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The Best WNBA Players Still Searching For a Ring

via @WNBA on Twitter

Looking at what it takes to make it to the Hall of Fame, it is easy to see that championships matter — a lot. But a number of all-time greats have never held the WNBA Championship Trophy.

For all time, there is no question that Becky Hammon belongs near the top of the list of the “best to never win it.” Despite being a six-time All-Star, twice named to the All-WNBA first team and twice to the second team, Hammon never won it all in 16 seasons in the league.

In the first half of her playing career with the New York Liberty, Hammon reached the WNBA Finals three times. The first two, in 1999 and 2000, the Liberty ran into the end of the Houston Comets four-year dynasty. In 2002, the Liberty were swept in the Finals by Western Conference Champion LA Sparks. After losing in the Conference finals in 2004 and 2005 and missing the playoffs in 2006, Hammon was traded to the San Antonio Silver Stars.

There, Hammon reached the Finals for the last time in 2008, where her team was swept by the Detroit Shock.

Hammon now sits at fifth in career assists and twelfth in career points after finishing her playing career with 450 regular season games and 60 more postseason games. Still, none ended in a championship.

Among active players, the “best never” title was applied for a long time to Candace Parker. Before winning it all in 2016, Parker was six-time All-WNBA, two-time All-Defensive Second Team, and the MVP in both her rookie season and 2013.

Then, Elena Delle Donne held the designation until the 2019 season ended with a Washington Mystics championship.

Now, we need a new “best to never win it.” Here are the three frontrunners for the mad-dash 2020 season:


 

Angel McCoughtry

 

The former first overall pick won the 2009 Rookie of the Year with the Atlanta Dream, where she played her entire career before joining the Las Vegas Aces this offseason. That first season, Atlanta was swept in the Conference semifinals by Detroit. The next two seasons, the Dream were swept in the WNBA Finals, first by Seattle and then by Minnesota. Two years later, in 2013, Minnesota swept the Dream again.

The next year, Atlanta fell to Chicago in the Conference semifinals, and in 2016 lost to the same Sky team in the second round. McCoughtry then rested for the 2017 season and missed much of the 2018 campaign with an injury as the Dream lost to Washington in the Conference finals. McCoughtry was once again sidelined by injury in 2019.

A primary option on both ends of the court, McCoughtry has the highest active usage percentage and steal percentage of any player. She is a six-time All-Defensive and six-time All-WNBA player. Still, the championship trophy to top it off has proved elusive.


 

Skylar Diggins-Smith

 

Despite being one of the league’s marquee names, Diggins-Smith has played in just two career postseason games. The South Bend, Indiana native who stayed home for college to play at Notre Dame was taken third overall in the 2013 by the Tulsa Shock. Diggins-Smith played her entire career with the franchise, moving to Dallas in the 2016 season, but made her intention to play for a new team clear this past offseason.

It was back in her second season in the league that Diggins-Smith first began to shine. After averaging a little over eight points per game in her rookie season, Diggins-Smith won the 2014 WNBA Most Improved Player Award and was named to her first All-Star team. Since then, she has been an All-Star on three more occasions.

In 2015, the Shock made the playoffs for the first time in her career as the third seed in the Western Conference, but Diggins-Smith could only watch the postseason from the sideline due to a torn ACL. The team was swept in its first round by the Phoenix Mercury.

The result was the same for the next two postseason berths. Despite Diggins-Smith averagine 19 points, three rebounds and five assists in those games, the Wings were knocked out in the first round in 2017 and 2018. After missing last season on pregnancy leave, Diggins-Smith’s most recent game action before the bubble came during the national team’s tour through the college ranks.

Her first season with Phoenix Mercury may be her best opportunity so far to win a ring. She is flanked by Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner, two of her U.S. national team teammates. The chemistry is apparent, and she is already averaging 14.0 points and 4.2 assists per game while shooting over 55% from the field.

Griner, who was taken two spots ahead of Diggins-Smith in the 2013 draft, got her first taste of a championship in 2014. Delle Donne, the second selection, just got her ring last year. Will 2020 be time for the third overall pick to finally win it all?


 

Courtney Vandersloot

 

As a starter in her first year in the league — in 2011 — Vandersloot quickly excelled and was named to her first All-Star team. Chicago, which selected her third overall in the draft out of Gonzaga, had not made the playoffs in its franchise history and was still stuck in the mud.

It was not until 2013, when Delle Donne joined and had a Rookie of the Year season and Sylvia Fowles put together a Defensive Player of the Year campaign that Chicago finally made the playoffs. Indiana swept Chicago in the Conference semifinals, but with Vandersloot still leading the offense Chicago charged back in 2014 and reached its first Finals appearance. There, the Sky were swept by the Phoenix Mercury, the closest Vandersloot or Chicago has come to a WNBA championship.

The final two seasons with Pokey Chatman at the helm were both cut short in the playoffs, and the two-season tenure of Amber Stocks ended without a playoff berth. In that time, however, Vandersloot has become one of the game’s great facilitators.

Vandersloot is the all-time leader in assists per game at 6.21. She has led the league in assists three times in her career, including the past two seasons in which she set, and then reset, the single-season assist record. Already in 2020 she is pacing the WNBA with 43. Her success has continued in the postseason, where she holds the WNBA record for assists per game as well, at 7.0. In nine-plus seasons, she is already fifth on the career list, just ahead of Hammon.

Still, Vandersloot is known for more than just her assists, and her leadership on the court helped Chicago end its two-year playoff drought last season. The Sky returned to the playoffs with a 20-14 record and the fifth seed in James Wade’s first season. Following a decisive first round win over Phoenix, plenty of people in Chicago think the Sky had an opportunity to make a much deeper run, but the plans were dashed by an (infamous) half-court shot by Dearica Hamby.

Historically, Vandersloot’s July and August season numbers have dwarfed her early season outputs—she has averaged nearly three more assists per game in those months than in May and June. Lucky for Chicago, in an unusual season that tipped off in late July, Vandersloot looks to already be in peak form.

Honorable mentions not playing this season: Liz Cambage, Jonquel Jones, and Tina Charles.

WSL and WSL2 Clubs Vote in Favor of English League Expansion

Chelsea FC attacker Aggie Beever-Jones celebrates a goal during a 2025 WSL match.
Despite previous proposals, the expanding WSL will not forgo relegation. (Chris Lee - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

The Women's Super League (WSL) is growing, with the UK league's top two flights deciding in a Monday expansion vote to enlarge its top tier from 12 to 14 teams ahead of the 2026/27 season.

The number of matches played each season will also balloon from 22 to 26 games to accommodate the incoming clubs, as will established cup competitions.

Monday also saw the WSL vote down a prior proposal to temporarily suspend the relegation and promotion process to accommodate this expansion, deciding instead to adopt a "two up, one down" model for the second-tier WSL2 next season.

As such, the top two finishers of the 2025/26 WSL2 season will automatically join the higher-tier WSL, while the WSL's last-place team will battle the WSL2's third-place club in "a high-profile, high stakes match" for the final spot in the top flight.

After reaching 14 teams, both leagues will return to relegating the last-place WSL finisher while promoting the WSL2's top team for the following season.

Along with the increased investment in club infrastructure, a 14-team WSL keeps pace with the global women's game — most notably, the NWSL, which will become a 16-team league in 2026.

"Our priority was to find a route that would benefit the whole women's game pyramid, and we believe this next evolution of women's professional football will raise minimum standards, create distinction, and incentivize investment across the board," said WSL Football CEO Nikki Doucet.

WNBA Teams Offset Injuries, EuroBasket Departures with Short-Term Contracts

Golden State Valkyries rookie Kaitlyn Chen dribbles the ball up the court during a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
2025 WNBA draftee Kaitlyn Chen returned to the Golden State Valkyries to offset EuroBasket roster departures. (Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

With EuroBasket set to tip off on Wednesday and injuries mounting league-wide, WNBA teams are filling out dwindling rosters with more short-term contracts — and calling back some familiar faces along the way.

While some European standouts withdrew from EuroBasket consideration — including Phoenix's Satou Sabally and Seattle's Gabby Williams — others, like New York's Leonie Fiebich and Golden State's Temi Fagbenle, will join their national teams for the regional FIBA tournament through the end of June.

Due to these planned absences, WNBA teams temporarily suspend their EuroBasket players' contracts, allowing squads to add others to their rosters.

Players signed due to temporary absences are technically on rest-of-season deals, though the agreements can end whenever the missing athletes return.

In contrast, the league requires that teams release any hardship signings due to injury once squads tally enough healthy original players to satisfy the WNBA's 10-athlete roster minimum.

Featuring a lineup stacked with international talent, Golden State made the most transactions this week, temporarily suspending four regular contracts as 2025 EuroBasket stars departed for the annual competition.

To bolster their depleted bench, the Valkyries brought back 2025 WNBA Draft Cinderella pick Kaitlyn Chen and recent training camp participant Laeticia Amihere on short-term contracts, in addition to guard Aerial Powers and forward Chloe Bibby.

Elsewhere, after losing forward Maddy Siegrist to injury and temporarily suspending the contracts of centers Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsöder, Dallas acquired center Li Yueru from Seattle — with the Wings possibly needing additional hardship signings in the coming days.

The Storm snagged two future draft picks in the Saturday deal — a second-round selection in 2026 and a third-round pick in 2027.

Ultimately, teams are striving to find a balance between stocking up and maintaining consistency, all while operating under the WNBA's roster constraints — with further league expansion fast approaching.

WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Conference Play Comes Down to the Wire

Seattle Storm forward Ezi Magbegor tries to defend a jump-shot from Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier during a 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup game.
Napheesa Collier and the Minnesota Lynx will advance to a second straight WNBA Commissioner's Cup final with a Tuesday win. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

The 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup will wrap up its conference play on Tuesday, as both Eastern and Western teams battle for a ticket to the in-season competition's championship game — and a cut of the $500,000 prize pool.

With 12 of the league's 13 teams facing off across Tuesday's WNBA courts, the results will set the stage by minting the two squads who will battle in the July 1st final showdown.

Reigning Commissioner's Cup champs Minnesota have the West's easiest path, as a win over the Las Vegas Aces will send the Lynx to a second straight final.

Should the Lynx fall to the Aces, however, Seattle can grab the Western Conference berth by beating the Los Angeles Sparks.

Meanwhile in the East, a surging Atlanta could land a trip to the final by topping New York, while the Liberty need both a win over the Dream plus a loss by the Indiana Fever to clinch their own return ticket to the Cup's grand finale.

If New York does take down Atlanta, the Fever could advance to the team's first-ever Commissioner's Cup final by beating the struggling Connecticut Sun.

How to watch Tuesday's 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup games

All of Tuesday's six WNBA games count toward the 2025 Commissioner's Cup tally.

The action begins with the Atlanta Dream tipping off against the New York Liberty while the Indiana Fever battles the Connecticut Sun at 7 PM ET, live on WNBA League Pass.

Chicago Sky Star Angel Reese Files Trademark for ‘Mebounds’ to Silence Internet Trolls

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese grabs a rebound during a 2024 WNBA game.
Chicago Sky star Angel Reese is trademarking a term often used to criticize her play. (Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese made headlines this week, with the second-year WNBA forward announcing that she has trademarked word "mebounds" — a slang term opposing fans use to describe Reese rebounding her own missed shots.

"Whoever came up with the 'mebounds' thing, y’all ate that up, because mebounds, rebounds, keybounds...anything that comes off that board, it's mine," Reese said in a TikTok video on Saturday.

"And a brand? That's six figures right there," she continued, referencing her trademark application. "The trolling — I love when y'all do it because the ideas be good!"

Currently averaging 11.9 boards per matchup, Reese is leading the WNBA in rebounds for the second straight season.

Her rookie campaign saw Reese average 13.1 boards per game, a rate that set a single-season league record. She also blasted through the WNBA's consecutive double-double record last season, claiming it with 10 straight before extending it to an impressive 15 games.

Along with the average rebounds record, Reese also broke the single-season total rebounds record previously held by retired Minnesota Lynx legend Sylvia Fowles — a mark that was later surpassed by 2024 MVP A'ja Wilson following Reese's season-ending wrist injury.

"Statistically, all the rebounds that I get aren't always just mine," Reese added in her Saturday social media post. "They're the defense's, too, or somebody else on my team."

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