Five Out: WNBA Rookie debuts, a dominant Aces opener, and a new WNBA investigation
A league investigation, rookie debuts and standout starts. Andrew's five thoughts on the WNBA and women's basketball at large for the week of May 20, 2024.
The first week of WNBA basketball has gotten off to a great start if you’re a fan of discourse. From rookie debuts to impending charter flights and a league investigation into the Las Vegas Aces (more on that below), there was plenty to tweet, text or type about. Which is ultimately great for the league. During a time when some degree of NBA playoff fatigue has set in and we’re waiting for other sports to enter their championship seasons, the W having the juice to be on popular talk shows and podcasts is a great sign of the cultural impact of the league. So let’s get to what stood out.
1. Assessing the rookie debuts…
Part of me jokingly wondered if ESPN would have a headline that read “Caitlin Clark has 20 and 10 in WNBA debut” and just conveniently leave out that the 10 wasn’t assists or rebounds but instead turnovers. So far, the 2024 number one overall pick feels like she has the ability to compete at this level. It’s just whether or not this team is built and coached well enough to win the way they need to. It may take some time but the flashes, especially when she has the ball in her hands, are there.
Others, like Angel Reese, Alissa Pili and Aaliyah Edwards had solid debuts. Reese will always have a high floor because of her motor but Chicago Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon’s biggest job is going to be helping Reese find an offensive bag at this level. The most polarizing rookie start though belongs to Cameron Brink. Three level scoring, defensive impact and an ability to run the floor while showing passing vision. Sounds great! The issue is she can’t seem to stay on the court without getting into foul trouble. If any coach can fix that, it’s Curt Miller. I’d also like to see him give Rickea Jackson more minutes in the rotation. Those two at their best can take Los Angeles some really good places.
2. The Las Vegas threepeat *feels* inevitable.
Speaking of the Sparks, I was impressed to see how they hung on against Las Vegas at Michelob Ultra Arena. Dearica Hamby went full revenge mode and nearly took out the two-time defending champs on her own. But down the stretch, the Sparks’ rookies made some mistakes and A’ja Wilson did what the face of the league does. Granted, there’s still the matter of the Liberty and the Sun, but the Aces feel like they’re in that Golden State Warrior territory of inevitability. Just when you think you’re close, Wilson will find Jackie Young who drills a dagger three late in the fourth quarter after having a relatively off shooting night.
And this iteration of the Aces is still without their star point guard Chelsea Gray who is reported to be potentially coming back this season. With Kate Martin quickly becoming a fan favorite and an impact on the floor, it just feels like Vegas continues to reload and is the team to beat in this league. There’s a lot of season left but they have rightfully earned their place atop the perch. In a league saturated with Caitlin Clark coverage, the Aces are the ones demanding that you give them just as much love. And they’ve earned it.
3. Dallas gets bit by the injury bug first.
The Wings opening night matchup against Chicago was one of the highlights of tip-off week. Back and forth, big shot after big shot late punctuated by an Arike Ogunbowale takeover to end the game. And then came Natasha Howard’s injury diagnosis. The 32 year old forward is expected to sit three to six weeks with a broken foot.
Injuries always stink but it is a particular bummer because of the promise around Dallas this year. What was always known as Dallas Wings University now has a group of young players coming into their own, a competent coach in Latricia Trammell and a couple stars in Ogunbowale and Howard leading the way. Now, for a time, the Wings will likely pair Stephanie Soares and Teaira McCowan together on the frontline but lose a significant offensive presence with Howard’s injury. They may end up on the slide for a bit but watch out for the Wings when Howard and eventually Satou Sabally return. They’re a fun disruptive dark horse team this year.
4. Arike Ogunbowale’s wonderful weekend.
And a big shoutout to Arike Ogunbowale as well. A dagger three to blow the roof off the College Park Center for a win, a 35 point effort albeit in a loss a few days later but shortly after the game, an engagement! Over the weekend, Ogunbowale proposed to girlfriend Lala Ronay and the answer was a resounding yes. In an era where we wonder about having too much accessibility to people and athletes, this is one of those moments where you love to see a peek into people’s world.
What we see and know out of Ogunbowale is how she plays on the floor and the commercials that she pops up in from time to time. But to others, including her newly minted fiance, she is so much more than that. The column is always a sucker for a good, heartwarming story and this checks all the boxes. Don’t believe me? Head over to Instagram and see for yourself. On and off the floor, one could say this is a weekend Arike will never forget.
5. Two things can be true with the Las Vegas Aces newest sponsorship deal.
Alright, now let’s get to this.
Let me preface by saying that the Las Vegas Aces deal with the Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is a good thing. Players in this league should be paid more. That goes without saying. And, oddly enough, it actually creates a neat little negotiating chip when the players go back to the table next year to renegotiate the CBA (more on this in a later post). The city clearly loves this team, Mark Davis wants to do right by his players and the players’ agents are savvy enough to spot a revenue opportunity when they see it.
That said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Callie Lawson-Freeman has done great work for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and has this tidbit on the investigation.
“One issue could be the fine print of the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement. It prohibits teams and team affiliates from entering into an understanding in which a “sponsor, business partner or third part pays or agrees to pay compensation for basketball services (even if such compensation is ostensibly designated as being for nonbasketball services) to a player under Contract to the team.
The LVCVA told the Review-Journal that the contracts mandate city appearances wearing LVCVA gear. But that feels a little cover-your-ass-y when the same people stood in the locker room and said on video “we want you to just play.” Where the Aces have cover, as Lawson-Freeman noted, is that those sponsorships have to be substantially more than fair market value. So realistically, A’ja Wilson could command $100,000 as a fair market sponsorship deal. But could Kierstan Bell? Could Dyaisha Fair? Or even Alysha Clark?
What’s being investigated isn’t anything other than a potential violation of the CBA. While there’s arguments of merit to be made about creating competitive imbalance, Vegas’ unique advantage to be able to use essentially their tourism board to accomplish this, it really comes down to a potential violation of what the league and its’ players agreed upon.
The question I have may well be the same question the league does: did the Aces organization know of this? Or was it truly negotiated by player agents away from the team itself?
I can understand players feeling under siege amidst another league investigation but, in some sense, the Aces have done this to themselves. Whether or not you agree that bending the rules to invest in these women is the morally or ethically correct thing to do, leagues have CBA’s for a reason and they’re legally binding documents. It was at the basis of their investigation of impermissible benefits last season. Shoot, the WNBA was alleged to have considered terminating the Liberty franchise entirely for the charter flights debacle.
There isn’t an American sports league that wouldn’t investigate something that potentially ran afoul of the players union on one side and its’ Board of Governors on the other. To not investigate would be malfeasance by the league itself even if it ultimately finds no wrongdoing.
I’ll give Vegas credit though. You’re a two-time champion, you just put $100,000 in each of your players pockets AND you now have some fuel to propel a potential three-peat run. Chess not checkers. Nick Saban would be proud.