There has never been as much excitement leading up to a WNBA season.
It seems to be an exciting moment with the established talent currently in place and a new crop of players coming up from the college scene.
Everything you need know about the 2024 campaign is provided here.
How to watch:
The Washington Mystics and the New York Liberty will open the season on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, DC.
With four games scheduled, including Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever debut at 7:30 p.m. ET, it will be a full opening day of action.
ESPN3 and the WNBA’s League Pass program will broadcast the inaugural game between the Mystics and the Liberty. All of the season’s games will be available on League Pass.
All year long, games will be shown on ESPN, Amazon Prime, ION, NBA TV, ABC, CBS Sports Network, and CBS/Paramount+.
Rising to the top?
Following the Fever’s selection of Clark with the top choice in the April 2024 WNBA draft, all eyes will be on them this season.
After an incredible NCAA season with the Iowa Hawkeyes and introducing herself on a larger platform with high-profile sponsorship deals, Clark enters the WNBA with much excitement.
She is leading the charge in a surge of interest in women’s basketball that has seen ticket prices for Fever games more than quadruple even before the selection. In March, TickPick informed CNN that 83% of Fever season tickets were sold after she announced her intention to enter the draft. Her new team’s two preseason games had also sold out.
A Fanatics representative told CNN that Clark’s No. 22 Fever jerseys sold out in a matter of hours after they went on sale, shattering the record for draft pick sales on draft night for any player in any sport. Caleb Williams later broke the record after being selected by the Chicago Bears in the 2024 NFL Draft.
However, Clark will soon put on her sneakers in preparation for her WNBA debut when she and her colleagues from Indiana go to Connecticut to play the Sun.
The Sun reported on Monday that all 8,910 tickets for Mohegan Sun Arena had been purchased, meaning her debut will be another sellout. In 2003, more than 20 years ago, The Sun sold out the venue for the last time.
Before making her debut, Clark told reporters, “This is what you’ve kind of worked for and dreamed of, and now you get to put your jersey on for the first real time and go out there and play, so I think more than anything, just soak in the moment.”
“You only play your first WNBA game once, but we get to play on the biggest stage, and it’s going to be loud and packed with people.”
Despite winning 13 games throughout the season, the Fever’s 2023 campaign was disappointing as they missed the postseason. However, there were causes for hope, particularly in light of Aliyah Boston’s performance as the 2023 Rookie of the Year.
In her first season, the 22-year-old big scored 14.5 points, pulled down 8.4 rebounds, and blocked 1.3 shots. However, now that Clark is a point guard, they might be a lethal duo for opposition defenses.
The Fever haven’t been in the postseason since 2016, and their championship-winning run of dominating years under previous head coach Lin Dunn seems a long way off.
But, Indiana may be in for a far more exciting season in 2024 with the combination of the two rising potential stars, Boston and Clark.
New additions:
With the start of this new season, there are many new faces to be enthusiastic about.
After missing out on the playoffs the previous season, the Los Angeles Sparks have added some intriguing collegiate talent in the shape of Rickea Jackson and Cameron Brink, who were selected with the second and fourth selections in the draft, respectively.
The Sparks, who were once a perennial competitor in the WNBA postseason, have not made it to the playoffs the past three years, but Jackson and Brink’s arrival may provide Los Angeles with the defensive rigor needed to develop into a contender once more.
The Chicago Sky are another team that has added two draft picks that might alter the course of the season.
In this year’s draft, the Sky chose Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese with the third and seventh choices, respectively.
They both bring offensive and defensive skills to Illinois, having been key players in their respective collegiate teams’ recent championship campaigns. In 2023, Reese led LSU to the NCAA women’s basketball championship; this year, Cardoso accomplished the same feat for South Carolina.
Although it can be difficult for rookies to have a significant influence in their first season in a professional league, several players in the 2024 class are expected to perform well and contribute to their new teams’ victory totals.
Can anyone stop the Aces?
Over the past two seasons, the Las Vegas Aces have emerged as the team to beat.
With a lineup that includes two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, Sixth Player of the Year Alysha Clark, and Kelsey Plum, the Aces have won back-to-back WNBA titles.
The two-time WNBA MVP Candance Parker’s retirement last month left the club with a diminished squad, but her foot ailment kept her out of most of Las Vegas’ championship run the previous season, suggesting the team can still succeed without her.
Who will be able to prevent the Aces from capturing three straight titles is the new question.
With a roster full of great players who play at the Barclays Center, including Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot, and Jonquel Jones, the New York Liberty—a club that finished last in the WNBA Finals—look the most likely to win.
The Liberty, on the other hand, have a dismal postseason record thus far, having lost five Finals and never taken home a championship. However, New York could be in the strongest position to challenge Las Vegas for the championship again, with head coach Sandy Brondello entering her third year in the position.
The Connecticut Sun, who lost in the playoff semifinals the previous season, are aiming for a championship elsewhere.
