United States' A'ja Wilson grabs a loose ball in front of Janelle Salaun, of France, during a women's gold medal basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France.Michael Conroy/The Associated Press
The WNBA didn’t waste any time returning to the hardwood after the Olympics and the quick turnaround after the Paris Games is something players may look to change in the next collective agreement.
Teams started playing games four days after the Paris Games ended, including Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty, who opened up in Los Angeles – a nine-hour time difference after her time in France.
“I think that even in a non-Olympic year, you think about all-star, it’s like, everybody needs some time after all-star break, or it’s not a break. So trying to kind of push that into the CBA, I think would be really important,” she told the Associated Press. “Especially following the Olympics, because we’ve never had an Olympics in a 40-game season, except this season.”
Players or the league could opt out of the current CBA at the end of this season.
The quick turnaround didn’t seem to hurt New York, which had four players and its head coach competing in the Paris Games. The Liberty swept a pair of games from Los Angeles and Las Vegas to remain solidly atop the standings and clinch a playoff spot.
Stewart understands the league, which has all this momentum behind it, doesn’t want to go longer without having games after taking the break.
“From the W’s perspective, I’m sure they’re like, well, we don’t want to be not showing games for an entire month or a month plus. But at the same time, understanding the players’ perspective, I think, is really important,” she said. “It’s wild, from Paris to the West Coast, so it’s just like, not an ideal situation.”
The Liberty forward said “unfortunately” players are put in situations like these a lot.
“It’s like, onto the next, onto the next, onto the next, where we kind of don’t even really celebrate what we did, of winning a gold medal, as much as you would want to.”
The Aces split their first two games and A’ja Wilson would have loved a few more days to recover after helping the United States win it’s eighth consecutive gold medal. Las Vegas was one of the lucky teams that didn’t start play until Saturday.
“I definitely needed some time to decompress. Playing USAB [is] a whole other thought and mind process that you might not necessarily have to exert that much energy when you play with your respective team,” Wilson said. “So definitely needed just a couple of days just to kind of decompress, whether that’s just get back into the flow of things, or just get my feet underneath me, because that was a long time away with a lot of, just, back and forth.”
Wilson said she’d be in favour of the players discussing getting more time off.
“I think if it is a chance for us to go to the table and say, ‘Hey, we should get more rest time,’ even if it’s … just a couple of days. It’s crazy to see players play fresh off of a plane in a sense. So yeah, I don’t mind asking for that.”
Phoenix, Chicago and Los Angeles all played three games in a four-day span to tipoff the second half of their seasons.
Fortunately from the Olympics standpoint, the next one is in Los Angeles, so travel will be less of an issue for USA Basketball players.
AP WNBA poll
New York remains in the top spot in this week’s AP WNBA power poll followed by Minnesota, Las Vegas and Connecticut. Indiana, Seattle and Phoenix were next with Atlanta and Chicago eighth and ninth. Dallas, Washington and Los Angeles rounded out the poll.
Caitlin corner
Clark finally had some time to rest during the break after going non-stop for nearly a year between college and her rookie season. She had a solid first two games back, helping the Indiana Fever beat Phoenix and Seattle.
She broke the previous WNBA rookie record for assists of 224 by Ticha Penicheiro in 1998 and now has 232 on the season. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft has scored at least 20 points in five of her past six games. She is averaging 23.7 points on 47-per-cent shooting from the field, and 11.7 assists over that span. Indiana has one game this week at Minnesota on Saturday as the team looks to continue to solidify a playoff spot.
Trading places
The Washington Mystics traded forward Myisha Hines-Allen to Minnesota for a 2026 second-round pick, forward Sika Koné and guard Olivia Époupa. The Mystics then waived Époupa and guard DiDi Richards.
Player of the week
Clark earned AP Player of the Week honours as she averaged 25.3 points, five rebounds and 9.5 assists to help Indiana go 2-0. Sabrina Ionescu of New York, Wilson and Napheesa Collier of Minnesota also received votes.
Game of the week
Connecticut at New York, Saturday. The Liberty look to further distance themselves from the second-place Sun in the standings. New York has swept the first three meetings between the two teams this year.