so.

i got into "The W" earlier this year, about a month before the Olympics started.

i watched exactly one game on Amazon Prime, and then i bought WNBA League Pass, and i'm pretty sure i've watched every single game of the season since...?

or like, 90% or something?

practically aaaall of them.

i picked a team (New York, thanks for asking), a favorite player (Mabrey, again, THANK YOU for your interest! so polite!), and bought a jersey (which, to answer your final question: Ionescu, 'cause it's the name i liked most).

so that should give you some sense of where i'm coming from here.

and with THAT context, i want to tell you that this season has been INSANE and if you don't like basketball then at least stay for the DRAMA babes 'cause this year is JUICY.

but first...

...this story has to start where everyone knows it has to start:

the killer. the legend.

if you only know women's basketball exists because Lebron started saying Caitlin Clark's name in podcast interviews, i want to start out with: yes. she IS actually that good.

she broke, uh, DOZENS of records in college, and ended her tenure at Iowa with more points scored than any other player in NCAA history—man OR woman.

editor's note: Lebron didn't go to college. so do what you will with THAT.

it is INSANE watching her play.

really.

but i have to cut this section off short or i'll spend a thousand words talking about Clark and she's not even my favorite player in the W.

just know she's the real deal.

she is also not the protagonist of this story. not by a long shot.

now! let's talk about...

the killer. the LEGEND.

wait, shit, i already used that tagline...

fuck.

...but Diana really IS a killer though...

hm...

i'll have to come back to that.

'cause, like, what you need to know about Diana Taurasi is that she's the actual GOAT.

like, 20 straight seasons, the most points scored of all time, the most 3's of all time, a few championship titles, a handful of MVP awards—oh, and she's never lost a game of Olympic basketball in her life.

editor's note: the U.S. women's basketball team hasn't lost a single game on the Olympic stage since 1992.

there's... really no competition. the US dominates so hard that i'm not even gonna talk about the Olympics at all in this one, it's not even worth it.

i'll put it this way: fewer players have won back-to-back WNBA titles than there are undefeated US Olympians.

and on that note, allow me to introduce:

the killer. the LEGEN--waaait no, i can't use this one again.

but omggggggg you HAVE to hear about A'ja Wilson.

first of all, she led her team (the Vegas Aces, i knew you'd ask) to a back-to-back title last year.

but also! importantly! this year, A'ja had the most incredible season any player has ever. had. EVER.

let me just...

like.

GAH, i'm gonna have to break out the bullet points for this one.

the highlights:

• highest average points per game in a season ever: 26.9

• most points scored in a single season ever: 1,021

• most rebounds in a single season ever: 451

• most blocks in a single season ever: 98

and she rounded it out with a unanimous win for league MVP (which is her third MVP award).

another editor's note: Wilson is only the third player in either the WNBA or the MNBA to have won the award by unanimous vote.

the first was Cynthia Cooper in 1997.
the next didn't come for almost twenty years: Steph Curry in 2016.

yeah. she's built different.

so now...

... finally...

... let's introduce the REAL protagonist of this story...

... the killer...

... THE LEGE--waitwaitwaitno i said no more of thi--

gonna get my editor's note in right away on this one: the author is a HUGE fan of Breanna Stewart and refused to let their enthusiasm be tempered in any way for the sake of journalistic integrity.

Breanna.

Stewart.

(or as her friends call her, "Stewie.")

plays for the best team in the league — who have the best jerseys and the coolest fans and rep the best city in the world — and that team is the NEW. YORK. LIBERTYYYYYYY.

additional editor's note: the author is also a huge fan of the New York Liberty, and similarly ignored the editor's remarks about tone or impartiality.

seriously they are the BESTTTT.

like ACTUALLY the best in the league this year.

PLUS!!! plus plus plus, Ted Lasso?? he's at like every. game.

no big deal.

and you know Flavor Flav? he sits courtside to harass the refs.

it's whatever.

and Stewie? omg Stewie is a CHAMPION for REALLL for real!

in fact, why don't we bust out some more bullet points, shall we?

I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT:

• TWO championship titles! (same as A'ja, but not back-to-back)

• TWO league MVP awards! (...mmm, one less than A'ja now)

• 2016 Rookie of the Yearrrr! (...which A'ja took home in 2018)

• tied for the most 40 point games in history (shared with none other than Diana Taurasiiiiii!!!!)

• fastest player to score 3,000 points and 1,000 rebounds (just insane!!)

• oh, and she's never lost a game of Olympic basketball in her life (which is more than i can say about SOME of the players in this essay.)

  • (it's Clark. i'm throwing shade at Caitlin Clark.)

oohhh, but wait, wait, now i can finally talk about the DRAMAMAMAMAMA.

--and i'm actually gonna snub Clark again here because that's not even the biggest drama in the league this season--

because last year...

... LAST year, dear readers...

A'ja...

... beat...

... Stewie.

let's set the stage on last year's Finals.

the WNBA play a best-of-5 series.

and it's game 4.

in New York.

the weather is crisp.

autumn is happening quickly in the city.

i assume.

editor's note: the author has never been to New York.

the Las Vegas Aces are up two. games. to. one. trying to win a back-to-back title (and do something that those egotistical Olympians could only DREAM of).

editor's note: at any point in time, approximately half of the players on the court during this particular game either were at the time or still are undefeated Olympians. it's reaaaaally not a big deal.

and, uh... they do.

yeah.

they win.

they beat New York at home, by one point. which was INFURIATING.

i assume.

editor's note: the author did not give a shit about basketball last season.

so let's zip STRAIGHT out of the past all the way up to...

or, uh... i mean there's probably like a negative % chance you're reading this when yesterday was sunday, october 6th.

but that's what day it was.

sunday, october 6th.

in Las Vegas.

a best-of-5 series.

and the New York Liberty are up two. games. to. one.

do you see where i'm going with this?

do you hear any remorse in my voice? even a hint of sadness?

editor's note: no you do not and it's because we won.

we fucking did it.

the New York Liberty came back from a Finals defeat at home, dominated the entire season as the #1 team in the league, and then put the Aces down at home.

and GODDAMN DID THAT FEEL GOOD.

editor's note: yes it did.

which is great and fine and well and good and AWESOME actually but that wasn't the, uh...

...well, yesterday was just the semifinals.

which brings me to...

the LYNX.

(that's Minnesota. they've got killer/legend Napheesa Collier on their team.)

the SUN.

(from Connecticut. my fave girlie Mabrey plays for them. 😊 )

in MINNEAPPOLIS.

(idk the name of their stadium.)

on ESPN.

(that part is true.)

in a BEST-OF-5 SERIES.

(i'm just practicing typing "best-of-5" at this point.)

which is TIED, ACTUALLY.

(two games to two.)

WHICH WILL DETERMINE WHO GETS TO TAKE ON THE NEW YORK LIBERTY IN THE

or, like, nah, it's still just women's basketball, but the FINALS IS GONNA BE INTENSE for sure.

pretty compelling, right?

can the Liberty bring a trophy back to New York for the first time in franchise history?

can the marvelous Marina Mabrey (who is, editor's note, not even remotely the team's captain and is, in fact, a bench player) and the Sun hold off the unstoppable Napheesa/Williams duo in Minnesota?

will Diana retire this year and break my fucking heart?

will Clark ever stop collecting technical fouls?

find out next time on DRAGONBA--NO, i said no STOP DOING this corny shi--

KILLER.

LEGEND.