (G)
Gabby Williams (F)

CONNECTICUT SUN

Kristine Anigwe (FC)
Rachel Banham (G)
Bridget Carleton (GF)
Layshia Clarendon (G)
Bria Holmes (G)
Jonquel Jones (FC)
Brionna Jones (C)
Shekinna Stricklen (GF)
Alyssa Thomas (F)
Jasmine Thomas (G)
Morgan Tuck (F)
Courtney Williams (G)

DALLAS WINGS

Kaela Davis (GF)
Skylar Diggins-Smith (G)
Allisha Gray (G)
Isabelle Harrison (F)
Tayler Hill (G)
Glory Johnson (F)
Brooke McCarty-Williams (G)
Imani McGee-Stafford (C)
Arike Ogunbowale (G)
Theresa Plaisance (FC)
Azura Stevens (FC)
Kayla Thornton (F)

INDIANA FEVER

Natalie Achonwa (FC)
Candice Dupree (F)
Shenise Johnson (G)
Paris Kea (G)
Betnijah Laney (G)
Stephanie Mavunga (F)
Erica McCall (F)
Teaira McCowan (C)
Tiffany Mitchell (G)
Kelsey Mitchell (G)
Asia Taylor (F)
Erica Wheeler (G)

LAS VEGAS ACES

Liz Cambage (C)
Sydney Colson (G)
Dearica Hamby (F)
Kayla McBride (G)
JiSu Park (C)
Kelsey Plum (G)
Sugar Rodgers (G)
Carolyn Swords (C)
A’ja Wilson (FC)
Tamera Young (F)
Jackie Young (G)

LOS ANGELES SPARKS

Alana Beard (GF)
Kalani Brown (C)
Chelsea Gray (G)
Alexis Jones (G)
Marina Mabrey (G)
Nneka Ogwumike (F)
Chiney Ogwumike (FC)
Candace Parker (FC)
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt (GF)
Maria Vadeeva (FC)
Sydney Wiese (G)
Riquna Williams (G)

MINNESOTA LYNX

Seimone Augustus (G)
Lexie Brown (G)
Karima Christmas-Kelly (F)
Alaina Coates (C)
Napheesa Collier (F)
Damiris Dantas (F)
Sylvia Fowles (C)
Danielle Robinson (G)
Jessica Shepard (F)
Odyssey Sims (G)
Stephanie Talbot (F)
Shao Ting (F)

NEW YORK LIBERTY

Rebecca Allen (G)
Tiffany Bias (G)
Brittany Boyd (G)
Tina Charles (C)
Asia Durr (G)
Reshanda Gray (F)
Bria Hartley (G)
Kia Nurse (G)
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (FC)
Tanisha Wright (G)
Han Xu (C)
Amanda Zahui B (C)

PHOENIX MERCURY

DeWanna Bonner (F)
Essence Carson (G)
Arica Carter (G)
Sophie Cunningham (G)
Brittney Griner (C)
Briann January (G)
Camille Little (F)
Sancho Lyttle (F)
Alanna Smith (F)
Diana Taurasi (G)
Brianna Turner (F)
Yvonne Turner (G)

SEATTLE STORM

Sue Bird (G)
Jordin Canada (G)
Alysha Clark (F)
Natasha Howard (F)
Anriel Howard (F)
Crystal Langhorne (FC)
Jewell Loyd (G)
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (F)
Courtney Paris (C)
Mercedes Russell (C)
Sami Whitcomb (GF)
Shavonte Zellous (G)

WASHINGTON MYSTICS

Ariel Atkins (G)
Natasha Cloud (G)
Elena Delle Donne (F)
Tianna Hawkins (F)
Myisha Hines-Allen (F)
Kiara Leslie (G)
Emma Meesseman (F)
Kim Mestdagh (G)
Aerial Powers (F)
LaToya Sanders (FC)
Kristi Toliver (G)
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (G)

The post WNBA Opening-Night Rosters Set for 2019 Season ✅ appeared first on SLAM.

The restricted free agent returns to the Sparks less than a week after the team announced it had traded for Sun forward Chiney Ogwumike. Now those two will join forces with stars Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike to make an established title favorite.

In the press release revealing the move, Sparks general manager Penny Toler referred to the 26-year-old as a franchise cornerstone.

Gray was named an WNBA All-Star in each of the past two seasons and made the All-WNBA Second Team in 2017.

The post Sparks Re-Sign Chelsea Gray appeared first on SLAM.

The youngest Ogwumike averaged 14.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for the Suns last season, after struggling with injuries in two of the previous three years.

She’ll move to the west coast, to a city with an ESPN studio. That last part, Sun head coach Curt Miller tells Mike DiMauro of The Day, was a major part of the trade negotiations surrounding the WNBA star that doubles as an analyst for the network.

“If that opportunity weren’t possible,” Miller said, “our understanding is that Chiney would be willing to move to ESPN full time and walk away from her WNBA career. Ultimately, that left us two options: look into trades with L.A. or receive nothing as she departed the league to grow her career at ESPN.“

With that in hand, and a healthy campaign behind her, the 27-year-old forward will bolster a Sparks frontcourt anchored not only by her sister but by All-Star big Candace Parker.

Additionally, the Sparks employ defensive Swiss army knife Alana Beard and are likely to re-sign star point guard Chelsea Gray. Joining them is former Baylor star Kalani Brown, who was drafted with the No. 7 pick in April.

In return for Ogwumike, the Sun will add a first-round pick in 2020. A resource that will come in handy as the franchise braces to face seven pending free agents next offseason.

The post Sparks Trade For Chiney Ogwumike appeared first on SLAM.

On Tuesday night, Lillard dropped a playoff career-high 50 points—including a buzzer-beating game-winner from about 40 feet—to defeat the Thunder, 118-115. The win gave the Blazers a 4-1 series win against OKC.

After Lillard’s clutch bucket to the clinch the series, NBA and WNBA players took to social media to sound off on Dame’s epic performance.

The post NBA Players React to Damian Lillard’s CLUTCH Game 5 Performance appeared first on SLAM.

“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough. So go big,” Dakota Gonzalez says with a big smile.

Her twin sister, Dylan, is sitting right next to her at Sunset Park in Las Vegas, laughing along. But don’t get it twisted—the Gonzalez twins are dead serious about making the WNBA.

“Go super, super big,” Dakota continues.

Big, as in trying to make it onto a WNBA roster after not hooping competitively for over a year. Big, as in proving countless internet haters wrong. Big, as in fulfilling a journey, through multiple states and two colleges, that’s taken an entire lifetime of work.

And they know it’s going to be tough, especially after not playing for a minute, when they chose to pursue their music career instead.

“We put the ball down, but we never really put the ball down,” Dylan says.

They’ve been in the gym and on the court the entire time, working on strength and conditioning and skill level. And now they’re ready to go after their dream of playing in the W.

—

The Gonzalez twins were stars at Highland HS in Pocatello, ID. They were named Co-Players of the Year after their freshman season, and Dakota went on to win the Idaho State Journal’s Girls Basketball Player of the Year for three consecutive years.

They started their collegiate careers at the University of Kansas, where their mother, Angie, starred. Angie was a walking bucket, scoring over 1,500 points in just three seasons as a Jayhawk. She earned an All-American honorable mention selection in 1984 and then played pro ball in Germany.

But the twins, born in ’94 and both standing at 6-0, only stayed in Lawrence for a single season, transferring to UNLV in 2014. The decision paid off. They averaged a combined 23.1 points in their final year with the Runnin’ Rebels, growing their games together. Dakota became a well-versed offensive threat and Dylan matured into a do-it-all defender. They were solid individually and they were dynamic together.

“Dylan is a very tenacious defender,” Dakota says about her older sister. “Super dialed in, super vocal, incredible leader. Goes super hard. Every game, Dylan is going to bring it. Definitely likes her pull-up threes and her transition threes. She be gunning and hitting. She even has a little step-back that she likes to do at the three-point line. One move that never fails to get people, even when I tell them, is her up-and-under. When she gets in the paint and she stops, don’t fall for the head fake! I’m not even going to lie, I know that’s her move and she still gets me.”

“If I were to give a scouting report on Dakota, I would say a very vocal leader,” Dylan follows. “Refuse to lose mentality. Loves her pull-up mid-range jumper. Even when we play one-on-one, it’s very difficult for me because she’s kind of that player that has all of the skills in her pocket offensively. She can shoot the three, she can pull-up in the mid-range and she can get to the basket and finish. It’s a defensive nightmare. You don’t want to get too close but you can’t be too far back because she’s going to pull it in your eye.”

Even with all the improvement they made on the court, the twins decided to step away from the game in 2017, foregoing their final year of eligibility at UNLV in favor of a music career. The NCAA wasn’t allowing them to profit off of their songs while still playing. So they dipped. They released Take 1, their debut R&B EP, in 2017, and have continued to work on their music ever since.

For as long as they can remember it’s been hoops, along with Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Queen, Beyoncé, Ciara, Elvis and so many others. They’ve always had varied musical tastes—a mix of oldies like Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and new stars like Ariana Grande.

Their wide-ranging musical knowledge offers a peak behind the curtain—beyond the IG profiles and into the mindset of a pair of professionals. They put the work in, something they want WNBA teams to notice.

—

It’s a calm day in Las Vegas—sunny and windy, but not too hot. Dylan and Dakota are getting shots up in the park, joking about how far their jumpshots have come, laughing constantly.

“My mom actually used to always say you’ve got to come and shoot on outdoor rims because then you’ll be a super good shooter,” Dakota says.

They demonstrate their old shots, yelling out impressions of their mom’s advice.

“She’s such a coach, that lady,” Dylan says, right before knocking down a jumper.

The twins are quick to switch between light-hearted reminiscing and deep thought.

“I don’t think Dakota and I are the saviors,” Dylan says. “I’m not saying that we’re going to come in and make the WNBA something completely crazy, like it’s never been. Like, ‘The WNBA needs us!’ It’s not like that.”

But the WNBA could make use of their massive social media following. The twins acknowledge that they haven’t fully tapped into the voice that they’ve developed, but that doesn’t mean they won’t.

“I don’t think that Dakota and I have ever really taken advantage of our platform like that,” Dylan says. They each have over 1 million followers on IG. “I just feel kind of weird about it. We do not open up regularly.”

They both mention how much criticism they receive even when they keep things on the “surface level.” Dylan admits it’s gotten to her in the past. Sharing her life with the internet, she admits, is “a scary thing.”

“Quite frankly, when we really look at it, and we think about the bigger picture of what we’re trying to accomplish, it is our responsibility,” Dakota says. “We do have a responsibility to help educate people and to inspire people. We do feel like we have voices and we have things to say. We want to be able to start putting that out there. And I don’t think we’ve done that so far.

“I saw something on Instagram and I think it was another social media influencer. And he kinda was like, ‘When people come to your page, what are they getting out of it? Are you inspiring them?’ It spoke to me and made me realize that is some true shit right there.”

“We want to inspire young ladies [and] just people in general to pursue their passions,” Dylan adds. “And hopefully if we are open about that, it can open that door for people to go for whatever.”

The twins want to be next in line, following in the footsteps of Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi and Candace Parker, legends who inspired a whole generation of young women to start playing. Even if they have to start on the bench.

“It’s exciting to even have the conversation out there that we’re looking to pursue it,” Dakota says. “Even if I got to play pickup with them, I’d be pretty happy about that. These are, like, freakin’ stars. People don’t understand that. A lot of people know, but a lot more don’t. These women are legit.”

“And to be in that mix would, honestly, just be crazy,” Dylan says. “That’s top of the line. We’re looking for progression, not perfection.”

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” Dakota says.

“Then work your way up,” Dylan adds.

The twins speak quickly, in rapid fire succession.

“All the women who are so amazing, who are the best in the world, they don’t get enough credit, they don’t get enough notoriety,” Dylan says. “And it would be an honor to just be sitting on the bench with them. It would just be an honor knowing that there are all these women, who are so talented at this craft, that I love. The goal is to get there. And we’re the type of people who when we put our minds to something, it gets done. We just put our nose to the ground and we just work really hard. Because that’s all we’ve ever known how to do.”

“It’s part of that fierce competitiveness that has been instilled in us,” Dakota says.

“If you just look at us, no one wants to take us seriously. And I’m like, ‘That’s cool, don’t take me seriously, advantage for me,’” Dylan says with a sly grin. Dakota chuckles next to her.

They expect the doubt; they know the hostility will be there. Dylan concedes that she didn’t even want to announce their intentions to play professional basketball. Dakota mentions how tough it is to be vulnerable in the public eye. But here they are, working for their moment, without any illusions, without any promises.

—

The sun is starting to fade on East Sunset Road and what was a warm mid-November day is starting to turn into a chilly mid-November night. Dylan and Dakota continue to dribble and talk about their basketball odyssey, one with too memories to recount everything.

Some things do stick out to them, though. Their awkward shooting forms in middle school, their less-than-stellar tenure at Kansas, their early moments of falling in love with the game. They argue real quick about their all-time one-on-one record but come to the conclusion that Dylan is winning the current series, while Dakota has more lifetime wins. They share a story from a few months ago when they couldn’t even finish a game because they had too big of a fight. It all had a purpose.

“I do feel like we are prepared,” Dakota says. “And the work we put in thus far, I do feel very confident. We love the challenge.”

Big dreams.

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 220 HERE!

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Portraits by Joseph L. Sherman. 

The post Dylan and Dakota Gonzalez Are Coming for the WNBA ☄️ appeared first on SLAM.

Nearly 51 years ago, over 1,000 African-American sanitation employees in Memphis went on strike, protesting terrible working conditions and discrimination by the city. The men were forced to endure long hours for low wages and safety standards were poor. Two workers, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were taking shelter from the rain in the back of their garbage truck when a switch malfunctioned, turning on the compactor and killing them both. The tragedy proved to be the final straw, provoking the start of the protest.

As the strike gained momentum and was faced with resistance, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr expressed his support and eventually traveled to Memphis to deliver speeches and lead marches. On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated on the balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel, one day after giving his famous “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” address.

Throughout the civil rights movement, Memphis was the site of much racial tension and social activism, which is why it’s appropriate that the Grizzlies—the only professional sports team in the city and an important piece of the community—host a game on MLK Day (5:30pm ET vs. the Pelicans on TNT).

Grizzlies offering free tickets to MLK Game at 4:30 p.m. for furloughed government employees during the current federal government shutdown. At the FedExForum Box Office, workers with an I.D. for any federal government department will be able to claim two tickets while they last.

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) January 21, 2019

The franchise will honor Chris Bosh, Wayne Embry, Candace Parker and Bill Walton—recipients of the 14th Annual National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award for their significant contributions to human rights—before tip-off.

Last week, Jackson Jr and veteran Joakim Noah participated in a panel discussion with 100 local students. We caught up with Jaren to hear about the experience and talk about using your platform.

—

SLAM: What topics were addressed during the student panel discussion you helped lead last week?

Jaren Jackson Jr: It was mostly about the kids. We were trying to shed light on important qualities you have to have, like leadership, and how they can apply that in their lives as it relates to ours. There’s a lot of things that we can’t relate to, just because of where we are in our lives, but there’s also a lot of things they can learn from our experiences and there’s things that we can learn about them—to help them be better in the community and help others to be better in the community.

SLAM: What was your major takeaway from the experience?

JJJ: I learned that a lot of things that you go through, hard times that you go through, that just builds who you are and builds your character. It’s nothing you should look down upon or anything like that. You should use it to build your character. It shapes who you are. It helps you become a better leader if you learn both sides of the coin.

SLAM: What does it mean to you to play on MLK Day?

JJJ: It’s going to be amazing. It’s something I’m probably not going to grasp until it’s over. First, it’s a game. But it’s more than that for a lot of people in attendance, it’s more than that for a lot of people who went through what they went through during the civil rights movement. It’s something that you take pride in. It’s just very special.

SLAM: How has being in Memphis influenced your understanding of the history of the civil rights movement?

JJJ: It’s impacted it in a crazy way, just because you get to see firsthand what went on here and get to learn more about the history. You knew a lot of stuff already, but learning more, it just helps you get a better grasp on how the community is feeling. Learning more about that is just good and it adds to the game as well, especially with it being at home.

SLAM: You see a lot of current and former athletes today using their platforms to speak out about social, political and racial issues. What are your thoughts on those efforts?

JJJ: Any way you can make an impact using your voice, using your platform, is good. Anybody who’s doing that is doing a great job, just expressing their voice. It’s something that no one has to do, so it makes it more special when they do.

SLAM: Has playing in Memphis strengthened your desire to get involved in those efforts as well?

JJJ: Not anymore than it already was. I was always that type of guy, who just would always want to speak out on things like that. Not in any aggressive, over-the-top way, but just continue to live like that. You live like that and set examples by the way you live.

SLAM: Is that something you’ve always been focused on—making an impact outside of basketball?

JJJ: For sure. In more ways than one, making an impact outside and using your platform for good. Just trying to be remembered in a good way.

SLAM: You’ve gotten the chance to visit the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. What struck you about that experience?

JJJ: Just seeing the actual places. They describe every place. The place where MLK got shot. They show his bed, his room. They show where the bullet came from, they show where he was standing. They show everything about that day. It kind of puts you back in the place and helps you experience it, even though you can’t really experience it.

SLAM: Why is it important to you to continue to honor Dr. King’s legacy?

JJJ: He’s a guy who wanted everybody to use their voice for whatever they believe in. That’s what everybody continues to do now. They pass that knowledge on to people who are younger than them, pass that knowledge on to anybody who needs it, and continue to help and inspire people. It goes bigger than civil rights—it applies to everything. That’s just what he was involved in. He wanted equality and he wanted everybody to use their voice to spread that message, which people continue to do now.

—

Alex Squadron is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @asquad510.

Photos via Getty. 

The post Jaren Jackson Jr Talks Playing on MLK Day, Using Your Platform and More appeared first on SLAM.

We recently caught up with McCollum, who spent a good portion of his childhood at the Boys & Girls Club in Ohio, to talk about the importance of his partnership and the NBA.

SLAM: Why was it important for you to partner with American Express and the Boys & Girls Club?

CJ McCollum: It’s extremely important to me. One, I spent a lot of time at the Boys & Girls Club and it impacted my life, gave me a safe space and an opportunity to do something positive outside of playing sports and being able to find other kids and have that structure, so it was crucial to me. They’re doing a lot of good things in the community with the partnership with American Express and the NBA—anyone who spends money on NBAstore.com with their Amex card before December 25, 10 percent of the total spent will go to the Boys & Girls Club, so I’m excited about the things they’re doing and how it’s impacting the kids now.

SLAM: Do you have any favorite Boys & Girls Club memories from your childhood?

CM: Man, a lot, honestly. Playing a lot of basketball [and] pool; I was really nice in ping-pong back in the day, now I’m not. Just being able to go there early on the weekends and after school during the week just gave me an escape from distractions outside of the neighborhood, kept me focused and allowed me to do homework and focus on certain things I may not have focused on if it wasn’t for the Boys & Girls Club.

SLAM: You’ve done a ton of charity events, what are some of the common questions you get from the kids?

CM: What kind of car do you drive? How big is your house? Did you go to the Boys & Girls Club growing up? How did I work on my jump shot? The main message I try to give kids is take advantage of the resources and the Boys & Girls Club, ask questions and don’t be afraid to challenge yourself in the classroom… I just try to encourage the kids to not be afraid to do the right thing all the time—ask questions. One of the reasons why I became successful in the classroom was that I wasn’t afraid to ask for help, and I think that’s what allowed me to be successful outside of sports.

SLAM: We recently asked fans who would win one-on-one, prime Kevin Durant or prime Tracy McGrady? Who do you think and why?

CM: Man, that’s a tough question and it’s funny you ask. I’m friends with both—T-Mac’s my guy and has helped me over the course of my career in terms of just understanding the game better, meditate and see the game before playing. Obviously people know I know KD, but that’s my homie…you look at their games and they’re similar—explosive, scoring wings, tall, who can play the 3 the 4 and the 2 as well—but look at their primes: T-Mac was unbelievable.  [He averaged] 32 points per game, scored 13 points in 32 seconds; Prime KD is another very, very good player. I really think it depends on who gets the ball first, honestly. Both very good, hard to guard…it just depends on who gets the ball first and dribble limits. I think the dribble limit will matter because that cuts out creativity and they’d have to work on the fadeaway, and they both have fadeaways. I think it’ll be a very good game. I’m not going to say who I think will win because this is a hypothetical that’ll never happen, but I think it’d be a good game. I’d pay to see it. I think one-on-one would be enjoyable for the fans especially in the All-Star setting.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrK-RR_g9I_/

SLAM: So you’re in favor of something like King of the Court during All-Star Weekend?

CM: Oh man, that’d be a lot of fun. Guys would really compete and get after it because it’ll be mano a mano. A lot of creativity comes from playing one-on-one. You see Celtics guys playing after practice. I know a lot guys around the League in the summertime like to play ones. I’ve played ones with Melo, CP, Donovan [Mitchell], D-Wade—the list goes on and on… That one-on-one is always a good way to warm up and get loose. I would love to see it, man. It’s the ultimate challenge because it’s just you and another person and you get to work on your moves and counters.

SLAM: To you, who’s the best one-on-one guy in the League right now?

CM: Man, that’s tough. Dame is good one-on-one; Kyrie is good; KD, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George—there’s a lot of really good one-on-one players with handles that can shoot over the top of you. I don’t know who’s the best, per se, but there’s a lot of guys who can get buckets.

SLAM: Is there at least a top-5 list?

CM: You trying to get me in trouble, fam. You trying to get me headlines. I don’t know, man. I like my game.

SLAM: Another question we asked fans was, ‘Who is the best player to ever wear No. 3?’ What’s your pick and why?

CM: I’ll give two NBA and two WNBA. For me, one is Allen Iverson. I had braids, crossover, everything—so I emulated my playing style and my swagger on the court after A.I. D-Wade is another one who was influential in me wearing No. 3 with how he attacked the basket and was fearless. Going to Marquette he was under the radar…WNBA [is] Diana Taurasi. I’m a fan of her game—always got buckets, poised, big shot, controls the offense [and] was a winner in college. Candace Parker is a very talented athlete. She can get to the cup, has post moves, point-forward.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrVnfqtAack/

SLAM: Do NBA players discuss these type of questions or is that just for the media?

CM: Yeah, I think it’s something y’all do to start up stuff. With me having a podcast and being involved in journalism, I get why it starts. You have to look forward to something over seven months…we just like watching good games. We don’t care who the matchup is. We just want to see guys compete.

—

Drew Ruiz is an Associate Editor for SLAM. Follow him on Twitter at @DrewRuiz90. 

Photos via Getty Images. 

The post CJ McCollum Talks Giving Back, NBA One-On-One Matchups and More appeared first on SLAM.

Stewart, 24, was also named the 2018 WNBA MVP and unanimously selected as the 2018 WNBA Finals MVP.

Joining Stewie on the All-WNBA First Team were Diana Taurasi, Elena Delle Donne, Liz Cambage and Tiffany Hayes.

Check out the full rundown:

2018 All-WNBA First Team

Breanna Stewart, Storm
Liz Cambage, Wings
Elena Delle Donne, Mystics
Diana Taurasi, Mercury
Tiffany Hayes, Dream

2018 All-WNBA Second Team

Candace Parker, Sparks
Skylar Diggins-Smith, Wings
Maya Moore, Lynx
Brittney Griner, Mercury
Courtney Vandersloot, Sky

The 2018 All-WNBA First Team is announced!@ecambage@De11eDonne@tiphayes3@breannastewart@DianaTaurasi pic.twitter.com/ciwYb4dvb3

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 13, 2018

The 2018 All-WNBA Second Team is announced!@SkyDigg4@brittneygriner@MooreMaya@Candace_Parker@Sloot22 pic.twitter.com/p0F9d2H192

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 13, 2018

RELATED:
Breanna Stewart Wins 2018 WNBA MVP

The post Breanna Stewart Unanimously Selected to 2018 All-WNBA First Team appeared first on SLAM.

The training seemed to be focused on Candace’s footwork, especially in the post:

Candace Parker learning the footwork from Kobe. Yo it’s gonna be crazy to watch her next season. pic.twitter.com/cD8spADOVr

— Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) September 11, 2018

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnmA5npFjq7/?hl=en&taken-by=candaceparker

Fellow WNBAers Karlie Samuelson, Monique Billings and Gabby Williams were also at the workout, taking notes from the Mamba.

@kobebryant @Candace_Parker @alexbazzell24 @EverettDay_ pic.twitter.com/AoQTuI4NGa

— gabby williams (@gabbywilliams15) September 12, 2018

RELATED
Kobe Bryant: ‘I Will Never Come Back to the Game’

The post Candace Parker Gets Footwork Tips from Kobe Bryant 🎥 appeared first on SLAM.

KICKS 21 is “The List Issue.” Over the next few weeks, we’ll be releasing rankings that put an end (or beginning) to every hot debate in the world of sneakers. 

Order your copy of the magazine at our online store!

—

The WNBA heats up the hardwood each summer with rare and new sneakers. The league’s biggest superstars keep their kicks crispy with unseen PEs and all across the W, it’s a safe bet that every night will feature a neck-breaking pair.

With another season almost wrapped up, we ranked the league’s biggest ‘heads. And no, we didn’t forget about Maya Moore. She’s in a world all by herself. Stay tuned for more.

1. Tamera Young

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlUQW0Glw6c/?taken-by=tyyoung11

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk1XC5oF-W2/?taken-by=tyyoung11

2. Cappie Pondexter

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bly3icSnzJk/?taken-by=cappa23

https://www.instagram.com/p/BllwaLQnnHN/?taken-by=cappa23

3. Seimone Augustus

4. Sue Bird

5. Epiphanny Prince

6. Diana Taurasi

7. Breanna Stewart

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnH8r2pnsZ3/?taken-by=breannastewart30

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiSFUqaHw1i/?taken-by=breannastewart30

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm8VZpgH3nx/?hl=en&taken-by=slamkicks

8. Candace Parker

9. A’Ja Wilson

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhuCPxqFNO_/?taken-by=aja22wilson

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bhky3eFjjww/?taken-by=aja22wilson

10. Chiney Ogwumike

11. Jewell Loyd

12. Kelsey Plum

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgzFJYZgNdx/?taken-by=kelseyplum10

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaFIVI8gx7u/?taken-by=kelseyplum10

13. Sugar Rodgers

14. Jordin Canada

15. Skylar Diggins-Smith

16. Elena Delle Donne

17. Kayla McBride

18. Essence Carson

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg9vOZkDvyW/?taken-by=pr3pe

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmUUEEZDNtg/?taken-by=pr3pe

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkD3XQKhZHO/?taken-by=pr3pe

19. Tiffany Hayes

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlO4UkrBT0f/?taken-by=tiphayes3

20. Kelsey Mitchell

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjvofgHDHD6/?taken-by=kelz_hoop

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhuXcESjvvP/?taken-by=kelz_hoop

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVIuMeFjcTu/?taken-by=kelz_hoop

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSFJq_OjvTO/?taken-by=kelz_hoop

21. Kia Nurse

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnFGPALBoxW/?taken-by=kianurse

22. Odyssey Sims

23. Gabby Williams

24. Danielle Robinson

25. Kristi Toliver

Other lists from KICKS 21:
The 8 Hottest KICKS of 2018 (So Far)
The 15 Best UA Colorways of 2017-18
The 15 Best LeBron 15 Colorways of 2017-18

—

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. 

Photos via Getty.

The post The WNBA’s 25 Biggest Sneakerheads 🏀👟 appeared first on SLAM.

Moore cited having too many commitments as part of Minnesota hosting the game.

Third-leading vote-getter, Sparks forward Candace Parker, will replace Moore as team captain. All-Star rosters will be revealed on Thursday.

As to why she turned down being an All-Star Game captain, Maya Moore said she realized she had too many commitments as part of the Lynx hosting the game, Pat Borzi reports for espnW.https://t.co/jdsu9Ii1Sf

— ESPN Women's Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) July 18, 2018

RELATED:
Recognize the Absurd GREATNESS of Maya Moore

The post Maya Moore Declines WNBA All-Star Captain Role appeared first on SLAM.

Official announcement from the NBA below:

The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced the Jr. NBA World Championship, a first-of-its kind global youth basketball tournament for the top boys and girls teams ages 14 and under from around the world.

 

The Jr. NBA World Championship will feature boys and girls divisions, each comprised of 16 regional champions (eight U.S. and eight international teams) that will receive all-expenses-paid trips to compete in the inaugural event Aug. 7-12, 2018 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla.  Located at Walt Disney World Resort, the world-class venue regularly hosts elite and recreational youth sports competitions.

 

Youth at the Jr. NBA World Championship will not only compete on the court but will also receive off-court life skills education and participate in NBA Cares community service projects.

 

Cleveland Cavaliers guard and three-time NBA Champion Dwyane Wade and Los Angeles Sparks forward and WNBA Champion Candace Parker will serve as lead global ambassadors for the Jr. NBA World Championship.

 

The Jr. NBA World Championship will tip off in spring 2018 with U.S. and international competitions across various regional sites.  The winning boys and girls teams from eight newly-created U.S. regional tournaments (Central, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, South, Southeast and West), plus teams representing eight international regions (Africa & Middle East, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, Europe, India, Mexico and South America), will compete in the culminating event at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

 

The international competition will leverage the Jr. NBA’s extensive global reach.  During the 2017-18 season, the NBA will reach more than 26 million youth in 71 countries through a variety of camps, clinics, skills challenges, league play and outreach events.

 

The Jr. NBA World Championship will be separated into U.S. and international brackets that include round-robin competition followed by single-elimination boys and girls tournaments.  Winners of the U.S. and international brackets will play in the championship games on Aug. 12.

The post NBA Launches Jr. World Championship Tournament appeared first on SLAM.

“I’m going to you,” Parker says. “I got you.”

Parker inbounds the ball to Gray, who pivots and drives left.  She gets to the left elbow and shoots a fadeaway over Seimone Augustus and Maya Moore.

Nylon. Ballgame.

“I had the mid-range game kind of flowing in that moment,” says the 25-year-old. “So it was kind of in-rhythm and it didn’t feel forced.”

The shot is still fresh in her mind. Two weeks prior to our interview, Gray became the hero of Game 1, finishing with a career-high 27 points.

It’s a moment she’ll never forget. Just like on January 12, 2014, when Gray fractured her right kneecap.

A senior at Duke, Gray was returning to form after dislocating her right kneecap less than a year prior. Once considered a surefire lottery pick, she knew that re-injuring her knee could put her WNBA dreams in jeopardy.

“One minute, during my college season, I was like, Yeah, I can do this. I’ma play pro,” Gray says. “And then the next minute, I was hurt for the next two years, and I didn’t know that I was going to get the opportunity that I did.

“It just takes a toll on not only your body but your mindset,” she explains. “You’re just contemplating why you’re doing this in the first place.”

The NCAA denied her the opportunity to redshirt, so she entered her name into the 2014 WNBA Draft. Gray began to doubt her chances of getting drafted knowing she would have to sit out the season for rehab.

Not only was Gray surprised to hear her name called on draft night, but she was taken 11th overall by the Connecticut Sun. Coming off a league-worst 10-24 season, the Sun were beginning a rebuild and could afford to be patient with Gray’s recovery.

After playing in Israel during the offseason, the Manteca, CA, native entered the 2015 season fully healthy.

But things did not go as planned.

Gray struggled off the bench. She gained weight. Her confidence steadily declined.

“You have so much time on your hands,” Gray says. “I had a lot of people tell me that I had gained weight. I didn’t know how to really go into my role on the team.”

Determined not to make the same mistakes, Gray worked tirelessly overseas to get back into great shape. She was prepared to return to Connecticut when her agent called on draft night in 2016. She had been traded to the Sparks.

“She said that I was going to L.A., and I was excited. I mean, to be able to continue to play, but also I was going home. I was going back to California,” she says. “So it was a blessing in disguise.”

Gray studied how the Sparks’ veterans worked at their craft. She picked the brain of All-Star point guard Kristi Toliver, who taught her the mentality it takes to be a elite-level floor general.

“Being around those veterans, it’s a different level that you go to even in practice,” she says. “And I think that’s what really helped me and elevated my game both mentally and physically.”

Toliver would sign with Washington in 2017 free agency, paving the way for Gray to become the starter. She was ready. Gray averaged all career-highs last season, including 14.8 points on 50.7 percent shooting with 4.4 assists.

Named an All-Star for the first time, she showcased her Showtime handle and passing ability among the game’s brightest stars. And then, of course, she put the league on notice during the Finals, proving she could dominate the highest stage.

She still thinks about those devastating knee injuries in college, but she doesn’t ruminate on those thoughts.

“I think it’s OK to flash back on [injuries] as long as you move past it, and you’re able to play without restraints or thinking of that,” she says.

After taking a 2-1 series lead, the Sparks lost the final two games of the Finals in heartbreaking fashion.

But Gray will be coming back stronger next season. She always does.

—

Ryne Nelson is a Senior Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @slaman10.

Photos via Getty Images

The post Hold On, Be Strong appeared first on SLAM.

After watching 2016 MVP Nneka Ogwumike hit that remarkable fade away put-back, giving the Sparks its third title in team history, Parker, who was named Finals MVP, ran over to celebrate with her teammates and dedicated her first title to Pat Summitt, her former college coach at Tennessee, who passed away from dementia last June.

But the championship hangover is long gone, and the Sparks know that the Lynx, still woeful after losing at home in Game 5, are looking forward to this series that much more, despite reaching the Finals in six of the last seven seasons.

“Our mindset has been to stay in the moment and worry about what you can control,” says Parker, a few minutes after the team’s practice on Friday afternoon. “We know we have our work cut out for us and we want to make things difficult and shots difficult for them on the offensive end—really control the tempo of the game.”

Look at the storylines from whatever angle and it’s obvious this isn’t just another WNBA Finals. Before today’s 3:30 p.m. EST tip-off, the Sparks and Lynx join the Houston Comets and New York Liberty (1999 and 2000) as the only two teams to have met in back-to-back Finals. As both teams are on the quest for another title, the winner would tie the Comets (1997-2000) for the most championships in WNBA history. The Sparks can also become the first team to win back-to-back titles since Lisa Leslie led LA to consecutive ones back in 2001-02.

The Sparks and Lynx met three times this season, with the Sparks winning two of those three, but both sides are familiar with each others’ play and know who the key factors are that make each side go.

“It is exciting,” says Sylvia Fowles, the League’s MVP, on facing the Sparks again in the Finals. “I try not to look at it like a rematch, but in the back of my head that’s hard to do.”

And, according to Fowles, the only thing missing to cap off her MVP season is the championship hardware.

“You have a lot of women who are fighting hard to get this title,” says Fowles. “So if there wasn’t a title attached to it, I think it would be somewhat pointless.”

Maya Moore is averaging 19 points and five assists per game in the postseason and is looking to bring another title back to the Twin Cities. But she’ll have to duel with Alana Beard, the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year, who’s appointed the task every game night of limiting Moore from filling up the stat sheet.

“It takes a team to guard Maya because she’s capable of doing so many things offensively [and] you can’t technically defend her with one person,” says Beard, someone she picked as the top five toughest women to guard in the W. “I have to do my job, but at the end of the day, it’s going to come down to how we defend her as a team.”

Beard’s ability to lock up the WNBA’s top scorers on a nightly basis led the Sparks to the League’s second best defensive rating (96 points per 100 possessions) during the regular season behind the Lynx (94.1).

There’s no coincidence that Moore averaged 10.7 points against the Sparks and shot 39 percent from the field and 22 percent from deep when both teams faced each other during the regular season.

“I know it sounds cliché, but it’s not something that I work for,” says Beard, on her prowess on the defensive side. “I don’t work to be noticed; I work because it’s my job and to help my team in the best way that I can.”

Both teams have four of the five last MVPs, but regular season accolades, advanced statistics and winning percentages are meaningless for two of the top teams with 0-0 in a series that requires a team to win three games to be crowned a champion.

“This is what we worked for and to see how this team has developed over the course of the year to where we’re in the Finals for the second year, it’s something that I hold close to my heart and that I’m excited for,” says Beard. “It would mean a ton to bring another championship to LA, but we have one game to win first.”

Related
Chiney Ogwumike Previews ’17 WNBA Finals
The WNBA Has a Sneaker Heat Wave
Lynx Assistant Coach on Why Minnesota’s so Dominant

Game 1 of the 2017 WNBA Finals starts at 3:30 EST on ABC

The post Run it Back appeared first on SLAM.

Fowles received 35 of 40 first-place votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

The 2017 #WNBA MVP… @SylviaFowles of the @MinnesotaLynx! #WatchMeWork pic.twitter.com/sq3q34RSCs

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 14, 2017

The 10-year veteran earned her first MVP award, and becomes the second Lynx player to win the award (Maya Moore, 2014).

2017 WNBA MVP VOTING (Total Points)

1. Sylvia Fowles (385)
2. Tina Charles (199)
3. Candace Parker (132)
4. Nneka Ogwumike (89)
5. Jonquel Jones (88)
6. Brittney Griner (82)

Other players receiving votes (total points): Elena Delle Donne (11),
Maya Moore (9), Skylar Diggins-Smith (7), Breanna Stewart (2), Courtney Vandersloot (2), Diana Taurasi (1)

RELATED:
Sylvia Fowles on Minnesota’s Hot Start, 2016 Finals, All-Star Game and More

The post Sylvia Fowles Named 2017 WNBA MVP appeared first on SLAM.

While people circle around Plum and Jefferson, Liberty center Tina Charles quietly starts to warm up. She practices her post moves against former Knick and current Liberty assistant Herb Williams and repeatedly knocks down jumpers from the baseline. She puts in her work methodically, finally ending by drilling a three-pointer from the corner.

It’s business as usual for Charles, always the final Liberty player to get shots up before the game starts. But the Queens native, dressed in a grey shirt and black sweatpants, is rocking a never-before-seen pair of the Nike Kyrie 3 that is most definitely not part of Charles’ tried-and-true pregame routine. The 3s are done up in an icy seafoam blue, their black Swoosh accented by a translucent outsole.

When we throw a picture of the sneaks on the @SLAMKICKS Instagram account, Kyrie Irving reacts like the rest of us, commenting “Sheesh” on the post.

For years now, Nike and adidas have been outfitting the WNBA’s biggest superstars with exclusive PEs that nobody else has.

Sue Bird hoops in green and yellow Nike Kyrie 3s. Candace Parker was the first to play in the adidas Crazy Explosive 2017, wearing a one-of-one orange and purple pair for the month of June, honoring her late college coach, the legendary Pat Summitt.

“I’ll be wearing orange kicks all June; it was my coach’s birthday and the month she passed away,” Parker told the LA Daily News in June.

Go on down the line and the W is chock-full of rare colorways. Some of them are PEs; some of them get made on NikeiD; some of them coincide with Pride Month or breast cancer awareness.

All of them, though, are fire.

“[Nike] knows the month of June is Pride Month,” says Liberty forward Shavonte Zellous, who has been playing in a rare version of the KD 9 with a rainbow-colored outsole. “All across the league they shipped shoes. I got them in my locker and I was like, ‘Oh, what’s this?’ It’s just an honor to wear these guys’ shoes, for us to be able to play in them and remix like they do.”

“We do pick shoes according to the players that [we] like,” says Lynx forward and three-time WNBA champ Seimone Augustus, who’s worn Kyries for the past two seasons. “I love Kyrie as a player. We have some similarities in our ballhandling, [and] his shoe fits me.”

During the Finals last year, Augustus wore a purple Kyrie 2 PE with Prince’s logo on it. Since then, she’s shown off other Lynx-related colorways of the 3.

“We have green in our uniforms,” Augustus says. “I try to bring that green out a little bit more when designing my sneakers.”

Sue Bird, one of Irving’s close friends, doesn’t get as flashy with her Kyrie 3s.

“I’m definitely someone who likes to match,” Bird says. “[Nike] knew that I wanted the colors of the shoes predominately green and yellow. Last year the WNBA switched to where no team has a white uniform, so this year the only thing I asked for was something that could match both uniforms.

“[Irving] actually came to a game earlier this month,” Bird adds. “I think I had the green ones on that day. He gave it the once-over. He approved. It’s funny because obviously his colorways are crazy, but the green and yellow are pretty rare. Nobody’s rocking green and yellow.”

It’s a Sunday afternoon in June and the L.A. Sparks are taking on the Phoenix Mercury at the Staples Center. Candace Parker, Nneka Ogwumike and Chelsea Gray, the home team’s three leading scorers, are all laced with silhouettes from the Three Stripes.

Ogwumike and Gray signed with adidas right before the season started. Nneka’s little sister Chiney, the 2014 WNBA Rookie of the Year, also inked a deal with the brand.

“I like the [adidas] culture of family and also how much they express displaying and advocating individuality for the athletes,” Nneka told us shortly after her new deal was announced. “They always put the athlete first. That’s definitely what drew me to adidas.”

While the Sparks are on their way to beating the Mercury, Ogwumike’s wearing a black-based pair of Crazy Explosives with purple and teal accents. On the other squad, longtime Nike athlete Diana Taurasi is getting ready to make history.

In the closing moments of the second quarter, Taurasi drives hard to the rim. Ogwumike respectfully plays matador defense, because after Diana flips in a layup, she’s officially become the all-time leading scorer in WNBA history.

Taurasi, 10 years removed from her signature sneaker, the Shox DT, wears a personalized pair of Nike LeBron 14s to etch her name in the record books. “DT” is written across the left heel and “3” (her number) is on the right one.

Her teammate, Danielle Robinson, says sneakers are a big part of the Mercury’s locker room culture.

“We comment on everything we bring in, whether it’s me, DT, [Brittney Griner]. BG just got some KDs from Nike, white with a purple Swoosh. We always comment. Whenever somebody gets a box, we’re like, ‘Open it up, let’s see what you got.’”

Though Robinson’s sponsored by Nike and wears the Kyrie 3, she doesn’t always get kicks sent to her. “I’ll be on NikeiD for hours at a time, just for the simplest details,” she says.

The players fortunate enough to get shipments speak with their player reps about which pairs they’d like.

“I just tell them what shoe I want to play in,” says Liberty guard Epiphanny Prince. “They give us a couple options, [but] they know I just want to play in Kobes. When I come here I’m just anxious to see what colorways they put together.”

Sugar Rodgers, her teammate, has been getting the Nike Zoom LeBron Soldier 10 and 11 delivered to her over the past two seasons.

“It feels like Christmas every time a box comes,” Rodgers says with a big smile.

—

Seimone Augustus and the Lynx grab a 93-76 win over the Mystics toward the end of June. Augustus only scores 9 points, but she breaks necks in an absurd pair of multi-colored Kyrie 3s that catches Irving’s attention. He reposts them on his IG.

“When we step on the floor, we want to be the best representation for their gear,” Augustus says. “We want it to be cool. That’s something we always talk about in the WNBA, trying to create a cool factor.”

With the level of basketball talent higher than it’s ever been in the W, and a growing push from both Nike and adidas, there are more eyes than ever on the league.

“[The brands] are big supporters of women’s sports,” Bird says. “They understand that we play a huge role, not just in basketball, [but in] pushing women in sports forward.”

Time to start the clock on the next WNBA signature sneaker.

Related
Sue Bird Talks About Her Nike Kyrie 2 PEs
Elena Delle Donne on her Nike Hyperdunk PEs
The Ogwumike Sisters Share Why They Signed with adidas
Tamera Young Talks About her Sneaker Collection

—

Max Resetar is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @maxresetar.

Photos via Getty Images

The post Heat Wave appeared first on SLAM.

Even with the ridiculous weather, kids flocked to the Chelsea Theater at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, where adidas had taken over. They built out an expansive space to show off the all-new Crazy Explosive and to host a celebration of basketball.

Before experiencing the fandom, Andrew Wiggins said, “This type of event is great for kids, great for adidas, great for everybody. When I was doing AAU and we came to Vegas, we didn’t really get a chance to do this stuff.”

The “stuff” included a dunk cam that created GIFs of jams on an eight-foot hoop, drill work with pro-level trainers, a designated room to play NBA 2K17, a spot to design your own shirt, a first look at the Crazy Explosive 17 and of course, the chance to kick it with a group of the game’s biggest stars.

“I’ve been on the other side and to get the type of respect and love from those young athletes is one of those feelings that can’t be replaced, because you know they respect you for what you’ve worked so hard to get to and what you’ve accomplished,” Damian Lillard said. “It’s cool to get out there and socialize and talk to them.”

Lillard and Chiney Ogwumike, the 2014 WNBA Rookie of the Year, sat up on stage and handed out duffle bags full of gear to a swarm of kids. Jaylen Brown and Jamal Murray locked up against those brave enough to challenge them.

Brandon Ingram slowly walked through the main entrance, followed by a few Three Stripes executives, a couple of friends and a security guard. They all stepped aside when a group of young hoopers noticed the 6-9 Lakers forward and surrounded him. Ingram, still a kid himself, smiled from ear to ear.

Fresh off beating the Big Ballers, Zion Williamson and his SC Supreme AAU teammates showed up, too. Williamson patiently posed for countless pictures and he also soaked in the dunk cam–he didn’t throw any down, though.

“It’s super dope to be a part of this,” Brown said. “Stuff like this is pretty cool to you in high school when someone is doing something you want to do, so people got a lot of questions. People think they are better than you, I’m ready for it all. They want to talk to me, play me, people want to bounce things off me, I’m here.”

Like Brown, Lillard understands how much the game means to everyone.

“I’m 27 and some of these kids are 14, 15, 16,” he said. “You might have somebody’s dad out there who played back in the day and now they’re coaching and they’re 55. It’s one thing that can bring people together, it’s one thing that everybody has in common. You come here and you know everybody is gonna love hoop, and they got some type of story from hoop. They know this person for that reason, they know that person for another reason, and it’s all based around that ball. I think that’s what makes it all cool and all worth it.”

The latest Crazy Explosive silhouette introduces a sock collar into the Crazy Explosive series and combines the Three Stripes’ latest technology–Forged Primeknit–with its most popular technology–BOOST.

“It’s a shoe that kind of fits to your foot, not a shoe you have to fit into,” Brown said. “I want the shoe to move with me and I think these are a great example and adidas is getting better and better at it.”

“I love everything about it, the way it looks, the comfort level, how it feels on the court, the traction, the BOOST,” Wiggins said.

Last season, the Wolves forward took off while wearing a mostly green pair of Crazy Explosives. When he laced them up, he averaged 29 points per game in the colorway, according to Nice Kicks. 

“They kind of threw it at me, I didn’t put too much effort into designing it,” he said. “I was just interested in it. It just worked out for the best because, while I was wearing those shoes, I was scoring a lot and we were winning. They were like my good luck charm,” he said with a smile.

Alex Zerzan, Global Product Director, says that Wiggins and a whole bunch of others can look forward to colorways that continue to pop.

“Yeah, it’s going to be exciting keep your eye out on the court for when [Kristaps] Porzingis and Wiggins and Justise Winslow, Eric Gordon, Ingram, Murray are going to wear it,” he said.

Zerzan bridged the gap between the design team and the Futures Department.

“When [the Futures Department] came to us with the Forged Primeknit, we thought no better shoe to use it on than Crazy Explosive,” Zerzan said. “It allows us to take the Primeknit to a whole ‘nother level in 2017. We knew the 2016 was a performance beast, but the Forged Primeknit allowed us to make the shoe lighter, stronger and more tapered and sleek to the athlete’s foot.”

With a single-piece upper, the Forged Primeknit replaces the traditional sneaker construction that required different parts.

“So we go back 18 months, sitting in a meeting with kids and hoopers and teens and seeing what they wanted in a shoe, what they liked in the Crazy Explosive, but what they wish they would have had better or different,” Zerzan remembers. “We were tapping into this lifestyle-play. This sleek style play. Adidas is, as you know, more than just a performance brand, it’s a style brand, it’s a culture.”

“I think it’s dope what Adidas is doing here with the LVL3 event,” Brown said. “It’s basketball, but it’s using basketball as a platform for other areas. You got other stuff going on. You got musicians involved, technology involved. Basketball, it’s crazy how influential the sport of basketball is. It’s great for [the] culture.”

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The post Andrew Wiggins, Jaylen Brown and Brandon Ingram Introduce the Crazy Explosive 17 at adidas’ LVL3 appeared first on SLAM.

Legends like Sue Bird, Candace Parker, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore all played in orange-themed kicks. Bird was laced in the Kyrie 3, her go-to sneaker, while Taurasi and Moore, the game’s MVP, each played in the LeBron 14 and the Air Jordan XXXI. Parker was given a new Crazy Explosive 17 colorway, which had “2017 All-Star” on the back collar.

Their West squad came away with the 130-121 win, edging out a young East team that featured the debut of new Nike ‘ways. Elizabeth Williams rocked a never-before-seen Hyperdunk 2017 edition with a reflective silver Swoosh. Tina Charles, Allie Quigley and Layshia Clarendon played in the same colorway as Williams, but they were wearing the Kyrie 3. Sugar Rodgers stood out with a new Soldier 11 joint.

Other notable sneaker sightings came from two of the West’s point guards. Skylar Diggins-Smith and Chelsea Gray repped the Three Stripes, in the Crazy Explosive Low and the Harden Vol. 1, respectively. Jasmine Thomas, Stefanie Dolson and Candice Dupree each took the floor in the Kobe AD.

Ok, @jus242, we see you! pic.twitter.com/tjIakhVg3G

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) July 22, 2017

Scroll through the gallery above to see the kicks in action.

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The post 2017 WNBA All-Star Game Best Sneakers appeared first on SLAM.

Parker’s new colorway features a red upper that transitions down into a gold midsole, sitting on top of a red outsole. On the medial side, the Three Stripes put their signature BOOST technology and they also wrote “2017 All-Star Game” on the heel collar.

Parker was named MVP at the 2013 ASG and will be joined by her LA Sparks teammate Nneka Ogwumike today in Seattle, another adidas athlete. Parker and Ogwumike combined to lead the Sparks to the 2016 WNBA title and currently have the second best record in the League at 14-6.

Parker’s putting in 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks per game this season. She’s been doing damage in a few other Crazy Explosive PEs. She wore orange kicks for the month of June to honor her late college coach, Pat Summit.

“I’ll be wearing orange kicks all June; it was my coach’s birthday and the month she passed away,” Parker said last month to the LA Daily News. 

The 2017 WNBA All-Star Game tips off at 3:30 ET on ABC.

Related
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h/t WearTesters

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Watch all of them put in work in the video above.

Video courtesy of WNBA

The post WNBA Releases New Commercial Starring Skylar Diggins, Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike appeared first on SLAM.

East:

• Tina Charles, New York Liberty
• Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics
• Jonquel Jones, Connecticut Sun
• Tiffany Hayes, Atlanta Dream
• Jasmine Thomas, Connecticut Sun

West:

• Sue Bird, Seattle Storm
• Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
• Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx
• Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
• Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota Lynx

Jones, Hayes and Thomas, all having the best season of their careers, are the first-timers. Charles, Delle Donne, Taurasi, Moore and Parker have all won regular season MVPs, while Parker and Moore have both won All-Star Game MVPs.

With the 2017 ASG being played in Seattle, Bird will serve as the host. She ties Tamika Catchings with her 10th All-Star Game appearance, too.

Moore was the overall leading vote-getter among fans (32,866), followed by Delle Donne (31,414), Parker (29,133), Fowles (24,904) and Bird (24,841). Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve will serve as the West head coach and New York’s Bill Laimbeer will guide the East after the Lynx and Liberty finished with the best regular-season records in their respective conferences in 2016.

The All-Star reserves, to be selected by the WNBA’s 12 head coaches, will be announced on Tuesday, July 18 during ESPN2’s telecast of the Seattle Storm and the Chicago Sky (9 p.m. ET).  The 2017 WNBA All-Star Game will be played on July 22 at 3:30 ET on ABC.

The post 2017 WNBA All-Star Starters Announced appeared first on SLAM.

Raw emotion.

Candace Parker was on the floor, crying. Nneka Ogwumike, who had just hit the game-winning shot, also had tears in her eyes, but she couldn’t move because most of her teammates had jumped on her back.

While the Sparks cried and hugged, Maya Moore walked off the court with her hands on her head. She had just nailed a fadeaway from the right baseline that gave the Lynx a one-point lead with 15.4 seconds left. But it wasn’t enough.

That was the last time the Sparks and Lynx did battle. They meet up again tonight.

The Sparks are 12-3 while the Lynx are 12-1, seemingly on a crash-course for a Finals rematch. Both Parker and Moore know that tonight’s game at the Target Center means a little bit more than a normal regular season matchup.

“As a competitor, you love games like this,” Moore says. “It’s just a lot of energy around the matchup. And the history makes it that much more fun of a game. I’m sure it’s going to show when the lights come on and both teams get out on the floor. It’ll be a very high energy match.”

Moore and Lynx have certainly started the season with a lot of energy. They lead the League in points per game, assists per game and that 12-1 mark is the best record in the W. Moore, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen didn’t play overseas during the winter and all that rest is paying off. Minnesota’s whole team is on fire.

The Sparks are doing pretty well, too. With Alana Beard’s defense, Chelsea Gray’s improvement (she’s up to 16.7 ppg) and Ogwumike’s bucket-getting, LA’s only one game back in the standings.

“Obviously we realize in the long run this could help us, but also we realize that our focus is getting better and nobody’s going to hoist a trophy [tonight],” Parker says. “But it’s a good measuring point to see where we are against, what is right now, the best record-wise team in the WNBA.

“Being back in the city brought back memories but that was last year and it’s different this year,” Parker continues in a calm and confident tone. “We get excited and play our best against Minnesota and they do against us. There’s a lot of emotion going in.”

Thing is, neither Moore or Parker let their emotions get the best of them in-game. They both do their work with surgical precision, whether it’s Moore’s footwork in the post or Parker shutting down the rim with perfect timing. But tonight’s game means that much. So while there won’t be any tears after the final buzzer goes off, there’ll be plenty of desire for all 40 minutes.

The two superstars clash tonight at 8 EST on ESPN2.

The post Raw Emotion appeared first on SLAM.

EASTERN CONFERENCE — EARLY RETURNS LEADERS

Backcourt: Tiffany Hayes (Atl) 4,288; Tiffany Mitchell (Ind) 4,202; Kristi Toliver (Was) 3,498; Sugar Rodgers (NY) 3,480; Courtney Williams (Con) 3,239; Cappie Pondexter (Chi) 2,967; Tayler Hill (Was) 2,794; Jasmine Thomas (Con) 2,696; Shavonte Zellous (NY) 2,128; Ivory Latta (Was) 2,042; Allie Quigley (Chi) 1,939; Briann January (Ind) 1,531; Erica Wheeler (Ind) 1,507

Frontcourt: Elena Delle Donne (Was) 19,280; Tina Charles (NY) 12,055; Jonquel Jones (Con) 10,585; Candice Dupree (Ind) 4,965; Stefanie Dolson (Chi) 3,170; Alyssa Thomas (Con) 3,038; Kiah Stokes (NY) 2,567; Tamera Young (Chi) 1,924; Morgan Tuck (Con) 1,740; Imani Boyette (Chi) 1,730; Natalie Achonwa (Ind) 1,385; Bria Holmes (NY) 1,320

WESTERN CONFERENCE — EARLY RETURNS LEADERS

Backcourt: Sue Bird (Sea) 16,139; Diana Taurasi (Phx) 15,207; Skylar Diggins-Smith (Dal) 11,462; Seimone Augustus (Min) 11,198; Lindsay Whalen (Min) 10,131; Jewell Loyd (Sea) 9,639; Allisha Gray (Dal) 5,766; Alana Beard (LA) 5,003; Kelsey Plum (SA) 4,221; Chelsea Gray (LA) 3,975; Moriah Jefferson (SA) 3,823; Kayla McBride (SA) 3,034; Jantel Lavender (LA) 2,002

Frontcourt: Maya Moore (Min) 19,949; Candace Parker (LA) 17,127; Sylvia Fowles (Min) 15,159; Breanna Stewart (Sea) 13,793; Nneka Ogwumike (LA) 13,563; Brittney Griner (Phx) 12,818; Rebekkah Brunson (Min) 6,236; Glory Johnson (Dal) 5,680; Ramu Tokashiki (Sea) 2,653; Karima Christmas-Kelly (Dal) 2,651; Alysha Clark (Sea) 2,517; Crystal Langhorne (Sea) 2,046

The post Delle Donne, Moore Lead First Fan Voting Returns for the 2017 WNBA All-Star Game appeared first on SLAM.

Parker laced up the brand new adidas Crazy Explosive ’17 the other day, in an orange colorway that resembled the Lady Vols’ uniforms.

“I’ll be wearing orange kicks all June; it was my coach’s birthday and the month she passed away,” Parker told the LA Daily News.

h/t LA Daily News 

The post Candace Parker’s Wearing Orange Crazy Explosives for Pat Summitt appeared first on SLAM.

It’s family that is most important to the Ogwumike’s. Their father, Peter Ogwumike, emigrated from Nigeria to the United States in the 1980s where met his wife, Ify, at a community college in Colorado before relocating to Houston. That’s where Chiney and Nneka established themselves as one the best sibling duos to come out of the state.

Although there’s a 628-day gap in age, Chiney, 24, jokes that she and Nneka, 26, are like identical twins and have to do almost everything together. The decisions they’ve made during their hoop journey support that, too.

Nneka earned a scholarship to play at Stanford. Two years later, Chiney followed in the same footsteps and joined her big sister in Palo Alto. The tandem left behind an extensive list of accolades at The Farm, making a combined six Final Four’s in seven years.

In 2012, Nneka was drafted No. 1 overall by the Los Angeles Sparks. Chiney, a sophomore at the time, would dominate the PAC-12 for two more years before being selected No. 1 overall by the Connecticut Sun in 2014. The Ogwumike’s joined Peyton and Eli Manning as the only siblings to be taken first overall in any professional draft.

Four years later, with the Sparks fresh off a championship and the team’s MVP looking to have another huge year, the elder Ogwumike recently made another important decision: joining adidas as one of the brand’s four newest signees. The decision came down to one important factor for her.

“Family orientation,” says Nneka, about what separated adidas from its competitors. “I like the culture of family and also how much they express displaying and advocating individuality for the athletes. They always say the athlete first. That’s definitely what drew me to adidas.”

And guess who was another of those four athletes that followed in her older sister’s footsteps?

“I think that we both know that we came into this game together and we are a package deal,” says Chiney, jokingly. “When looking for something that speaks to us as a brand, adidas was perfect and we knew that we wanted to do that together.”

Last week, the Ogwumike sisters took to Instagram announced their partnership by posing with a pair of Yeezys in-hand while sitting around an array of adidas silhouettes. They join Nneka’s teammate Chelsea Gray and Minnesota Lynx rookie Alexis Jones as the new additions to the Three Stripes family that already includes Candace Parker, Moriah Jefferson, Imani Boyette and Morgan Tucker.

“I’m really happy to be a part of the ‘Here to Create’ campaign because when it comes to athletics, you really create for yourself and you help cultivate a well-oiled machine when you’re creating as a team,” says Nneka. “That’s really what they embody and that’s what we’re all about.”

The Sparks began their season Saturday at home, with Nneka wearing the Crazy Explosive. Adidas provided player exclusives for Ogwumike and Parker for the opener. Nneka’s rocked a black-gold pair that featured “2016 WNBA Champs” on the tongue, while Parker balled in a white-gold look with “Ace 3″ on the tongue. Parker’s PE also included hidden accents all over the shoe, like the insole that said “For Pat,” a tribute to the legendary Pat Summitt, who passed away last June at the age of 64. Parker famously dedicated her Game 5 Finals performance to her former college coach.

Nneka learned about the shoe way before putting it on her feet because that was Parker’s go-to shoe last season.

“I know quite a bit about the shoe because Candace wears that shoe when she plays,” says Nneka. “She always said that she loved how it feels, what it allowed her to do on the court and that’s what I’m all about for a shoe.”

It’s a cloudy Wednesday afternoon and both Nneka and Chiney are handling last-minute brand obligations inside the Los Angeles Athletic Club in downtown Los Angeles. The two are moving swiftly throughout the 12-story facility—the lobby, to a secret room, the rooftop and finally the gymnasium—before the shoot is over.

While a myriad of cameras, brand reps, make-up artists and stylists following their every move, Erica and Olivia, the two younger sisters of the Ogwumike family who are in town for the summer, shadow Nneka and Chiney and make sure to get a few glamour shots in with adidas gear.

“We fell into basketball and fell in love with it,” says Chiney, who’s still in the middle of rehab for an Achilles injury. “I think that adidas really allows us to be our true selves. We stick together, as the Cheetah Girls say.”

Family forever.

—

Related
Best Sneakers of 2017: adidas Crazy Explosive

Photos courtesy of adidas 

Drew Ruiz is a contributor to SLAM. Follow him @DrewRuiz90.

The post Family Forever appeared first on SLAM.

adidas is also adding Chelsea Gray, a member of the reigning champion Sparks, and Alexis Jones, incoming rookie. These four players join Candace Parker, Moriah Jefferson, Imani Boyette and Morgan Tuck as Three Stripes endorsees.

The Ogwumikes will begin the 2017 season in the Crazy Explosive.

The post Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike Sign With adidas appeared first on SLAM.