In case you have to work on Thursday...

In an open letter sent to Atlanta Dream fans, ownership appears to express their frustration about potential scheduling conflicts that were raised two months ago.

Look, this weekday daytime game 6 situation is so ridiculous that all we can really do is laugh. 

Now that we’re getting the genre mashup nobody asked for - a WNBA Finals game rubbing shoulders with the Bold and the Beautiful, the Price is Right and the Jennifer Hudson Show - please give me your least serious suggestion for making this marriage of inconvenience complete:

Judge Judy deciding coaches’ challenges?

Which player has actually been their evil twin in disguise this whole season?

Bhad Bhabie halftime show?

You get a rally towel! You get a rally towel! Everybody gets a rally towel!

(inspired by this comment about having Maury Povich call the game)

I’ve made repeated threats in this subreddit to hold everyone accountable and it’s time for everyone to get in line and submit their apology forms here 👇👇👇👇👇

Aces fans, pls be aware that I’m expecting to see some apology forms from you.

I will not stand for the offseason panic erasure

(guys btw this is a joke)
(ok maybe I am a little serious)

“Our team is our strength. You know, we’ve said strength in numbers and our team about anybody could close, anyone could start, anyone can come off the bench, anyone can finish the game. It’s just so valuable that we can change our rotations. We can change our lineups. That’s what’s kind of dangerous about our team. It’s hard to scout when you have so many options. And so that’s what I love.

“And I go back to a common theme of like, I’ve never met 14 players that want to see success in their team that’s sitting to the right or the left. Like no one wants credit on this team.

“I said that about Kiah Stokes. Like she gets like, I don’t really want to do too many things. She doesn’t like attention. I think that’s rare. I just think that’s rare in this age with social media and everything is that we have 14 players that really don’t feed into attention, and it keeps us laser focused.”

https://www.hitc.com/natalie-nakase-addresses-valkyries-being-shut-out-of-all-wnba-honors/

Wishing her a speedy and complete recovery!

I believe this is the 4th arthroscopic knee procedure of the season (Azzi, KLS, AB, and now Nyara)

By Emma Baccellieri

Higher salaries mean that WNBA players no longer have to chase offseason paychecks in Europe or Asia. But the Mystics’ center saw a chance to develop her game.

This has been a year without an offseason for Lauren Betts.

Her college season ran through March Madness and into April as she won a national championship with UCLA. Less than two weeks after cutting down the nets, Betts was drafted No. 4 overall by the Mystics, and training camp started just a few days later. She played all 44 games of the WNBA regular season. Betts kept at it until the Mystics’ run ended in the first round of the playoffs. Finally, as September turned to October, she was done.

For a day.

Well, two days, technically. And then she flew to Turkey to start playing with EuroLeague powerhouse Fenerbahçe in Istanbul.

“I’m really big on balance, and you know, there were some points I did tell myself, like, I just want to take a break from basketball,” Betts said the day after the Mystics’ season ended and two days before she left for Turkey. “But I feel like I would be doing a disservice to myself if I didn’t just continue to grow. And I feel like going to Turkey and playing overseas is going to be a really good opportunity for me.”

That used to be the norm in the WNBA. Most players spent years going straight from one basketball season in the U.S. to another in Europe or Asia. It meant developing their games, but it also meant picking up a crucial paycheck. That dynamic has changed as the sport has experienced record growth over the past few years, with players unlocking higher salaries and more choices on how to build their careers. It has become far less common for high-profile young Americans like Betts to spend the winter playing in Europe.

But it was an experience she’d always wanted to have.

Some WNBA players have talked about how much they value the opportunity to spend their offseasons in the U.S. Betts valued the opportunity to go somewhere else.

Her father, Andy, spent years playing basketball in Spain, with other stints in Italy, Greece and Ukraine. (He was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets as the No. 50 pick in 1998 but never appeared in the NBA.) His career led to an early childhood full of travel and cultural experiences for Betts and her siblings.

The family returned to the U.S. when she began third grade. She grew up in suburban Colorado, but she never forgot how enchanting she found those early years in Europe.

“I’m basically just fulfilling the family legacy,” Betts said with a smile. “It’s kind of full circle that I’m doing the same thing I watched my dad do.”

None of the American players chosen as lottery picks in 2024 or 2025 have spent their WNBA offseasons playing overseas. Betts is the only one from 2026 to do so with a traditional basketball team. (Top pick Azzi Fudd has signed on with the start-up Project B, which plans to stage a traveling global tournament beginning in January.) Some of these players have chosen to use their offseasons for rest or private development. Many have chosen to join Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 league that began play in Miami in 2025, which lets them earn another salary and work on their games while remaining in the U.S.

“I think we’re privileged now that we have so many options as women,” Mystics forward Michaela Onyenwere said at the end of the season. “We don’t have to go overseas for a full seven months. I’m very grateful for that.”

Onyenwere entered the WNBA in 2021. She spent her first several winters playing in Spain, Turkey and China, joining many of her peers in figuring out how to navigate different international leagues every offseason. But this year, for the first time in her pro career, Onyenwere felt comfortable ending one season without immediate plans to jump into another.

WNBA paychecks increased significantly this year under a new collective bargaining agreement. Minimum salaries went from roughly $66,000 in 2025 to $270,000 in 2026. (The average player earned about $580,000 — roughly quadruple the average from a year ago.) It also helps that players have seen an uptick in endorsement deals as the league has grown in popularity. Getting another paycheck in the winter no longer feels quite so necessary. For a more established, mid-career player like Onyenwere, that creates an opportunity to spend the offseason truly off.

But the chance to practice against top international competition was still a draw for Betts. Her decision to join Fenerbahçe was about development as much as it was about family tradition. A 6-foot-7 center, Betts showed growth in her rookie year, picking up extra minutes as the season wore on and becoming a more assertive rebounder. But she knows that she needs to sharpen her footwork and become more comfortable outside the paint.

Through her first two games with Fenerbahçe, Betts is averaging 11 points, 8.5 rebounds and two assists.

“Any chance that I can just get myself into uncomfortable situations and just grow my game and try to put the ball on the floor a little more, shoot a little more,” Betts said before she left for Turkey. “I feel like it’s another opportunity for me to just get better and gain more confidence.”

That, she figured, would be worth staying in season for a few extra months.

https://www.washingtonsun.com/sports/mystics/lauren-betts-overseas-offseason-mystics?redirected=notus_org

Did anyone else notice that the Golden State starting 5 the last two game all have Connecticut ties? All 5 starters either went to UCONN (Stokes, Williams, Hayes) or played for the Sun (Burton, Charles). Tip Hayes did both!

What do the Valkyries need to do to close it out on Thursday and bring home the championship? What do the Dream need to do to withstand the Valkyries and even the series?

What will make or break each team?

Make all your predictions!

This is the first true do-or-die game of the Finals, so I figured it would be nice for fans of both teams and neutrals alike to discuss what each team needs to adjust or continue doing, along with any other thoughts about Game 6.

... let's please keep it relatively civil though!

source

Politics are politics but it’ll still be annoying if they give it to Gabby over Kiah.

The story of several players becoming mothers while also professional athletes.

Just caught this for free on the Roku channel.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/50297844/behrens-developed-nba-cares-leave-league-office

Kathy Behrens "one of the highest-ranking women in the NBA office" is stepping down from her position as president of social responsibility and player programs after 26 years in the NBA office.

Pure speculation, but sounds like someone Silver wants as the next commissioner of the WNBA.

Here is another mock draft prediction lol.

1. JuJu Watkins | Houston

2. Madison Booker | Toronto

3. Hannah Hidalgo | Washington

4. Kymora Johnson | Seattle

5. Mikaylah Williams | Portland

6. S’Mya Nichols | Los Angeles

7. Sarah Cisse | Los Angeles

8. MiLaysia Fulwiley | New York

9. Tessa Johnson | Dallas

10. Khamil Pierre | Indiana

11. Oluchi Okananwa | Chicago

12. Ashlyn Watkins | Chicago

13. Chloe Kitts | Dallas

14. Talaysia Cooper | Golden State

15. Aïnhoa Risacher | Minnesota

2026 WNBA Finals Word Search

Need a time waster until the next game? I generated a WNBA word search.

Something to keep you busy while we wait for tipoff: 30 hidden names and terms inspired by the 2026 WNBA Finals, including Dream and Valkyries players!

Download the puzzle below to print or mark up digitally.

📄 Word search: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M9Msa8gLOrlj45timtTPGSt4ouMPHQTA/view?usp=sharing