USA Basketball dropped its 18-player December roster on Monday, selecting both standout vets and fresh faces for the national team's final training camp of 2025.
Taking place at Duke University from December 12th until the 14th, five 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalists — Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young — will anchor the Team USA lineup.
Notably, a full 10 players will join the senior team for the first time next month, as young WNBA superstars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, and Cameron Brink earn their first call-ups.
A pair of NCAA stars will also attend the December camp, with the national governing body tapping both UCLA senior center Lauren Betts and USC junior guard JuJu Watkins on the roster — though Watkins will not participate in on-court activities as she continues to rehab an ACL tear.
Along with the full camp roster, USA Basketball also dropped its December sideline leaders, with current WNBA head coaches Nate Tibbetts (Phoenix Mercury), Natalie Nakase (Golden State Valkyries), and Stephanie White (Indiana Fever) comprising the assistant coaching staff for the previously announced senior national team head coach Kara Lawson.
December's camp is the team's first step toward the World Cup qualifiers in March, when the US will compete despite having already qualified for the 2026 FIBA World Cup by winning the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup in July.
Overall, the clock starts now for USA women's basketball managing director Sue Bird, who is in charge of cultivating the best team for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The USA Basketball December Training Camp Roster
- Lauren Betts (UCLA)
- Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever)
- Cameron Brink (LA Sparks)
- Paige Bueckers (Dallas Wings)
- Veronica Burton (Golden State Valkyries)
- Sonia Citron (Washington Mystics)
- Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever)
- Kahleah Copper (Phoenix Mercury)
- Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas Aces)
- Brittney Griner (Atlanta Dream)
- Dearica Hamby (LA Sparks)
- Kiki Iriafen (Washington Mystics)
- Rickea Jackson (LA Sparks)
- Brionna Jones (Atlanta Dream)
- Kelsey Plum (LA Sparks)
- Angel Reese (Chicago Sky)
- JuJu Watkins (USC)
- Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces)
Founding WNBA franchise Phoenix will have a new look entering the 2026 season, as the Mercury announced its first-ever rebrand on Monday to celebrate the team's upcoming 30th anniversary campaign.
"The new branding represents the Mercury's championship legacy, devoted fanbase, and the new era that began with a record-breaking season and memorable [2025] Finals run," said Phoenix CEO Josh Bartelstein in a statement.
In honor of the franchise's 1997 inaugural season, the new primary Phoenix logo positions the Mercury "M" at an angle of 19.97 degrees, while the team's redesigned global logo centers the primary emblem on top of four rings — mirroring the planetary rings on the Mercury's original design.
The team is also debuting a first-ever secondary logo, featuring the outline of the state of Arizona with the seams of a basketball, while also officially introducing the popular "Merc" nickname into the WNBA squad's branding lexicon.
In celebration of the rebrand, Phoenix is currently running a first-of-its-kind community giveback called the Merc Merch Swap, in which fans can trade old team merchandise — which will be donated to Goodwill — for a newly branded Mercury T-shirt.
How to purchase or swap for new Phoenix Mercury merch
To take part in the Merc Merch Swap, fans can bring any Phoenix, WNBA, or WNBA team item to the Mercury Team Shop at Mortgage Matchup Center to swap for a new logo T-shirt as well as a single-item 20% voucher through through Friday, December 5th.
Phoenix's rebranded items are also now available for purchase at the team's online shop.
The Toronto Tempo has officially landed a sideline leader, with the 2026 WNBA expansion team announcing ex-New York Liberty boss Sandy Brondello as their inaugural head coach on Tuesday — and making her one of the league's highest-paid coaches in the process.
"This is the place I wanted to be," Brondello said during her introductory press conference. "To build a team from the ground up — that really excited me."
Brondello joins the Toronto Tempo as a two-time championship-winning coach, claiming her first title with the Phoenix Mercury in 2014 before taking the New York Liberty to the top in 2024.
The first-ever Canadian WNBA team is also doubling down on their choice, with multiple reports valuing Brondello's multi-year contract at over $1 million annually.
The 57-year-old Australian — a three-time Olympic medalist as a player — will join the Mercury's Nate Tibbetts and Las Vegas Aces boss Becky Hammon as the only known WNBA coaches earning seven-figure salaries.
That said, Brondello could have banked even more, with Front Office Sports reporting that a different WNBA team offered her a more lucrative offer, but Brondello deemed Toronto a better fit.
"From my first conversations with the Tempo organization, it was clear we share the same vision: to build a world-class franchise that competes at the highest level, to create a strong and dynamic culture, and to root everything we do in clear and consistent values," Brondello said in team statement.
"This is a place that's serious about doing things the right way — about excellence, about people, about community — and that's exactly the kind of environment every coach wants to be part of."
As the offseason coaching carousel nears its final turn, teams are stretching resources as they prep for big spending — and a contentious new CBA — in 2026.
The Las Vegas Aces won the 2025 WNBA Championship in Friday's Game 4, sweeping the Phoenix Mercury to put a bow on the league's longest-ever season — while also starting the clock on its next CBA.
"We have great players," Aces guard Chelsea Gray told reporters, stressing the importance of the upcoming deal after helping secure Las Vegas's third title in four years. "You need to treat them like that."
Like many teams across the league, the Aces have just one player under contract for 2026 — rookie Aaliyah Nye — after a rash of now-free agents opted to sign one-year contracts in anticipation of salary shifts in the upcoming CBA.
With the October 31st deadline looming, negotiations are likely to extend past that mark amid mounting tensions between players and WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert in recent weeks.
"I think they'll work it out somehow, I hope — I haven't been consulted," said Aces owner Mark Davis.
Davis also joked about making Becky Hammon the best-paid head coach in the WNBA, with the Las Vegas manager currently pulling in $1 million annually — four times the single-year supermax player contract under the league's current CBA.
Salary structure a tipping point in WNBA CBA negotiations
As for the players union, the WNBPA says they're aiming to expand revenue sharing, while the league is reportedly looking to keep salary structures mostly intact.
"It's basically the same system that we exist in right now," WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told ESPN in August. "When you approach it from the perspective of their response to our proposal, yes, money is more, but ultimately if you look at the growth of the business, the money relative to the percentage of everything is virtually staying the same."
According to Front Office Sports, the most recent WNBA offer included an $850,000 supermax contract plus a veteran minimum near $300,000.
The WNBA will likely have until the end of 2025 to strike a deal, but with little common ground emerging thus far, the potential for a work stoppage looms large.
The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury will fight for survival on Friday night, entering Game 4 of the 2025 WNBA Finals down 0-3 in the best-of-seven series to the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces — and without one of their brightest stars.
Phoenix forward Satou Sabally is officially out with a concussion after picking up the head injury in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's Game 3.
Sabally has been the Mercury's leading scorer this postseason, averaging 19 points plus seven rebounds per game during the 2025 WNBA Playoffs.
While a four-game sweep to claim the title seems a tall order for Phoenix — particularly without Sabally's scoring — a home-court victory on Friday could comfort the Mercury's home crowd and soften the blow of what feels like an impending Aces championship.
"At the end of the day, it's about getting each other open shots," Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas said on Wednesday. "All season long, we've seen different defenses, so it's not about just one person. It's about us playing connected, playing for each other."
"We're facing elimination," she added. "We've had plenty of opportunities to go out there and get a win. At some point, we have to take it upon ourselves."
Though Las Vegas has one hand on the 2025 WNBA trophy, Phoenix can still prove they can execute their brand of basketball with their backs against the wall.
How to watch Game 4 of the 2025 WNBA Finals
The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury will get one last crack at survival in the 2025 WNBA Finals as they look to halt the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces' momentum in Game 4 on Friday.
The matchup will tip off live at 8 PM ET on ESPN.
The 2025 WNBA Finals tipped off with a bang last week, with Friday's Game 1 averaging 1.9 million viewers on ESPN to become the most-watched championship opener since 1997.
The Friday matchup between the No. 2 seed Las Vegas Aces and the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury peaked at 2.5 million viewers, a 62% increase over the 2024 Finals opener between the Minnesota Lynx and eventual champion New York Liberty.
That Game 1 viewership ranked second only to the inaugural WNBA season championship 28 years ago — a single-elimination title game in which 2.8 million fans watched the Houston Comets take down the New York Liberty on NBC.
Game 2 continued the record breaking, with Sunday's broadcast averaging 1.2 million viewers on ABC.
With an average of 1.5 million fans tuning in, the first two 2025 WNBA Finals games boast the best viewership numbers in 25 years, nearly matching the 1.54 million average claimed by the opening two clashes between the New York Liberty and Houston Comets on NBC and Lifetime in 2000.
The record-breaking ratings underscore significant viewership growth across the WNBA postseason, with Game 1 Finals ratings increasing by nearly 700% since 2019 while this year's average postseason viewership is already up 16% over 2024.
The No. 2 Las Vegas Aces are closing in on their third title in four years, taking down the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury 90-88 in Wednesday's Game 3 to push their 2025 WNBA Finals lead to 3-0.
A late surge kept the Mercury's do-or-die Game 3 dreams alive before 2025 WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson scored the game-winner with just 2.2 seconds left on the clock, capping an impressive 34-point, 14-rebound performance en route to becoming the most prolific scorer in a single postseason in league history.
"Get the ball to A'ja, and get out of the way," Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon said afterwards, joking about calling her team's final play.
"We all had 100% confidence in A'ja," said guard Jewell Loyd. "Everyone on that bench was saying, 'We're winning this game.'"
As for Phoenix, the Mercury's likelihood of bouncing back in the league's first-ever best-of-seven series is hard to predict — but basketball history is not on their side.
On the men's court, no NBA team has ever won a championship series after being down 3-0, and only four teams in the league's 159 total seven-game playoff series have ever forced a decisive Game 7.
"I'm not going to sugarcoat — we've got a tough road ahead," Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said. "But we've got to take it one game at a time."
How to watch Game 4 of the 2025 WNBA Finals
The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury will get one last crack at survival in the 2025 WNBA Finals as they look to halt the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces' momentum in Game 4 on Friday.
The matchup will tip off live at 8 PM ET on ESPN.
The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury returned to Arizona on a mission this week, tipping off Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals down 0-2 to the red-hot No. 2 Las Vegas Aces and in dire need of a bounce-back performance.
"We need to be better defensively," said Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts ahead of Wendesday night's clash. "We haven't done a good enough job getting stops."
"First and foremost, we gotta play better defense," echoed forward Alyssa Thomas. "Still a lot of confidence here. We just know we have a lot of room to improve."
A 0-2 deficit has historically spelled disaster in the WNBA's previous five-game championship series, but this year's first-ever best-of-seven format gives postseason underdogs like Phoenix a bit more cushion.
"There's no panic, no pressure," said Thomas. "That's the beauty of a seven-game series. If we're sitting at five games, it's basically elimination."
"We've got two games here to do what we need to do, two guaranteed games here," added veteran forward DeWanna Bonner.
As for Las Vegas, the Aces will also be on their game, looking to avoid a slow-down in momentum on the road.
"It's going to be a different environment playing at their place, but we have to stick together, stay within ourselves, and just continue playing Aces basketball," Las Vegas guard Jewell Loyd told reporters.
How to watch Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals
The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury will hunt their first victory in the 2025 WNBA Finals on home court when they host the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces for Game 3 at 8 PM ET on Wednesday.
Live coverage of the clash will air on ESPN.
The No. 2 Las Vegas Aces raced to a 2-0 series lead in the 2025 WNBA Finals over the weekend, opening with a close 89-86 Game 1 victory over the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury on Friday before pulling off a more dominant 91-78 Game 2 win on Sunday.
The Aces' offense ruled the court, with guards Dana Evans and Jewell Loyd putting up a momentum-shifting combined 39 points off the bench in Game 1 before Game 2 saw guard Jackie Young post 32 points — setting a WNBA Finals record with the most points by a player in a single quarter (21).
Young and 2025 WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson — who is averaging 24.5 points per game through the first two Finals matchups — also became the second-most prolific duo in a single Finals game in WNBA history by combining for 60 of Las Vegas's 91 points on Sunday.
"I am so proud of Jackie," Wilson said after Sunday's win. "I'm a pain in the ass sometimes when she's not doing her job, because I know that [potential] is there."
Hunting their third title in four years, Las Vegas veterans Wilson, Young, and guard Chelsea Gray are combining with new signings Evans and Loyd to make things difficult for the new-look Mercury.
"We have weapons," Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon said. "We want to use them all, because we're harder to guard that way."
"What gives me confidence is we've been down before," countered Phoenix head coach Nate Tibbetts. "We've been overlooked."
While no WNBA Finals team has ever bounced back from a 0-2 start, the league's new best-of-seven format gives the Mercury a little extra cushioning as the series travels to Phoenix for Game 3 on Wednesday.
How to watch Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals
The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury will hunt their first victory in the 2025 WNBA Finals on home court when they host the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces for Game 3 at 8 PM ET on Wednesday.
Live coverage will air on ESPN.
The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury land in Las Vegas to tip off the first best-of-seven finals in league history on Friday night, leaning into a new-look roster as they take on the No. 2 Aces in Game 1 of the 2025 WNBA Finals — the Mercury's first championship series since 2021.
"This is what it's all about," said Phoenix forward Alyssa Thomas ahead of the matchup. "We play the whole season for playoffs and moments like this. I want to win. I've been chasing a championship for a long time, and I think this is our time."
The Mercury found almost immediate success this year after picking up top free agents like Thomas and fellow forward Satou Sabally during a productive offseason.
"I'm really happy with the strides that we've made, how we're trying to build this team moving forward, because there were some players that took chances on us and you want it to go well," second-year Phoenix head coach Nate Tibbetts told JWS last month.
"It speaks volumes about the team and how we stay composed, how we can go on runs and ride the wave," Thomas said. "You don't know what each game is going to bring, but the biggest thing is us staying composed."
Phoenix will have their work cut out for them on Friday night, facing a Las Vegas home unit armed with significant postseason experience as Aces mainstays A'ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray shoot for their third title in four years.
"We've been here before, we have a team full of vets, but they do, too. I don't think you can take that for granted," said Young.
How to watch Game 1 of the 2025 WNBA Finals
The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury and No. 2 Las Vegas Aces will tip off the 2025 WNBA Finals at 8 PM ET on Friday, with Game 1 airing live on ESPN.
Game 2 will follow at 3 PM ET on Sunday, with live coverage airing on ABC.