On the night of the 2021 WNBA Draft in April, Destiny Slocum was sitting on her living room couch surrounded by family and friends as she waited for the televised announcement. She didn’t know exactly when or where she was going to get drafted, but she believed without a doubt that her name would be called.

The confirmation came early in the second round, when the Las Vegas Aces selected Slocum with the 14th overall pick and ESPN captured Slocum’s jubilant reaction.

“I think my entire life, especially coming from a small town like Boise, not many people thought that I would ever go to the WNBA,” said the former Arkansas point guard and first Boise-born player to be drafted into the WNBA. “I think just having that moment of everything that I’ve worked for … was a big thing for me.”

Once the reality set in that she was off to Las Vegas to play with reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and for head coach Bill Laimbeer, Slocum shifted her focus back to where it was before the draft. She would train and work hard to try to make the roster because she knew nothing was guaranteed, even as a draft pick.

There are 12 teams in the WNBA and only 144 roster spots available. In some cases, the salary cap limits a team to carry 11 players rather than the usual 12. This is the stark reality for every rookie who enters the league. The competition for a roster spot is extremely tough, especially for players drafted in the second and third rounds.

“I think the one thing about the WNBA is once you’re drafted, it only means so much, right? To me, I say it’s worth a penny of the entire dollar — you still have to make the team,” Slocum said. “You really have to shift your mindset in a lot of ways and get past the draft. Like, you really can’t enjoy draft night because you’re like, all right, now I gotta go and make this roster.”

Slocum arrived in Las Vegas with the mindset that the only way Laimbeer would cut her was because of salary cap restrictions. She would do everything in her power to show him why she was worthy of one of the 12 spots. That meant adjusting quickly to the speed and strength of players at the WNBA level.

“I mean, there’s really no jump. You go straight from college to the pros and that’s what they expect you to do, too,” Slocum said. “They hand you the playbook, you come back and you know the plays when (coach Laimbeer) calls them. Just a lot of responsibility and maturity comes with it.”

The Rook's first official points as an Ace!@DestinySlocum24 // #ALLIN ♦️♠️ pic.twitter.com/Uasi8ZxUUu

— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) May 22, 2021

The transition to the WNBA can be overwhelming for draft picks. Many of them have to adapt to bench-heavy roles after being their college team’s go-to player.

Aari McDonald can attest to that challenge. The Arizona point guard shot up WNBA mock draft boards after she led the Wildcats to the 2021 NCAA championship game against Stanford. Even though her team lost, McDonald was the star of the tournament. When the Atlanta Dream selected her third overall, McDonald celebrated with her family and then quickly moved on to the task at hand.

“I thought, OK, Chennedy [Carter], Courtney [Williams], Odyssey [Sims],” she said. “I was like, OK, this is gonna be fun.”

McDonald felt as if she were starting her freshman year all over again when she got to Atlanta. But her teammates, she says, made her feel right at home, consistently motivating her and offering advice that has made her stronger. McDonald has plenty of experienced players to learn from on a guard-heavy team.

Still, because of that depth chart at guard, the Dream’s move to take McDonald with the third pick was puzzling to some. In just the past year, the Dream had drafted Carter fourth overall and signed Sims in free agency. As a result, McDonald has averaged just 13.6 minutes per game this season, and before Carter was suspended in early July, she was playing even less.

“McDonald was surprising, not because she’s not talented but just because (Atlanta) is so loaded at point guard,” said a former WNBA assistant coach. “That one really was confusing to me. I figured they would get something they could use, that could help them. I understand them trying to load up with talent, but, like, she’s just sitting the bench for them because they have so many players who are ahead of her.”

“I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s hard,” McDonald said. “It’s a learning adjustment, but once my number’s called, I’m ready. It’s making me stronger. It’s making me hungry.”

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Players drafted in the first round aren’t even guaranteed a place on a WNBA team. And if they prove they belong in training camp, their contract still might not fit within a team’s salary cap. For rookies selected in the latter half of the draft, the gap between the college basketball and WNBA levels can be too far to bridge.

Of the 36 players drafted in 2021, only 17 are currently listed as active players. Two first-round draft picks, Shyla Heal and Stephanie Watts, were waived before getting much of a chance to prove themselves. Chelsey Perry, drafted 26th overall by the Indiana Fever, was the only third-round draft pick to make a roster (she was initially waived and then re-signed with Fever later in the season).

The roster turnover among WNBA rookies has left some questioning the scouting and drafting process, and the challenges the pandemic presented this past year.

“Looking at this draft class … you didn’t know who could make an impact right away,” said the former assistant coach. “This is going to sound biased because she’s the one playing the best — I liked Michaela Onyenwere from UCLA. That was my favorite player in this draft. We didn’t know if anyone else would come out early, and COVID didn’t help that at all. I know Rhyne Howard was possibly coming out as well, but she obviously came back. Onyenwere was probably the top one.”

Onyenwere, drafted sixth overall by the New York Liberty, is the current frontrunner for Rookie of the Year. She has started every game this season and is averaging 23.8 minutes, 9.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Onyenwere is the only rookie playing over 20 minutes per game this season, marking a considerable dropoff from last season when seven rookies who appeared in more than 15 games averaged over 20 minutes for their teams.

Curt Miller, head coach and GM of the Connecticut Sun, also had Onyenwere high on his draft board. But without a first-round pick in 2021, he knew she wouldn’t last until the second round. He also figured she would have been drafted earlier than sixth.

“I can only speak for us — it wasn’t the easiest preparation in what we were planning without a first round-draft pick,” Miller said. “I wasn’t as caught up as some of these teams were as far as the star power, the upper first-round picks or how that was all gonna play out. We didn’t concern ourselves as much with that this year as we would have if we had had a first-round draft pick.”

The toughest challenge for Miller and his staff was figuring out the best way to prepare for the draft while dealing with COVID-19.

“You didn’t know exactly who was going to come into the draft,” he said. “We are a staff that loves to be in person, and that was impossible. I love to not only attend games, but we love to attend practices in person. You learn so much more.”

Miller waited patiently as the draft unfolded, watching players slip and scratching his head at some of the players teams picked ahead of him. It became apparent that some teams were picking based on positional needs, while others were going with the best available player. Both strategies helped, he says, when it came time for the Sun to make their pick at No. 20.

DiJonai Carrington was a two-way prospect Miller liked from the start, and the Baylor guard dropped right into the Sun’s lap.

“We thought, behind the scenes and throughout our investigation, there were a significant amount of second-round picks that would be picked before us that would not stick on final rosters compared to our second-round pick, who had a real shot of making our roster because of our salary cap situation,” Miller said.

Indeed, Carrington stuck with Connecticut. Some analysts even predicted her to win Rookie of the Year. But so far this season, Carrington is averaging fewer than 10 minutes per game.

https://t.co/2eJYnozvxi pic.twitter.com/MWG6GtYrRY

— Connecticut Sun (@ConnecticutSun) July 3, 2021

Currently, the top five picks of the 2021 WNBA Draft — Charli Collier, Awak Kuier, McDonald, Kysre Gondrezick and Chelsea Dungee — are barely playing at all. Onyenwere plays the most. According to Miller, she landed in the perfect situation for her to succeed in New York.

When it comes to making it in the WNBA, fit means everything. Miller remembers acquiring Courtney Williams from the Phoenix Mercury nearly halfway through the 2016 season. Drafted eighth overall that year, Williams hadn’t played much in Phoenix. The guard thrived in three and a half seasons with the Sun and was named to her first All-Star team this year with the Dream.

“We traded for Courtney, who was averaging a point per game in Phoenix but thrived in our system,” Miller said. “Right system, right fit, right timing.”

The same questions can be asked this season. Would Onyenwere be playing just as well if Dallas had taken her with one of their top picks? If Collier had gone to New York, would she be thriving? Would McDonald have been better off sitting behind Courtney Vandersloot in Chicago?

To Slocum, landing in Las Vegas didn’t make sense at first. But after watching film and spending more time with the team, her perspective changed.

“I think I fit in the system well,” Slocum said. “My role is to get in there and give energy, pressure guards and knock down shots. For me, it’s been a good transition and a team I feel like I fit in pretty well with.”

Her Aces teammates — especially Riquna Williams, Slocum says — have welcomed her. And while she’s had to adjust to certain aspects of the WNBA game, Slocum’s basketball IQ has been an asset. The toughest lesson for her has been patience.

“I mean, you’re crazy if you’re a basketball player and you don’t want to be on the floor every second. But also, patience [is important] in everything you do,” she said. “I show up every day as if I’m going to play 40 minutes every game. It’s what I do with the minutes that I do have that are valuable. My biggest goal is, when I’m in the game, am I doing everything in my power to help us win?”

McDonald feels the same way.

“The biggest lesson I learned was to stay ready,” she said. “You never know what can happen, you never know when your number is called. But when it’s called, you gotta deliver. You gotta play your game.”

McDonald also thinks she ended up in the right place. She was shy at first but says there’s no way she can be anyone but herself on the Dream, a team that loves to have fun and goof around. McDonald has bonded with Sims, the veteran guard who tells her to just “do what has gotten you here” when she is on the court. It’s a lesson she’s taken to heart in the WNBA, where players have to prove every day that they belong.

“I think that when you’re on a team with similar players, iron sharpens iron,” McDonald said. “We’re making each other better every day in practice. We’re gonna put these pieces together, and we’re gonna fight and we’re gonna scrap and grind it out. And I really like my odds.”

Sophia Smith isn't much of a gamer. 

"It just does not come naturally to me," the Portland Thorns and USWNT forward tells Just Women's Sports with a laugh. "I think with more practice, I could get good."

Whatever skills Smith may lack on the virtual pitch are made up in full by her talent on the actual one. And that talent has ironically earned her an outsized on-screen role in the popular soccer video game EA Sports FC.

Earlier this week, the 24-year-old earned her second-straight spot on EA Sport's Team of the Year. The honor that places her alongside international heavyweights like Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati, Chelsea's Lauren James, and Lyon's Wendie Renard.

While gaming might not have been front of mind when Smith won Olympic gold in Paris last summer, she has noticed how FC 25 has become an essential way for soccer fans to get to know their favorite players. The franchise only started fully integrating NWSL teams in 2023, but Smith's rise to in-game prominence was swift. 

Her avatar is regularly featured in national TV commercials, scoring in both a Thorns and a USWNT jersey alongside men's soccer stars like Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham. It might be just a video game, but FC 25 feels increasingly like one of the few platforms that views both sides of the sport as having equal potential.

The phenomenon is not lost on Smith. She says that from time to time fans will recognize her not from the Olympics or an NWSL championship appearance, but from the video game. "When people have the ability to play with women in a game that they've played all their life, it opens a whole new door for us," she says.

"It's so great for women in sports, because it shows that we also deserve to be in a game," she continues. "We also deserve to have that platform, to have our names out there at the same level as the men."

EA FC levels the playing field

While the EA FC 25 Team of the Year is voted on by fans, the breadth of leagues in this year's lineup also calms some of the debates currently raging within the women's side. It's no secret that NWSL players sometimes have trouble gaining traction in top European awards. This is a tension that Smith herself has faced before her US national team breakout.

"I do think the NWSL isn't recognized enough," says Smith. "People have a lot of opinions on it, maybe people who don't even watch any games. That can be frustrating because it's a very challenging league to play in — every game is competitive."

To prove her point, she references the time it's taken for her USWNT teammate and fellow Stanford alum Naomi Girma to gain recognition on the international stage. If there were any player she could add to EA FC's Team of the Year, she adds, it'd be the San Diego Wave center-back — "and not just because she's my best friend." The growing global market for NWSL-based players like Girma and Smith likely won't silence critics promoting European-style football over American. But Smith sees differences across leagues as an asset for a player, not a problem.

"Either league could be good for any player for a number of reasons," she explains. "You can learn something in Europe that you can't learn here, and vice-versa. That's why players go back and forth."

"I believe that every league that exists can be challenging in its own way, and we're all just trying to figure it out," she continues. "FC having women in the game — women from the NWSL and European leagues — just puts us all as equals as we should be. It allows you to determine someone's game based off someone's game, not if they play in Europe or the NWSL."

Focusing on USWNT growth in 2025

Smith's game speaks for itself. Coming off a disappointing 2023 World Cup, the forward scored three goals and registered two assists during the USWNT's Olympic run, leading the team to their first major tournament trophy since 2019. Her club contributions were similarly impressive. She scored 12 regular-season goals alongside six assists despite Portland's failure to make it past the 2024 quarterfinals.

But the year took a toll, and Smith says that prioritizing rest has been essential to preparing herself for everything 2025 has to offer.

"I feel like this offseason was very much needed for me," she says. "While it was a great year, it was a long year — we just gave everything 110%, 24/7, so when we got to the offseason, it kind of just smacked us in the face."

Smith says she's physically bouncing back after a lingering ankle injury limited her playing time in the later half of 2024. "Most offseasons I'll take a few weeks and I'll start training," she says. "This offseason I took a little longer. I knew that in order to start this next year off right, I needed to give my body what it needed while I could."

With no major US tournaments set for 2025, Smith is looking forward to seeing the national team continue to gel and evolve. She's a big believer in USWNT manager Emma Hayes's "If it's not broken, break it" ethos. It makes her excited to push herself and her team to take things to the next level. 

Bringing the EA FC Team of the Year energy back to Portland

Smith also has work to do in the NWSL. She's rejoining a Portland club that saw multiple legends of the game step away after 2024's uncharacteristic sixth-place finish. As a leader, she wants to see the Thorns back at the top of the table. And she hopes to carry on the legacy of retired stars like Christine Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Meghan Klingenberg.

"Since I arrived in Portland, every year there's been change. I'm just used to it at this point," she says. "The best thing we can do as players is stick together, really just show up for each other every day. And work towards the same goal, which is to win."

"It's easier said than done," she admits. "I'm used to being one of the younger players on the team. I still am, but I have more experience. I feel like I can be a leader in a different way."

With 2024's triumphs behind her, Smith views the new year as an opportunity to improve without the intense pressure of a major tournament. As always, the goal comes down to one simple thing: growth.

"I'm not the loudest person," she says. "But I can lead by example and show up every day, trying to be the best version of myself and helping those around me get better, too."

Making connections on and off the screen

One thing Smith can guarantee is that she'll continue to connect with fans. That goes whether it's signing autographs after a match or finding the back of the net in EA FC 25. 

"It wasn't that long ago that I was that little kid, watching people I grew up looking up to," she remembers. "If they took a minute out of their day to say hi or to sign something, that stuff means a lot." 

"So I try to be that person for people. If I can do that through FC, if I can do that in real life, I always take the opportunity."

Some of the NWSL's brightest stars made headlines this week, as the league's free agency transfer window continues to turn heads both at home and abroad.

Brazil forward Kerolin is officially departing North Carolina after spending all three of her NWSL seasons with the Courage, the club confirmed on Wednesday. The 2023 NWSL MVP will reportedly head to the WSL's Manchester City in a deal extending through 2028.

Sources are also linking two-time NWSL Defender of the Year Naomi Girma to the first $1 million transfer offer in women's soccer history, courtesy of French side Lyon and UK titans Chelsea and Arsenal. The 24-year-old USWNT star's current contract with the San Diego Wave runs through 2026, making a transfer fee a necessary part of any earlier deal.

The current record for a women's soccer transfer fee is $860,000, which Bay FC shelled out to receive Zambian forward Rachael Kundananji from Spain's Madrid CFF in February 2024.

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More NWSL teams make moves to lock down contracts

NWSL preseason has already started for select clubs, with teams putting the final touches on solidifying both their rosters and front offices.

Angel City hired former Portland Thorns FC and Washington Spirit head coach Mark Parsons as the club's new sporting director on Wednesday. The franchise is still searching for a permanent head coach after parting with boss Becki Tweed in December.

The 2022 expansion team also signed veteran forward Christen Press to a new one-year contract, per a Friday morning press release.

Meanwhile, with Girma's possible departure dominating the rumor mill, the Wave announced the addition of 17-year-old UNC defender and 2024 College Cup champion Trinity Armstrong to the club's ranks on Thursday.

Though Girma's fate is yet to be confirmed, San Diego's decision to pick up a talented young center back — on a three-year contract, no less — supports the theory that the USWNT standout is on the move.

Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball tips off its inaugural season on Friday night, when four of the league's six clubs will take the court for the first time.

The Miami-based league's debut doubleheader begins with a co-founder face-off, as Breanna Stewart's Mist will first square off against 2024 WNBA Finals foe and fellow Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier's Lunar Owls.

Shortly after that inaugural game, Rose BC, whose roster includes top-rated 2024 rookie Angel Reese plus WNBA Finals MVPs Kahleah Copper (2021) and Chelsea Gray (2022), will take the Unrivaled court. Facing them in Friday's nightcap will be Vinyl BC, a team headlined by WNBA Rookies of the Year Aliyah Boston (2023) and Rhyne Howard (2022).

The two remaining Unrivaled teams will debut on Saturday afternoon, when Phantom BC takes on Laces BC in another 3×3 doubleheader.

Led by All-Stars like Brittney Griner and reigning WNBA champion Sabrina Ionescu, the Phantom will start the season without guard Marina Mabrey due to a calf strain. Her recovery is expected to take two to four weeks, with an injury re-evaluation set for late January. In the meantime, the Phantom have added relief player Natisha Hiedeman to their short-handed roster.

IT'S GAME DAYYYYYYY! 🗣️ Make sure you tune in tonight at 7pm ET! pic.twitter.com/vAZ2IkemoF

— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) January 17, 2025

Unrivaled stars prepare for their close-up

The innovative new league is launching with 36 of the WNBA's biggest stars, a brand new 3x3 format, and a product finely tuned for national TV broadcast. The goal is to bring fans even closer to their favorite athletes.

Subsequently, Unrivaled has teamed up with six US bars "dedicated to elevating women's sports" in an effort to promote official watch parties nationwide.

"The content piece and the TV piece of this is huge for us," Collier told The Athletic ahead of Friday's launch. "We want to make it the most interactive, fun, and exciting experience we can for people."

With a smaller court and cameras positioned closer to the action than in WNBA games, Unrivaled is aiming to bring a small-venue experience to a national audience.

"It’s definitely intimate, and you’re definitely going to hear a lot of stuff," Mist athlete Jewell Loyd told The Athletic. "But at the same time, that’s what you want, and it’s definitely going to make us play a little harder."

How to watch Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball this weekend

The new 3x3 league will tip off with the Mist and Lunar Owls at 7 PM ET on Friday, with Rose BC and Vinyl BC following at 8 PM ET.

All Unrivaled games will air across TNT, truTV, and Max throughout the season, with Friday's tip off broadcast live on TNT.

With the 2025 NCAA gymnastics season in full swing, top collegiate athletes are already eyeing mid-April's national championship in Fort Worth, Texas.

Unlike elite gymnastics, where difficulty can outweigh execution, the college level values precision over big tricks, so Division I athletes all aim for perfect 10s in their competition performances.

Despite this difference, many of the world's most decorated elite gymnasts also compete in the NCAA. Two-time Olympian Jade Carey is back for her senior season with No. 14 Oregon State while her US teammate in both Tokyo and Paris, Jordan Chiles, is entering her junior year at No. 11 UCLA.

The Bruin, who took the 2024 NCAA season off to prepare for last summer's Olympics, will attempt to reclaim the national titles on uneven bars and floor exercise that she earned in 2023.

Top teams poised for the podium

After earning their first national title last spring, No. 2 LSU is hitting the 2025 mat armed with a stacked roster, headlined by 2024 all-around champion Haleigh Bryant and social media star Livvy Dunne.

Add in last year's freshman phenom Konnor McClain, whose prowess on the balance beam ultimately clinched LSU the NCAA trophy, and 2024 Olympic alternate Kaliya Lincoln, who opened her NCAA career with a 9.825 vault two weeks ago, and the Tigers are more than capable of a back-to-back run.

LSU isn't the only SEC team predicted to make a deep run this season, as the conference is once again flush with perennial contenders.

Elite US stars Kayla DiCello and early Freshman of the Year frontrunner Skye Blakely will join two-time US Olympic alternate Leanne Wong in trying to return No. 7 Florida to the NCAA championship meet. At the same time, new SEC team No. 1 Oklahoma, winner of seven of the last 10 NCAA trophies, could see senior Jordan Bowers de-throne Bryant for the 2025 all-around title.

Also causing early national championship chatter are 2024 finalists No. 5 Cal, who return two of the country's best all-arounders in senior Mya Lauzon and junior eMjae Frazier, and Big Ten champs No. 6 Michigan State, whose veteran-heavy lineup boasts stars Skyla Schulte and Sage Kellerman.

How to watch NCAA gymnastics this weekend

Some of the country's top NCAA gymnasts will take the mat when No. 7 Florida visits No. 2 LSU at 7:30 PM ET on Friday. Live coverage will air on ESPN2.