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Good morning! Coming up today:
🏀 Culture wars continue
👋 Ogwumike says goodbye
🎉 Mascot party
Let’s go.
Confrontation: Culture wars take the court
Sunday night in Chicago, the culture war on trans inclusion in women’s sports made its way onto the court amid the Sky’s last regular-season game against the Indiana Fever.
Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was sitting courtside wearing a shirt that read: “WOMAN noun adult human female.” Late in the third quarter after Sky guard Natasha Cloud finished a driving layup at the rim, she turned and walked towards Freedom, pointing at him emphatically while yelling. In response, Freedom stood up with his arms outstretched and walked towards Cloud while exchanging words with her. He had to step over a row of photographers that were blocking his path to the court.
Fever security got to Cloud before she could make her way off the court and closer to Freedom, who was subsequently removed by Wintrust Arena security. However, the damage was already done.
Another great basketball game was turned into political fodder.
The entire WNBA is becoming embroiled by the comments of one of its players, and the league office has mostly ceded the ground to outside actors. The questions facing the WNBA in this current moment range from how to get a handle on the explosive discourse that continues to consume the league to whether there is a need to clarify the competition rules.
Earlier this month, Freedom and Royce White, who only appeared in three NBA games, announced their intentions to declare for the 2027 WNBA Draft as a means of pushing against the inclusion of trans women in women’s sports. Both are ineligible to compete in the WNBA, as stated in current CBA rules and confirmed by the league to The Athletic.
The topic of trans women competing in the WNBA elevated into the headlines when Fever guard Sophie Cunningham shared her opposition to trans inclusion in women’s sports. Since then, small rallies have been a sideshow on the Fever’s schedule, popping up for road games in cities around the country. Most recently, there were two small rallies outside Barclays Center in New York before the Fever’s game against the Liberty, one for and the other against the inclusion of transgender women in sports.
The Fever host the Sun on Friday in their final game before the FIBA World Cup break. But the divisiveness surrounding the WNBA doesn’t appear to be letting up any time soon.
Closing Chapter: Ogwumike to retire after 15 seasons
When Nneka Ogwumike announced her retirement last week, two sentiments dominated the conversation.
The first was gratitude for all that Ogwumike contributed on and off the court during her 15 seasons. Most notable, of course, was her impact on the historic CBA negotiations that lasted roughly 17 months but resulted in a roughly 367 percent salary increase for players.
The other feeling from fans, coaches and peers alike was … why now? Ogwumike is still playing some of the best basketball of her career. As recently as Aug. 13, she was entertaining questions about free agency. She took to social media after announcing her retirement plans and joked about discussing her future beyond 2026 with the media, despite knowing this season would be her last.
Ogwumike is averaging 16.6 points and 8.7 rebounds this season for the Sparks. She earned her 12th All-Star nod in July. Still, she said, “There’s power in knowing when to walk away.
Ogwumike’s final season will be remembered by the buzzer-beating 3-pointer she hit to complete a comeback against the Liberty in the WNBA’s 30th season celebration game. It’s the only buzzer-beater Ogwumike can remember hitting in her career.
The closest she came before that was the game-winning bucket in Game 5 of the 2016 WNBA Finals. With two seconds left, Ogwumike collected an offensive rebound and turned a one-point deficit into a one-point lead on a short jumper, securing the win and the lone WNBA title of her career. It’s hard to think of a higher-leverage situation than the decisive game of a championship series, and Ogwumike was able to come through.
Madame President and Madame Clutch, too.
Fast Breaks
🏀 Angel Reese added new titles to her rebounding resume: most rebounds in a single game (26) and most rebounds in a season (458).
🏀 A sex toy was thrown onto court during the Dream-Sparks game, mimicking a trend that began last season. The individual who threw it was arrested and indefinitely banned from all WNBA and NBA events.
🏀 It then happened again, when multiple sex toys were thrown at the Sky-Valkyries game. “Lame as f—,” Sky guard Natasha Cloud said of the spectators throwing the objects.
🏀 “Not a secret, but it’s private.” Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd spoke about their romantic relationship in an Apple TV docuseries, filmed during UConn’s championship run and released last week.
📉 The second-place Valkyries are trending down in this week’s power rankings. Their loss to the Lynx didn’t help.
📝 The Mercury reached a buyout agreement with DeWanna Bonner in a move that was meant to give the six-time All-Star a chance to play in the postseason in what could be her final year in the W.
🏀 New York got a much-needed answer from its missing piece — Leonie Fiebich — to hold off a late rally from Indiana on Saturday.
🏟️ One-hundred-thousand square feet. Two basketball courts. Two soccer fields. More than $150 million. Take a look inside the Portland Fire and NWSL’s Portland Thorns’ joint-practice facility.
💲 Marc Lore is selling his controlling interest in the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx to Marc Stad at a $4.5 billion valuation. Get to know the tech investor taking future control of the NBA and WNBA teams.
🎙️ On the “No Offseason” pod, Zena and Annie dive into Cloud and Freedom’s confrontation, one of the league’s growing number of distractions and controversies. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
MVP Race: What will it come down to?
Every day the race for the 2026 WNBA MVP adds another layer.
Last week when we discussed it on the podcast, Sabreena and I were divided on who had the edge. I felt like Caitlin Clark’s playmaking gave her the advantage in discussions, while Sabreena had Olivia Miles atop her ballot because of her role in the Lynx dominance.
But in the week since, the debate has taken another turn, and you all have unabashedly weighed in.
Kelsey Mitchell has extended her record-setting 20-plus-point scoring streak to 23 games after dropping 25 against the Liberty and then 30 against the Sky in back-to-back games. Clark, meanwhile, had 21 points and seven assists against the Liberty, and then turned around and had a double-double with 37 points and 10 assists against the Sky. Paige Bueckers and Breanna Stewart both have their teams back on the upswing after lineup changes.
While Clark and Mitchell are both putting together MVP-caliber seasons on the offensive end, nobody’s game is more complete on both ends of the floor than Aces forward A’ja Wilson. This award is probably still Wilson’s to lose, even with all of the guards vying for the top spot.
Unlike some years past, this season’s MVP will be highly debated until the last day possible. So let’s enjoy the debate, shall we! Tell us who you think has earned the MVP nod this season and why at NoOffseason@theathletic.com.
Mascots, Again! Three mascots join the league
Not one, not two, but three WNBA mascots debuted last week: Dez and Dot for the Toronto Tempo, and Rose for the Portland Fire.
The Tempo’s mascots are an interesting play on the tortoise and the hare. Per the team’s news release: “A reminder that knowing when to change pace can be just as important as the pace itself.”
Rose, the glitter-breathing dragon, resembles some of the more feminine-presenting mascots to appear in recent seasons, including Ellie (Liberty), Violet (Valkyries) and Skye (Sky).
Personally, I (Sabreena) love that WNBA teams are embracing storytelling on a deeper level and giving their fans more ways to connect with the brand of each franchise. Sports are supposed to be fun; let’s celebrate the silliness as much as we can.
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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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