The Engine: Alyssa Thomas driving new-look Phoenix Mercury near the top of WNBA standings

NBC Sports

10 hours ago

PHOENIX — A marketing panel with Castrol landed Alyssa Thomas on a NASCAR hood.
While attending the panel at the WNBA All-Star game last month, Thomas was approached by the motor oil company about putting her image on a NASCAR for an upcoming race. The Phoenix Mercury star loved the idea and helped in the design process, leading to her face making a 168-lap trip around Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the hood of RFK Racing's No. 60 Castrol Ford, driven by Ryan Preece.
'It was a fitting pairing being that my nickname is The Engine,' Thomas said. 'Not too many people can say their face is on a car, let alone in a race, so it was a really cool experience.'
The Mercury had a lot of unknowns heading into the 2025 season after Diana Taurasi retired and Brittney Griner signed with the Atlanta Dream.
Thomas has been the driving force behind the Mercury's rise.
Fitting in perfectly in first-year coach Nate Tibbets' pace-and-space style, Thomas has been stuffing stat sheets while the Mercury have racked up wins. Entering Wednesday's games, Phoenix was fourth in the WNBA standings at 21-13 after finishing 19-21 a year ago.
'She's the ultimate winner, she's the ultimate competitor,' Tibbetts said. 'She wants to win at everything.'
Thomas was the three-time ACC player of the year at Maryland and an All-American her senior season before arriving in Connecticut in a draft-day trade with the New York Liberty in 2014. The 6-foot-2 forward spent her first 11 WNBA seasons with the Sun, twice leading them to the WNBA Finals while earning five All-Star nods. She's also made the all-WNBA team three times and the all-defensive team five times.
Thomas arrived in the desert via an offseason sign-and-trade deal as a key part of the Mercury's rebuilding, which includes fellow newcomer Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper, Phoenix's leading scorer a year ago.
'It was a decision that I made,' Thomas said. 'In speaking with Nate and Nick (U'ren), I just felt it was a perfect fit for me and my game, and off the court as well.'
Thomas has thrived.
Already the WNBA's leader in triple-doubles, she has added five more with the Mercury, including a WNBA-record three straight this month. Thomas has 20 of the 52 triple-doubles in WNBA history and her four this month match the most of any other WNBA player's career.
Thomas was named an All-Star for the sixth time in her first season with the Mercury and has become an MVP contender with some of the best numbers of her career. She's third in the WNBA with 8.6 rebounds per game and second on the Mercury at 16.1 points while shooting a career-high 54.3% from the floor.
Thomas' biggest impact in Tibbetts' offense may be her playmaking.
Despite having the size of an interior player, she's used her vision and court awareness to become the WNBA's most prolific distributing forward.
Thomas set the WNBA single-season record for assists with 316 in 2023 — broken by Caitlin Clark last season — and is seventh on the league's all-time assists list — the only forward in the top 10. While in Phoenix, she's nearly doubled her career assist average with a league-leading 9.0 this season — over five per game more than the next closest player.
'There's just so much space and I feel like it's a perfect fit for me,' Thomas said. 'It's been a long time since I've played with this many shooters.'
The Engine has been revving all season and is taking the Mercury with her.