Early WNBA season storylines: a brilliant rookie and the unstoppable Clark-Reese rivalry

The Guardian

5 hours ago

The WNBA regular season won't conclude until September, which means there's still a lot that can (and will) transpire between now and then. But for now, let's take a look at the stories that have shaped the 2025 season so far.
This year's period of free agency was marked by trades and moves that changed the face of several franchises, including Los Angeles and Phoenix. So far, it's clear both teams made the right decisions. The Sparks brought in Kelsey Plum from Las Vegas, and she immediately hit the ground running with a monster of an opening night on 16 May. She scored 37 points, the most by any Sparks player on their debut, and the most by any WNBA player in a season-opening game.
The Mercury, meanwhile, were part of a four-team trade that brought Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas to Phoenix. In their opening game, the pair combined for 47 points for the Mercury, and Sabally set a new franchise record for a home opener. There are caveats: Sabally in particular has struggled with injury during her career, and all three players must remain healthy to give their teams a shot at contending. But the early returns are promising.
Clark and Reese have been getting a lot of attention since they entered the league last season amid great fanfare after their play – and rivalry – had lit up college basketball. They had understandable early struggles in 2024 as they adapted to the physical and mental demands of the professional game. But it says much about their development that Clark and Reese are now the youngest and second-youngest players respectively to have recorded an WNBA triple-double.
Of course, much of the discourse around the pair has been about their relationship rather than their playing ability. Things between the two (and their fanbases) reached a boiling point during the Fever-Sky game on 17 May. They were caught up in a third-quarter explosion that resulted in technical fouls being called against both players. Despite the fact that Clark and Reese insisted the incident was typical basketball, the story became fodder for talkshows, trolls and keyboard warriors, and inevitably drew in the kind of dismal bigotry, racism and misogyny that all too often characterizes debate around the pair.
So, is the true rivalry between Reese and Clark or their various fanbases? However dubious its origins, the rivalry looks like it will continue to simmer this season, for good or for ill.
In late May, Indiana Fever fans were rocked by the news that Clark had injured her left quadriceps and would miss at least two weeks. She showed up as a constant sideline presence during her time away from the hardwood, but the Fever suffered tough losses alongside a few wins.
The injury wasn't just a blow to the Fever and their fans, it hit the league too. Nationally televised WNBA viewership was down 55% before Clark returned to the court this past weekend. That raises serious questions for the league. Yes, Clark has been great for the WNBA, but the dip shows the league needs to work on expanding its audience beyond fans who just tune in to see Clark work her magic. The good news is that attendances are up across the league in longer-term trends, showing fans have an appetite for women's basketball beyond Clark. And ratings dips are not just a problem for the WNBA: look at how audiences are down for this year's Pacers v Thunder NBA finals due to an absence of big-market teams, even if the basketball has been compelling. But it's a reminder that the WNBA can't build it's foundations on just on player.
As for Clark herself, when she did return, against the New York Liberty on Saturday, she reminded us of what we had been missing. She put on quite a show, hitting three three-pointers in 38 seconds and coming away from the game with 32 points, nine assists and eight rebounds after 19 days away from the court.
The game also resulted in the Liberty's first loss of the season. With the win, Clark put the entire league on notice – not only is she back, but the Fever are still laser-focused on the team's goal of winning a championship this season.
This year's rookie class was headlined by Paige Bueckers, who was drafted as the No 1 overall pick by the Dallas Wings, but it's two other first-year players who are really standing out. Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen were drafted by the Washington Mystics at No 3 and No 4 respectively, and both look to be powerhouse players with high ceilings.
The duo combined for 33 points in their debut in May, and to date, Iriafen is averaging close to a double-double with 13.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. She's also shooting 50.4% from the field with a free-throw percentage of 85.0%. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if Iriafen walks away with the rookie of the year title many had assumed would go to Bueckers with little fight.
The Valkyries are the first expansion team in the WNBA since the Atlanta Dream in 2008, and expectations for the new kids on the block had been relatively low. But Golden State have defied those who assumed the team would spend this season tanking. Though the Valkyries lost their first game heavily, 84-67, it was played in front of a sell-out crowd of 18,064 people, a new record for a WNBA debut. (The Dream played their own home opener in front of 11,609 fans in 2008.)
Things have only got better since then. The Valkyries are on a three-game winning streak, including a 27-point drubbing of Las Vegas, the and are the fastest expansion team to reach five wins. If Golden State keep this up, they will redefine what success looks like for an expansion team.
Not every story this season is a victory, and three teams are struggling more than most. That the Sun sit bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 2-8 record isn't the biggest surprise, especially since the team saw the departure of their entire starting roster before the beginning of the season. The Chicago Sky (3-7) are also having a difficult year, fueled by team chemistry that hasn't quite come together. They've also had to deal with the loss of veteran guard Courtney Vandersloot, who will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
But the biggest surprise of them all is what's going on with the Aces. Plum's departure was a huge blow, and though A'ja Wilson was putting in the type of performance we've all come to expect from her before her head injury this month, she can't do everything – and no one has stepped up in her absence. The Aces are third from bottom of the Western Conference with a 5-5 record, although of the three teams mentioned above, the Aces have the best shot at turning things around, simply because they've been consistently excellent in recent years. Notably, Las Vegas have been operating without a GM since last October, and perhaps the first step toward turning things around would be to appoint someone who can lead the front office.