Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White sat before media members and declared Alyssa Thomas the most underrated superstar in the WNBA.

That was a month ago.

Since then, Thomas has put up three triple-doubles in the span of seven days to set a new WNBA record. She’s averaging an MVP-worthy stat line of 14.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game while leading the Sun to a 12-5 record and third in the WNBA standings.

“She is a superstar,” White said. “She does so many things for our team, and she puts up huge numbers.”

ALYSSA THOMAS CAN'T BE HUMAN 🤯@athomas_25 is the 1st player in WNBA history to record back-to-back triple-doubles, Thomas is also the 1st player in WNBA history to reach 5 career triple-doubles#MoreThanGame pic.twitter.com/Bqhc5Tmz2i

— WNBA (@WNBA) June 28, 2023

Being under two assists shy of averaging a triple-double is a superstar stat line, and having a WNBA-leading seven career triple-doubles gives you superstar status. That’s difficult to argue with. It’s also difficult to argue with Thomas’ merit when it comes to being an All-Star, and yet it took the player and media vote to get her onto the 2023 roster as a reserve. When it comes to snubs, Thomas’ exclusion from the fan vote and the group of All-Star starters was easily the most egregious.

But as the face of the Connecticut Sun, it’s not exactly surprising. In many ways, Thomas not being an All-Star starter is fitting because she represents a team that is constantly overlooked.

“Maybe it is small market, maybe it’s because it’s not flashy,” White said in June about the franchise. “The great thing is they don’t care. They just want to come out, they want to play, they want to compete, and they want to win.”

The Sun were WNBA finalists a year ago, and have made it as far as the semifinals in each of the last four WNBA postseasons. Yet when this season began, they were left out of most conversations surrounding the top teams in the league. The defending champion Aces entered 2023 as the expected favorites; after them, the Liberty dominated headlines and conversation after stocking up on talent in the offseason.

Less than a year after finishing as WNBA runners-up, the Sun were seemingly forgotten.

It makes sense in theory. Connecticut lost 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones in a trade to New York, and coach Curt Miller left to take over the Sparks. But the Sun are resilient, a quality that wasn’t necessarily accounted for. And the catalyst for that resilience is Alyssa Thomas.

The 31-year-old forward recorded a triple-double in Game 3 of the 2022 WNBA Finals to keep her team afloat after going down 2-0 to Las Vegas. Days later, she registered another, doing everything she could to keep the Sun from being eliminated in what ended up being the Aces’ championship-clinching victory.

This season, in Jonquel Jones’ absence, Thomas has increased her production in every category except turnovers, as she maintains an incredible 4.1-to-1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. Since her teammate — and the Sun’s second-leading scorer after DeWanna Bonner — Brionna Jones suffered a season-ending injury, Thomas recorded two of her triple-doubles. Those performances also came after the All-Star snub.

While triple-doubles have become a normal part of Thomas’ game, her teammates want to make sure it doesn’t become yet another thing that is overlooked.

“I don’t want any of y’all to get used to and normalize what she’s doing out there, for real,” DiJonai Carrington said after a loss to New York on June 27. “Like, that’s not normal, especially from a four player. I think people are downplaying it. This woman has had three triple-doubles in the last 10 days. That’s insane.”

Bonner believes that Thomas’ selection as an All-Star starter should have been a “simple” decision. Teammates continue to praise her work ethic, grit and talent, and White continues to hold her up as the league’s underrated superstar.

Because the Sun, at least, know what they have in Thomas.

“Seeing her every day, you know why she is as good as she is,” White said. “Because if you don’t see her every day and you watch her, you’re like, ‘How in the heck does she continue to put up these numbers?’ And it’s because she’s a relentless worker and competitor.”

Thomas may have been snubbed as an All-Star starter, and she may get overlooked, but that doesn’t change the numbers, and it doesn’t change the record books.

“When you have a player that has that will to win, that competitive fire, that just plays their ass off all the time, and knows how to play, too? That’s what you get [from Thomas],” White said. “It’s really incredible that she’s accomplished what she’s accomplished with this triple-double record, and she’s really still young in her career.”

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

USWNT stalwart Alex Morgan will miss at least one week of NWSL action after suffering a left ankle knock in her last club appearance, Wave manager Casey Stoney said on Thursday.

Morgan was helped off the field after rolling her ankle in the later stages of the Wave’s 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride last weekend, despite the San Diego side being out of available substitutes.

“She's got an ankle injury and she's out for this weekend, and then it'll be week by week from there,” Stoney said, confirming that Morgan’s been ruled out for Saturday’s showdown with NWSL newcomer Bay FC.

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Depending on its severity, Morgan’s ankle issue might have larger ramifications than missing a few weeks of NSWL play. Morgan was added to the team's Gold Cup roster after an ACL injury sidelined young striker Mia Fishel, and she's since made a number of USWNT starts in the team's Gold Cup and SheBelieves wins. A long-term injury could potentially derail the center forward’s Olympic plans.

With her return timeline uncertain, it's possible the injury could also impact Morgan's ability to participate in new head coach Emma Hayes' first U.S. friendlies in June and July.

Morgan's injury concerns aren't uncommon in the U.S. player pool, but add a sense of urgency as Hayes eyes the NWSL for top-performing players in the upcoming weeks. Gotham's Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle have also been dealing with injuries: Lavelle has yet to appear for Gotham, while Davidson exited last weekend's match early with a hamstring injury.

Gotham has yet to issue an update concerning Davidson's status.

This week, legendary Brazilian superstar Marta announced that she’ll retire from the national team at the end of 2024.

In an interview with CNN Esportes published Thursday, the iconic footballer confirmed that she would be hanging up her boots regardless of whether or not she ends up making Brazil's 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” she said. “There is no longer Marta in the national team as an athlete from 2025 onwards.”

Marta will retire as a giant of the women's game, having appeared in five Olympics and multiple World Cups. When discussing her retirement, she stressed confidence in the rising generation of Brazilian players, noting that she was, “very calm about this, because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes." 

The statement echoes back to a plea she made during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after Brazil lost to France 2-1 in the Round of 16. “It's wanting more. It's training more. It's taking care of yourself more. It's being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls,” she said then, addressing the young players following in her footsteps. 

In 2023, she signaled a farewell to World Cup competition with the same sentiment, telling media, “We ask the new generation to continue where we left off.”

If selected for the 2024 Olympic team, Marta has a shot at extending her own consecutive-scoring record with the ability to score in an unbelievable sixth-straight Olympic Games. She currently stands as Brazil’s top goalscorer, racking up 116 career goals in 175 matches, as well as the leading goalscorer in any World Cup, women’s or men’s, with 17 to her name. 

Marta will continue to play for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride through at least the end of 2024. The longtime forward and club captain has already contributed to multiple goals this season.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.