By Anthony Price 

​This season, under team president Jennifer Rizzotti’s leadership and with the involvement of a senior WNBA executive, the Connecticut Sun has taken dysfunction to a new level by revoking my media credential without a valid basis. 
 
On Wednesday, July 8, just after noon, I reached out via text to the Sun’s public relations specialists Asia Horton and Jalynn “Ro” Lane—two new staffers this season—to inquire about the status of a media credential for the game. 
 
The Sun were scheduled to play the Minnesota Lynx that evening at Mohegan Sun Arena. They had a thrilling 90-89 win over the Lynx on the road on Monday night, bringing the team’s record to 5-16—the last-place team in the league had beaten the best team in the league. During another abysmal season, this was a brief moment for celebration.

​Just days later, that marquee win would lead to a personal low for me.
 
The Waiting Game 
 
In the past, the Sun’s PR team would send an email 48 hours before the next game to indicate whether a credential was approved. It was just after the July 4th weekend, so I thought maybe things were thrown off like a wild pitch out of the strike zone. But I didn’t receive an email on Monday or Tuesday either. This was odd. 
 
I typed another message on my smartphone: “I didn’t receive any notification for the game tonight. What’s the status?” Confident the text was professional and to the point, I hit send.  

​For the next two hours, I sensed an eerie silence, like right before the villain strikes in a horror movie. 
 
When I looked at my phone again, my blue message was floating on a dark black background. It looked as ominous as storm clouds accumulating in the sky—and little did I know that I was going to be in the middle of that storm.  

Attendance Streak Ends 
 
My mind began to wander as it does when things go off the rails. I thought about the past month and my interactions with Sun staff. At least half were microaggressions from various members of Sun staff: from PR staff showing hostility toward my requests to talk to players or ask questions at pregame press conferences—not even allowing me to ask a player a question over Zoom. In contrast, others had multiple chances to ask questions. 

Even Rizzotti, who excels at glad-handing every person she sees in the arena, pretended not to see me, often looking the other way or at her telephone. One of her close staff members would do the same, even though I had spoken with her before. Something was up.  
 
Independent journalists who lack the backing of billion-dollar media conglomerates often learn to tolerate dismissive or disrespectful treatment to protect their access and credentials. At some point, however, remaining silent only enables that behavior. Those in positions of authority are no different from anyone else—and their titles do not necessarily reflect greater skill, experience, or professionalism. When inappropriate treatment goes unchallenged, they may come to believe they can continue acting without consequence.

Unfortunately, this attitude is not uncommon among public relations personnel dealing with independent journalists. I have witnessed it in the NBA, WNBA—although certainly not with every team—and at prominent college basketball programs. 
 
My relationship with the Sun began to deteriorate after I published a column criticizing the WNBA’s new two-tier media credential policy for the 2026 season. At a time when billions of dollars are flowing into the league, the WNBA adopted a system that divides media members into Tier 1/Orange and Tier II/Gray categories.
 
I wrote the column because I believed the policy disproportionately disadvantaged independent journalists—many of whom lack the financial backing of major media companies—who helped cover and promote the league long before its recent surge in popularity, fueled in part by Caitlin Clark and the players who preceded her. 

By that point, I had attended every Sun home game during the 2025 and 2026 seasons with a media credential: 33 consecutive games, including those played in Hartford and Boston. As the publisher of CT Hoops Magazine and Mini Books, I aim to document the team from a perspective that differs from that of larger media outlets, and often covers stories they overlook. 
 
Then, at precisely 2:21 p.m. on the day of the game, an email arrived from Alexandra Maund, the Sun’s senior director of brand development and communications. Its subject line read: “Connecticut Sun Credential Revocation – Effective Immediately.” 

The decision did not come as a complete surprise. Although I had not violated any credentialing rules, the relationship had grown increasingly strained after I publicly challenged the league’s policy. The revocation raised an unavoidable question: Was my access withdrawn because of my conduct as a journalist—or because the organization objected to my criticism?
 
Maund, a Yale graduate who later played for Rizzotti as a graduate student at George Washington University, offered the following explanation, a characterization of an incident that I found difficult to reconcile with the facts: 

By then, however, the immediate damage had been done. I missed the Lynx game and the following home game against the Golden State Valkyries. Hoping for a change of scenery, I traveled to New York City, but the accusation remained difficult to put out of my mind. 
​
On Thursday morning from my Manhattan hotel room, I emailed NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and asked that the matter be investigated. I had met him a while back and had corresponded with him on several occasions. I also notified WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. As of the publication of this column, neither had responded. 

On Friday, I contacted the Mohegan Tribe. That conversation led to an email being sent to the Tribe’s Attorney General, Larry Roberts. As of publication, I have not received a response from him. ​

By Anthony Price 

​In the WNBA, championships—and money—separate average players from winners. 
 
Kennedy Burke has been a winner, excelling off the bench. Sun GM Morgan Tuck coveted her winning pedigree, giving her a one-year, million-dollar contract. 
 
Even though Burke had never been more than a role player in the W, Tuck is hoping to sprinkle Burke’s winning ways over a young crop of talent to help them grow into winners at the pro level. Burke and Brittney Griner were the major offseason acquisitions the Sun’s front office made. 

​Sun coach Rachid Meziane coached Burke in France for two seasons. Burke, or KB as her Sun teammates know her, is an unassuming professional basketball player whose resumé quietly overflows with major accomplishments. She has bounced from country to country, with many championship trophies overseas and one for the New York Liberty. 
 
Her past success is a mark of excellence. But this season, her role is no longer the quiet contributor on that Liberty team that featured three stars: Brianna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones. 
 
The Sun expect Burke to take a massive leap to being their “star,” as well as adding leadership to a team that has five rookies and four second-year players. 
 
Can Burke make the leap from soft-spoken role player to someone who can stand up and be counted on to deliver nightly in the W?

No Boasting 
 
Burke’s not the type of player to boast. At 6-foot-1, she prefers to have her game do the talking. She is a guard but has a rugged frame that allows her to play forward positions on both offense and defense. She is a physical player who can hit the 3-pointer and has an all-around game, getting to the basket off the dribble. 
 
She is a blue-collar player, doing the little things that lead to wins. But lately, her game has been inconsistent at best. Her roller-coaster-like play has affected her confidence. 
With 27 games remaining on the schedule, she is averaging 7.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists, which is above her career averages in the W of 5.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, and .9 assists. 
 
When Burke won a championship with the Liberty, she played in a reserve role, which is not the same pressure stars face nightly. 

Burke’s preference seems to be to assimilate, but the Sun need her to exert her talent on the court and lead—there’s serious cognitive dissonance between what she is and what is expected. They need her to take the throne and lead. 
 
The Sun’s front office and coaching staff want to see her make noise on the court because the 2-13 team could use a boost from the veteran. 

​Cali Vibes 
 
Before she made her name as a professional, she grew up in Northridge, Los Angeles, with her older sister and parents. Her older sister, Kody, who is 6-foot-2, played basketball for North Carolina State, where she scored 1,588 points from 2010 to 2014. Her father, Rogelio, played professional basketball in Mexico and for Panama, his home country. 
 
From 2015 through 2019, Burke played for the UCLA Bruins. Listed as a guard in college, she was known as a defensive player who could score. She racked up 123 blocked shots and 237 steals in her career. 
 
Proving the scouting report correct, she scored 1,513 points, averaging 11 points per game—15.4 points and 6.2 rebounds her senior year. In 138 games, she started 97, helping the Bruins go 100-39 and make four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. 
 
Drafted by the Dallas Wings, Burke was the 22nd overall pick. The same draft in which Jackie Young was selected No. 1 by the Las Vegas Aces, Napheesa Collier No. 6 by the Minnesota Lynx, and Marina Mabrey 19th by the Los Angeles Sparks. All continue to have an impact in the league.

​Burke’s start to her professional career was rocky. She never played a regular-season game for the Wings. They waived her on May 22nd, and a few days later, the Indiana Fever picked her up.

She played on the Indiana Fever (2 years), Seattle Storm (1 year), Washington Mystics (1 year), and New York Liberty (2 years). In 2020, she started what would be a career-high 11 games, but she didn’t play in the league during the 2023 season, opting to play overseas. 
 
Burke is now in her seventh year. Over her career, she has averaged 5.4 points and 1.9 rebounds in 15.5 minutes. She’s a role player. But overseas, she has been a star, playing in France, Spain, and Turkey. 
 
In the Ligue Féminine de Basketball in France, she was named the Most Valuable Player in 2023 and 2024 and won the Major 5 Trophy in both years. In the EuroLeague Women, she was named to the All-EuroLeague Second Team in 2024. 
 
Countries want her services. Turkey granted her citizenship in March 2026. Just in time to play for the Turkish women’s national basketball team as it played to qualify for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournaments, from March 11-17. 

Over five games in Turkey, Burke averaged 16.4 points. Turkey finished third in Group A and qualified for the Women’s World Cup, which will take place in Germany from September 4-13. 

Next Game 
 
After a travel day, it was Friday, June 12, in the early afternoon at the Mohegan Sun Arena. It was the first practice since a heartbreaking 106-102 overtime loss to the Toronto Tempo in Canada. In that game, Burke played 29 minutes and scored 11 points on 3-12 shooting and had 6 rebounds—all on offensive boards. She was 1-6 from the 3-point range. Another winnable game turned into a loss. 
 
Burke was sitting in the lower bowl of the arena after practice, talking to associate head coach Roneeka Hodges. From the court, they seemed to be engrossed in a deep conversation. 
 
15 minutes later, Burke made her way down to the court where I was waiting for her. She is tall with a strong frame. She doesn’t slouch. Her long braids were in perfect rows.
 
This was our first meeting. I asked her what she thought she could bring to the team. “Just being more of a leader, on the court, off the court, making sure that I’m speaking up more than usual. It’s still something I’m working on, but I feel like day by day, I’m getting just a little bit better.” 

We talked about the championships she won. She’s modest—almost coming across as shy. She needed to be led into this topic. She’s not the type of player who is going to brag. “I’m not a big-time player, and that’s okay. But I’ve also accomplished so much overseas and just throughout my basketball career.” 
 
Burke is the only player on the Sun roster who has won a championship at this level; yet, no one has asked her about her experience. She takes it all in stride and seems to downplay her accomplishments. 
 
Burke has a California vibe. She’s polite, reserved, and not overly friendly. 
 
Kobe Bryant is her all-time favorite basketball player. She’s still a huge Lakers fan, she says. As a Kobe fan, one of the things she takes from him is “just being the best, not only as a player, but the best person I can be for these young players on this team. Just being a leader and having that mentality that no one can stop me,” she says. 
 
There’s another side of Burke you won’t see on the basketball court. It’s almost counter to who she projects on the court. “I love roller coasters,” she says, as if revealing a deep secret. She hopes to get on a roller coaster soon. 
 
But true to who she is, “the majority of time I’m just to myself at home and just chilling.” 

​She is proud of her relationship with Meziane. “I have a really good relationship with Rachid, so I can talk to him about literally anything outside of basketball. He’s a great listener, a great person. So, I mean, to have those conversations with him, it means a lot.” 
 
Rachid wants more out of her. “I know he wants me to be aggressive. And when I get the ball in my hands, be a contributor, looking [for] ways to score and at the same time getting my teammates involved,” she says.  
 
When asked about her up-and-down performance this year, she is forgiving of her lapses. “I mean, at the end of the day, I have to give myself grace in those games where I’m not contributing as much,” she says. She spoke to Meziane the day of our conversation about building her confidence and being a leader. There was an emphasis on her being herself when stepping into the game and shooting with confidence. Regardless of wins or losses, it’s “playing hard no matter what,” she says. 
 
After the loss to the Tempo, Meziane spoke about Burke. “This kind of production can help her trust in herself and just show her teammates that she is capable of scoring,” he said. 

​“It’s what I’m repeating to her every day. She’s here to be one of our leaders, so I hope just hearing this message every day could help her to play with more confidence,” he says. “I know KB very well, and I know a lot of things are just coming from confidence for her. So, I hope that tonight she just sees that she’s the one who can contribute more offensive-wise.” It comes across as a plea. 
 
During the Indiana Fever pregame press conference on Saturday, Meziane mentioned that he had spoken to Burke about how important she is to the team. He believes the conversation that he had with her may help her change her mindset. 
 
“She has to understand that she is very important to us,” Meziane says. “And coming off a team like [the] New York Liberty, playing with a lot of all-stars, it’s something different. Being our star,” Meziane says with an air quote, “it’s probably something new for her.” 

​Meziane is okay with giving Burke time to adjust to her role with the team. He comments that she also needs more ball touches. “She has to get the ball more often and shoot more to build her confidence,” he states. He acknowledged that it is hard to score from behind the 3-point line when Burke only has one or two attempts. “I can also take some responsibilities on that and just make sure that she is going to touch more balls.”
 
The Sun lost to the Fever 85-75 in Connecticut. Burke played 24 minutes and scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting. In the end, it wasn’t enough. She had a key turnover late in the fourth quarter that led to a Fever 3-pointer. 

There’s Still Time
 
“KB is awesome. I love her,” Sun rookie and fellow UCLA Bruin Charlisse Leger-Walker says. She is fresh off a national championship with the Bruins in April, along with fellow rookie Gianna Kneepkens. 
 
After practice, Leger-Walker noted that Burke was extremely supportive in helping her understand the league on a mental level. “How to switch from a college mindset to a pro mindset, whether that’s resetting really quickly after a loss, or coming in and making sure we are doing the little things, or taking care of your body,” she says. “All of those little things that you can only get from a vet player are what she brings. I’m really glad she is one of our vets on this team.” 
 
That’s part of what Tuck and Meziane are looking for from her. If Burke can play her role consistently, the Sun may add wins. And for management, it will be money well spent on the quiet vet. 

​###

By Anthony Price 

Diamond Miller’s WNBA dream became real when the Minnesota Lynx selected her No. 2 overall in the 2023 draft, just behind the Indiana Fever’s No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston. 
 
Miller engraved April 10, 2023, on her brain. The 6-foot-1 forward had beaten the odds. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, about 20 miles northwest of New York City, she was the youngest of three siblings–two girls and a boy. Her new chapter began with a walk across a stage in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood. Dressed in a bespoke pink suit and matching tube top, she flashed her megawatt smile. In her hand, she held her team jersey for the first time and posed for photographs with Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. The television cameras captured every moment. 

​After she left the stage, Miller greeted Lynx officials. “I can’t wait to see you guys in person,” she said over the telephone, “and I’m just extremely blessed that you picked me, and I won’t disappoint.” 

​“It honestly doesn’t feel real right now. I’m still kind of soaking it in, but I’m super excited,“ she told a Jersey Sports Zone reporter later that night. “This is why I worked so hard to get to this moment. But work is just starting now.”
 
She knew she would have to work harder than at any time in her life because first-round draft picks routinely wash out of the W, like fish stranded on the Jersey shore after a storm. 

Nowhere to Hide
 
Miller lived up to expectations as a rookie, scoring 18 or more points eight times while starting every game. The Lynx made the playoffs and lost to the Connecticut Sun 2-1, finishing the season 15-17. 
 
She was an All-Rookie Team honoree, second in scoring, second in assists, and fifth in rebounding amongst rookies. She was the third Lynx player (after Naphessa Collier and Hall of Famer Maya Moore) to achieve 380 points, 110 rebounds, 30 steals, and 10 blocks. She was on the path to stardom.

Aliyah Boston’s season also opened eyes. She couldn’t miss, shooting 57.8 from the field and becoming the first rookie to lead the league in the category. She won the Rookie of the Year award, averaging 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and 1.25 blocked shots in over 31 minutes. 
 
Miller’s second season took a sudden shift when she sustained an injury to her right knee in the third game of the season, which would keep her out for a month and require surgery. 

​(This wasn’t new to her. During the offseason after her rookie year, she injured her left knee while playing overseas and required surgery. She had her right knee operated on in 2022 at the University of Maryland, where she was an All-American.)
 
Bridget Carleton replaced her in the starting lineup. She finished the season playing 10 minutes a game in 25 games and averaging 2.9 points per game, with four starts. 
 
In her third year, she averaged 4.1 points in 9.7 minutes. Miller didn’t start. With the emergence of Carleton, she became expendable. In early August 2025, the Lynx traded her to the Dallas Wings along with Karlie Samuelson and a 2027 second-round draft pick for DiJonai Carrington. 

Miller played in 15 games for the Wings, averaging 3.9 points and nearly 13 minutes of playing time. She started one game on a 10-34 team that didn’t make the playoffs. 
 
In April 2026, Miller was traded to the Sun for Rayah Marshall, a USC rookie who rarely played. Now in her fourth season, she is starting and averaging 8.9 points (33% from the field and 27% from the 3-point line), 2.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. 
 
Against the New York Liberty, in the season opener in Brooklyn, she scored 16 points in a 106-75 loss. Her play gave second-year GM Morgan Tuck reason to be optimistic—but the W history is littered with players who had talent but failed. 

​Road Woes Pile Up 
 
On June 5th, the Connecticut Sun played the Chicago Sky on the road. The Sky limped onto their home court. Three players sat on the bench with injuries.  
 
At 7:54 in the first quarter, Rachel Banham blocked Miller’s 2-foot driving layup. Miller grabbed the offensive rebound and scored two points. It was the Sun’s first basket.
 
The Sun won the first quarter 25-12. The Sky punched back, winning the second quarter 32-20. When it mattered most, the Sky grinded out an 85-80 win (4-6) with strong third and fourth quarters. They ended a five-game losing streak.

​In 28 minutes, Miller scored 16 points (14 points in the first quarter) on 6-of-15 shooting (1-of-5 from the 3-point line)—tying her season high. With the loss, the Sun (2-10) dropped to 1-7 on the road. After the game, Miller and Saniya Rivers, a second-year guard, met the media for the postgame press conference. 
 
This writer asked Miller over Zoom what she needs to do to take advantage of her opportunity. “I definitely think to be consistent on offense and defense,” she said. “I feel like I started strong today, but the second half I was a no-show. So, at the end of the day, you can’t play 20 minutes. That’s not basketball. The game is 40 minutes.” 

“I feel a little disappointed,” she said. “I definitely thought as a team we could have won this game—just disappointed.” Her voice broke, fighting back emotion. Rivers patted her on the back for support. 
 
In the locker room, coach Rachid Meziane told his players to keep their heads up and to “continue to work to find a way to play with more consistency because the highest level requires and demands your best focus.”
 
At the postgame press conference, Meziane said, “We know she [Miller] can hit a lot of shots when she is playing with a lot of confidence. We are trying to create this environment for her. And tonight, she took a lot of advantage of playing with this level of confidence. But the highest level is to play for 40 minutes and not only the first half. And I hope that this game could help her to understand that she has to play with more consistency.” 

“I hope that we can learn from this tough loss tonight,” he said, as if giving himself optimism. 

​The blistering pace of the WNBA schedule is merciless.  “I don’t want to find excuses, but since the beginning of the season, we spent three weeks away,” Meziane said. For a team with five rookies and four players in their second year, he knows it’s too much. 
 
(Kennedy Burke and Brittney Griner are the Sun players with six or more years of experience.)
 
Back to Practice
 
On Sunday afternoon in an empty Mohegan Sun Arena, with players, coaches, and support staff scattered around the court, the Sun prepared for their next game on Monday night at home against the New York Liberty. 
 
The Sun opened practice to the media for the final 30 minutes. The team went through offensive and defensive sets against mostly male practice players. After practice, Miller spoke to this writer. She sat down and was upbeat, smiling. 
 
Through the sounds of coaches’ and players’ voices, basketballs hitting the floor like an offbeat metronome, and sneakers squeaking, Miller talked for a few minutes. “It’s weird. It’s year four, but I still feel like I’m still learning myself.” She is aware that she must be “ultra-aggressive” on both sides of the court. 
 
“Sometimes it’s not about physical, it’s about mental, and really working on my mental strength off the court so I could be prepared on the court.” As a professional, every game is a test of the mind. And she is hard on herself, which comes with the weight of being drafted No. 2. 

When I mention the success that Boston has had in the league, she is quick to respond, “I just think everybody’s journey is different. So, I don’t really care about other people’s journeys. I only care about mine and what I could do. I can’t control anybody else’s journey. So, I like number two.” 

She mentions how, in a family of siblings who all played the game, she developed high standards.  “I think it just comes with being a high achiever. You always want the best, you always want to play your best game, but obviously that’s not realistic, right? So, of course, you’re going to be a little critical of yourself. 
 
“But at the end of the day, it’s all fun. And I might be hard on myself for an hour, and then I get over it. So, it’s not like I’m moping around the whole day. No. I like to have fun, and it’s fun.” She flashes a big smile that’s her way of ending the sentence. 

The Season Continues 
 
The Sun are on course to have a second-straight losing season. For a young team, now is the time to develop work habits that will lead to a winning culture. 
 
Miller can be a dominant player for stretches of the game. She has the athleticism, the size, speed, and ability to be a top player. She is the only Sun player to start all 12 games on a squad that is desperate for experience. Griner, the team’s low-post presence and rim protector, has missed 7 games (more than half of the season) to various injuries. 
 
Miller can bring the ball up the court, relieving pressure from the Suns’ guards—she’s almost like a point forward, a la LeBron James. She can make big plays on defense. And at the same time, she can miss a wide-open layup or turn over the ball when the team needs a bucket. She also disappears for stretches in a game. That’s where consistency matters, and showing up when your team needs you is important and a sign of growth. 

We revisited the loss on Friday night and why she got emotional during the postgame press conference. “I just felt like throughout the game, just being consistent [was the difference],” she said. She feels she can maintain consistency in a game. “And I don’t think throughout the game I was.” 
 
And film today was interesting,” she stated. She described the film session as “fun.” “I definitely could see certain things and know that it’s not always about scoring. It’s about running back on defense and stuff like that.” 

Seeing the Positive 
 
Through it all, Miller maintains a positive outlook. “I feel like I’ve been blessed with so many different situations, and I have grown in so many different ways. I feel like it [the game] has blessed me throughout the whole thing. Even stuff that you don’t wish to happen. I feel like I’m still blessed because how lucky am I to get the opportunity to pursue something in my life that I really love.” 

​Strong, fun, and passionate, Miller is driven and wants to succeed. Looking in from the outside, she’s clearly a solid contributor to the Sun’s locker room—something that every team needs during a long, grind of a season.
 
You can see it in the joy she has being around her teammates. The way they share high-fives and consistently offer each other reliable, emotional, and physical support. Through the dancing and screaming And-1s, they are one—even if it doesn’t show up in the win’s column. 
 
Over her career of 105 games, Miller’s numbers don’t jump off the page. She is averaging 6.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists—shooting 38.2% from the field and 28.7% from 3. There’s room for improvement.
 
Miller has the talent. She has the opportunity. Now she has to turn flashes into consistency–and prove that the Sun’s bet on a former No. 2 pick can still pay off. 

###

By Anthony Price 

As the WNBA reaches new heights of popularity after nearly 30 years of women building the league, league leadership has introduced a puzzling new media policy. 
 
This policy effectively reduces access for independent journalists for the 2026 season. It’s divisive, and, unfortunately, reflective of a broader American media landscape in which access increasingly follows money and institutional power.

This season, the WNBA will have 216 games on national TV. The league’s 11-year media rights deal is expected to bring over $3 billion dollars into the WNBA, up from the $2.2 billion previously reported by USA Today. 

​Revenue from media partners, including Amazon Prime Video, Disney (ABC/ESPN), NBCUniversal (NBC/Peacock), Paramount (CBS), Scripps (Ion), and USA Network, is arriving at a historic pace. For a league long denied the investment and visibility it deserved, this financial growth should be a landmark moment. Instead, the league has paired that growth with a policy that narrows access for the independent journalists who helped cover, document, and advocate for the WNBA before it became a mainstream media property.
 
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, a fixture in the league since 1992, has long understood the value of controlling the league’s media environment. The NBA, which maintains significant influence over the WNBA through its ownership stake, implemented its own version of the media policy during the 2022-23 season. The league described it as “designed to create an improved access process on game nights,” according to a league press release. The language sounds procedural, but the practical effect is much more consequential: it limits opportunities for smaller outlets and aspiring journalists trying to cover the league from the ground up. 
 
The reality is that this new policy hits independent media hardest. It creates a class of haves and have-nots through Tier 1/orange and Tier II/gray media credentials in an already consolidating media landscape, where the most powerful companies increasingly control what people see, read, and believe. 
 
In the exclusive club that is the NBA, and now the WNBA, independent journalists with strong perspectives are welcome only when they arrive with institutional backing or the resources to match.  

Orange Vs Gray
 
As the publisher of CT Hoops Magazine and Mini Books, I attend roughly 100 basketball games and media-related events annually. In mid-June, we will release the books “Bounce Back: Azzi Fudd’s Remarkable Journey” and “Ray Allen: A Life in Motion.” 

​During the Connecticut Sun’s 2025 season, we published over 40,000 words in our “Around the Sun” column and posted videos that reached tens of thousands of viewers. In 2026, our content is projected to be viewed over 5 million times, with an audience that does not simply duplicate the Sun’s Instagram following. That is the context in which I view the WNBA’s new media credentialing policy.
 
For clarity, I will refer to the new media credentials by color: orange and gray.

According to a league document, the WNBA’s orange credential is intended for “local media outlets that regularly cover a team by attending the majority of a team’s games and practices in the home market (at least 50 percent).” National outlets such as ESPN can be Tier I, but the local standard is most relevant here. See this link to the policy.
 
The policy states, “To qualify for an orange credential, an outlet must create original content and have a standard editorial process in which the credentialed reporters are governed.” The credential provides access to pregame and postgame press conferences, team practices, shootarounds, baseline interviews before games, and postgame interviews by request. 
 
The gray credential is much more limited. Gray-credentialed media are allowed access only to pregame and postgame press conferences.  The Sun’s orange credential has a “C” for court access and “B” for back-of-house access. In practice, that creates two very different levels of access for journalists covering the same team, the same players, and the same league.

A prominent WNBA insider who spoke off the record noted that WNBA teams are private entities, and are not required to provide equal access to everyone. This person added that the leagues consulted with local WNBA public relations teams and the Professional Basketball Writers Association in developing the policy. I contacted PBWA officers Sam Amick and Candace Bucker, who both write for The Athletic, but had not received a reply at the time of publishing this. 
 
My source also said the goal was to emphasize access for more “seasoned” writers who understand the “cadence of the season.” That explanation may sound reasonable on the surface. Experience matters. Professionalism matters. Consistency matters. But those standards can be applied without creating a credentialing system that sharply separates established outlets from independent journalists who are also doing regular, original, and serious work.
 
The problem is not that the league wants to manage access. Every league does. The problem is that unequal access shapes the coverage the public receives. When independent journalists are limited to the most controlled media settings, reporting becomes narrower, less varied, and more dependent on the same large outlets. The result is not better coverage. It is more predictable coverage.

​In my view, journalists who meet professional standards and regularly cover the league should have meaningful access, regardless of whether they work for a major media company or an independent publication. Without that, the public loses—not because every independent journalist is entitled to a credential, but because the range of voices covering the league becomes smaller at the very moment the WNBA audience is growing.

Small but Mighty
 
Independent journalists I know were deflated by the new policy. Some wondered aloud whether it still makes sense to invest hours of unpaid or underpaid time covering a league that seems increasingly unsure of how much it values them. 
 
That is part of the irony. Independent journalists have helped promote and document the WNBA for nearly 30 years. Now, as the league enters a period of unprecedented visibility and revenue growth, some of those same journalists feel pushed to the margins. 
 
Rob Tiongson, the editor-in-chief and lead columnist of the Podium Finish, which is based in Texas, is adjusting to the new reality while also serving as a full-time caretaker for his dad, a U.S Navy veteran. Tiongson received a gray media credential for his coverage of the Dallas Wings and Connecticut Sun. 

“From a publisher’s perspective, the rollout of the tiering system has revealed a major disconnect in how different organizations value endemic media,” Tiongson said. “On one hand, you have forward-thinking expansion organizations like the Golden State Valkyries. They have been fantastic out of the gate and actively respect the value of specialized basketball coverage. On the other hand, the application across legacy franchises feels incredibly uneven.” 
 
He continued, “The real issue is that the system favors corporate scale over institutional knowledge. When outlets that have provided consistent, on-the-ground coverage since 2024, well before the current rookie boom, find themselves pushed down the ladder, it shows a disregard for the media that built the foundation. Growth is great, but when long-term consistency is ignored, the storytelling loses the depth that fans actually care about.”  
 
Much of the conversation about the new policy has taken place privately through DMs on Instagram and text messages. Some Independent journalists don’t want to speak on the record for fear of damaging relationships with teams or the league.  

Andrew Jones, a reporter-host of the BLEAV Network based in New York City, was more direct. “The growth has to continue, and it’s just counterproductive and dumb for the W to think this is smart to do,” Jones said. “I have never seen this media tiers nonsense in all the sports I’ve covered. Either we all get the same rules for credentials or not.” 
 
Jones’s frustration reflects a broader concern among independent media: that the league is restricting access before it has fully built the kind of media ecosystem that can sustain its growth. “The W isn’t popular enough for this to happen,” he added. 

That comment may sound blunt, but it gets to the heart of the issue. The WNBA is growing quickly, but it is still building its audience. Independent journalists are part of that growth, not obstacles to it. They cover the games, amplify the players, explain the league to new fans, and keep stories alive when national outlets move on. Limiting their access may make the process cleaner for teams and league offices, but it risks making the coverage flatter, narrower, and less connected to the communities that helped the league grow.

CT Hoops Magazine 
 
When the WNBA’s new media policy was announced, I was concerned but not immediately worried about how it would affect CT Hoops Magazine. I had put in the work covering the Sun. 
 
In 2025, I exceeded the orange criteria. I attended every Sun home game and traveled to  Boston and New York City for additional coverage. Every game is a 6-hour-plus commitment, not including the time spent reporting, writing, editing, and publishing the story afterward. 
 
My concern grew in April when I reached out to Alexandra Maund, the Sun’s senior director of brand development and communications, about being added to the team’s media distribution list. I contacted her at least three times to request access to press releases and the practice schedule, but I did not receive a response.
 
That lack of communication was frustrating, especially because timely access to team information is essential for reporters trying to provide consistent coverage.

Maund, who is involved in the credentialing process, assigned me a gray credential despite my confidence that CT Hoops Magazine met or exceeded the WNBA criteria for orange access. 
 
Last season, I conducted pregame interviews with players that became part of published stories. Under the 2026 policy, the gray credential doesn’t provide access to on-court interviews before games or to players after games, unless they are part of the formal postgame press conference. That restriction directly affects my ability to report fully and independently.
 
This is not simply about inconvenience. Access determines what stories can be told, which voices are included, and whether independent outlets can provide coverage that goes beyond press conference quotes. For a publication that has consistently covered the Sun, the difference between orange and gray access is the difference between reporting from inside the story and reporting from its edges.

When the Process Becomes Personal
 
For the Connecticut Sun, the orange credential appears to function less as a straightforward reflection of stated standards and more as a discretionary decision made within the organization. That is where the policy becomes difficult to defend. When access depends on interpretation rather than clearly applied criteria, it begins to feel arbitrary.

I spoke to GM Morgan Tuck on Mother’s Day, when the Sun played the Seattle Storm. Tuck, who is expecting a baby girl in July, said she didn’t know who made the credentialing decisions.
 
At the beginning of the week, I emailed Tuck to follow up on our conversation and explained that Alexandra Maund had not responded to my previous messages about being added to the media distribution list. Tuck replied that Maund would get back to me during the week. She did not. 
 
Not long after, I emailed Jennifer Rizzotti outlining the media credential issue and my concerns about communication. She replied 15 days later. 
 
Early in her response, she wrote, “Alexandra Maund and our PR department have my full support regarding credentialing decisions and enforcement of the WNBA media access policy.” She added, “We are comfortable with your current Tier 2 designation at this time.”
 
What the response did not address was the lack of communication that led to the concern in the first place. For independent journalists, timely responses from communications staff are not a courtesy; they are part of the basic infrastructure that makes coverage possible.
 
Rizzotti also wrote, “I also want to address process expectations moving forward,” she wrote. “All interview and feature requests involving players, coaches, and staff are required to go through our communications department. Attempting to independently arrange features or approach personnel directly after requests have been declined is not appropriate and places our staff and players in an uncomfortable position.”

For the record, I have never been declined an interview by the Sun over the past three seasons. I also understand that teams need processes for managing access to players, coaches, and staff. No serious journalist should expect unlimited access or special treatment.
 
But there is a difference between reasonable process and a system that restricts access while failing to communicate clearly with the journalists affected by those restrictions. A journalist’s job is to pursue the story. A team’s communications department can manage that process, but it should not be able to narrow the field of coverage without transparency or accountability.
 
That is the concern here. The issue is not only that CT Hoops Magazine received a gray credential. The issue is that the stated criteria, the decision-making process, and the communication surrounding that decision do not appear to align.
 
In a season that should celebrate the Connecticut Sun’s history and the role the franchise has played in the WNBA, the credentialing process has instead left independent media questioning where they stand. When a publication that has consistently covered the team cannot get basic communication about access, the message is hard to miss.

Past Glory
 
Women’s professional basketball is in growth mode. The WNBA is capitalizing on that momentum with expanded national broadcasts, increased media attention, and the popularity of stars such as Caitlin Clark. That growth is real, but it is not guaranteed to continue indefinitely. Ratings, revenue, and public interest still have to be sustained.
 
That is why the WNBA should be expanding meaningful media access, not narrowing it. An empty seat, a practice schedule, a press release, or a few minutes of interview availability costs the league very little. The return can be significant: more coverage, more storytelling, more visibility for players, and more connection with fans who may not be reached by traditional outlets.
 
That matters even more for a team like the Connecticut Sun, which is in a transitional season on and off the court. After the departure of five starters from a playoff team in the 2024 season, the franchise entered 2025 with major changes in leadership and direction. Jennifer Rizzotti signed off on significant hires, including general manager Morgan Tuck, head coach Rachid Meziane, and senior director of brand development and communications Alexandra Maund.

Those decisions will be judged by results, culture, and public trust. For independent media, the concern is that the same organization that asks fans to invest in a new era is making it harder for smaller outlets to fully document that era.
 
A new generation of basketball fans doesn’t care about the 90s glory. They are watching what the league and its teams do now. They care about access, transparency, player stories, and whether organizations treat people with professionalism and respect. Past glory may earn recognition, but it does not excuse poor communication or an uneven process.
 
That is why this policy matters. It is not simply about orange and gray credentials. It is about who gets to tell the story of the WNBA at a moment when that story is reaching more people than ever before.
 
Independent journalists are not asking the league to lower its standards. They are asking the league to apply clear standards fairly. If an outlet regularly covers a team, produces original work, follows professional expectations, and helps grow the audience, that work should count.
 
The WNBA has spent decades fighting for visibility. Independent journalists have been part of that fight. Now, as the league enters its most visible era, it should not build a credentialing system that leaves those voices outside the room. I hope Houston is keeping this in mind.
 
To independent journalists covering the league: keep perfecting the craft. Keep showing up. Keep reporting the stories that might otherwise go untold. Access matters, but so does the work. In the end, the quality of that work is still the strongest answer.  

​###

By Anthony Price 

​Basketball is a game of highs and lows—both on and off the court. 
 
On the high side, the WNBA is celebrating its 30th season and a new collective bargaining agreement that promises long-term success for both owners and players. On the low side, the Connecticut Sun are playing their final season in the state. 
 
Next season, the Sun will be rebranded as the Houston Comets (if they can get the name) and will look to reclaim past glory. The team was purchased from the Mohegan Tribe by the Fertitta family, owners of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, for $300 million, according to the New York Times. 

​[The deal exceeded the $250 million the WNBA reportedly proposed to the Mohegan Tribe, but fell short of the $325 million offered by groups in Boston and Hartford. Those offers were not considered because neither city had applied for an expansion team, according to the league.]  
 
For fans, the heartbreak season has arrived—though officially, the Sun are calling it the “Sunset Season.” The team’s departure feels like a direct blow to the state’s identity, civic pride, and bragging rights as the self-proclaimed basketball capital of the world.  

Sports and Identity 
 
Sports teams are identity markers. Can you imagine Pittsburgh without the Steelers and their Terrible Towels, or Green Bay, Wisconsin, without cheeseheads? Teams become part of a state’s fabric and its daily conversation. Good or bad, professional sports franchises have become indicators of a place’s perceived quality of life, creating a shared sense of pride among fans.

​Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont understood this and fought to have the Mohegan Tribe-owned Sun relocated to Hartford. Even the state’s senior senator, Richard Blumenthal, joined the fight, threatening a federal investigation into the sale. 
 
In the end, the governor and the senator were overmatched by the billionaire owners of the NBA, who run the WNBA as an extension of their global ambitions to control basketball—watch out, Europe, you’re next. 
 
If you plan to mourn the Sun, make sure you have your favorite Taylor Swift breakup songs, boxes of facial tissues, and comfort foods at the ready. It is going to be a tough season emotionally—and that’s before any game starts. 

​Moving West 
 
The Sun’s 23-year relationship with its fan base will conclude on September 24th, Fan Appreciation Night, the team’s final regular-season game. Fans of the Orlando Miracle know the feeling: they saw their team leave when the Mohegan Tribe purchased and relocated the struggling franchise to the Mohegan Sun Arena for the 2003 season. The arena had opened just two years earlier, in 2001. 
 
This time, Connecticut fans are on the receiving end of that sinking-heart feeling. No matter how management tries to ease the pain with video tributes and kind words, it will not be enough for fans throughout New England who poured their hearts, time, dollars, and loud voices into supporting the team. When the season ends, the only thing fans will have left are memories—perhaps including images of moving trucks winding south toward Texas. 
 
The move to Texas is more than 1,700 miles. The Lone Star State has 31.7 million people, the second-largest population in the U.S. after California, and Houston’s 2.3 million residents make it the fourth-largest city in the country. 
 
The Comets will become the sixth professional team in a city that has the Texans (NFL), Rockets (NBA), Astros (MLB), Dynamo FC (MLS), and Dash (NWSL). 
 
The WNBA’s Houston Comets once dominated in the late 1990s and early 2000s, winning four straight championships behind their big three: Cynthia Cooper, now Cooper-Dyke, Sheryl Swoopes, and Tina Thompson—all Hall of Famers.

Undefeated
 
But before the Sun move, there is still a season to be played. And all teams start undefeated. For the Sun, that clean slate was gone faster than a microwave Hot Pocket.  
 
The Sun came into Brooklyn to face the Liberty on Friday night, May 8th, full of hope, promise, and energy. The team was excited to play their first game of the season in New York. But after tipoff, the Sun’s prospects blinked out quicker than a Times Square walk light.  
 
In the first quarter, the Liberty took a commanding 36-13 lead. By halftime, they were up 66-37. The final score was 106-75. Breanna “Stewie” Stewart, one of the most decorated women’s basketball players in the history of the game, scored 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor. She made sure the young Sun team had little chance in front of 17,615 screaming fans. 
 
At the postgame press conference, Rachid Meziane’s eyes told the story that he sometimes struggles to communicate in English because of his French accent. It was another big loss at the hands of the Liberty—a Sun rival.

“Not the expected results, for sure,” Meziane said over a video link. “We let this team start the game how they want[ed],” he said, his voice melancholy.  “Right now, we don’t have enough maturity to handle that,” he added with clarity. 
 
But it wasn’t all sadness. “We are not going to change our goals because we lost the first game,” he said. A new season is about promise, and coaches are paid to be optimists, even when reality is smacking them in the face. Meziane must project confidence. 
 
With a young team for the second straight season, Meziane is destined to be haunted by games like this. This is what a public rebuild looks like. It is messy and it requires experienced players—something the Sun lack. 

​Game On 
 
This is the season where every game is the last something. On Mother’s Day, the Sun hosted their final home opener in franchise history against the Seattle Storm. Before tipoff, a video on the Jumbotron showed highlights of past Sun teams. 
 
When it ended, the ball was thrown up, and the game began. There were fun moments, including fans trying to start the wave, which struggled to make its way around the arena three or four times. It sputtered as if fans were running out of energy. 
 
A bright spot on the court was Aneesah Morrow’s double-double: 17 points and 16 rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench for the Sun. She played with passion and energy. But the Sun lost to the Storm, 98-92. 

The Sun had multiple opportunities to win in the fourth quarter, but their backcourt’s lack of experience showed. The team played like it was missing a front wheel—swerving aimlessly, going long stretches without scoring a basket, and taking ill-advised shots at crucial moments.
 
Without an experienced point guard, the Sun relied on rookie Charlisse Leger-Walker, who started just weeks removed after winning a national championship with the UCLA Bruins. They also leaned on second-year players Hailey Van Lith, who was released by the Chicago Sky days before the start of the season, and Saniya Rivers. 
 
This should have been a sold-out game. But the “Sunset” message does not seem to be resonating, with empty blue seats in the upper level—maybe it’s because the cost of a gallon of gas is now higher than a cup of Starbucks coffee. At the end of the game, the Sun reported attendance of 7,374. A sellout is 8,910. There’s work to do.

​The Rebuild Update 
 
In his second year, Coach Rachid Meziane is better prepared for the job—and more familiar with American culture. Consistency is one recipe for success, so Meziane kept pieces of his coaching staff intact: associate coach Roneeka Hodges, assistant coaches Pascal Angillis and Ashlee McGee, and head of player development Chaz Franklin. 
 
The Sun are mixing youth with veterans. But as we saw last season, it takes time to develop chemistry and win games. Last year’s Sun team finished with an 11-33 record and ranked 12th out of 13 teams in scoring, averaging 75.8 points per game. After two games this season, the Sun are in last place in the standings. They are averaging 78.5 points and giving up 97.5. 

The Sun lost Marina Mabrey‘s offensive prowess and prickly temperament to the Toronto Tempo in the expansion draft. Also gone is future Hall of Famer Tina Charles, who retired after no team signed the free agent. In all, only four players are back from last year’s team: second-year players Rivers, Morrow, and Lacan, who is still overseas, and Olivia Nelson-Ododa, who is in her fourth season.  
 
The Sun made a big splash when they signed former Atlanta Dream center Brittney Griner to the franchise’s first million-dollar contract. Kennedy Burke was another high-profile veteran addition. Management also signed third-year player Diamond Miller, hoping she can live up to the expectations that came with being drafted second overall by the Minnesota Lynx, behind the Indiana Fever’s Aliyah Boston. 
 
There is hope. Aaliyah Edwards, entering her third season, sat out the first two games with an injury. French players Lacan and 19-year-old rookie Nell Angloma, who the Sun drafted in the first round with the number 12 pick, are expected to make their way to Uncasville, after they finish their playoff runs overseas. But it can’t come soon enough. 

​To continue the slow rebuild, management added rookies Ashlon Jackson, Leger-Walker, Gianna Kneepkens, Raegan Beers and second-year player Van Lith. And thanks to the new CBA, which is making some players millionaires, teams must carry 12 players on the roster, and can now add two development players, each eligible to play a maximum of 12 games. 
 
When Lacan and Angloma arrive, there will be roster moves to get down to the maximum of 12 players. Tuck hasn’t been shy about making moves. Players know changes are coming, so they are doing their best to impress. 

Point Guard Issues 
 
At 0-2, the Sun have a point guard problem. Lacan will help plug the hole when she arrives, and she will bring added toughness on defense, something the team can use alongsde the 6-foot-9 Griner, who will anchor the paint. Rivers is at her best on the defensive end. 

With Mabrey’s scoring gone, the need for a consistent scorer is even greater. Once Lacan arrives, the Sun will have to decide who becomes the backup point guard. Another playmaker off the bench is needed. 
 
Without a consistent playmaker and scorer, the “Sunset Season” may become ”Misery by the River.” Fans deserve better in this final season.  
 
At the press conference after the Storm game, Meziane revealed the text message he sent to Lacan: “We need you.” He said that without a playmaker, the Sun must play a different game. “We need to understand the game and not just show up and play like a pickup game.”  

Now or Never
 
You can’t blame some fans who may decide to sit out most of the season, but show up for the big games on the schedule: the return of Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd to the state with the Dallas Wings, the champion Las Vegas Aces, and Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever. 
 
The Sun have a young roster that requires considerable seasoning. At the same time, the clock is ticking on the team’s final season in Connecticut. Fans don’t want to wait to see these players blossom in Houston next year. It’s now or never for this team. 
 
If the Sun do go on a win streak, it would be the best story of the year and would likely bring more people into the arena. That would be the perfect thank-you present to fans. 
 
The biggest question of the season may be where GM Morgan Tuck and president Jen Rizzotti end up. What happens to Meziane’s European basketball philosophy? Will Houston want any of the Sun staffers? 

In the end, the Mohegan Tribe should be thanked for their stewardship of the Sun, which helped saved the team and the league. Maybe they can sponsor a free Sun party at the casino with the proceeds from the sale. 

​###

​Anthony Price is an entrepreneur, author and publisher of CT Hoops Magazine. Around the Sun is a weekly column about the Connecticut Sun.

By Anthony Price 

​Professional sports in America are big business. In 2023-2024, the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS generated over $49 billion in revenue, according to Visual Capitalist. 
 
“It takes money to make money” the saying goes—and in pro sports, that’s why the owners of teams are billionaires and the players are millionaires. 

​Among those billionaires are Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, co-owners of both the Golden State Valkyries of the WNBA and the Golden State Warriors of the NBA. The Warriors are valued at $9.14 billion—the most valuable NBA franchise, according to Sportico. 
 
The Golden State Valkyries, who played their first season in 2025 and made the playoffs, are already the most valuable WNBA team at $500 million. Both franchises pack the Chase Center to sold-out crowds. 
 
Lacob is ambitious. He vowed to deliver a Valkyries championship within five years and to make the team the most valuable franchise in all of women’s sports. 
 
But there’s a storm brewing. If a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) isn’t signed by the end of October, the good times could screech to a halt. And looming on the horizon is something that could shake the league to its core: a new women’s league ready to challenge the WNBA’s throne. 

Deal Breaker: Low Salaries 
 
Women’s basketball has the audience. 
 
The WNBA Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury averaged 1.5 million viewers across the four-game sweep. The year before, the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx drew a record 1.6 million viewers—game five alone attracted 2.15 million viewers. 
 
Now the spotlight has shifted from the court to the negotiating table.
 
With big bucks on the line, the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association have locked horns, battling for position in what may be the most consequential CBA in league history. The WNBA has added millions of fans, a multibillion-dollar media rights deal, and is expanding from 13 to 18 franchises over the next five years. 
 
The players opted out of the current CBA in October 2024, and it expires on October 31. Negotiations have been tense, with both sides seemingly standing on opposite rims of the Grand Canyon—and Cathy Engelbert, the league’s unpopular commissioner, presiding in the middle. 

And just beyond the negotiating table looms a new threat: “Project B,” a proposed women’s basketball league that, according to The Athletic, could give players the leverage they need to change the game.

​Follow the Money 
 
Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson are millionaires—but not because of their WNBA paychecks. Their bank accounts are built on endorsement deals. 
 
Clark, the rookie who brought legions of new fans to the league, makes less than $80,000 a year on her WNBA contract, barely above the veteran minimum salary of  $78,831. Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson, MVP of the 2025 regular season and Finals, makes $200,000 a year. The supermax salary for a WNBA player is under $250,000. 
 
Now compare that with Kevin Durant. The Houston Rockets star signed a two-year, $90 million extension—leaving $30 million on the table, according to ESPN. Durant was eligible for an NBA supermax contract. His total career earnings are projected to hit $598.2 million, the highest in history NBA history. 
 
The difference isn’t just star power—it’s structure. NBA owners and players split basketball-related revenue just about evenly, 50% each. In the WNBA? Players get about 9.3%. 

​Project B’: A Negotiating Chip
 
The WNBA owners claim poverty, while the money is rushing in like the Colorado River in the spring. 
 
Here’s what we actually know: The league collected $250 million in franchise fees from upcoming expansion teams in Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia. Just a few years earlier, the Valkyries paid $50 million to join. Portland Fire, entering in 2026, paid $75 million. Toronto’s new franchise paid $50 million. 
 
And that’s not the only revenue stream. A new $2.2 billion media-rights deal begins in 2026, and will bring money into the league for over 11 years. 
 
As Claudia Goldin, a Nobel Prize winning economist at Harvard University, wrote in the New York Times in early June 2025: 
 
“The world of women’s professional basketball is ripe for an economic update that better reflects its influence and irresistibility. The people who run the N.B.A. and W.N.B.A. are instead badly underpaying the women who entertain and thrill us with their feats of athleticism.” 

​Help is coming soon. Sky-high franchise valuations of WNBA teams have attracted a major threat to the league. 
 
Tech entrepreneurs Grady Burnett (formerly of Google and Meta) and Geoff Prentice (a co-founder of Skype) are launching “Project B,” a new professional women’s basketball league. It will feature six teams of up to 11 players each, competing in seven two-week tournaments across the Americas, Asia and Europe. 
 
The timing couldn’t be worse for the WNBA owners, Project B plans to attract top international talent, including WNBA players—some of whom have already signed, according to Burnett. He thinks the league can become a multi-billion-dollar venture. 
 
“The growth in women’s sports rivals anything in AI right now,” Burnett told The Athletic. 

It’s Deal Time 
 
The WNBA’s CBA showdown is about more than dollars and cents. It’s about who gets to shape the future of the game.
 
Yes, the negotiations will be messy. They might even go into overtime But both sides have too much at stake not to get a deal done. The leagues momentum is real, fueled by record attendance, expansion franchises, and a new generation of stars. 
 
Meanwhile, competition is rising. Unrivaled—the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league founded by the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier and New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart—is adding two new teams in 2026. And Project B is waiting in the wings with deep pockets and global ambitions.  
 
Now is the time to negotiate a deal that finally pays women what they’re worth—a deal worthy of the value they created over nearly three decades of effort. 
 
The money is there. But if the owners refuse to share the wealth now, they may lose in the future.

###

By Anthony Price 

​A’ja Wilson just climbed Everest.
 
The Las Vegas Aces’ superstar scored 31 points in the decisive game against the Phoenix Mercury in Game 4, with a 97-86 win and a 4-0 sweep—delivering the franchise’s third WNBA championship in four years. As she collected the MVP trophy for her effort, her broad smile said what the box store didn’t: this is her league now.  
 
“She’s alone on Everest,” coach Becky Hammon said after the game. “There’s no one around.”

Wilson, in her eighth season, is the face of the WNBA. She’s collected almost every accolade imaginable: Finals MVP, WNBA MVP, All-Defensive First Team, Defensive Player of the Year, Blocks Leaders, Scoring Champion, and an All-Star. Her success even led to her first signature shoe with Nike: the A’One. 

When Winning Doesn’t Pay
 
The shocking news is that without the Nike deal, Wilson couldn’t make ends meet on her $200,000 salary. That’s what the best basketball player on the planet makes in what is billed as the premier women’s basketball league.  
 
It’s a story that mirrors a growing American workplace phenomenon: the people doing the heavy lifting create the value, while executives and owners reap the rewards. Some WNBA coaches are paid a million dollars. Franchise values are soaring toward the stratosphere—making owners richer. 
 
The league’s total value has reached $3.5 billion, according to Sportico. The average team is now worth $269 million, up from $96 million just a year earlier. The Golden State Valkyries, after their inaugural season, are valued at $500 million. 

 The appetite for expansion is so strong that prospective owners are lining up to plunk down $250 million in expansion fees—a sharp counterargument to the league’s insistence that it’s still “losing money.” 
 
Meanwhile, most players work a second job—often overseas—to make a living. Caitlin Clark, one of the brightest stars in the league, earned $78,066 on her rookie contract in 2025—despite filling arenas and leading jersey sales. 
 
For Wilson, Clark, and every player in between, the only hope for a fairer future rests on the upcoming collective bargaining agreement (CBA). 

The Game Off the Court

The CBA is the economic backbone of the WNBA—the document that spells out how the financial pie is divided. The players opted out of the current agreement in November 2024 because their slice amounted to crumbs. 
 
The negotiation is at the intersection of gender, sport, labor, and capitalism. The owners are fighting to protect power, control, and profit. The players are fighting to uplift a generation of women athletes. 
 
Labor battles in America are never easy. Every right workers have—from fair pay to basic benefits—was fought for and often won at significant cost. The WNBA’s players know that history. 
 
While the players dominate on the court, the CBA is where the real game is played, and the owners have home-court advantage. They can afford armies of lawyers, accountants, and public relations strategists. They’ve also long benefited from the fine print of a deal that heavily favors them. 

​The last CBA used an arcane revenue-sharing formula so complex it required a room full of financial engineers to calculate how much the players were entitled to receive. The result: in 2025, the players received about 9.3% of basketball-related revenue. By comparison, in the four major men’s professional leagues, the split between the league and the players is about 50-50. 
 
That imbalance exists even as new money is flooding the league. A new $2.2 billion media-rights deal begins in 2026, boosting the cash that will be available to both sides. But how that pie is sliced will depend entirely on the outcome of these negotiations.
 
The October 31 deadline looms large. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has put his towering reputation on the line for getting a deal done. “We will get a deal done with the players,” he said in Stamford, CT. “Lots of work left to be done, but we’ll of course get a new collective bargaining agreement.”
 
The players, though, are making their stance clear. It won’t be easy because the players are determined to be paid what they are worth. At the 2025 All-Star game in mid-July in Indianapolis, they took the floor in black t-shirts with one message: “Pay Us What You Owe Us.” The fans roared. The battle lines are drawn.

​When Women’s Sports Meet Capitalism 
 
Capitalism assigns a value to everything—but historically, it has undervalued women’s work. For generations, women have been paid less, recognized less, and expected to accept less. That legacy is alive and well in professional sports. 
 
Across the U.S. economy, women still earn 82 cents for every dollar a man makes. Economists attribute this gap to occupational segregation, systemic discrimination, and persistent cultural norms that devalue women’s labor. 
 
The same undervaluation plays out on the court. Some NBA players earn more than $50 million a year, a single salary that eclipses the combined total WNBA payroll for three decades. 
 
In 2025, the WNBA team salary cap was $1.5 million for 12 players. The Las Vegas Aces’ Jackie Young is the league’s highest-paid player at $252,450, according to Spotrac. 

And yet, the market knows the real value of women like A’ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark, and Angel Reese. Their sponsorship deals have already crossed the million-dollar mark, a reminder that their worth is undeniable—even if the league refuses to pay it. 

​Everyone Can Win—That’s America 
 
This negotiation isn’t just about basketball. It’s about a movement toward equality—a line that stretches back through the women’s suffrage movement, Title IX, and every fight to be seen, heard, and paid fairly.
 
The WNBA and its players are at the table for what could become the most consequential CBA in sports, carrying the weight of not only their own futures but the hopes, dreams, and possibilities of women in America.
 
The best basketball players in the world should not have to work two jobs to make ends meet—not when coaches make seven figures and the WNBA Commissioner’s salary is hidden from public view.
 
The new CBA must honor their contributions, value their labor, and treat them as full partners, not as cheap labor begging for scraps.
 
This is a moment for the league to rise to the occasion—because when women win, everyone wins.
 
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By Anthony Price 

​Championship season has arrived in the WNBA, but the spotlight isn’t on the court—it’s on the commissioner. 
 
The Las Vegas Aces are leading the Phoenix Mercury, 2-0, in the best-of-seven Finals, but the headlines aren’t about A’ja Wilson’s dominance or Phoenix’s rebuild after losing future Hall of Famers Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner. Instead, all eyes are on Commissioner Cathy Engelbert—and not for the right reasons. 

​The matchup of the Aces and Mercury alone is worthy of a docuseries. The Aces have a 23-3 record, after their worst loss in franchise history—a 111-58 humiliation against the Minnesota Lynx. The Mercury overhauled their roster after saying adieu to Taurasi and Griner.
 
But none of that is driving the national conversation. Engelbert has become persona non grata—the most loathed sports commissioner in professional sports. Her increasingly toxic brand now threatens to overshadow the league’s on-court brilliance and jeopardize the hard-earned growth after decades of meticulously proving it was worthy of fans’ attention, devotion, and advertising dollars. 

Not a Wise Conversation 
 
Engelbert, the former Deloitte CEO who has served as WNBA commissioner since 2019, has never lacked confidence. But she may have missed the anonymous warning: "A fool can throw a stone in a pond that a hundred wise men cannot get out." 
 
Her verbal stone has turned into a tsunami—one that may lead her boss, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, to end her tenure before she capsizes the league’s momentum. 

​How We Got Here
 
The controversy began when WNBA star Napheesa Collier raised a reasonable question from afar: why aren’t rising stars like Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, and Angel Reese being paid more? These are the players expected to define the next decade of the league. They’ve already expanded its fan base dramatically and helped secure a billion-dollar media rights deal starting in 2026.

Collier is one of the W’s best players, a co-founder of Unrivaled (the 3-on-3 women’s professional league), and vice president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association. She is well respected in the league. 

According to Collier, Engelbert’s response was, “Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.” And in that same conversation, Engelbert added, “Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars, for the media right deal that I got them.” 
 
For context, the 2025 rookie salary scale ranges from $66,079 to 78,831, based on Spotrac.com—a fraction of what players in other professional leagues make.

A Growing Divide

Engelbert’s comments only deepened the perception that she’s out of touch with the labor side of the league. Coincidentally, her salary is the only commissioner compensation not available online, but it’s almost certainly way above the $249,244 earned by Indiana Fever star Kelsey Mitchell, the WNBA’s highest-paid player in 2025.

To the players, the message is clear: Engelbert is cruising on a yacht they built, while they’re still treated as deckhands. Given the league’s rising valuations and new revenue streams, they see themselves as underpaid architects of a booming business. Perhaps the new anonymous quote should be updated: “Those who ride yachts and ignore labor should be cursed with a thousand tsunamis.”

Leadership 
 
When Napheesa Collier stepped to the microphone at her exit interview last week, she didn’t hold back. She revealed the details of her conversation with Cathy Engelbert and declared that the WNBA has “the worst leadership in the world.” It was a stunning, public repudiation that reverberated across the sports world. 
 
Engelbert responded through a prepared statement the next day, saying that she was “disheartened” by the reports. On Friday, at her annual pre-Finals press conference on the day of Game 1, she flatly denied making the comments Collier attributed to her about Caitlin Clark. “I did not make those comments, she told reporters, according to ESPN. 
 
There was no no mea culpa. Engelbert offered only a vague concession: “We have to do better, and I have to do better,” referring to player frustrations with league leadership. 
 
Labor vs Capital
 
The dispute is much bigger than one heated conversation. It’s the opening volley in a classic labor-versus-capital showdown: David versus Goliath. The current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires at the end of this month, and the negotiations are expected to be fierce. 

At stake is money—how much the players will get versus what the owners will keep. And there’s plenty of money to fight over. The league is expected to haul in over $900 million in franchise fees alone in the coming years. 
 
Expansion Money, Player Scraps
 
Recent expansion deals underscore the growing financial gap.

• The Golden State Valkyries paid $50 million to join the league in 2025. 
• The Toronto Tempo will join the league in 2026 for $50 million,
• Portland is reported paying $75 million for its 2026 entry.
• Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030) are each expected to pay $250 million.

 
Under the current CBA, franchise fees are not considered basketball-related revenue, meaning players don’t receive a cent from those windfalls. Meanwhile, the league insists that it’s still losing money—even as franchise values soar.  

A Stark Revenue Divide
 
Currently, WNBA players receive just 9.3% of revenue, compared 49-51% in the NBA and roughly 50-50 splits in other major U.S. professional leagues. The current WNBA salary cap is $1.5 million per team for 12 players, a fraction of the earnings of their male counterparts. 
 
This disparity explains why, for years, overseas leagues like Russia were an attractive option for top players, until Brittney Griner’s 2022 detention forced the issue into the spotlight. 

What’s Next?
 
A commissioner’s role demands diplomacy, not braggadocio. Engelbert seems to prefer the latter. 
 
Her leadership—already under scrutiny—now faces its biggest test. Her self-importance has eroded credibility with players, at precisely when trust is essential. The league has until the end of October to finalize a new collective bargaining agreement or agree to continue negotiating.
 
The players and management will have to find common ground. But with Engelbert at the helm, the talks are likely to be acrimonious. Her self-inflicted wounds could cost both sides dearly if negotiations break down and a work stoppage follows.

The players have already rallied around Collier. The looming question is whether NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will rally around Engelbert. If he does, billions of dollars in future investment could go up in smoke like dry leaves in a bonfire. 
 
Fans should be celebrating the WNBA’s on-court brilliance this fall. Instead, Engelbert’s missteps have put nearly 30 years of league building at risk. 
 
The league is ready for its next era. The question is whether Cathy Engelbert is.

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​The Connecticut Sun players said their goodbyes on the court at Mohegan Sun Arena in September, then disappeared into the fog of the offseason. The 2025, campaign had been a bitter one—an 11-33 finish that left them at the bottom of the WNBA standings. 
 
President Jennifer Rizzotti and GM Morgan Tuck now face the task of performing an autopsy on a season billed as a “reset” in the spring—but smelling like rotten fish in the summer heat—punctuated by an 0-5 start and a ten-game losing streak. Their job, along with the coaching staff, is to diagnose what went wrong and craft a plan to ensure history doesn’t repeat itself. 
 
There will be no quick fixes. 

​Breakfast Talk  
 
The Sun embraced a European basketball philosophy in late 2024 when they hired France’s Rachid Meziane, the first French head coach in WNBA history. The roster stressed youth and optimism over WNBA experience. 
 
To discuss the season, I met assistant coach Pascal Angillis—born in Belgium— over breakfast at Diana’s in Uncasville, a small-town diner wrapped in bright red, white and blue Americana. 
 
Angillis arrived in a Sun baseball hat, a white Belgium Olympics jacket, dark shorts, and sneakers. At 6-foot-2, he has the height of a guard and the heft of a fullback. He speaks with quiet confidence, not for effect, shaped by years coaching both men’s and women’s basketball. This Belgian is locked into the game. 
 
Over the din of patrons in crowded booths, the clang of metal on a hot grill underscored our conversation. The aroma engulfed the dining area—a welcome reprieve from the grind of a WNBA season that runs at full tilt from mid-May to early September.  

​I ordered a towering stack of blueberry pancakes fit for a giant. Angillis went for the 3-egg Farmer’s omelette with Swiss cheese, homemade hash, cinnamon raisin toast, home fries and coffee. “This is going to be great,” he said, eyes wide behind his glasses. 
 
Before joining the Sun, Angillis spent 15 years coaching in Belgium’s men’s professional basketball league. But in 2019, his life was upended when his youngest son—then 9 years old—was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of the season. Angillis left to care for him through chemotherapy, only to be abruptly terminated by the team.  
 
“So, I was done with basketball,” he said. “I didn’t want to work in an environment where something happens to my family, I get cut loose.” 

(His son is healthy now, celebrating five years since the diagnosis.)
 
To support his family, Angills took a corporate job with a hardware chain of more than 40 stores, serving as the link between the front office and the stores. From 2020 to March 2025, basketball took a back seat, though he stayed close to the game through some freelance TV commentary.

Back in the Game 
 
Little did Angillis know that basketball would once again take center stage. Three years into his corporate job, he received a surprise call from the Belgian women’s national basketball team—the Belgian Cats. 
 
New York Liberty’s Emma Meesseman, whom Angillis had previously coached, had quietly recommended him to the federation. “I didn’t know anything about it,” Angillis said, still sounding amazed. He has made it a personal rule to never go asking for a coaching job.
 
“She never called me about it, or anything,“ he added. “She’s very humble. So, she says something like, ‘Hey, I want the best people here,’ and taps you on the shoulder, and that’s it.” (It was the first time he’d shared this story in public.) 

​He soon met the team’s new head coach, Rachid Meziane, and the two immediately hit it off. Angillis was hired, and from the outset he knew the team had a chance to win a championship, especially since France was playing without WNBA stars Marine Johannès and Gabby Williams. 
 
“We knew our strength—playing as a team at both ends of the floor—would give us a big chance to win,” he said. Belgium proved him right, defeating Spain 64-58  to capture the 2023 FIBA European Championship. They followed it with a fourth-place finish at the Paris Olympics, after losing to Australia in the bronze medal game. 
 
Looking back on that championship run, Angillis credits Meziane’s leadership. “Rachid was the right person to coach that team because Rachid was able to make everybody feel good and comfortable on the court.” That’s one of the qualities that make Rachid a special coach, according to Angillis. 

Lighting struck twice. Mike Thibault—the former Sun coach and Washington Mystics GM— took over the Belgian national team and invited Angillis to stay on. He accepted, and Belgium went on to repeat as champions. 
 
Angillis recalls the lead-up with a laugh. After a 100-52 loss to the New York Liberty in June—the worst in Sun history—he left for Europe the next day. Belgium promptly lost a friendly to France by 50 points.
 
“Damn, this is 100 points in two days!” he said. 

But the team rebounded,  holding off Spain, 67-65, in front of close to 8,000 fans to claim back-to-back EuroBasket titles—becoming only the third team ever to defend its crown. 
 
 “Honestly, I don’t think it will ever be done again,” Angillis said. “Definitely not for a Belgian team.” 

Airport Connection 
 
A chance encounter in the Brussels airport set Angillis on his path to the WNBA. He ran into Meziane and his team, and Meziane casually mentioned that he was taking the coaching job with the Sun. “I want you to come with me,” he told Angillis.
 
“And I’m like, yeah, whatever,” Angillis recalled. “Well, that’s not going to work.” 
 
However, a short time later, he received a call from Sun GM Tuck while he was in California. It was happening.  And that’s how he became a WNBA assistant coach. 
 
Family was the deciding factor. “If my wife, Thiaba, and kids had not been aligned, I would not have taken the job,” he said.  The couple, married for 27 years, are raising five children, ages 15 to 23. 
 
Angillis is no stranger to America. As a teenager, he left Belgium to play basketball at Lakewood High School in Long Beach, California, living with coach Tim Sweeney’s family. He went on to play at Long Beach City College and Rockford University before a professional career back home. 
 
He lived with the Sweeney family for seven years. “They became my second family, to the point that my kids call them grandma and grandpa. Their sons are like my brothers, and I’m godfather to their kids. They’re godparents to my kids. We’re like family.” 

​Europe vs America
 
Angillis has witnessed the differences between European and American basketball—on and off the court. 
 
1.Playing Style and Mentality
 
​According to Angillis, American players often rely on their individual abilities to carry a team, while European teams emphasize collective play.
 
“I think most, most of the European players are team first,” he said. “I don’t feel that’s always the case in America.” But it’s not selfishness—it’s confidence. “They (American players) think, ‘if I can get my stuff, then I’m going to carry the team, and we’re going to win.’” 

“He believes the difference is largely cultural. European teams historically, haven’t had the same level of athleticism as their American counterparts, forcing them to find other ways to win.
 
“For that, you need to dig deeper into your fundamentals, into your team play, into sacrifice,” he said, sounding like a coach at a clinic. 
 
At times, the Sun’s adoption of Meziane’s ball-movement philosophy stalled, especially with a young roster still learning to trust the system. Early losses didn’t help his case. 

 
2.Preparation and Practice
 
The structure of the season is another major difference. In Europe basketball, teams hold six-week training camps before league play begins, allowing coaches to install detailed team principles.
 
“In six weeks, you can work on a ton of team principles,” Angillis explained. “In the States, you’ve got 10 days—you have to give them (the players) a couple days off. It’s hard to get those principles in.” 
 
The Sun had only about six days of practice before the season started, including two friendly games—hardly enough time to build the kind of cohesive style Meziane wanted. 
 
3.Role Acceptance and Lineups
 
European players also tend to be more flexible about starting roles. 
 
“Here, you’ve got to be a starter,” Angillis said.  “A lot of times in Europe, coaches bring some of their best players off the bench because what they want is when you start subbing, the weak get better.” 
 
He pointed to guard Saniya Rivers as an example.  “Saniya, to me, played a lot better when she was coming off the bench than when she was starting. And, okay, I think for certain players, it’s a really hard sell, I mean not starting Marina. That’s like moving heaven and earth, you know? I think maybe later in her career, she would appreciate it.” 
 
Throughout his career, Angillis has coached players who embraced coming off the bench and thrived, proving that with the right mindset, the approach can work.

Never Stop Improving 
 
During the Sun’s ten-game losing streak, the coaching staff never lost focus. They pored over the game videos searching for ways to improve. “We felt like we would eventually turn it around, especially knowing that Leila [Lacan] was going to come in,” Angillis said.
                                                                 
It was a brutal stretch, but Meziane never got discouraged. 
 
“Rachid always tried to point out some good things, even after all the losses,” Angillis recalled. “He would come in the locker room and still talk about some of the good things, tell everybody to stick together, everybody to keep working.” 
 
The calm steadiness set the tone. “He was very serene and calm during that whole process,” Angillis said. The staff never stopped believing.
 
Another key turning point came in practice. “I also think a big thing that helped turn it around—Leila for sure—when we started getting quality guys in practice. The whole first part of the season,” Angillis explained, “we were practicing against ourselves, or we had a couple of guys, you know, they couldn’t play.” 

Next Year 
 
The ghosts of past success will linger over the Connecticut Sun this offseason. The Sun’s front office and coaching staff must lead the way to chart a new course. 
 
Complicating matters are league-wide challenges that could delay the 2026 season. The Sun are navigating the expected sale of the franchise—a process entangled in a tug-of-war between the Mohegan Tribe’s wishes and the NBA’s influence over WNBA operations. 
 
On top of that, a new collective bargaining agreement must be negotiated, and an expansion draft looms with new teams in Portland and Toronto. The Sun will likely lose at least one key player to other teams, just like Veronica Burton left last season for the Golden State Valkyries. 
 
Despite the uncertainty, there are reasons for optimism. With Meziane and his coaching staff expected to return, year two of the European experience should start on firmer footing. All players will be in training camp from day one, the coaching staff will have a better grasp of the American system, and the players will know what to expect from Meziane. 
 
Add in the continued growth of young talents like Rivers, Lacan, and Aneesah Morrow, and the Sun have a strong foundation to build on—if the season starts on time. 
 
Next year, excuses won’t cut it—the Sun will either rise again or stay stuck in the fog.

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By Anthony Price 

​The Connecticut Sun’s nightmarish season ended Wednesday in an 88-72 loss to the playoff-bound Atlanta Dream. 
 
For the first time in nine years, the Sun will miss the postseason. It was an anticlimactic ending. Like ships passing in New London harbor, the Dream sail on to the playoffs while the Sun head for a long offseason. To add sting, former Sun Brionna Jones scored 13 points for Atlanta, a title contender.

Season of Lows
 
The Sun finished 11-33, the worst record in franchise history, based on win-loss percentage (.250). A 10-game losing streak and a pair of 40-point blowouts underscored how far the team has fallen from its championship-contending past.
 
The young players were the lone bright spot. Playing with energy and enthusiasm even as the season spiraled.

Management’s Reset
 
Morgan Tuck, the young, first-year GM, inherited a roster gutted by free agency and trades. Ten players from last season departed, including key reserves like Veronica Burton, now thriving with the expansion Golden State Valkyries.
 
The veterans brought in—Tina Charles and Marina Mabrey—couldn’t fix a roster filled with five rookies. A rookie head coach, injuries, and a restless fan base added to the turbulence.

Mabrey Speaks
 
The day after the season ended, the Sun had their exit interviews for reporters via Zoom.  

​Mabrey went first. 
 
When this reporter asked her about how she was able to stay locked-in, given that she asked for a trade before the season, Mabrey calmly responded as if a weight was lifted off her, “I think perspective is everything—maybe you don’t get exactly what you want every time.“
 
“But at the end of the day, I get to do this job. I’m blessed to be in this league, to be the player that I am in this league—especially looking back seven years ago,” she explained, when she came into the league with the Dallas Wings. 

“I think sometimes I’m very misunderstood. Nobody thought I would be on a team very long, or make an impact, or be one of the best players. So, I think that there is a pride in that, and I will never step on the court and let somebody just ‘cook’ me or my team, willingly.” ​

She usually stays stoic to the media. “I feel like God just kind of put me in this position to keep me here because that’s where I belong,” she said, revealing deeper thoughts, rarely shared by her in public. 
 
Despite missing nine games to an injury, Mabrey averaged 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists—a season statistically consistent with her previous output.  She admitted she had to adjust her leadership style for the rookies, who weren’t afraid to challenge her. 
 
“You know everybody’s different,” she said. “We had different personalities, and I realized that at first, they (her young teammates) weren’t really responding to the way I was doing it (leading). I got to give it to the rookies because they are the ones who made me realize that I needed to change. It’s not working. And they weren’t afraid to tell me, ‘No, this is not it.’”
 
And I feel like I’ve changed on the court too,” she said. “I think that my emotional maturity is growing. 

“And just also like the new energy we had this year from all the new players, brought out another side of me—where everything isn’t so serious, and everything isn’t about basketball. So, just finding joy in other things in life has brought that side of my personality out.” 
 
In what could be her swan song in a Sun uniform, Mabrey showcased the beauty of her game, with a game-high 22 points, shooting 8 of 15 from the floor—making deep three-pointers and driving to the basket. 
 
When she’s on, she can cook any player in the league. 

The New Core  
 
Rookies Saniya Rivers, Aneesah Morrow, Leila Lacan, and Rayah Marshall showed promise, with Rivers breaking the team’s rookie three-point record. 
 
Lacan was named to the Associated Press All-Rookie Team while second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards emerged as a fan favorite.
 
Rivers learned valuable lessons. “You cannot control everything,” she said after losing on Wednesday. You can’t control going out and winning the game. You can’t control 20 points, but you can control your effort, your energy, and your attitude. And I think in this league, you don’t have time to sulk about losses, or whatever the case may be.”   

And on the lighter side, Rivers added,” I think for me, teaching Marina how to dance was one of my favorite parts [of the season]. You know, giving her a little bit of flavoring, some seasoning, I think that was all on me.” 
 
True to who Rivers is, she’s going to have a good time, and take her teammates along for the ride.  
 
Coach Rachid Meziane hinted at playoff expectations for 2026, though uncertainty looms with a pending sale that could relocate the franchise.

Looking Ahead
 
For Mabrey, this season was unexpectedly meaningful. When asked about her favorite moment, she said, “This season has been a lot more fun than I anticipated it to be,” reflecting on her growth and her bond with teammates.
 
She hopes that she has built relationships that will last a lifetime. 
 
The Sun will look very different in 2026. The only questions are who will be back—and where they’ll be playing. 

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