Latest news with #WNBADraft
Reuters
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Star rookie Paige Bueckers back in action for Wings
June 12 - Wings rookie standout Paige Bueckers will return from a four-game absence when Dallas visits the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday night. Bueckers missed three games due to a concussion and another because of an illness. Bueckers was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft after being a college star at UConn, where she was a three-time first-team All-American and also won one national championship (2025) and one national player of the year honor (2021). She has averaged 14.7 points, 6.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds in six games for Dallas. Bueckers last played on May 29 when the Wings lost 97-92 to the Chicago Sky. She had 15 points, eight assists, five rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Dallas has a 1-9 record, which ranks last in the 13-team league. --Field Level Media
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
WNBA's 'Line ‘Em Up" initiative has league's three-point line installed at outdoor courts around the country
Bethany Donaphin, a former player and now the head of league operations for the WNBA, remembers what it was like to grow up in New York City in the 1990s loving basketball. As a tween she would make it a point during recess to play basketball out on the blacktop. Donaphin was always the only girl playing, something that looking back was a bold choice. It was a decision that took a ton of confidence and a boat load of risk to participate in a situation where she was the only girl. It took a lot of guts for a 12-year-old Donaphin to want to set herself apart, especially at a time when most girls are looking to fit in. Advertisement Donaphin's early memories resonate for many former and current WNBA players. This idea that young girls always had something to prove and were underestimated when they stepped onto an outdoor court in a park or blacktop at school has been the inescapable reality, the status quo. This summer the WNBA is looking to challenge that common experience with the launch of their new nationwide initiative 'Line 'Em Up,' which will paint the official WNBA three-point line on outdoor park basketball courts across the United States. The league will launch this officially in New York on Thursday at the outdoor courts of Brooklyn Bridge Park, and later in July the league will take the campaign to Indianapolis for WNBA All-Star Weekend. 'This is so necessary in order to represent the league in spaces that are iconic,' WNBA Chief Marketing Officer Phil Cook told NBC Sports about the initiative. 'There's not a basketball player in the world who hasn't spent some time dribbling on an outdoor space, and we, [the WNBA] belong in that space. And women, young women, have been going to the park for as long as park basketball has been happening. They just haven't had their representation in that space.' The program has been teased by WNBA players including Atlanta Dream star Allisha Gray, Lynx point guard Courtney Williams, Phoenix Mercury point-forward Alyssa Thomas and Sparks sophomore wing Rickea Jackson in addition to personalities associated with the league including GMA's Robin Roberts and ESPN's Arielle Chambers. Last week on Instagram the teases included photos of a mysterious looking blue background which included a bright orange curved line. Advertisement Last July at WNBA All-Star in Phoenix was when Cook and his team began having conversations about how the WNBA could lay down its legacy in a tangible and more vibrant way. How could the league create something that's representative and 'replicable' but also represents the work the league has done to grow the game of basketball for women, girls and nonbinary people on a larger scale? Over breakfast in Phoenix, Cook and his staff discussed how the league could pursue a project that wouldn't just last during tentpole events including the WNBA Draft, the WNBA All-Star Game, the Commisioner's Cup, the playoffs and WNBA Finals. The league was looking for something permanent. The league enlisted the independent creative marketing company JOAN to come up with a campaign that could represent the ways in which the WNBA has attempted to challenge the status quo, grow the game and encourage empowerment of girls and young people everywhere. Representatives from the marketing agency came back to Cook and his team with the idea to paint a WNBA three-point line on outdoor courts at parks across the country working in conjunction with different cities and parks and recreation departments. Advertisement 'It's a very simple replicable idea that we hope every single outdoor park across the country, and every driveway across the country chalks up their three point line in orange chalk,' Cook said. Beyond New York City and Indianapolis as the first two major places to get these new orange three-point lines, Cook sees a huge opportunity for the league's two upcoming expansion cities in Toronto and Portland to get involved in the campaign. All of the league's current 13 teams including the newest in the Golden State Valkyries have been briefed on the campaign and how they can look to execute painting orange three-point lines in parks within their local communities. As part of the campaign, the league will make a donation to each park that participates in painting an orange three-point line on their courts. To accompany the WNBA's launch of the 'Line 'Em Up' campaign, the league enlisted Korean-Canadian director Iris Kim to create a film that would introduce the program and illustrate the need for orange WNBA three-point lines across the country. The nearly four-minute video includes shots of some of the most famous outdoor parks in the country including Rucker Park in Harlem, Venice Beach in Los Angeles, and two other New York City parks in Dykman and The Cage. Later the film introduces former players Epiphanny Prince, Chamique Holdsclaw and Sue Bird in addition to current Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles, who traveled to New York during Sun training camp to be a part of the film. The four native New Yorkers explain what it was like growing up and playing on outdoor courts and the challenges that came with often being some of only young women. Advertisement 'Growing up in Queens, NY at that time, it was really hard to be a female to get on the court,' Charles said in the film. 'I know I had something to prove. We've all been through it. All the greats, all the ones that you're fans of.' And that includes Holdsclaw who told the story of how she used to hustle all the guys who underestimated her. The film also features two New York community leaders in Sharon Bond and Alex Taylor who have both founded and led organizations that try to encourage participation in basketball for women and girls. Both Bond and Taylor explain that having the new orange three-point line painted on outdoor courts is boon for representation and it sends the message that women and girls are wanted in these spaces. Bird ends the film by stating the mission statement of the entire campaign, which is that the next generation of players won't know a world without a WNBA orange three-point line painted across America. The campaign represents the very fact that the WNBA has become more mainstream and more accessible in the past few years. The league isn't distant and it's much easier now more than ever to understand that the WNBA isn't going anywhere and will be an institution that stands the test of time. Advertisement Donaphin thinks about what it would have been like if she had an orange three-point line to accompany her during those days when she was working hard on her game and often the only girl out there doing it. 'If I had had an orange line while I was going through that process, I think it would have given not just me, but the other kids around me, an understanding that, yeah, what I was doing was completely part of of what any person would do if they if they love something,' Donaphin told NBC Sports. 'And that there was a place for me there.' Check out the new 'Line 'Em Up' website and see if the WNBA's three-point line is coming to a court near you.
NBC Sports
09-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
WNBA's 'Line ‘Em Up" initiative has league's three-point line installed at outdoor courts around the country
Bethany Donaphin, a former player and now the head of league operations for the WNBA, remembers what it was like to grow up in New York City in the 1990s loving basketball. As a tween she would make it a point during recess to play basketball out on the blacktop. Donaphin was always the only girl playing, something that looking back was a bold choice. It was a decision that took a ton of confidence and a boat load of risk to participate in a situation where she was the only girl. It took a lot of guts for a 12-year-old Donaphin to want to set herself apart, especially at a time when most girls are looking to fit in. Donaphin's early memories resonate for many former and current WNBA players. This idea that young girls always had something to prove and were underestimated when they stepped onto an outdoor court in a park or blacktop at school has been the inescapable reality, the status quo. This summer the WNBA is looking to challenge that common experience with the launch of their new nationwide initiative 'Line 'Em Up,' which will paint the official WNBA three-point line on outdoor park basketball courts across the United States. The league will launch this officially in New York on Thursday at the outdoor courts of Brooklyn Bridge Park, and later in July the league will take the campaign to Indianapolis for WNBA All-Star Weekend. 'This is so necessary in order to represent the league in spaces that are iconic,' WNBA Chief Marketing Officer Phil Cook told NBC Sports about the initiative. 'There's not a basketball player in the world who hasn't spent some time dribbling on an outdoor space, and we, [the WNBA] belong in that space. And women, young women, have been going to the park for as long as park basketball has been happening. They just haven't had their representation in that space.' The program has been teased by WNBA players including Atlanta Dream star Allisha Gray, Lynx point guard Courtney Williams, Phoenix Mercury point-forward Alyssa Thomas and Sparks sophomore wing Rickea Jackson in addition to personalities associated with the league including GMA's Robin Roberts and ESPN's Arielle Chambers. Last week on Instagram the teases included photos of a mysterious looking blue background which included a bright orange curved line. Last July at WNBA All-Star in Phoenix was when Cook and his team began having conversations about how the WNBA could lay down its legacy in a tangible and more vibrant way. How could the league create something that's representative and 'replicable' but also represents the work the league has done to grow the game of basketball for women, girls and nonbinary people on a larger scale? Over breakfast in Phoenix, Cook and his staff discussed how the league could pursue a project that wouldn't just last during tentpole events including the WNBA Draft, the WNBA All-Star Game, the Commisioner's Cup, the playoffs and WNBA Finals. The league was looking for something permanent. The league enlisted the independent creative marketing company JOAN to come up with a campaign that could represent the ways in which the WNBA has attempted to challenge the status quo, grow the game and encourage empowerment of girls and young people everywhere. Representatives from the marketing agency came back to Cook and his team with the idea to paint a WNBA three-point line on outdoor courts at parks across the country working in conjunction with different cities and parks and recreation departments. 'It's a very simple replicable idea that we hope every single outdoor park across the country, and every driveway across the country chalks up their three point line in orange chalk,' Cook said. Beyond New York City and Indianapolis as the first two major places to get these new orange three-point lines, Cook sees a huge opportunity for the league's two upcoming expansion cities in Toronto and Portland to get involved in the campaign. All of the league's current 13 teams including the newest in the Golden State Valkyries have been briefed on the campaign and how they can look to execute painting orange three-point lines in parks within their local communities. As part of the campaign, the league will make a donation to each park that participates in painting an orange three-point line on their courts. To accompany the WNBA's launch of the 'Line 'Em Up' campaign, the league enlisted Korean-Canadian director Iris Kim to create a film that would introduce the program and illustrate the need for orange WNBA three-point lines across the country. The nearly four-minute video includes shots of some of the most famous outdoor parks in the country including Rucker Park in Harlem, Venice Beach in Los Angeles, and two other New York City parks in Dykman and The Cage. Later the film introduces former players Epiphanny Prince, Chamique Holdsclaw and Sue Bird in addition to current Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles, who traveled to New York during Sun training camp to be a part of the film. The four native New Yorkers explain what it was like growing up and playing on outdoor courts and the challenges that came with often being some of only young women. 'Growing up in Queens, NY at that time, it was really hard to be a female to get on the court,' Charles said in the film. 'I know I had something to prove. We've all been through it. All the greats, all the ones that you're fans of.' And that includes Holdsclaw who told the story of how she used to hustle all the guys who underestimated her. The film also features two New York community leaders in Sharon Bond and Alex Taylor who have both founded and led organizations that try to encourage participation in basketball for women and girls. Both Bond and Taylor explain that having the new orange three-point line painted on outdoor courts is boon for representation and it sends the message that women and girls are wanted in these spaces. Bird ends the film by stating the mission statement of the entire campaign, which is that the next generation of players won't know a world without a WNBA orange three-point line painted across America. The campaign represents the very fact that the WNBA has become more mainstream and more accessible in the past few years. The league isn't distant and it's much easier now more than ever to understand that the WNBA isn't going anywhere and will be an institution that stands the test of time. Donaphin thinks about what it would have been like if she had an orange three-point line to accompany her during those days when she was working hard on her game and often the only girl out there doing it. 'If I had had an orange line while I was going through that process, I think it would have given not just me, but the other kids around me, an understanding that, yeah, what I was doing was completely part of of what any person would do if they if they love something,' Donaphin told NBC Sports. 'And that there was a place for me there.'
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Here's a WNBA tip: Put every Caitlin Clark game on national television
Cris Collinsworth delivered a mountain of sports television truthfulness a couple of years ago during an appearance on 'The Dan Patrick Show.' The show's host asked the NBC Sunday Night Football analyst an insightful question about the relationship between networks airing Dallas Cowboys games and the Cowboys' actual performance. 'If NBC has their choice, we would do 17 Cowboys games,' Collinsworth admitted. 'I'm not kidding. It doesn't even matter what their record is. They could be 4-6, we would take them. It's insanity, but it's true. They draw the ratings.' Advertisement The WNBA also has its own viewership unicorn, except it's a singular player versus a team. The league's viewers cannot get enough of Caitlin Clark. Here are the facts: The WNBA had 22 regular-season games last year that averaged more than 1 million viewers — the first time since 2008 that a WNBA game topped 1 million viewers. If you add in the WNBA All-Star Game and the WNBA Draft, that makes 24 WNBA events that topped 1 million viewers during the 2024 calendar year. Clark was part 21 of those 24 windows, per Sports Media Watch. And last year, six different WNBA television partners set viewership records for their highest WNBA game. All six involved the Fever. On to 2025. The WNBA's first nationally televised exhibition game, which featured Clark returning to Iowa as a member of the Fever against Brazil's national team on May 4, averaged 1.3 million viewers on ESPN. Only two of ESPN's 57 NBA preseason games since 2010 have drawn a higher audience, according to Flora Kelly, ESPN's vice president of research. Both games featured LeBron James, including a 2017 preseason game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls (1.4 million viewers) and a 2018 preseason game between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers (2 million viewers). Advertisement Look, it's OK to acknowledge it. The WNBA has transcendent basketball players such as reigning MVP A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart of the defending champion New York Liberty. But when it comes to public interest, one star rises above all, and she wears No. 22 for the Indiana Fever. Her coach, Stephanie White, called the interest in Clark 'Taylor Swift 2.0.' The league seems to have recognized this and should make no apologies for it. The Fever are featured on national television in 41 of their 44 regular-season games, the most for a single team in WNBA history. Five Fever games will air on ABC, five on ESPN, eight on ION, six on Prime Video, three on the CBS Network, four on CBS Sports Network and 10 on NBA TV. But I would go further. I would flex the three remaining games not currently scheduled for national television (June 10 versus the Atlanta Dream, July 5 against the Los Angeles Sparks, and July 30 against the Phoenix Mercury) into national television dates. Every network should be interested. A WNBA spokesperson confirmed to that no restrictions would prevent non-nationally televised games from becoming nationally televised. If the Fever stay healthy, the roster suggests they will be one of the top teams in the league. (I'm going to be bold and predict they win 12 of their first 14 games.) The Fever are +300 (3-to-1) odds to win the WNBA title on BetMGM, behind just the Liberty and Aces. Clark is the preseason betting favorite to win the league's MVP at +195 (which, as a straight bet, means a win would be $19.50 on a $10 wager). Advertisement Clark helps the league bring in casual fans, which is how sports leagues grow. The more people see the Fever, the higher the league's viewership average. The higher the viewership averages, the more power the players possess in collective bargaining. It helps everyone. The Aces will appear on 33 national broadcasts, and the Liberty will have 32. The league should do everything in its power to nationalize as many games as possible with teams of interest. If other franchises complain, whatever. Think the NFL cares if the Jaguars complain that the Cowboys and Chiefs get more primetime games? Of course not. Which teams will open the 2025 NFL season? The Eagles and Cowboys (who were 7-10 last year) will play on Sept. 4 on NBC and Peacock. Tim Corrigan, ESPN's senior vice president of sports production, said from a network perspective, any flex games picked up would come from a combination of a network's programming department and the league coming together. But fundamentally, ESPN would certainly be interested in adding any games of interest. 'The flex scheduling we did on the NBA this year, I believe, was the most we'd ever done,' Corrigan said. 'I would hope that we would be equally ambitious with the WNBA because that's what people want to see. You want to be where the story is, right?' Advertisement The players are also well aware when they are in a showcase slot. 'As a competitor, you know that you're on national TV, but it shouldn't change where you play,' said Sparks guard Kelsey Plum. 'I think that it's definitely fun to be in those big games, especially prime time ABC or CBS. The Sunday games are always super fun. Like that 3 o'clock tip, no shoot around, just get up, eat some breakfast and go play. Those are really fun.' Some additional broadcast notes heading into the WNBA season opening on Friday: • The league has 13 regular-season games airing on ABC, the most ever on that network. ABC will broadcast Saturday's opening-weekend doubleheader, featuring the Aces-Liberty (and the ring ceremony) at 1 p.m. ET and the Sky-Fever at 3 p.m. ET. I think the Sky-Fever will set a new viewership record for the most-watched WNBA regular season game on ABC. The record is less than a year old (2.23 million for the Storm at Fever on Aug. 18). Advertisement • I'm interested to see the viewership for the first primetime WNBA regular-season games on broadcast television. CBS will air the Sky against the Fever on June 7 and August 9 in primetime. CBS Sports' overall coverage features 20 total games. • ESPN added a second 'WNBA Countdown' studio show for game coverage. Elle Duncan, Chiney Ogwumike and Andraya Carter will front 'Countdown' for ABC broadcasts, and the ESPN edition (based in Los Angeles) features Malika Andrews, Monica McNutt and Carolyn Peck, as well as Ogwumike and Carter. Christine Williamson will also host for ESPN. The company has a WNBA Hoop Streams social and digital pregame show. 'We're coming into this year from such a good space from where we were last year, given all the interest,' said Corrigan. 'The draft from a month ago was the second-highest rated draft that we've had. The sport is ascending, as we all know. We are taking a broader, bigger approach, with more resources, both in the studio and in the game. We've never had more resources on the WNBA.' • Amazon Prime Video will exclusively stream the WNBA Commissioner's Cup championship game in addition to 20 other games. NBA TV has a 40-game WNBA schedule. WNBA League Pass will stream over 200 live, out-of-market games for the 2025 season. Advertisement • A viewership number to keep in mind: 2.15 million viewers. That was the Game 5 WNBA Finals viewership for the Liberty's win over the Lynx in an overtime thriller. It was the most-viewed WNBA Finals game in 25 years and peaked with 3.3 million viewers. The four-game WNBA Finals in 2023 between the Aces and Liberty averaged 728,000 viewers. • Signature matchups: The Liberty and Aces will play three times (May 17, July 8 and Aug. 13), with all of those games airing on ABC or ESPN. The Lynx play the Liberty four times in a rematch of last year's finals. Those games will air on ESPN (8 p.m. ET on July 30), ABC (12:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 10), CBS Network (2 p.m. ET on Aug. 16) and NBA TV (7 p.m. ET on Aug. 19). • Will ESPN add a women's basketball-specific daily studio show during the WNBA season? Corrigan said: 'It's a really fair question, especially now, where the sport is. Here's a great thing for us: As the WNBA extends out to L.A. with our studio show, we have our daily 'NBA Today' show out there, and we are going to be able to put WNBA in that show a lot as we follow big stories. We have an hour every day to dive into what matters in professional basketball, so you'll see the WNBA represented more on 'NBA Today' because they are in season, and there's going to be great storylines that we can follow. When people come in to play the Sparks, we're hoping to get WNBA players to come visit the set and be on the 'NBA Today' set.' This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Advertisement Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Seattle Storm, Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Indiana Fever, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, Golden State Valkyries, WNBA, Sports Business, Opinion 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ballarat to the big time: Aussie draftee's WNBA delight
Diminutive Australian guard Georgia Amoore has pledged to bring some competitive "dog" to the Washington Mystics after being selected at pick six in the WNBA Draft. The Mystics, with a new coach and general manager, had three of the first half-dozen picks on Monday (Tuesday AEST). They chose Sonia Citron at No.3, Kiki Iriafen at No.4 and University of Kentucky guard Amoore with the sixth selection. It was the earliest an Australian had been picked in a WNBA Draft since 2011, when Liz Cambage went to the Tulsa Shock at No.2. With the 6th pick of the WNBA Draft, the @WashMystics select Georgia Amoore! 2025 WNBA Draft presented by @StateFarm live on ESPN — WNBA (@WNBA) April 15, 2025 "For as long as people have called me too short I've been working on how to counteract that," said the 168cm Amoore. "It's not a shock to me. "I know that I have to work in different ways, use my brain a little bit more. "With my competitive background, I think I have a little bit of dog in me that's going to keep me fighting." Amoore was dressed on the WNBA's orange carpet by NBA star Russell Westbrook, who has a clothing brand called Honor The Gift. Amoore said Westbrook designed her outfit and was amazing to work with since they first got together on a Zoom session last November. Amoore hails from Ballarat and grew up playing a number of sports, including Australian Rules football, cricket, netball and taekwondo before switching her focus solely to basketball at the age of 17. The 24-year-old started 155 of 157 games over five college seasons in the US, averaging 19.6 points and 6.9 assists for Kentucky this season after transferring from Virginia Tech. Sounds like Georgia Amoore has a new bestie 😂@USWNT and @WashSpirit forward Trinity Rodman welcomed one of her biggest fans to the DMV! #WNBADraft | @StateFarm — WNBA (@WNBA) April 15, 2025 As expected, the much-hyped Paige Bueckers went to the Dallas Wings as the top pick. The versatile UConn star is the latest Huskies standout to go No.1, joining former greats Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart. "Dallas I'm so excited, a new city, a new start," Bueckers said. "A fresh start, so let's get it." Bueckers has had a whirlwind week since helping UConn win a 12th national championship on April 6. She has split her time between New York and Connecticut doing morning and nighttime talk shows. On Sunday, she took part in the Huskies' championship parade. Seattle quickly followed Dallas' selection by taking 19-year-old French centre Dominique Malonga with the No.2 pick. Malonga was part of the silver medal winning French Olympic basketball team. She's the first French player to be drafted this high since 1997, when Isabelle Fijalkowski went second. "I was so proud to achieve that goal," Malonga said. "It showed that French basketball has evolved as we've seen the past few years on the NBA side. We see Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) and Zaccharie (Risacher) show that French basketball is great." The expansion Golden State Valkyries took Juste Jocyte of Lithuania with the first draft choice in franchise history. with AP
