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USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
4 overlooked early WNBA MVP candidates, including Aliyah Boston
4 overlooked early WNBA MVP candidates, including Aliyah Boston Las Vegas Aces forward A'ja Wilson has won three of the last five WNBA MVP awards, including last year's honor. Could her reign come to an end in 2025 at the hands of someone unsuspecting? Wilson had a history-breaking year in 2024. She had the WNBA and NBA's first 1,000-point season and led the league in rebounds and blocks, leaving any perceived competition in the dust. However, pulling off that kind of feat again in 2025 might be tough, and if you haven't been paying attention, there are already players quietly putting together early MVP cases to unseat Wilson. Before the season even began, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark led the MVP odds. She backed up the early chatter by starting the year with a triple-double. However, Clark isn't the name you want to watch during the early parts of this season's race. It's her Fever teammate, forward/center Aliyah Boston, who leads a group of overlooked candidates. 4 overlooked WNBA MVP candidates for 2025 4. Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever Boston is quietly stringing together MVP-level performances. She has looked calm and composed operating within the paint now that forward Natasha Howard is next to her and Clark is finding her in critical moments. (Out of the 37 assists the Indiana guard has made through four games of action, 19 have gone to Boston. That's just over 50 percent of Clark's distribution.) It's allowed her to play a lot more freely, and that's produced some early dividends. The former South Carolina product has four games of at least 63 percent shooting or better from the field, including two double-doubles of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. She also leads the league in blocks with 11 as of this publication and is also fifth in the league in total rebounds. That's what the kids call cooking. 3. Kelsey Plum, Los Angeles Sparks The Sparks are experiencing a slew of injuries right now. Center Cameron Brink, who injured her ACL last June, is still out. Forward Rae Burrell is out until late June (possibly early July) with a right knee injury. Not to mention, forward Rickea Jackson and guard Julie Allemand also popped up on the status report for injuries, too. Who picks up the slack when that sort of thing happens? Veteran Kelsey Plum. Plum opened her Sparks tenure with a 37-point outing against the poor Golden State Valkyries, who were just trying to launch their new franchise. She followed it up with five performances of 16 points or more, including three stat lines of 25 points or more. Plum's averaging 25.2 points and 5.5 points plus 2.7 steals through six games. Additionally, she leads the league in total points, made 3 pointers, and steals. Plum is also top-five in total assists. The question now becomes: can she sustain this sort of production? 2. Nneka Ogwumike, Seattle Storm Nneka Ogwumike won the WNBA MVP in 2016 and was in the MVP conversation last season, largely for being the unsung hero of the Seattle Storm. The former Stanford Cardinal landing on this list shouldn't come as a surprise. Ogwumike is ever-steady and often produces stat lines that are seemingly unsuspecting until you turn on the tape. What stands out the most about her game is her efficiency and ability to exploit matchups. She has no problem going against some of the best post players in the WNBA, like A'ja Wilson or Alyssa Thomas, en route to stat lines of 20-plus points and five-plus rebounds. She's nearly averaging a double-double (18.6 points and 9.8 rebounds) of 54.7 percent shooting from the field so far this season and isn't showing any signs of slowing down. 1. Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream Perhaps the deepest sleeper on this list is Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray. Under new head coach Karl Smesko, Gray has been money from 3-point range. She's currently shooting a blistering 45.5 percent from behind the arc while being second in the league in made three pointers (just behind Kelsey Plum). She's also third in total points. Gray has been most dangerous in catch-and-shoot situations. Her release is often so fast (Smesko's pace and five-out style of offense helps that) that teams are often late to react. The shooting guard has been in double digits through all six matchups the Dream have played and has been the leading scorer in three of those games. In other words, she's been a force, and her current average of 20.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and five assists doesn't appear to be a fluke. What happens after starting point guard Jordin Canada returns from a knee injury will be the real test.
USA Today
27-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Chicago Sky vs. Phoenix Mercury: TV channel, time and how to watch Tuesday's game
Chicago Sky vs. Phoenix Mercury: TV channel, time and how to watch Tuesday's game Show Caption Hide Caption Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith are back together again in Chicago USAT's Meghan Hall joins Sports Seriously's Mackenzie Salmon to talk about the duo in Chicago that is Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith. Sports Seriously After a day off for Memorial Day, the WNBA is back in action on Tuesday night with a five-game slate. One of those games is the first meeting of the season between the Chicago Sky and Phoenix Mercury, two teams who faced off in the 2021 WNBA Finals. The rosters look very different now from how they did then, with stars Candace Parker and Diana Taurasi having retired, and longtime Mercury star Brittney Griner signing with the Atlanta Dream as a free agent this offseason. Now, the Sky feature younger stars like Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, while the Mercury brought in Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas in the offseason. Here's what to know about the Sky vs. Mercury game Tuesday night: ANGEL REESE: Sky star responds to WNBA hate speech investigation: 'No place' for racism WNBA MVP ODDS: Power ranking early-season favorites What time is Sky vs. Mercury? The Sky and Mercury's first clash of 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday, May 27 at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) in Phoenix. How to watch Sky vs. Mercury: TV, stream Time: 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) Location: PHX Arena in Phoenix PHX Arena in Phoenix Local TV: WCIU, The U (Chicago) | AZFamily 3TV CBS 5 (Phoenix) WCIU, The U (Chicago) | AZFamily 3TV CBS 5 (Phoenix) Stream: WNBA League Pass (subscription required) Local fans can watch on affiliated cable channels, while out-of-market fans can tune in via WNBA League Pass or YouTube TV.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark's injury means there is a new WNBA MVP favorite
The Indiana Fever announced Monday that superstar Caitlin Clark would miss at least two weeks with a left quad strain, an injury that will sideline her for at least four games. She will be re-evaluated at that time. Clark entered the season as the betting favorite to win the 2025 WNBA MVP at BetMGM and was the odds-on favorite with -115 odds on Monday before the injury. After the injury was announced, oddsmakers moved Clark out to +250 (second-best odds) and made Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier the new MVP favorite, moving her odds from +160 to -175. After helping the Lynx to the WNBA Finals last season, Collier is leading the WNBA in scoring at 29.5 points per game and Minnesota is 4-0. Collier is a four-time All-Star and two-time All-WNBA performer. Clark is averaging 19 points, 9.3 assists and 6 rebounds in four games this season, similar numbers to her outstanding rookie season in 2024 when she won WNBA Rookie of the Year. The Fever are 2-2 so far this year. Bettors have been backing Clark to win MVP at BetMGM, as she has more than half of all the wagers (51.9%) and total dollars wagered (62.9%) to win the award. She is the sportsbook's biggest liability to win, which will be tougher after missing this upcoming stretch of games.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark's injury means there is a new WNBA MVP favorite
The Indiana Fever announced Monday that superstar Caitlin Clark would miss at least two weeks with a left quad strain, an injury that will sideline her for at least four games. She will be re-evaluated at that time. Clark entered the season as the betting favorite to win the 2025 WNBA MVP at BetMGM and was the odds-on favorite with -115 odds on Monday before the injury. After the injury was announced, oddsmakers moved Clark out to +250 (second-best odds) and made Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier the new MVP favorite, moving her odds from +160 to -175. Advertisement After helping the Lynx to the WNBA Finals last season, Collier is leading the WNBA in scoring at 29.5 points per game and Minnesota is 4-0. Collier is a four-time All-Star and two-time All-WNBA performer. Clark is averaging 19 points, 9.3 assists and 6 rebounds in four games this season, similar numbers to her outstanding rookie season in 2024 when she won WNBA Rookie of the Year. The Fever are 2-2 so far this year. Bettors have been backing Clark to win MVP at BetMGM, as she has more than half of all the wagers (51.9%) and total dollars wagered (62.9%) to win the award. She is the sportsbook's biggest liability to win, which will be tougher after missing this upcoming stretch of games.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark was all business with her arrival for Year 2 in the WNBA
Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark has arrived for year two in the WNBA. There are a lot of expectations for Clark as she enters her sophomore season in the league. Will she win WNBA MVP? Will the Fever win a title? While all of those are reasonable conversations and much of the chatter will be focused on those topics, what people should really be talking about are Clark's impending fits for the tunnel walks. The former Iowa legend opened year two in the WNBA by quite literally dressing all business. Clark pulled up to the Fever's Saturday matchup with the Chicago Sky rocking a lovely suit, a pair of low heels and an awesome bag to tie it all together. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but with Caitlin Clark, we wouldn't be shocked that this was intentional to set the tone for the season. Caitlin Clark has arrived 🤩The 2024 WNBA ROTY is ready to kick off her sophomore campaign vs. the Chicago Sky at 3pm/ET on ABC! — WNBA (@WNBA) May 17, 2025 View this post on Instagram A post shared by Indiana Fever (@indianafever) We're totally here for the power suits, Caitlin Clark. This article originally appeared on For The Win: Caitlin Clark was all business with her arrival for Year 2 in the WNBA
