Who will win the 2025 WNBA championship? Players make their predictions

New York Times

18-07-2025

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has emphasized rivalries as a method of growing the game almost from the moment she assumed her role, sometimes to her detriment. Regardless, the league and its media partners rely on rivalries to package games and generate excitement about particular matchups.
Look no further than a July 8 broadcast between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces that featured a complete introductory sequence of Breanna Stewart and A'ja Wilson's battles through the years, along with highlights from the teams' 2023 and 2024 playoff series. Rivalries are also why Indiana and Chicago are one of two pairings to meet five times this season — Atlanta-Connecticut is the other — while many teams meet each other only three times.
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Whether they're manufactured or the result of repeat postseason meetings, rivalries pervade the WNBA. We asked players to identify which rivalry they thought was the best in the league. We also asked players for their title pick. With any luck, the WNBA Finals could produce another installment of a great rivalry.
We've also asked players to share their thoughts on a range of topics within the league, including who they believe is the league's best player, where expansion should occur, who they consider the face of the league and which franchises they think are the best and worst.
Our reporters spoke to nearly 40 players from the start of the 2025 season. All 13 teams are represented, but none of the 30 rookies on rosters are included as the survey attempted to gather veterans' perspectives. The pool of players represents approximately one-third of the non-rookies in the league.
Players were granted anonymity to speak freely. They were also permitted to skip individual questions; as a result, each question shows the total number of responses for complete transparency.
Some recency bias was evident in these answers. After meeting in the 2024 WNBA Finals, New York and Minnesota were voted as the league's best rivalry, despite the two teams not having a postseason history before last year. Nevertheless, players believed that the competitiveness of that five-game series, combined with the Liberty and Lynx both starting this season 9-0, would produce worthy antagonists.
New York also factored into the second-place rivalry: Liberty versus Aces. The teams met in the 2023 Commissioner's Cup championship, the 2023 finals and in the second playoff round in 2024. Collectively, they have won the last three titles. There is also a longer rivalry at play between Stewart and Wilson, who have combined to win five of the previous seven titles (including Stewart's two in Seattle) and the last five MVP awards. Even after Stewart switched teams, the individual rivalry persists.
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That individual rivalry is what the WNBA hopes to stoke between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese after they famously faced off in the 2023 NCAA championship game. However, only four players named that as the league's best rivalry. The Las Vegas-Los Angeles matchup was the other one receiving multiple votes, given the teams' geographic proximity and the growing number of All-Stars who have played for both squads, including Candace Parker, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby.
'(Minnesota vs. New York because) of the finals last year.'
'After last year, they've got a rivalry.'
'Before, I would've said L.A.-Minnesota, but that was a while ago. Recently, New York-Vegas.'
Although this was a more straightforward question than most, several players refused to answer because they didn't want to speak another team's success into existence. Those who responded overwhelmingly favored the two teams in last year's final. However, the majority picked Minnesota to win after it came up just short in 2024.
The only other team to earn a mention was Phoenix. The Mercury enter the All-Star break third in the league standings, with wins over the Lynx and the Liberty.
'(The Lynx) are just trending well, and they have the league's best player.'
'Since they finished runner-up, I think they'll figure it out and not be the runner-up again. They should win.'
'I think they'll be driven and motivated from last year. Losing in the finals gives people a different kind of fire for the following season. We saw that with New York before.'
'(New York) because of (Jonquel Jones). She remains one of the league's most underrated players.'
— The Athletic's Chantel Jennings contributed to this report.
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photos of Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and WNBA trophy: Wendell Cruz / USA Today Network via Imagn Images, Chris Jones USA Today Network via Imagn Images, Elsa / Getty Images)