WNBA ready for 25th year
NEW YORK — The WNBA will tip off its 25th season Friday after an eventful offseason full of player movement, including Candace Parker joining the Chicago Sky.
The former league MVP is back near where she grew up after playing her entire 13-year WNBA career in Los Angeles since being drafted by the Sparks in 2008.
“I’m so excited to be home, and I say that from the bottom of my heart,” said Parker, a native of Naperville, Illinois, who played college basketball at Tennessee and helped the
Lady Volunteers win back-toback NCAA titles in 2007-08.
“I didn’t realize how amazing the Chicagoland area was with basketball in general until I went out in the world and I saw how truly special and how they really embrace their homegrown talent.”
The league’s 12 teams were also heading home this season after playing last year in a bubble in Florida because of the coronavirus pandemic. While attendance will be limited, teams will play in their own markets.
“We’re working with the players’ association and teams to create a plan to safely conduct our season amid this pandemic,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “We’re excited about the ability to return to our home markets, so we’ll be in our 12 arenas. But we know we need to stay vigilant to minimize risk as much as possible.”
The WNBA will unveil over the course of the season the league’s 25 greatest moments, 25 game-changing players and other things to commemorate its 25th anniversary.
Led by Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart, last season the Seattle Storm won their second championship in three years and fourth overall. This year the Storm won’t be playing at their home arena, which is undergoing renovations over the summer, and will compete instead at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington. The Storm played seven games there in 2019, going 6-1.
They’ll open their season Saturday in a WNBA Finals rematch against the Las Vegas Aces, who were sold in the offseason by MGM International to Mark Davis, owner of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.
Also in the offseason, former Atlanta Dream guard Renee Montgomery made history as part of a three-member investor group that was approved to purchase that team. The ownership change followed pressure on former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican who angered WNBA players with her opposition to the league’s racial justice initiatives, to sell her share of the Dream.