There will be eight teams competing for the WNBA championship when the playoffs begin on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. During this year’s playoffs, there are several major topics that are sticking out as being particularly noteworthy.
The Chicago Sky are now competing to become the first team in the last 20 years to successfully defend their championship title. Sue Bird, a standout player for the Seattle Storm, has announced that she would hang up her spikes at the end of this season and complete her 19-year career in the league. And Brittney Griner, who is still being held in Russian custody and faces the possibility of a prison sentence, won’t be able to join the Phoenix Mercury for their run in the playoffs. Tom Goldman gave an interview to Morning Edition in which he discussed the major plot threads that viewers should pay close attention to.
Sue Bird is retiring after a career spanning 21 years.
Bird, the veteran point guard for the Seattle Storm, has stated that she intends to retire after the conclusion of the playoffs. She will finish her career as the all-time assist leader before she retires. “She is a master passer and one of those players who teammates adore playing with because she is so creative. In addition to this, she is credited with being a driving force behind the expansion of women’s athletics in the city of Seattle and even the country as a whole “Goldman remarked.
The Phoenix Mercury will compete in the postseason without the services of Brittney Griner.
Griner, who plays centre for the Phoenix Mercury, is still being held in detention in Russia, where she has been since February. After it was discovered that Griner was carrying vaporizer cartridges that contained less than one gramme of hash oil, she was detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport. A judge ruled that she was responsible for the crime, and she was given a sentence of nine years in prison. “The Phoenix Mercury will go up against the Las Vegas Aces without Griner, but they are also without another renowned guard, Diana Taurasi, who sat out the conclusion of the regular season with injuries,” Goldman points out. “The Aces are the No. 1 seed in the tournament.”
The Chicago Sky strive to create a lasting legacy.
Back-to-back championships are something that haven’t been achieved in the WNBA since the Chicago Sky’s inaugural season in 2002. The Los Angeles Sparks were the most recent club to accomplish this feat, as they won titles in both 2001 and 2002. The Sky made history during their run through the playoffs the year before, becoming the first club in the history of the league to win the championship without being the top or second seed in the tournament.