Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson won the matchup of MVPs in the 2023 WNBA Finals over her New York Liberty counterpart Breanna Stewart.

Wilson won the Finals MVP award in the process. Her trophy haul should provide ample consolation for her loss to Stewart in the voting for the regular-season MVP award.

Of course, some might say Wilson deserved the 2023 WNBA MVP award over Stewart in the first place – including Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon, who has been vocal from the start about the snub. But Wilson, who did win the 2022 MVP award, set herself apart throughout the championship series, leading the Aces to a 3-1 win over the Liberty.

In the 2023 playoffs, Wilson averaged 23.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, beating out her New York Liberty counterpart. Stewart averaged 18.4 points and 10.2 rebounds, and through 10 postseason games shot just 35.8% from the field.

Stewart made 42.1% of her shots in Game 1 against the Aces, but in Game 2 was held to just 35.3% shooting. In the final game of the series, she shot 17.6% from the field and scored just 10 points. She went 67-187 in the playoffs, which is not what the Liberty needed from their star player.

Stewart also struggled with 3-point shooting, making just 19.6% of her shots from behind the arc in the postseason compared to 35.5% in the regular season. She sunk just nine 3-pointers out of 46 attempts in the playoffs.

And on Wednesday, New York put the ball in her hands for the game-winning shot — but she was denied by Alysha Clark. Still, if you ask head coach Sandy Brondello, the decision to put the ball in Stewart’s hands is one she’d made again.

“I put the ball in the hands of the MVP because we trust her. And it just didn’t work out today,” Brondello said. “It ended up with Breanna at the end, so it was just her trying to make a play from there. So, I [would] still do it again. That’s the right call.”

Stewart’s 10 points in the series-ending loss were the fewest she had scored in a game in the 2023 postseason.

Wilson, meanwhile, nearly doubled Stewart’s shooting percentages in the playoffs, going 82-for-148 from the floor. She shot 55.4% through nine playoff games.

With those numbers, Wilson finishes the playoffs having put together her best postseason to date. Last year, she averaged 20.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 55.2% shooting in the playoffs en route to the Aces’ first title – all career bests. She improved in all three categories this season.

Comparatively, this is one of the worst postseasons of Stewart’s career. She only averaged below 40% shooting in the playoffs one other time – in 2017, when the Seattle Storm were eliminated after one game. The only other time she’s been below 50% came in 2018, when Seattle played eight games en route to winning the title.

Her 19.6% 3-point shooting is particularly glaring, as she had never averaged below 40% in the playoffs, and averaged 50% or better in four out of the five previous postseasons in which she has played.

Vibes were high and defense was optional at the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday, when Team Collier shattered records as they routed Team Clark 151-131.

Captain and game MVP Napheesa Collier set a new single-game WNBA All-Star record by notching 36 points, surpassing the 34-point mark posted by Arike Ogunbowale last year, while teammate Skylar Diggins claimed the first-ever triple-double in All-Star history.

Even more, the 151 points put up by the Minnesota forward's team are the most in All-Star Game history, knocking down the 143 points from Breanna Stewart's 2023 squad to second on the all-time list.

Players made use of the game's special four-point shots, with Collier hitting four of five attempts while her team went 12-for-28 from well-beyond the arc.

"I'm just all four-point shots, four-point shots. More, more, more," honorary coach — and injured All-Star captain — Caitlin Clark said at halftime.

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All-Stars make a statement amid CBA negotiations

While the game itself proved more congenial than competitive, the players didn't mess around about the current CBA negotiations between the WNBPA and the WNBA.

All participating All-Stars took the court wearing T-shirts showcasing the slogan "Pay Us What You Owe Us," visually responding to the weekend's two meetings between the union and the league.

"The players are taking this seriously," Collier said of the collective action. "We're standing really firm in certain areas that we feel really strong that we need to improve on."

"The players are what is building this brand and this league. There is no league without the players," Collier added. "We're the ones that have put in the blood, sweat, and tears for this new money that's coming in, and we feel like we're owed a piece of that pie that we helped to create."

Ultimately, though All-Star Weekend is all fun and games, players will keep placing the behind-the-scenes issues in the spotlight until the parties agree on a new CBA.

Liberty fans enjoyed their fill at the 2025 WNBA All-Star weekend, as teammates Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Cloud executed a New York sweep of Friday's 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge titles.

Cloud took home the Skills Challenge trophy with a winning time of 36.4 seconds — just 1.1 seconds faster than second-place finisher Erica Wheeler of the Seattle Storm.

Ionescu then nabbed her second career 3-Point Contest title with a final-round score of 30, tying retired Chicago Sky guard Allie Quigley for the second-best single-round record in the event's history. Ionescu's 37 points to win the 2023 edition still stands as the event's all-time mark.

"It's fun — I was so excited for [Cloud]," Ionescu said after her win. "We were talking about it before we even came out here, about being able to participate in it together and cheer each other on."

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The hefty prize pool raised the stakes for both players, with a heightened $55,000 going to the Skills Challenge winner while the 3-Point Contest champ picked up $60,000.

Cloud credited her motivation to securing a property down payment with Liberty teammate and partner Isabelle Harrison, saying "You're gonna get that house."

As for Ionescu, her winner's check will be fulfilling a pre-competition promise she made to rookie contender Sonia Citron, who will receive half of Ionescu's earnings while the other half goes to charity.

"That takes a lot of courage to be able to do that [3-Point Contest] as a rookie...I was really proud of her," said Ionescu after the competiton. "The other half will go to my foundation to continue to be able to give back in communities that mean a lot to me."

The UEFA Women's Euro 2025 locked in the semifinals over the weekend, with world No. 2 Spain, No. 3 Germany, No. 5 England, and No. 13 Italy all advancing past fierce quarterfinals to secure a spot in the tournament's final four.

The only quarterfinal decided by more than one goal was Spain's 2-0 Friday victory over No. 23 Switzerland, while Italy's 2-1 thriller against No. 16 Norway narrowly avoided extra time last week.

Both England's Thursday battle with No. 6 Sweden and Germany's Saturday clash with No. 10 France needed seven rounds of penalties to determine a winner, with the prevailing nations mounting steep comebacks to punch their semifinal tickets.

"I really had a sense throughout the game, even when we were down, that it wasn't our time to go," England defender Esme Morgan said of her team's poise after falling behind 2-0 early in the match.

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Penalty kicks have remained a hot topic throughout this year's tournament, with players converting just 24 of 41 attempts across the competition so far — a well below-average rate of 58.5%.

With a combined nine missed penalties on Thursday, England and Sweden's 36% conversion marked the worst rate in Women's Euro history.

Also making unflattering tournament history this weekend was Germany, who became the first Women's Euro team on record to register a comeback win after seeing a player sent off, following defender Kathrin Hendrich's 13th-minute straight red card offense.

How to watch the 2025 Euro semifinals

The 2025 Euro semifinals begin with England facing Italy on Tuesday before Germany takes on Spain on Wednesday.

Both matches kick off at 3 PM ET on their respective days, with live coverage on Fox.

Upstart 3×3 league Unrivaled Basketball stole some of the WNBA's thunder over the 2025 All-Star weekend, with the offseason venture announcing Saturday the signing of 13 NCAA stars to new NIL deals.

Headlining the group is USC guard and 2025 National Player of the Year JuJu Watkins, with the Trojan junior joined by Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), MiLaysia Fulwiley (LSU), Ta'Niya Latson (South Carolina), Syla Swords (Michigan), Audi Crooks (Iowa State), Madison Booker (Texas), and Olivia Miles (TCU).

Rounding out the new signees are a pair of reigning national champions in UConn guard Azzi Fudd and forward Sarah Strong — the 2025 National Freshman of the Year — as well as a trio of UCLA Bruins: guard Kiki Rice, center Lauren Betts, and forward Sienna Betts.

The younger Betts sister, Sienna, is notably the only incoming freshman inked by Unrivaled.

Bringing the 3×3 league's current college class to a total of 14 players is LSU guard Flau'Jae Johnson.

Unlike the 13 other players, Johnson's NIL deal is a renewal, with Unrivaled extending their partnership with their second-ever college signee.

Last season, Unrivaled inked just two NIL deals with NCAA stars, partnering with Johnson after signing former UConn guard and current Dallas Wings rookie All-Star Paige Bueckers.

While Bueckers and Johnson both secured equity in the league last year, this year's deals — with Johnson as well as the 13 other NCAA players — do not include that benefit, though Watkins holds an additional unique position as one of Unrivaled's initial investors.

Despite the NIL partnerships, Unrivaled does not guarantee any future roster spots to the 14 athletes.

While the league is targeting a two-team expansion for the league's 2027 season, Unrivaled plans to keep their core roster number at 36 next year, though injury replacement players are again on the table.