The runaway hype train for the WNBA is nonstop.
On May 16, the women’s basketball league kicked off its 2025 season. Following a breakout 2024 that saw viewership skyrocket 170% from the previous year, the WNBA continues to expand in all aspects. In addition to adding a 13th team — the first new franchise since 2008 — the WNBA’s current season sees format changes, star transfers and blockbuster sophomore seasons from players like Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.
Read on to preview what storylines we’re most looking forward to as the WNBA season begins.
Three-Time MVP A’ja Wilson
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A’ja Wilson
The Las Vegas Aces’ star center A’ja Wilson returns for her eighth year with the team, with whom she won two championships in 2022 and 2023. The 2024 WNBA MVP — who previously took home the title in 2020 and 2022 — will take the court in search of her third championship, and she’ll be sporting her new custom Nike shoe line, the A’One.
Wilson’s season started with a milestone, as she became the sixth woman in league history to notch 100 career double-doubles.
The Golden State Valkyries Make Their Debut
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Golden State Valkyries’ preseason game
The burgeoning league welcomes a brand-new team for the 2025 season: the Golden State Valkyries, based in San Francisco. The Valkyries become the WNBA’s 13th team and first since 2008, helmed by former Aces assistant coach Natalie Nakase.
With the Valkyries’ opening game, a loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, Nakase also became the first Asian American woman to lead a WNBA as head coach going into the main season.
Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and More in Their Sophomore Seasons
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Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso
Fresh off a rookie year that launched the WNBA’s popularity to a new level, young stars such as the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso seek to continue their growth and success in the upcoming season.
The Fever and Sky’s season opener drew record-high ratings for the WNBA, averaging 2.7 million viewers and peaking at 3.1 million, per Sports Media Watch. The game became the largest regular season match since 2000, and the second-largest overall, behind last year’s game five during the WNBA Finals.
WNBA Veterans Swapping Out One Jersey for Another
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Alyssa Thomas, Kelsey Plum and Brittney Griner
Heading into the 2025 season, there were several roster shake-ups, including career triple-doubles leader Alyssa Thomas being traded from the Connecticut Sun to Phoenix Mercury and Brittney Griner moving to the Atlanta Dream. Also among the off-season trades were Kelsey Plum, who moved to the Sparks, DeWanna Bonner, who went to the Fever and DiJonai Carrington, who joined the Dallas Wings.
Defending Champions’ Follow-Up Season
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New York Liberty with the championship trophy
The New York Liberty (and their viral mascot Ellie) capped off their fairytale 2024 season with their first championship title, defeating the Minnesota Lynx in a winner-take-all fifth game in the finals. Coach Sandy Brondello leads the Liberty into 2025 with Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and more on the roster.
“The mentality is turning the page,” Stewart, the team’s power forward, told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle during training camp. “Knowing what we did last year, we had a lot of time to celebrate it and now it’s building to be better.”
A New Finals Format
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The New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx in game one of the WNBA Finals
Along with a record-high 44 regular season games for each team, the WNBA Finals will be played in a best-of-seven format for the first time as they debut on YouTube TV.
“These changes will create more opportunities to watch the best players in the world compete at the highest level and give our fans a championship series format that they are accustomed to seeing in other sports,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a press release.
Read the original article on People
