Caitlin Clark and Stephanie White spent Monday telling everybody there was nothing to it. They bought into it throughout a timeout in Indiana’s 100-84 loss to Portland on Saturday, and by their subsequent media availability, each needed the topic closed. Clark mentioned they’re two aggressive individuals who hate to lose, that these moments come up on a regular basis, and that loads of individuals within the media „suppose they know plenty of issues they usually’re simply blatantly flawed.“
White mentioned she was teaching, that no one would blink on the similar alternate in a males’s recreation, and that the remainder was social media doing what it does for clicks. Each of them are proper, for no matter that is value.
The a part of Indiana’s season value arguing about is on the ground. The Fever got here in as title contenders, they usually’re sitting at 4-4, losers of two straight. They rating greater than anyone within the league, 91.8 a recreation, and Clark is at a career-high 20.1, but it surely hasn’t added as much as a lot as a result of they cannot guard anyone.
Thought Steph left her fireplace in Connecticut! 🥵 pic.twitter.com/meFefzUAAf
— Largely WNBA Tweets (@MostlyWNBA) Could 31, 2026
Solely the Los Angeles Sparks have a worse scoring protection than Indiana’s 89.0. Opponents have caught on, and currently they’ve spent entire possessions working their offense proper at Clark in isolation to see what provides. She hasn’t hidden from it.
„Proper now, we’re taking part in just like the .500 group that we’re,“ Clark mentioned, „and I’ve to look myself within the mirror and discover ways in which I could make this group higher.“
Whether or not a group this harmful on offense can defend nicely sufficient to matter in October is the actual query, and Indiana begins answering it Thursday in opposition to Atlanta within the Commissioner’s Cup opener. That is a much better use of everybody’s consideration than the previous week has been.
Ballislife highlights among the W’s prime storylines that must be getting extra ink.
The Enlargement Groups Had been Presupposed to Lose. They Forgot To.
First-year groups often lose quite a bit. The 2025 Golden State Valkyries have been a feel-good story only for staying aggressive. Portland and Toronto have achieved greater than that already.
Examine the standings, and the Portland Fireplace are 6-4, the Tempo 5-4, each above .500, and neither one taking part in just like the gimme opponents most likely penciled in again in April. Portland’s win over Indiana wasn’t a fluke, both. They went as much as Toronto and took the first-ever assembly between the 2 new golf equipment 99-80, with Emily Engstler going for 16 factors, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks, and 5 Fireplace gamers reaching double figures. Bridget Carleton, the Ontario child Portland grabbed at No. 1 within the enlargement draft, largely so Toronto could not have her, chipped in 15 factors on 4-of-8 taking pictures from three.
The Portland Fireplace are placing on a CLINIC…
Carla Leite will get her twelfth help on this deep three from Bridget Carleton. @theportlandfire pic.twitter.com/HERxi1DX2z
— CBS Sports activities (@CBSSports) Could 31, 2026
Alex Sarama has Portland defending like a group that is been collectively far longer than a month, and the veterans and buy-low fliers his entrance workplace stockpiled are incomes each minute they get. Up in Toronto, the league’s first Canadian franchise, Brittney Sykes, Marina Mabrey, and rookie Kiki Rice have put collectively loads of good nights of their very own. Each golf equipment are an actual downside to play, and a league that simply added two of them is healthier arrange for the subsequent decade than anybody has actually acknowledged.
This week, Mabrey was named the Jap Convention Participant of the Week for the primary time in her profession.
Minnesota Is the Finest Group within the League With out Its MVP
Napheesa Collier has not performed this season as she recovers from ankle surgical procedures. With Lynx are 7-2 anyway, which is one of the best document within the league.
Courtney Williams leads the group in scoring at 17.8 factors a recreation after being relieved of taking part in level guard on account of drafting rookie Olivia Miles. Natasha Howard is true behind Williams at 16.6 factors per recreation whereas taking part in middle ceaselessly, and Kayla McBride provides 13.2 PPG. Howard already had a 26-point recreation in opposition to the Wings this season.
Minnesota Lynx this season:
— Finest document within the WNBA— Finest protection within the WNBA— Finest FG% and oFG% within the WNBA— PG with most PTS and AST amongst rookies— Prime midrange scorer within the WNBA
They get so as to add a DPOY winner and consecutive MVP-runner up later this yr. pic.twitter.com/FTL9Qz1dNX
— Timberwolves Muse (@Wolvesmuse) June 2, 2026
Cheryl Reeve has the Lynx off to a different quick begin, this time with out her finest participant. Collier will likely be again within the close to future. With that being mentioned, a group this good with out its MVP candidate is a tough downside for the remainder of the league, and it solely will get more durable as soon as she returns.
The Dallas Wings‘ Turnaround
Jessica Shepard made historical past by dropping 22 factors, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists on Could 28, the primary 22-20-10 recreation in WNBA historical past, and two teammates had 20-point video games the identical evening. For the season, Shepard averages 12.6 factors, 11.0 rebounds, and 5.9 assists, main the Wings in each rebounds and assists, an enormous doing plenty of initiating and playmaking. On Tuesday, Shepard was named the Western Convention Participant of the Week.
A key issue has been Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 choose, who made her first profession begin that evening and scored 22 on 9-of-15 taking pictures, days after a 24-point recreation in opposition to New York. Since shifting into the lineup, she has given Dallas precisely the taking pictures it drafted her for. She has additionally made a robust defensive influence, main the group in steals and blocks, which isn’t what you anticipate from a rookie guard.
Week 3’s finest within the West 👏
Jessica Shepard is your Western Convention Participant of the Week after averaging a easy triple-double
22 PPG20 RPG10 APG#WNBASeason30 pic.twitter.com/MEHAdFg46M
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 2, 2026
Paige Bueckers has adopted up her Rookie of the Yr marketing campaign with one other scorching begin, main the Wings in scoring at 18.3 per recreation, and has taken a transparent step in her second yr. Arike Ogunbowale is scoring 13.1 factors per recreation alongside Fudd and Bueckers. Jose Fernandez has Dallas at 6-3 and winners of three straight; the group GMs voted each most improved and most enjoyable to look at earlier than the season.
A Gifted Rookie Class
The rookie class has been good instantly, and Fudd has come on after rising as a starter. Since Fernandez put her within the beginning lineup, the No. 1 choose has scored 20 or extra in back-to-back video games and moved into the Rookie of the Yr race. For the season, she is at 12.1 factors a recreation on 57.1% taking pictures and 43.8% from three, elite effectivity for a rookie guard.
Miles is the present betting favourite to land Rookie of the Yr early within the season. The No. 2 choose from TCU leads all rookies in scoring and assists, averaging 15.8 factors, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists whereas logging probably the most minutes within the class. By way of seven video games, she grew to become the fourth participant in WNBA historical past to start out a profession with a 15-5-5 stretch, after Caitlin Clark, Candace Parker, and Sabrina Ionescu.
Olivia Miles tonight 🔥
• 19 factors • 9 assists • 4 rebounds • 3 steals• 7/9 FG pic.twitter.com/PApjAdfUtm
— Girls’s Hoops Community (@WomensHoops_USA) June 2, 2026
She had 21 factors and eight assists in opposition to Atlanta in her debut and has scored in double figures each recreation since. She additionally gave Minnesota an actual level guard for the primary time since Lindsay Whalen, which is a part of why the Lynx saved successful with out Collier.
Kiki Rice, Toronto’s first-ever draft choose, is the second-leading scorer within the class at 13.1 factors per recreation on 55.2% taking pictures. Given her all-around influence, she seems like a direct long-term cornerstone for an enlargement group. Awa Fam was a late arrival after an abroad dedication and is just 19 and already giving Seattle 7.8 factors and 4.8 rebounds per recreation.
There are many draft picks nonetheless figuring it out. The principle one being Lauren Betts, the No. 4 choice out of UCLA, who is able to earn taking part in time in a bunch that features Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin. Flau’jae Johnson continues to be discovering her kind for the Seattle Storm, Gabriela Jaquez has proven flashes in Chicago, and different abilities like Raven Johnson and Madina Okot have had their moments. This can be a class to control.
Europe Is Exhibiting Up within the W Like By no means Earlier than
The brand new cash is altering who exhibits up. The CBA that the gamers ratified in March took the wage cap from $1.5 million to $7 million, and with two enlargement rosters to fill, the WNBA now pays sufficient to tug Europe’s finest throughout the Atlantic somewhat than the opposite manner round. By way of late Could, 32 gamers from 15 European nations had appeared in a recreation, shut to fifteen% of all participant appearances and on observe for the best share in league historical past. The perfect of them didn’t arrive as excessive draft picks.
Jovana Nogić is such a ridiculous shooter. Comes off this Alyssa Thomas display, onerous crops along with her proper foot right into a step-back three. Clear. pic.twitter.com/TXWv6AyJqz
— Shane Younger (@YoungNBA) Could 30, 2026
Jovana Nogić has been one in every of Phoenix’s higher shooters, averaging 12.8 factors per recreation and a pair of.7 threes per evening on higher than 50% 3-point taking pictures. Pauline Astier, undrafted out of France, is giving New York 12.0 an evening on 61.2% taking pictures, and Toronto’s Laura Juškaitė is hitting 45.8% from deep. The league is deeper and extra worldwide than it was a yr in the past, and the cash is why.
A’ja Wilson Is Chasing a Fifth MVP
A’ja Wilson is doing what she all the time does. She is averaging 24.8 factors, 8.9 rebounds, and a pair of.7 assists by way of eight video games, taking pictures 51.9%. She already has 4 MVPs, greater than anybody in league historical past, and the final two have been back-to-back. A fifth in 2026 would make her the primary participant ever to win three straight. The Aces are 6-3 with three titles within the final 4 years, and the one query left about them is the place this run ranks all-time.
A’ja Wilson tonight 🔥
• 25 factors • 15 REBOUNDS • 5 BLOCKS• 3 steals• 10/20 FG pic.twitter.com/OdUPMvWt8I
— Girls’s Hoops Community (@WomensHoops_USA) June 3, 2026
It is among the nice particular person stretches the league has seen, and it must be celebrated extra.
Simply Take a look at the Standings
Atlanta leads the Jap Convention at 6-2, and nearly no one outdoors the constructing has seen. The Minnesota Lynx are out entrance at 7-2, and behind them, the remainder of the contenders are bunched inside about two video games. Collier hasn’t even performed but, and the enlargement groups are already within the playoff hunt. Within the league’s thirtieth yr, the sector has by no means been this deep, and there may be extra value watching than there was in league historical past.
