The Seattle Storm were the unanimous preseason choice of ESPN WNBA analysts for which team would win the 2020 title. A vaunted cast could not agree on any other topic, but all viewed Seattle as the team to beat in Florida.

The logic is clear. The 2018 WNBA champions are returning 2018 regular season and finals MVP Breanna Stewart and 11-time All-Star Sue Bird to a team that made it to the conference semifinals last year without either player.

Chicago jumped out to a successful run in the wubble. The Sky impressed many people with their play early on and the game against the Storm was billed as a potential late-round playoff matchup. More than Chicago regressing, the 89-71 loss to Seattle showed how far in front of the rest of the league the team from Seattle truly is.

Here’s what Seattle has proven during their blistering 7-1 start:

Breanna Stewart is the best player in the league

Early foul trouble for Jordin Canada allowed Breanna Stewart to run the show. With Sue Bird sidelined with a knee injury, Stewart could play a little of everything. She dished out five assists, scored 10 points, and added a pair of rebounds — in the first quarter. By the final whistle, her point total was up to 25 and the Storm had an 18 point victory.

Stewart’s game has evolved, slightly, since she last took the court. She is taking and making more 3-point shots per game than at any point in her WNBA career and assisting at a higher rate too. More than anything, she’s quickly returned to her previously dominant form, putting the league on notice as it’s clear there are no lingering issues from her Achilles recovery.

While plenty of other players have impressed so far, Stewart is exceeding across the board. She is top five in the league in field goals, 3-pointers, free throws, rebounds, steals, blocks and points. In advanced stats, she ranks second in player efficiency, fifth in usage rate, and first in both defensive rating and win shares.

Chicago could have done a better job of closing down some of the lanes through which Stewart raced to the basket, but the four-time collegiate national champion — who already has a legitimate Hall of Fame case — has an off-the-charts basketball IQ and will take advantage of any team’s missteps.

Seattle can win in multiple ways

The road to the championship most definitely runs through the Storm. The Storm offense dominated the first quarter to the tune of a 33-18 scoreline. In the second, Seattle’s defense held Chicago to just 10 points, so it didn’t matter that the Storm had their second lowest scoring quarter of the bubble. Although Chicago came into the game, and remains, the top shooting and 3-point shooting team in the league, Seattle bested both and shot 51.4% from the floor, including an absurd 52.9% from beyond the arc.

Jordin Canada filled in successfully at the point last year and has been able to do the same in 2020. Jewell Loyd, coming off of two straight All-Star seasons, is matching or improving upon her stat line from last year. Seattle just has so many options.

The Storm have the best defensive rating in the league and the third-best offensive rating. No other team ranks in the top three in both; Las Vegas is the closest at second and fourth. The Aces also have a +6.0 point differential, the nearest to Seattle’s +8.2 of anyone. The two teams don’t meet until a Saturday, August 22 matchup on ABC that may be an eventual finals preview — and a head-to-head between the top two MVP contenders.

Depth is really important

Even with a short rotation, Seattle still gets significant contributions from its bench. Sami Whitcomb went 3-for-3 from deep, scored 17 points total, and matched Jordin Canada’s six assists against the Sky. Ezi Magbegor was an efficient 6-of-8 from the field for 13 points. Combined, their 30 points were more than Chicago’s five bench options, who tallied 21.

That included a career-high 11 points for the rookie from Oregon, Ruthy Hebard. With that effort, Chicago once again saw five players reach double digit scoring. The Sky’s entire starting lineup boasts a double digit scoring average, but in this treacherous stretch of play in which there’s often only one day off between games, rest and a deep bench are more important than ever.

Seattle only has four players averaging at least ten points per game, and only three are active. But the Storm still get massive contributions off the bench. The ability for someone like Whitcomb to come off the bench and average the second most points on the team will prove instrumental throughout the team’s run in IMG Academy.

The LPGA is hitting the green in teams on Wednesday night, as some of the top golfers on Tour link up to represent their countries at the 2025 International Crown in South Korea.

This fifth edition of the match-play tournament will see seven teams from the USA, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Sweden, and China, as well as a mixed World Team taking on the reigning champion squad out of Thailand this week.

Comprised of the four top-ranked LPGA players from each nation, countries earn a team spot in the biennial International Crown based on the combined rankings of their best quartet of golfers — with those overall aggregates also determining tournament seeding.

The US topped all teams to snag this year's No. 1 seed, though the squad suffered a significant availability blow earlier this month when world No. 2 Nelly Korda withdrew from the 2025 International Crown due to injury.

No. 28 Yealimi Noh will compete in Korda's place, with the 24-year-old joining No. 10 Angel Yin, No. 16 Lauren Coughlin, and No. 33 Lilia Vu on Team USA.

Led by another 24-year-old, LPGA Tour debutant No. 6 Miyu Yamashita, No. 2 seed Japan appears to be the team to beat, with the World Team's fourth-ranked Lydia Ko (New Zeland) and fifth-ranked Charley Hull (England) upping the stakes for the No. 7 seed squad.

How to watch the 2025 International Crown

The four-day 2025 International Crown will tee off at 10 PM ET on Wednesday night, with live coverage of each day of competition airing on the Golf Channel.

With the first-ever eight-team PWHL season fast approaching next month, the pro women’s hockey league unveiled the inaugural jerseys for incoming 2025/26 expansion sides Seattle and Vancouver on Tuesday.

The new teams will wear jerseys displaying their city names across the front, following suit after the six founding PWHL franchises debuted without original names or branding during their inaugural 2023/24 campaign.

Per this week's press release, Seattle's colors are "deep slate green and cream with a river blue accent," while Vancouver will sport "pacific blue and cream with an earthy bronze accent."

In addition to "allowing fans to immediately identify with their hometown's newest professional team," PWHL EVP of business operations Amy Scheer explained in a Tuesday statement that "These designs also connect our expansion teams to the league's foundation while they continue building their own traditions and ties to the community."

While the PWHL will reveal the full team identities — complete with names and logos — before the puck drops on the 2025/26 season on November 21st, Seattle and Vancouver will play in their generic branding until next season.

How to purchase PWHL Seattle and Vancouver jerseys

The dark-colored replica home jerseys for both Seattle and Vancouver are currently available for purchase alongside all PWHL merch at the league's online shop.

Women's professional baseball will soon be a reality, with the incoming WPBL announcing its four inaugural teams on Tuesday ahead of the league's November draft.

Kicking off with a coast-to-coast imprint, major sports hubs Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco will house the founding WPBL teams, with the quartet of cities tapped "because of their fan support, market size, media presence, and rich baseball histories."

"We are so excited to finally announce the WPBL's first four teams," WPBL co-founder Justine Siegal said in the league's Tuesday press release. "Each of these cities are storied sports cities and we can't wait to connect with the fans who live there and baseball fans across the country."

Originally developed as a six-team venture, the 2026 debut of the WPBL will mark the first pro women's league in the US since the legendary World War II-era All-American Girls Professional Baseball League folded in 1954.

Each of the four inaugural team will feature 15 players, with next month's WPBL draft drawing from the top 100 players coming out of August's open tryouts.

The league's first competitive cycle will include a regular season, a postseason, and an all-star competition held at a neutral venue.

Adam Silver is back in the headlines, with the NBA commissioner speaking out on the increasingly fraught WNBA CBA negotiations on Tuesday — and pushing for controlled salary increases rather than the revenue sharing model that players overwhelmingly want.

"I think [revenue] share isn't the right way to look at it because there's so much more revenue in the NBA," Silver told the Today Show. "I think you should look at absolute numbers. In terms of what they are making, they are going to get a big increase in this cycle of collective bargaining, and they deserve it."

In response, the WNBPA posted a clip of Silver's interview to Instagram Stories, captioning it with "Don't want to share, @adamsilvernba?"

Tuesday's back-and-forth emphasizes a significant wedge issue within the CBA talks, as WNBA players argue for a salary cap determined by the total revenue generated from all basketball-related activities like ticket sales, media deals, sponsorships, and merchandise — the same model currently used in the NBA.

The WNBA — like Silver — wants salary cap growth to continue on a fixed scale, raising player salaries in the upcoming CBA while controlling revenue distribution at the stakeholder level.

"I think we all agree we're trying to return every dollar we possibly can to the players, but we also want to incentivize investment from owners," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said when addressing the issue earlier this month.

With less than 10 days remaining before the CBA's October 31st deadline, differences continue to outweigh common ground en route to an unlikely deal.