It’s been over a week since the Chicago Sky beat the Phoenix Mercury 3-1 in the WNBA Finals to win the franchise’s first championship, and the basketball buzz is still lingering.

The 2021 WNBA season felt special. Coming off of last year’s Wubble season — in which several star players opted out, teams played fewer regular season games and social justice issues loomed large amid a world-wide pandemic — this year tipped off on a much lighter note. There were buzzer-beating shots, budding rivalries, star performances, emerging young players, riveting social media exchanges, broken barriers and records, a season-long 25th anniversary celebration and growth in viewership and coverage, to name a few.

It was such a memorable season that I’m already thinking about next spring. So, I made a list.

Here are 10 things I’m looking forward to in the 2022 WNBA season.

1. The Chicago Sky-Phoenix Mercury rivalry

The WNBA Finals series between the Sky and the Mercury was chippy, to say the least. In addition to the physical and competitive play, the teams exchanged words and tweets, Kahleah Copper created a T-shirt and a door that Diana Taurasi reportedly broke in frustration after Game 4 made a special appearance on stage at the Sky’s championship celebration.

While there’s certainly mutual respect between players on both teams, the newly minted rivalry between the Sky and the Mercury is good for the league, which needs more like it on both a team and player level. The competition is also fun for the fans. Everyone is waiting to see where the broken door will show up next.

2. Free agency

The list of high-profile players entering free agency in 2022 is long: Jonquel Jones, Liz Cambage, Angel McCoughtry, Layshia Clarendon, Kahleah Copper, Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot, Jewell Loyd, Sylvia Fowles, Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird and Tina Charles. Come February, we could see shake-ups on WNBA rosters across the league.

Will Cambage re-sign with the Las Vegas Aces or go elsewhere after not winning a championship in two seasons? Will the Sky retain their core group of players and try to defend their title? Will Bird retire or play one more year in Seattle’s new home arena? Will Loyd look to sign with a different team and be the go-to player? By the time the WNBA tips off in 2022, all of these questions will have been addressed, and I can’t wait to find out the answers.

3. More WNBA apparel and merchandise

The lack of league, team and player apparel and merchandise has plagued the WNBA for years, despite increasing demand. This season, Nike introduced a triple set of new jerseys for every team that were a hit with players as much as they were with fans.

Quantity, however, remained an issue. With only certain player jerseys available for purchase, fans who wanted the jersey of a different player had to customize it at a higher cost. Grassroots apparel companies began taking matters into their own hands, creating their own WNBA-inspired T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants and other merchandise. And the league may finally be paying attention.

In late September, the WNBA announced a multi-year, nationwide retail distribution deal with Dick’s Sports Goods. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told The Athletic that the league is looking to increase the number of licenses it grants and is interested in working more with local artists, designers and lifestyle branding. Ideally, these steps lead to more available merchandise and apparel as the popularity and reach of the WNBA continues to grow. Maybe Nike will even come out with a new set of jerseys for the 2022 season.

4. More games on national television

For the past three regular seasons, the WNBA has added games on national television — 40 more as part of a new deal with CBS in 2019, 13 more across ESPN networks in 2020 and a total of 100 national broadcasts in 2021 — to expand its reach and exposure. And naturally, the bigger slates have had a positive effect.

The WNBA’s viewership during the 2021 regular season grew 49 percent over last year. The playoffs rated as the most-watched since 2014, and Finals ratings were at their highest levels since 2017. The best way for the league to continue to grow the fan base, by appealing to would-be fans, is to showcase the players and teams where they can easily be found on national television. The results speak for themselves.

5. The passing of the torch

The headlines around the Sky this season focused on Candace Parker’s homecoming and her quest to lead the Sky to their first WNBA championship. While Parker’s leadership was crucial to the Sky’s success, including Kahleah Copper’s, it was the 27-year-old who took home the Finals MVP award after leading Chicago with 17.7 points per game in the playoffs.

We’re at the point when Parker, Bird, Diana Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles and the rest of the WNBA’s older generation are set to pass the torch in the next couple of seasons. Copper winning Finals MVP is evidence of that. If you look around the league, there are young stars already carrying that mantle (Jonquel Jones, A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart) and others who are entering the upper echelon (Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd and Napheesa Collier). It will be exciting to see a whole new generation of players take the WNBA by storm.

6. The Atlanta Dream figuring it out

No team struggled with more turmoil on and off the court this year than the Dream did. Former head coach Nicki Collen left shortly before the start of the season to take over the women’s basketball program at Baylor. Assistant coach Mike Petersen filled the void in the interim before stepping down midseason, leaving Darius Taylor to assume the role the rest of the way.

Add in locker room feuds, Chennedy Carter’s suspension and months-long absence from the team, Courtney Williams’ brawl video and an 8-24 record, and it’s easy to see why Atlanta’s season was a disaster from start to finish. Still, there’s reason for hope.

A few weeks ago, the Dream hired Tanisha Wright to take over as head coach. Wright, a former player and assistant coach with the Aces, has the experience and relatability to make a positive impact on a team that is desperate for leadership and cohesiveness. Then on Monday, Atlanta named Dan Padover as general manager. In his three years in Las Vegas, Padover turned the Aces into a league powerhouse, winning back-to-back Executive of the Year awards in 2020 and 2021. He knows how to build a team, and the Dream will need his expertise with seven players on their roster set to hit unrestricted free agency.

With Wright and Padover in place, Taylor acting as assistant GM and young talent in Carter and Aari McDonald, Atlanta has a chance to turn things around in time for next season.

7. Young teams taking the next step

The New York Liberty (12-20) and the Dallas Wings (14-18), the two youngest teams in the league, each took steps forward this season. The Liberty made the playoffs for the first time since 2018 and the Wings since 2019. Both teams boast talented rosters and are poised for growth in 2022.

Dallas has no free agents, giving second-year coach Vickie Johnson the opportunity to build on this season’s success with the same group. New York is in a similar position with only two free agents on its roster. In 2021, the Wings and the Liberty lost close games that can be attributed to their youth. As they gain experience and learn from those mistakes, they could start contending with the best in the league.

8. Who’s up next?

The 2021 rookie class struggled to find its footing this season, with Michaela Onyenwere distancing herself enough with an average of 8.6 points and 2.9 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game to be the clear choice for Rookie of the Year.

Aari McDonald made the most of her 16 minutes per game on Atlanta’s guard-heavy roster, averaging 6.3 points and two assists for the Dream. New York’s Didi Rirchards emerged after the Olympic break, adding a more consistent 3-point shot to her stout on-ball defense. And Charli Collier, the No. 1 pick in 2021, continued to work on her game in Dallas. Still, there’s room for improvement among all of the 2021 rookies, and they’ll have a deep draft class to contend with in 2022.

Rhyne Howard (Kentucky), Naz Hillmon (Michigan), NaLyssa Smith (Baylor), Elissa Cunane (NC State), Ashley Joens (Iowa State), Christyn Williams (UConn), Rae Burell (Tennessee) and Shakira Austin (Ole Miss) are just a handful of seniors with WNBA potential to keep an eye on this college basketball season.

9. Reformatted playoffs

For the past few seasons, WNBA players and fans have been clamoring for a change to the current playoff format — which includes first- and second-round single-elimination games and best-of-five semifinals and Finals series. After every season, the WNBA Board of Governors gets together to review what worked and didn’t work that year. The playoff format may be on the docket this offseason.

While there’s a chance the league is open to turning the second round into a best-of-three series or cutting back on the number of teams that make the playoffs, nothing is certain. Other factors — including player obligations overseas, a crowded fall sports television market and travel issues — continue to pose a challenge. But, based on comments from players and coaches this year, the debate over the playoff format isn’t going away anytime soon.

10. More league-wide growth and positive changes

The WNBA has been trending upwards for the past few years and the momentum has never been more palpable. The question now is, how can the league continue to grow and build on that success?

Travel is one area the WNBA continues to grapple with. Commercial flights during the regular season, which are written into the league’s CBA for financial reasons, will always pose problems. But the league booked chartered flights for teams’ travel between Phoenix and Chicago for the Finals. It was a small step, but perhaps an indication of what might be possible in the future.

Attendance is another area in need of improvement. While overall viewership numbers have continued to rise, in-person attendance has fallen. In 2019, the league averaged about 6,500 fans per game. Average attendance in 2021 dipped to an average of 2,600. COVID-19 and more access to games via streaming services, social media apps and television have certainly played a part. Still, there are positive takeaways. The Sky sold out both of their home Finals games and the Mercury, Aces, Sky, Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx all recorded above-average attendance during the regular season, according to Across the Timeline. In 2022 — two years removed from COVID-19 — those number could continue to rise.

WNBA players also saw an increase in national endorsement deals this season. Rookie Kysre Gondrezick signed with adidas before she even appeared in her first WNBA game; Breanna Stewart inked a signature shoe deal and apparel line with Puma; Parker became the first WNBA player ever to grace the cover of NBA2K, and Jordan Brand signed 11 WNBA players to its 2021 roster. Having Bird and Sabrina Ionescu on a regular rotation of television commercials is also great for the league, though there are plenty of other players who deserve the same attention. The more player endorsements there are, the greater the WNBA’s visibility becomes.

Lyndsey D’Arcangelo is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports, covering the WNBA. She also contributes to The Athletic and is the co-author of Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League. Follow Lyndsey on Twitter @darcangel21.

Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, at a White House ceremony this afternoon. 

The Team USA standout is the most decorated women’s swimmer in the sport’s history. In addition to her seven Olympic golds, she’s also won a total of 21 gold medals at the World Championships, the most of any swimmer regardless of gender. 

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The esteemed award recognizes those who have "made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors," according to a White House press briefing. 

Ledecky is one of 19 medal recipients chosen by the Biden administration this year. She joins a class that spans the worlds of politics, sports, film, human rights, religion, and science. Her fellow 2024 awardees include Everything Everywhere All at Once actress Michelle Yeoh, pioneering Hispanic astronaut Dr. Ellen Ochoa, and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, plus posthumous winners Jim Thorpe, the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the US, and assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers. 

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and USWNT legend Megan Rapinoe were among 2022’s class of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients. Biles and Rapinoe were the fifth and sixth women athletes to be given the honor, making Ledecky the seventh.

After an illustrious career for both club and country, Gotham FC and U.S. Women’s National Team defender Kelley O’Hara announced today via Kelley on the Street that she will be retiring from professional soccer at the end of this year, making the 2024 NWSL season her last.

"I have always said I would play under two conditions: that I still love playing soccer, and if my body would let me do it the way I wanted to," O’Hara told Just Women’s Sports in the lead-up to her retirement announcement. "I realized a while back that I was always going to love it, so it was the physical piece that was going to be the deciding factor."

The 35-year-old will retire as a two-time World Cup champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and at least a two-time NWSL champion, depending on where Gotham finishes this season. Her legacy as a player is hard to fully encapsulate, and will forever run through some of the biggest snapshots in USWNT and NWSL history. 

In 2012, O’Hara played every minute of the USWNT’s Olympic gold medal run, after having recently converted into a defender. Her soaring goal off the bench in the 2015 World Cup semifinal is the stuff of legend. And her return from lingering injury to play in every knockout match of the national team’s 2019 World Cup win cemented a storybook international career. 

It was O’Hara who scored the overtime goal in 2021 to earn the Washington Spirit their first-ever NWSL championship, and O’Hara who returned to help see Gotham earn a title in 2023 after years spent in the trenches with the club’s previous iteration, Sky Blue. Her 15-year career spanned two professional women’s soccer leagues in the U.S. (she earned her first professional title in 2010 with WPS’s FC Gold Pride), as well as sweeping changes to the sport both on and off the pitch.

On the field, O’Hara has always been known for a motor that never quits, making the right flank her domain in attacking possession and defensive transition. In recent years, she’s also been celebrated for a competitive fire that raises the level of her teammates, whether she’s in the starting XI or supporting from the bench.

But injuries take a toll, a reality not always seen by the fans watching from home. "I've never taken anything for granted, and I feel like I've never coasted either," O’Hara said of her late-career success in the NWSL despite battling injuries. "I've always been like, 'I gotta put my best foot forward every single day I step on this field' — which is honestly probably half the reason why I'm having to retire now as opposed to getting a couple more years out of it. I've just grinded hard."

Recently, O’Hara has been sidelined at Gotham with ankle and knee injuries, and the situation motivated her to really prioritize listening to her body. "To get injured and come back, and get injured and come back, and just keep doing it, it really takes a toll on you.

"People don't see the doubt that's associated with injury,” she continued. "As athletes we feel a certain way, we perform a certain way, our body feels a certain way, we're very in tune with our bodies. And there's always so much doubt surrounding injury. It’s like, 'Can I feel the way I felt before?' The reality is sometimes you don't."

O’Hara didn’t arrive at the decision to move on from her playing career lightly. But once she began seriously considering making 2024 her final year during the last NWSL offseason, it felt right. "Once I was like, 'Alright, you know what, this will be my last year,' I have had a lot of peace with it," she said. "Truly the only thing I felt was gratitude for everything that my career has been, all the things I've been able to do and the people I've been able to do it with."

She said she’ll miss daily interactions with her teammates and all the amazing memories they’ve created, though she feels lucky to have formed relationships that go beyond sharing a locker room. "You're basically getting to hang out and just shoot the shit with your best friends every day," she reflected. "Which is so unheard of, and I just feel very lucky to do it for so long."

The Stanford graduate also mentioned that the NWSL’s suspension of regular season play in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic made her realize how much playing allowed her the space to simply be creative every day. The tactical elements of soccer provided O’Hara an outlet for problem solving and made use of her naturally competitive edge.

She’s now gearing up to channel her on-field intensity into her post-playing career full time, which is a new chapter she’s excited to begin. "I don't know if the world's ready for it, like the fact that I'm not going to be putting all of my energy into football all the time," she said with a laugh. 

O’Hara said she would like to stay connected to the game in some fashion, whether it be as an owner, coach, or member of a front office. She’s also interested in the growing media space surrounding women’s sports, having provided on-camera analysis for broadcasters like CBS Sports in addition to starting a production company with her fiancée.

"I just feel like I have a lot of passions, and things that excite me," she says. "And I do want to stay as close as I can to the game, because I feel a responsibility — and I'm not sure in what capacity — to continue to grow it."

A sense of responsibility to grow the game has been a consistent refrain for the USWNT and NWSL players of O’Hara’s era, who ushered in a new age of equal pay for the national team and collectively bargained protections for those in the league. The landscape for new players looks different than it did 14 years ago, in large part due to this pivotal generation.

"I feel an immense sense of pride around that, because I don't know if any of us knew that was gonna happen," she said. "We kind of, as things unfolded, took the next step towards changing what women's football looks like in this country and around the world.

"I'm really grateful to have been part of this era with the players that I was [with], not backing down and pushing and knowing that was the right thing to do."

Whatever the future holds, O’Hara is going ahead full throttle. It’s a piece of advice she’d also give to the next generation of professionals looking to make their own impact.

"Whatever you do in life, do it because you love it, and the chips will fall in place," she said. "If you love something, you're willing to do what it takes. You're willing to make the sacrifices, you're willing to handle the roller coaster.

"To me, it's simple. Don't do it for any other reason but that, and I think you'll be alright."

The Phoenix Mercury center spoke with Robin Roberts about her 10-month incarceration, reflecting on her poor living conditions and shaky mental state ahead of her May 7th memoir.

"The mattress had a huge blood stain on it. I had no soap, no toilet paper," Griner told the ABC News anchor in last night’s 20/20 special. "That was the moment where I just felt less than a human." 

She also detailed some of her lowest moments during that time, saying with tears in her eyes that she went so far as to consider taking her own life on more than one occasion. However, the thought of Russian officials not releasing her body back to her family made her reconsider.

"I just didn't think I could get through what I needed to get through," said Griner.

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In February 2022, Griner was arrested and charged with drug possession and smuggling by a Russian court after Sheremetyevo International Airport police found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. The cartridges were prescribed by Griner’s doctor for chronic pain back in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal. In the interview, the two-time Olympic gold medalist said she had a "mental lapse" while packing, and never intended to bring the cannabis products with her when she returned to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg.

"It's just so easy to have a mental lapse," Griner said. "Granted, my mental lapse was on a more grand scale. But it doesn't take away from how that can happen." 

She was later sentenced to nine years behind bars after her Russian attorneys advised her to plead guilty the following July. Griner was then sent to a remote penal colony where she was forced to spend her days cutting cloth to make military uniforms. From there, it only got worse.

"Honestly, it just had to happen," she said when asked about her decision to cut off her signature long locks. "We had spiders above my bed making nests.

"My dreads started to freeze," she added. "They would just stay wet and cold and I was getting sick. You've gotta do what you've gotta do to survive."

Shortly after Griner’s initial arrest, the U.S. State Department classified her case as wrongfully detained, escalating its urgency within the government and calling even more attention to the situation. On December 8th, she was freed in a prisoner exchange negotiated by the Biden administration.

While she told Roberts she was "thrilled" when she got the news, she was also very upset about having to leave fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan behind. She also continues to carry guilt about her arrest, saying "At the end of the day, it's my fault. And I let everybody down."

Griner’s memoir, Coming Home, hits shelves on May 7th.

"Coming Home begins in a land where my roots developed and is the diary of my heartaches and regrets," Griner told ABC News in an exclusive statement. "But, ultimately, the book is also a story of how my family, my faith, and the support of millions who rallied for my rescue helped me endure a nightmare."

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

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In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.