What is new in women's basketball news
Hey there, long time no see!
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Hi friends! I hope you all are having a great holiday season. I know I have been MIA, but there is a very plausible reason for that. I got promoted at my day job! This is great news, of course, especially since I’ve been at this role for less than a year and one of my goals for 2024 was professional growth. The downside is that the uptraining was INTENSE. I am in customer service and I was moved up in the Brazilian—Portuguese team, which means 80% of the time I’m answering e-mails and the rest I’m making outbound calls, however, uptraining is conducted by the English team. Therefore, on top of going through the seven business days of English supervision, my teammates and I had another two days of Portuguese training. I was exhausted.
Alas, I am back, and ready to roll! To my paid subscribers: I owe you quotes with comments from the Valkyries expansion draft, but don’t worry, they are coming before the end of year. I also have something else for you: Pokey Chatman had her introductory press conference with Brazil and I was there. I am going to add caption to the record and share with you. Funny enough, it was all in English as every journalist, although all Brazilian, could speak the language. Only one person there couldn’t speak Portuguese, still all of the 15+ native Portuguese speakers adapted to make her feel welcome. Says a lot about our people!
I am working 15 hours at my day job today (peak season for customer service), but I didn’t want to let another week pass without showing up. So, I am listing some relevant news in women’s basketball below for you to get up to date as you eat leftover Christmas food (or latkes) for breakfast.
What’s new in the news
WNBA, NBA enter 2025 moving in opposite directions by Yours Truly (Awful Announcing)
Seems very self-serving, I know. But hey, I’m my own PR team here—haha! Regardless, his is something I would recommend even if I weren’t the writer.
Reports from Nielsen and Sports Media Watch noted that viewership in the first weeks of the NBA season has dropped 19% comparing to 2023, continuing a downward trend that started around 2013. On the other hand, the WNBA has boasted triple-digit growth in several business metrics. Why is one league struggling while the other strives? That story answers that.
Most WNBA teams changed head coaches: let’s get to know the new hires by Noa Dalzell (SB Nation)
The Dallas Wings and the Washington Mystics announced their new head coaches (Chris Koclanes and Sydney Johnson, respectively) closing one of the busiest times in the WNBA coaching market ever. As of new, only five teams have returning coaches: Las Vegas Aces (Becky Hammon), Minnesota Lynx (Cheryl Reeve), New York Liberty (Sandy Brondello), Phoenix Mercury (Nate Tibbetts) and Seattle Storm (Noelle Quinn).
There have been no shortage of performance awards for No. 1 WNBA draft pick Caitlin Clark in 2024. Now, the Indiana Fever guard has also been named Athlete of the Year by the Associate Press, shortly after receiving the same honor by Forbes, and Best Sports Business Athlete by Sports Business Journal. In addition, Iowa University announced Clark’s jersey retirement ceremony February 2 (an odd to her #22).
WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson, Nike reach 6-year extension by Shams Charania and Alexa Philippou (ESPN)
A’ja Wilson, whose first signature shoe is set to release in the Spring of 2025, signed a six-year extension with Nike. In the aftermath of the news being broken, we learned that the sneaker deal has been in the works since 2022, when she earned won her second WNBA championship with the Las Vegas Aces.
USC-UConn women's basketball is second-highest-rated Fox game ever by Matt Zemek (Yahoo!)
One of the most anticipated NCAA match ups not only met, but exceeded expectations both on and off the court. UConn and USC played a close battle that ended a 72-70 win by the Trojans despite an 18-point comeback by the Huskies in the second half. The game averaged 2.23 million viewers, peaking at 3.76 million, making it the most watched game ever on Fox Sports.
Sabrina Ionescu is Unrivaled. The news came after Unrivaled’s first trade ever, which included Phantom BC acquiring the final wild-card from the Lunar Owls. Ionescu is supposedly the last player missing for the inaugural season, set to start on January 17, 2025, and reportedly has the highest contract in the league.
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