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      Basketball Hall of Fame to Enshrine 16 More

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      The next class will include Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce, Ben Wallace, Chris Webber, Toni Kukoc, Bill Russell (as a coach this time), Yolanda Griffith, Lauren Jackson and Jay Wright.SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Jay Wright used to sell tickets to games in the United States Football League. Ben Wallace was passed over by every N.B.A. team, some of them twice. Yolanda Griffith got a job repossessing cars so she could take care of herself and her infant daughter while playing community college basketball.For all of them, those days are long gone. Basketball’s highest honor has come their way.Wright, Wallace and Griffith were part of a 16-person class that was announced Sunday as the 2021 inductees for the Basketball Hall of Fame. The longtime standout N.B.A. forwards Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce and Chris Webber were among those selected, along with the former coaches Rick Adelman and Cotton Fitzsimmons and the three-time W.N.B.A. most valuable player Lauren Jackson.“It’s not anything you ever even dream of,” Wright said on the ESPN broadcast of the announcement. “It’s pretty cool.”The class even includes someone who has been a Hall of Famer for 46 years. The 11-time N.B.A. champion Bill Russell, enshrined in 1975 as a player, has been selected again as a coach. Russell becomes the fifth Hall of Famer who will be inducted as both a player and a coach, joining John Wooden, Lenny Wilkens, Bill Sharman and Tommy Heinsohn.“Special is only reserved for a few,” Celtics Coach Brad Stevens said of Russell, the N.B.A.’s first Black head coach, who was a player and coach after Red Auerbach retired. “And Bill Russell is as special as they come.”Fitzsimmons was selected as a contributor, as were the former W.N.B.A. commissioner Val Ackerman and Howard Garfinkel, a founder and longtime director of the Five-Star basketball camp, which revolutionized how players were recruited and how coaches taught the game.Toni Kukoc, a three-time N.B.A. champion with Chicago and two-time Olympic silver medalist, was selected by the international committee. Clarence Jenkins was chosen by the Early African-American Pioneers Committee.The four-time All-Star Bob Dandridge was the pick of the veterans committee, and Pearl Moore — a 4,000-point scorer in college in the 1970s, most of those points coming at Francis Marion — was selected by the women’s veterans committee.Wright said he never imagined when he started coaching at Division III Rochester that the Hall of Fame would be a possibility, and he has championed the candidacy of one of his Villanova predecessors — Rollie Massimino — for years.But now, the two-time N.C.A.A. champion coach who was on the hot seat at Villanova after a slow three-year start to his tenure there is in the Hall himself. He had the ticket-selling job before getting into coaching at Rochester and turned that chance into a career like few others.“Jay is one of the best coaches I’ve ever had, and one of the best people I’ve ever known,” said the former Villanova guard Kyle Lowry, now with the Toronto Raptors. “He treated me like a son, and he helped me become the man I am today. He is truly a special person.”Bosh and Pierce were selected in their first year of eligibility; Webber had been a finalist in each of the last five years before finally getting the call. Bosh was a two-time champion in Miami whose résumé was still considered Hall-worthy even after his career ended abruptly — and with him still at an All-Star level — because of blood clots.“Chris Bosh was the ultimate leader, teammate and winner,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He was a huge part of our success and always did it with real class, selflessness and professionalism. His accomplishments on the court earned him this great honor, but he is also a Hall of Fame quality person.”Bosh was an 11-time All-Star, Pierce a 10-time selection and a 2008 N.B.A. champion with Boston, and Webber was a five-time All-Star pick after a college career in which he was part of the University of Michigan’s Fab Five.“I’m just thankful, man,” Webber said.Adelman’s teams won 1,042 games in the N.B.A., the ninth most in league history. Fitzsimmons was a two-time N.B.A. coach of the year who coached, among others, Charles Barkley, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash.Of the now 140 players from the N.B.A. and A.B.A. that are enshrined in the Hall, none of them averaged fewer points than Wallace, who managed 5.7 per game for his career. He never had a 30-point game as a pro; his regular-season high was 23 points, his playoff high was 29 points.He was a four-time defensive player of the year, making that end of the floor his specialty.“To have that type of journey, to have it end the way it’s ending, it’s an awesome feeling,” Wallace said on the broadcast.Griffith once accepted a scholarship to Iowa, then had a baby and wound up at Palm Beach Community College in South Florida, followed by Florida Atlantic — then a Division II school. Those were the days when she had the repo job, but she still got into the W.N.B.A., won an M.V.P. Award in 1999 and now will be listed among the greats.“My journey was like a rocky, roller-coaster ride, but I owe it all to my family,” Griffith said. “Without my family, none of this would be possible.”Also Sunday, the Hall said ESPN’s vice president for women’s sports programming, Carol Stiff, is this year’s recipient of the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award. She will be honored at Hall of Fame weekend, which is scheduled to be capped with the enshrinement ceremony on Sept. 11.Sunday’s announcement came one day after the 2020 class — including Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett — was enshrined in a ceremony delayed from last fall because of the Covid-19 pandemic. More

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      Vanessa Bryant Delivers Emotional Hall of Fame Speech for Kobe

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      Kobe Bryant, the former Los Angeles Lakers star who was killed in a helicopter crash last year, was posthumously inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday.Vanessa Bryant, the wife of the late Kobe Bryant, accepted induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame on her husband’s behalf on Saturday, saying that his absence made writing a speech all the more challenging.“If my husband were here tonight, he would have a long list of people to thank that helped inspire him and equip him to be in the Hall of Fame,” Bryant said. “Family, friends, mentors, the Lakers, teammates, muses and opponents.”She continued: “This is one of the many hard parts about not having him here. At the risk of leaving anyone out, I can only say thank you. To all those who helped him get here, you know who you are, and I thank you on his behalf.”Kobe Bryant, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 to 2016, was the biggest name in one of the most anticipated Hall of Fame classes in history, alongside other basketball luminaries, such as the players Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Tamika Catchings and the coach Kim Mulkey. The induction ceremony, which took place at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., was supposed to have been held last year but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Bryant, who was killed in a helicopter crash in January 2020, was announced as a posthumous inductee last spring.Now, what has long been seen as a formality is now official: Bryant, an 18-time N.B.A. All Star, a five-time champion and one of the most influential basketball players ever, is a Hall of Famer.Vanessa Bryant, right, with her daughters Capri, left, and Bianka.Kathy Willens/Associated PressVanessa Bryant gave a poised speech in her husband’s place, with Michael Jordan, whom Vanessa referred to as Kobe’s “favorite player,” standing off to the side. Each inductee had a presenter, and Jordan served as Kobe’s. Vanessa said that she “wished my husband was here to accept this incredible award.”“He and Gigi deserve to be here to witness this,” she said, referring also to Gianna Bryant, their 13-year-old daughter, who also died in the helicopter crash last year outside Los Angeles that killed nine and sent shock waves through the basketball world.Before she started her speech, Vanessa Bryant said to someone in the crowd: “I’m OK. Love you.”Members of the crowd could be heard shouting back, “Love you, Vanessa!”Bryant continued: “I used to always avoid praising my husband in public, because I felt like he got enough praise from his fans around the world and someone had to bring him back to reality. Right now, I’m sure he’s laughing in heaven because I’m about to praise him in public for his accomplishments on one of the most public stages.”She added: “I can see him now — arms folded with a huge grin saying, ‘Isn’t this some …’” followed by a profanity, spurring a ripple of laughter from the crowd.Bryant was also praised in other speeches. Garnett, referring to Duncan and Bryant, both of whom were often obstacles in his quest for a championship, said that it was an honor to enter the Hall of Fame with them. Duncan returned the favor in his speech, saying: “You guys demanded the best out of me, and it brought the best of me. Thank you.” Rudy Tomjanovich, who coached Bryant in 2004-5 with the Lakers and was also inducted on Saturday, said that Bryant “thrilled us for 20 years right down until the last game.”Vanessa Bryant, in her speech, nodded to her husband’s infamous competitive streak.“I do know that he would thank everyone that helped him get here, including the people that doubted him and the people that worked against him and told him he couldn’t attain his goals,” she said. “He would thank all of them for motivating him to be here. After all, he proved you wrong.”She also spoke about Jordan’s influence on her husband, and the work ethic he had inspired.“People don’t know this, but one of the reasons my husband played through injuries and pain was because he said he remembered being a little kid sitting in the nosebleeds with his dad to watch his favorite player play,” Vanessa said, looking at Jordan. “He could recall the car ride, the convos and the excitement of being lucky enough to have a seat in the arena.Tim Duncan said playing against Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant had brought out his best.David Butler Ii/USA Today Sports, via ReutersGarnett said it was an honor to be inducted with Kobe Bryant.Kathy Willens/Associated Press“Kobe didn’t want to disappoint his fans, especially the ones in the 300 sections that saved up to watch him play — the kids with the same excitement he once had.”Vanessa Bryant ended her speech by paying homage to her husband’s retirement letter, titled “Dear Basketball,” which he published in 2015. It was then turned into a short film and won an Academy Award in 2018 for best animated short film.“Dear Kobe, thank you for being the best husband and father you could possibly be,” Bryant said. “Thank you for always trying to be better. Thank you for never giving up on us.”She closed with her voice cracking slightly.“You did it. You’re in the Hall of Fame now,” Bryant said. “You’re a true champ. You’re not just an M.V.P. You’re an all-time great. I’m so proud of you. I love you forever and always, Kobe Bean Bryant.” More

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      Alex Rodriguez and Partner Reach Deal on Timberwolves and Lynx

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      The agreement, which is pending league approval, lets Glen Taylor run the teams for two more years. Taylor believes the teams will stay in Minnesota.The baseball star Alex Rodriguez and his business partner Marc Lore have reached terms on a deal to purchase the N.B.A.’s Minnesota Timberwolves and the W.N.B.A.’s Minnesota Lynx for $1.5 billion.Glen Taylor, the lifelong Minnesotan who moved from a career in politics to become the owner of both franchises, announced on Friday that the sides have agreed to terms just a few days beyond the 30-day exclusive negotiating window they entered on April 10. The sale requires approval from the N.B.A.’s Board of Governors to formally begin “the transition of ownership and a new chapter,” Taylor said in a statement.As part of what has been billed as a 50/50 partnership with Lore, Rodriguez will bring a newfound level of star power to the Timberwolves, something they’ve lacked in any measure since trading Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics in July 2007. The team badly needs leadership that can make a true impact on the court with its stewardship, spending and commitment; Minnesota is 22-48 this season and has reached the playoffs only once in Taylor’s last 17 years of ownership.The Minnesota Timberwolves have performed poorly this season but the team has several talented players. Harrison Barden/Getty ImagesTaylor, who turned 80 last month, has engaged in negotiations to sell the team numerous times in recent years, only to repeatedly balk. He openly advertised a desire to sell in July 2020 and, in Rodriguez and Lore, Taylor appears to have found buyers who were not only willing to meet his purchase price but also grant his well-known wish for a slow exit from his post. The untraditional deal terms call for Taylor to serve as controlling owner for two more seasons, with Rodriguez and Lore assuming operational control entering the 2023-24 season.Rodriguez, the former Yankee and three-time winner of the American League Most Valuable Player Award, and Lore, an e-commerce mogul who left his full-time position with Walmart in January, headed a group that made a serious run at purchasing the Mets and also featured Rodriguez’s former fiancée, Jennifer Lopez. They withdrew from that process in August 2020 as the Mets closed in on selling the franchise to the billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen for $2.4 billion.If the sale is approved at league level, as expected, Minnesota would become the second N.B.A. team to be sold this season. Gail Miller, whose family owned the Utah Jazz for 35 years, sold a majority stake in the team to the tech entrepreneur Ryan Smith in October for nearly $1.7 billion, with league approval following in December.Neither Rodriguez nor Lore has yet to speak in depth about their plans for the teams, but speculation about a move to Seattle is certain to swirl given that Rodriguez began his Major League Baseball career there — and since Seattle has been actively seeking a new N.B.A. team to fill a void created by the SuperSonics’ move to Oklahoma City in 2008.Taylor, who served as a Republican senator in Minnesota from 1981 through 1990, purchased the Timberwolves in 1994, ensuring that the franchise stayed in Minneapolis amid a serious threat of relocation to New Orleans. He said in an interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune last month that Rodriguez and Lore have pledged to keep the Wolves and Lynx in Minnesota.Marc Lore built his fortune with websites like Diapers.com and Jet.com. He recently left a post a Walmart.Cole Wilson for The New York TimesMinnesota has declined sharply since a trip to the playoffs in 2017-18, with the star guard Jimmy Butler (now in Miami) traded to Philadelphia soon after that breakthrough and Coach Tom Thibodeau (now coaching the Knicks) subsequently fired. But Rodriguez and Lore will not inherit a barren roster.The Timberwolves have two No. 1 overall draft picks in Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, as well as a former No. 2 overall draft pick in D’Angelo Russell. Their immediate challenge is securing a favorable outcome in the next N.B.A. draft lottery, as Minnesota, which entered Friday’s play in a tie with Cleveland for the league’s fifth-worst record, loses its top pick in the July 29 draft to Golden State unless it lands in the top three as part of its trade with the Warriors for Russell in February 2020.Rodriguez, 45, is a prominent baseball analyst for ESPN in addition to his various business pursuits. He hit 696 home runs in a 22-season career with the Seattle Mariners, the Texas Rangers and the Yankees — winning a World Series ring with the Yankees in 2009 — but also faced heavy criticism and served a yearlong suspension in 2014 for his admitted use of performance-enhancing drugs. Lore, 49, served as the chief executive of U.S. e-commerce for Walmart after founding major e-commerce firms such as Diapers.com and Jet.com. More

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      ‘No Smile, No Trash Talk’: Behind Tim Duncan’s Quiet Excellence

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      A bank shot carried Duncan from St. Croix to Wake Forest, five championships with the Spurs and now the Hall of Fame.Tim Duncan stoically spent 19 fundamentally sound seasons allowing his play to speak for him.Nineteen playoff appearances. Fifteen All-Star selections. Five championships. Five total Most Valuable Player Awards, three in the finals, two in the regular season. And this week, he’ll be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in a heralded class alongside Kevin Garnett and the late Kobe Bryant.“You always get the question: What would you change? What would you do differently?” Duncan said in a video released by the Hall of Fame after his selection was announced last year. “Honestly, I don’t think there’s a change I would do differently.”Duncan’s journey was one of happenstance and perseverance. He grew up a talented swimmer in St. Croix and left the sport when Hurricane Hugo devastated the island in 1989, destroying the pool where he competed. He started playing basketball in the ninth grade, setting him on a path to Wake Forest University, San Antonio and, now, Springfield, Mass.The New York Times asked a group of his friends, teachers, teammates and coaches to speak about his journey.Chris King (Wake Forest, men’s basketball, 1988-92): We had a group of guys that played in the N.B.A. they wanted to take down to the Virgin Islands because there was a lot of violence going on at the time.The group of guys that we had was myself, Alonzo Mourning and Mark Tillmon from Georgetown, and we played games against guys from the islands.The guys were getting ready to play one night and the whole place was packed. Here comes this skinny kid, walks in the gym — I didn’t know who he was — named Tim Duncan.That was the first time I ever laid eyes on him.The first thing I noticed about him was he had something that I had developed in high school: He could use the glass. I was very impressed.Dave Odom (Duncan’s coach at Wake Forest): [King] came back early in September and was walking by my office and I just hollered at him: “Chris, come in here. I want to talk to you. Tell me about your trip.”King: I said, “There was this kid down there.”Odom: And I said: “Well, who was he? What was his name?”He said, “I don’t know.”I said, “Well, what island was he on?”“I don’t know.”So, he didn’t give me a lot other than there was a kid who had some skill. There was a coach on my staff at the time, Larry Davis, and he had coached a kid from the islands, maybe even St. Croix.He came back the next day in our staff meeting and threw Tim Duncan’s name on the desk and said, “Coach, this is the kid.”Odom was sold on Duncan after a trip to St. Croix. Wake Forest went 97-31 in his four years and finished 26-6 in two of those seasons, 1994-95 and 1995-96.Duncan during a conference tournament game during his senior year at Wake Forest.Doug Pensinger/Getty ImagesRandolph Childress (Duncan’s teammate at Wake Forest): It was a cold slushy, rainy day outside, and he didn’t have a jacket. So, he pulled his arms inside the short sleeve shirt and just walked around. That was my first image of him. So, I just thought: “Wow, this kid doesn’t have a coat. This skinny kid, is he going to be able to help us?”I saw him play. And then I thought, “OK, he can definitely help us.”Tracy Connor-Riddick (Wake Forest Sports Hall of Famer for women’s basketball and Duncan’s longtime friend): The first time I met him, he was in the cafeteria area and he just looked lost to me. So, I just went up to him and I asked him if there was anything I could help him with, and because my country accent was so strong, he couldn’t understand me and I couldn’t understand him. And I thought, huh, this is not going well.Odom: We played him against Vanderbilt. He scored something like 9 points and had five or six blocks and probably almost 10 rebounds. And it was at that point, I’m talking to my staff, I’m saying, “We might want to look at this kid a little more closely and let’s see which way this thing takes us.”Deborah Best (chairman of the Wake Forest psychology department and Duncan’s academic adviser): They were playing on a Sunday afternoon game, and my son and husband and I sat and watched the game on television and there was Tim playing. Later that evening, I had to go into our building to get something out of my office.This was back in the day when we had computer labs and I had to walk past the computer lab and the door was opened and I thought, Oh. Who is in there? I leaned in and it was Tim. I said, “You were just on TV.”He says, “Yeah, I’ve got a research methods lab report due tomorrow.”As a senior, Duncan won the men’s basketball John Wooden Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding player. The Spurs also landed the top overall pick in the draft lottery.Duncan the day before the Spurs drafted him in 1997.Chuck Burton/Associated PressSean Elliott (Spurs teammate, 1997-2001, current Spurs television analyst): Back when we won the lottery, I was at home watching it and I swear, I could feel the ground physically shake.Avery Johnson (Spurs teammate, 1997-2001): I’ll never forget watching the lottery with my wife and kids. We were positioned to be the fourth pick and boy, when our name wasn’t called, my heart just started beating fast.Elliott: One minute later, Avery Johnson called me and he said, “We’re back.” And this is when we just won the lottery, so we knew we were going to draft Tim. It was a no-brainer.Mike Budenholzer (Spurs assistant coach, 1996-2013. Current head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks): You have those things, Where were you when this happened? What were you doing? It might be the only thing in my life where I can tell you exactly where I was and exactly what I did and just how impactful it was.Elliott: The first time I met Tim, he came over to the house. I had these big video games there that I used to play, it was Mortal Kombat. I used to beat up on the neighborhood kids. I was like the master.Tim, he came in and he’s like, “Oh, what’s this?”I said, “Oh, yeah, come on over here,” thinking I was going to give him a whooping. He proceeded to thoroughly annihilate me. And it was the first time he had played the game and I just could not understand it.Outwardly, I was very gracious, but in my mind, I couldn’t believe it. So what struck me about him is that it has been proven time and time again, he’s the type of guy, you can be doing it your entire life and you show it to him and in five or 10 minutes, he’s actually better than you are.Tim Duncan and David Robinson blended harmoniously, guiding the Spurs to the franchise’s first two titles in 1999 and 2003. “Tim, he’s a humble guy,” Robinson told TNT’s Ernie Johnson. “I always thought I was kind of quiet, and Tim made me feel like I was loud.”Duncan and David Robinson celebrated their 2002-3 championship win over New Jersey.Barton Silverman/The New York TimesElliott: David wasn’t threatened by Timmy. Whereas a lot of franchise players in David’s position, they would maybe have some animosity or resentment toward the new No. 1 pick coming in, the new franchise-type player. But David wasn’t like that.Timmy came in with a lot of humility too. He wasn’t coming in like he was a big shot. He was willing to learn from everybody, and guys can sense that in the locker room.James Borrego (Spurs video coordinator/ assistant coach, 2003-10 and 2015-18, Current head coach of the Charlotte Hornets): What was so surprising to me was one of the first few days of that summer, he invites me to play pickup. We’re coming back, he doesn’t know my name. He just knows I’ve been hired to be in the video room.He goes, “You’re in.”He puts me in a game to play five-on-five with the group. That day, the way he made me feel welcomed and comfortable in his space, in his facility, that’s when I knew he was different.Speedy Claxton (Spurs teammate 2002-3): Everybody knows Tim was a great guy, but he’s a funny guy as well, and likes to have fun. I remember when I first got there, the first day we worked out as a team, we played pickup. After that, he got all of us to go play paintball together, because Tim was a big paint baller.But he was a great teammate. He was always encouraging. No matter if you missed two or three shots in a row, he’ll get the double-team and he’ll still kick it out to you no matter if you missed three shots in a row and tell you to shoot the ball every time you’re open.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had the skyhook. George Gervin, the finger roll. Allen Iverson, the crossover. Duncan is forever known for his fundamentals, especially his bank shot.“When we were playing together,” Steve Kerr said, “he’d come in after a loss and he’d be like, ‘That’s my fault guys.’ And you’d look at the box score, he’d have 30 and 17 and 6 blocks.”Mark D. Smith/USA Today Sports, via ReutersGregg Popovich (Spurs Coach, 1996-present): It wasn’t like an eight-footer or 10-footer. He did it from 18 to 20 feet, and his footwork was great, and he knew how to land it on the backboard. It was a rarity, it still is as a matter of fact, but that was his first signature move that I think everybody realized there was probably something pretty special about this guy.Antonio Daniels (Spurs teammate, 1998-2002): Tim Duncan on that box was utterly unstoppable. I remember sitting on a bench watching like, this is his second year, like: This dude is incredible. He’s incredible.He was able to do it with such a stoic mannerism. No smile, no trash talk, no nothing. Just go out and put up 30 and 15, 40 and 12. Like it was nothing, so efficient. Just footwork and fundamentals.He couldn’t jump over a piece of paper, but he could not be defended.The Spurs were on the precipice of winning a championship in 2013 in Game 6 of the finals before Ray Allen’s dagger 3-pointer for the Miami Heat. Duncan had 24 points and 12 rebounds in the deciding game, but misfired at the free-throw line in the clutch. It was one of several heartbreaks for San Antonio.The Spurs lost to the Miami Heat in the 2013 N.B.A. finals in part because of the play of Miami’s Ray Allen, right.Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesBorrego: We always felt like we had a shot because of 21.He didn’t have to say anything. We just knew it and you could feel it. It was his confidence, his spirit, his fire, and his focus that we all drew from. That was obviously a devastating shot [from Allen], a tough moment for all of us.Steve Kerr (Spurs teammate, 1998-2001, current head coach of the Golden State Warriors): I’m watching all these games on N.B.A. TV and Game 7 of the 2005 finals came on, the Detroit, San Antonio [series]. I started texting Tim.I had retired already, but I texted something like, “Watching Game 7, I’m nervous.”That’s how those Game 7s are. And his immediate response was, “I was so bad in that game.”Meanwhile, he’s dominating the game and it may not have been his best game statistically or anything, but the Spurs were throwing him the ball on the block every single time. And Detroit had to respond to that. The whole game was going through him and typical Tim, he lamented in his texts that he had a lousy game. And that was Tim. When we were playing together, he’d come in after a loss and he’d be like, “That’s my fault guys.” And you’d look at the box score, he’d have 30 and 17 and 6 blocks.George Karl (Opposed Duncan, while coaching the Seattle SuperSonics, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings): He was a “we” player, so Tim Duncan would be happy getting 15 points and 10 rebounds. Tim was never going out to get 35 or 40 [points]. He was just going out to beat you and so the game plan was trying to disrupt their offensive efficiency more than anything else.It’s not one person. It was how do you make them not make shots? Because they got the best shots in basketball for over 10 years. Their shot selection was impeccable and a lot of that was because of Popovich, but a lot of that was also because of Duncan, and then [Manu] Ginobili and [Tony] Parker would be in there and they were always on the same page. They never could be disrupted from a standpoint of game plan.Duncan and Popovich bonded on and off the court. “We’re more soul mates in life than we are in basketball,” Popovich told reporters leading up to Duncan’s jersey retirement ceremony in 2016.Popovich said he was “fortunate” to be able to coach Duncan.Barton Silverman/The New York TimesBrett Brown (Spurs coaching staff, 2002-13): It was almost a ritual where at halftime, he’d come out from the locker room and Pop, he’d go out earlier than us. Timmy would be sitting on the bench and Pop would just go sit down with him.As I remember it, oftentimes nothing was said. Sometimes, they’d share a comment, but it seemed to be just a ritual that the two would meet every halftime on the bench.And what was discussed?I don’t know.Popovich: Any coach who has their best player as a leader who is respected by everybody and who can handle criticism makes the job much easier, so I was very fortunate in that regard.Duncan announced his retirement in the summer of 2016, through a team news release. Over his 19 seasons, San Antonio went 1,072-438 in regular-season games, the best winning percentage over that time among all N.B.A., N.F.L., N.H.L. and M.L.B. franchises.Daniels: I remember saying this on national radio and Spurs fans killed me for it. I said, “The moment Tim Duncan walks out that door, the culture is going to walk out with him.”You hear people say all the time and I think it’s the most overused cliché statement in sports, “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win the championship.” And what’s missing at the end of that sentence is “unless.” “Unless I can’t get the minutes I want, unless I don’t get the contract I want, unless I don’t get the role that I want.” Tim Duncan actually took the “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win a championship” and lived by it. More

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      ‘We’re Hungry’: The Liberty Aim High in a Bounce-Back Season

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      The Liberty had the worst record in the W.N.B.A. last year. But the return of Sabrina Ionescu and the addition of league veterans could turn things around.Liberty Coach Walt Hopkins and his staff reviewed last season’s film looking for answers beyond the box scores and advanced analytics. Why was their defensive rating so low? Who was getting burned on screens? It was a trying year for a first-year head coach and his team, which ended with the second-worst winning percentage in W.N.B.A. history and a 2-20 record.The Liberty were young and inexperienced, playing as many as six rookies. Sabrina Ionescu, the 2020 No. 1 overall pick, severely sprained her ankle in her third game and missed the rest of the season. Key contributors such as Rebecca Allen, Marine Johannes and Asia Durr opted out of playing.Wins weren’t everything for a franchise rebuilding without Tina Charles, the 6-foot-4 center who had led the team in scoring every season since 2014. The Liberty made strides reinventing their style of play. On offense, the focus was on spacing and 3-point shooting. On defense, players were instructed not to over-help on picks. The Liberty shot 41.5 percent of their field goals from 3-point range, the most in W.N.B.A. history, after shooting 28.2 percent of them from there the year before.While expectations were tempered then, the franchise will introduce four veterans new to the team in its debut season at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.Here’s what you need to know:Best Addition: Natasha HowardSpotlight on Offense: Sabrina IonescuSpotlight on Defense: Betnijah LaneyThe Rookie: Michaela OnyenwereBiggest LossesReason for OptimismCause for ConcernBest Addition: Natasha HowardNatasha Howard, acquired in a trade with Seattle, was a major off-season addition because of her defense and on-court leadership.Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressThe Liberty tried to speed up their rebuild by trading the 2021 No. 1 pick, a 2022 first-round pick from the Phoenix Mercury and their own 2022 second-round pick to the Seattle Storm to acquire Natasha Howard. A 6-2 forward, Howard is a three-time W.N.B.A. champion and was a starter during the Storm’s 2018 and 2020 title runs, but her career year was 2019.With Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart sidelined with injuries, Howard, alongside guard Jewell Loyd, carried Seattle while notching career highs across the board. She averaged 18.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.2 steals a game and won the Defensive Player of the Year Award after blocking 1.7 shots per game. She has proved she can lead a team. With the Liberty, she will have that opportunity again.Spotlight on Offense: Sabrina IonescuAll eyes will be on Ionescu, the 5-11 University of Oregon sensation. She will run a free-flowing offense designed around her passing ability and shooting range.In 80 total minutes before her injury, Ionescu scored 55 points on 19-of-42 shooting, including a highlight-filled 33-point game in which she sank six 3-pointers and had seven assists and seven rebounds. That was without running sets with a player as accomplished as Howard. How will teams guard their quickness and savvy in a pick-and-roll?“I don’t know,” the Liberty assistant coach Jacki Gemelos said. “How does one guard a pick-and-roll with other duos in the league like Chelsea Gray and Candace Parker, or whoever? You just kind of got to cross your fingers and: ‘Let’s hope they just don’t score this play. Let’s try and get the ball out of their hands.’ It’s going to be scary. And again, as a spectator, as a coach, I’m looking forward to it as well.”Spotlight on Defense: Betnijah LaneyBetnijah Laney, right, won the Most Improved Player Award with the Atlanta Dream last season.Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressBetnijah Laney was the Liberty’s biggest free-agent signing of the off-season, which is an improbable designation for someone cut by the Indiana Fever eight months earlier.Over 22 games with the Atlanta Dream last season, Laney more than tripled her scoring average from the previous season in just 7.7 additional minutes. She posted 17.2 points per game on 48.1 percent shooting from the field and 40.5 percent shooting from 3-point range. She won the Most Improved Player of the Year Award and earned all-defensive first team honors.“I think Betnijah’s whole setup is going to be just so different from Atlanta,” Gemelos said. “I think she’s going to have more people setting her up. It’s going to make things a lot easier for her.”Gemelos was Laney’s teammate with the Chicago Sky in 2015.“To see how her game has developed from then until now, it’s just scary,” Gemelos said. “She’s just one of those players who can play multiple positions. She’s fearless offensively and defensively. I would let her guard anyone in the league, and I’d be completely confident that she’s going to get the job done.”The Rookie: Michaela OnyenwereMichaela Onyenwere, a rookie out of U.C.L.A., has the shooting touch to contribute from distance and the strength to get to the rim.Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesForward Michaela Onyenwere, the No. 6 pick in this year’s draft, should find a place in the Liberty’s rotation. At U.C.L.A., she had 19.1 points and 7.2 rebounds a game in her senior season. She has the shooting touch to contribute from distance and the strength to get to the rim. If she can relieve Laney as a defensive stalwart who crashes the boards and stretches the floor, she’ll make a considerable first-year impact.Biggest LossesKia Nurse, Amanda Zahui B. and the No. 1 pickTwo Liberty mainstays won’t be at Barclays. Kia Nurse was traded to the Mercury, and Amanda Zahui B., who spent five years with the Liberty at center, signed with the Los Angeles Sparks in free agency.Nurse showed promise in a breakout sophomore campaign that included an All-Star selection. Zahui B. started 20 of the team’s 22 games last season, averaging career highs in points (9) and rebounds (8.5).Reason for OptimismThe roster is much improved.It’s reasonable for fans to doubt the franchise with the worst record last season will be able to rebound quickly, but the roster has drastically improved.Sami Whitcomb, a two-time champion with the Storm who was part of the Howard trade, is solid from 3 (38.1 percent last season). Even better is Rebecca Allen, who made 42.6 percent of her 3-pointers in 2019 and is back after opting out last season. Plus, Jazmine Jones, who was named to the all-rookie first team last season, can build off her stellar campaign. She averaged 10.8 points a game off the bench.Laney is confident that the inclusion of new veterans will make a difference.“We’re hungry,” she said, adding, “We’re not going to back down and roll over for anyone.”Cause for ConcernCan a franchise turn around this quickly?Though a significant roster overhaul can be a good thing, it won’t be an easy transition. Hopkins will have to teach his system to different groups in waves. Howard, Allen and Kiah Stokes, for example, are latecomers because of overseas commitments.Best OutcomeThe Liberty make the playoffs.If the new team gels, the Liberty could set its sights on the postseason.Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressThe Liberty aren’t likely to compete for a championship, but if Ionescu can play consistently at the level she showed in her 33-point game last season, Laney can keep shooting well and Howard can thrive as a go-to scorer the way she did in 2019, the Liberty can be in the playoff hunt.Worst OutcomeToo many new pieces slow development, and the team returns to the W.N.B.A. basement.With players arriving late, and so much change from last season’s group, maybe the transition into a 3-point-heavy offensive system won’t go to plan. Precision is everything, and despite shooting so many 3-pointers last season, the Liberty made a league-low 27.7 percent of their looks from distance. They also scored the fewest points per 100 possessions by a mile, finishing 11.7 points per 100 possessions below the next-worst team, Atlanta.This offense isn’t foolproof.Ionescu for Rookie of the Year (Again)?Hopkins isn’t trying to start a fire over the discussion, but if Ionescu plays to her potential, she won’t have the chance to win the Rookie of the Year Award despite playing just two full games and leaving her third with an ankle injury.“She’s a rookie,” Hopkins said when asked. “I mean, she played two games and had to leave the bubble. She didn’t even get to spend the whole season with us. She’s by all accounts in her fourth week of being a W.N.B.A. player. Yeah, I feel strongly about that one. I don’t think it’s fair that she doesn’t get to be in contention.”Hopkins added: “So she never gets to be in contention for rookie of the year? What experience did she get? I don’t believe she was going to be on people’s ballots last year after playing two games. I don’t think anybody would have thought that was reasonable. So why do we think it’s reasonable that she doesn’t get to play her rookie year now?” More

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      Brace Yourselves: The Knicks Are Going to the Playoffs

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      New York’s seven-year postseason drought ended when the Celtics lost on Wednesday.Let’s keep this simple: The Knicks — the Knicks! — are going back to the playoffs.When the Boston Celtics lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, the Knicks clinched a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference.That means the Knicks will avoid the N.B.A.’s play-in round. And while their final playoff seed is still to be determined, they know they will make their first playoff appearance in eight years.WE HERE.The New York Knicks are headed to the Playoffs. #NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/kpp3Pu3RJr— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) May 13, 2021
      “Check it off the list. We not close to done #NYWEHERE,” Julius Randle, the Knicks star, said on Twitter on Wednesday.Immanuel Quickley, the team’s rookie guard, expressed his emotions in a single word: “CLINCHED!”This will be the Knicks’ first postseason trip since the 2012-13 season, when Mike Woodson was coaching the team and Carmelo Anthony was its franchise player. That was an outlier burst of competitiveness in which the team made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. For most of the 21st century, the Knicks have been defined by the carousel of coaches, public drama, underachieving players and late-spring vacations. Since the 2000-1 season, the Knicks have made the playoffs only five times, including this season, and won just one series so far, after a decade of deep playoff runs led by Patrick Ewing.Returning to the playoffs is another step in a remarkable turnaround for the Knicks. Last season, they were one of the worst teams in the league and fired their coach, David Fizdale, after a 4-18 start, the worst one in team history. Once again, the Knicks were a punchline.But two months after Fizdale’s firing, the Knicks named Leon Rose as their team president. One of Rose’s first moves in the summer was to hire Tom Thibodeau as coach, and Thibodeau has established a competitive team culture in which effort on the floor is paramount.This year, the drama-free Knicks have a chance to host a playoff series in the first round, thanks in part to the growth of players like Randle and the second-year guard RJ Barrett. Rose has made several other savvy additions, including trading for guard Derrick Rose, who has offered a scoring boost, and acquiring Quickley in a draft-day trade.The Knicks’ playoff seed will be determined over the final three games of the regular season. At 38-31 entering Thursday’s games, they are battling with the Atlanta Hawks (39-31) and the Miami Heat (38-31) for the fourth, fifth and sixth seeds. Getting the fourth seed would mean the Knicks would not only have home-court advantage in the first round, but they would also avoid the Nets, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers — currently the conference’s top three seeds — in an opening-round matchup.But if the Knicks do meet Brooklyn, it will be the first playoff meeting between the teams since 2004, when the Nets, based in New Jersey at the time, swept the Knicks in the first round.The Knicks have been one of the hottest teams in the league over the last month of the season, going 13-4 in their last 17 games. More

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      W.N.B.A. Preview: The Mystics Get Their Stars Back in the East

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      Also: Much has changed for the Atlanta Dream since last season, and Candace Parker brings championship hopes to the Chicago Sky.The W.N.B.A. begins its 25th season on Friday with the returns of some big-name veterans and the debuts of promising rookies.“Rosters are stacked with incredibly talented veterans, and the last few rookie classes are bringing a whole new element to the fierce competition within the league,” W.N.B.A. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told The New York Times.Below, our reporters tell you what to expect this season in the Eastern Conference. (And here’s what to expect in the West.)Washington MysticsNatasha Cloud opted out of the 2020 season to focus on social justice.Jessica Hill/Associated PressThe Mystics are hoping to rebound from a forgettable 9-13 season, which they played without Elena Delle Donne, who won her second Most Valuable Player Award in 2019 as she led the team to a championship, and Natasha Cloud, who sat out to focus on social justice.This year, Delle Donne and Cloud are back and they will finally get to play alongside another former M.V.P. in Tina Charles, who went to Washington in a trade from the Liberty but opted out of last season for health reasons.“Even though we have some people out, we’ve lost some people to injury, we still have a really scary team on paper,” Cloud said during media day, adding: “I think we’re going to shock a lot of people in this league. You know me, that’s the underdog mentality, so we’re ready.”One positive from last season’s short-handed squad was the emergence of Myisha Hines-Allen, who averaged 17 points per game and shot 42.6 percent from 3-point range. She might not be relied upon as much this season, with a healthy Delle Donne and Charles in the lineup, but she is another reliable option on defense after averaging 8.9 rebounds per game last season.Hines-Allen could also fill in a gap in outside shooting: Alysha Clark, who signed with Washington as a free agent after winning a championship with Seattle last year, is out for the season after injuring her foot while playing overseas. Clark shot 52.2 percent from 3-point range last season.Atlanta DreamChennedy Carter missed time with injuries during her rookie season but could have a bounce-back second year.Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press“I’ve got no idea what positions you play,” Mike Petersen, the Dream’s interim head coach, said he told his players. “But if I don’t know, the other team’s got no chance.”Atlanta’s off-season has been marked by change. Pressured by players, the Dream’s previous owners sold the team to a group that included Renee Montgomery, a former Dream player. Gone are Chris Sienko, the team’s former president and general manager who was fired in April, and Nicki Collen, the former head coach who left for a job at Baylor earlier this month. Now Petersen will exchange convention for creativity to get the best out of an eclectic roster.Calling it “silly” to follow the practice of assigning players numbered positions, Petersen said he will form lineups with the five best players, regardless of position. “Basketball players are basketball players,” he said. “Everybody has to be able to pass, dribble and shoot. And everybody has to play defense.”On the Dream, those bodies are small: Aari McDonald, the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft, is 5-foot-6; the veterans Odyssey Sims and Courtney Williams are both 5-foot-8; and Chennedy Carter, picked fourth overall in the 2020 draft, and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, in her first season with the Dream, each stand 5-foot-9.Petersen did not hesitate to play three guards during the team’s lone preseason matchup on May 5. And if these smaller players with big games execute what he envisions, perimeter shooting will spread the floor for the 6-foot-7 center Kalani Brown and the 6-foot-4 forward Cheyenne Parker, a free-agency acquisition, to operate in the paint.New York LibertyNew York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu underwent surgery for an injured ankle and is ready to return this season.Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressAll eyes are on the Liberty this season for many reasons. Chief among them is the return of last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Sabrina Ionescu.Ionescu’s much-anticipated rookie season was cut short when she suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain during the first half of the Liberty’s third game.Her season over before it began, Ionescu underwent surgery but is back and ready to go.“I’m excited for this season,” Ionescu said in a call with reporters. “I’m taking it one day and one step at a time.”Along with managing Ionescu’s return, the second-year head coach Walt Hopkins will have to handle the unexpected loss of guard/forward Jocelyn Willoughby, who is out for the season after tearing her left Achilles’ tendon. In 2020, her rookie year, Willoughby averaged 5.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game while shooting a team-best 40.5 percent from 3-point range in 22 games, five of which she started.But here’s what should help: the off-season acquisitions of the three-time champion Natasha Howard and the two-time champion Sami Whitcomb from the Seattle Storm, and Betnijah Laney, who won last year’s Most Improved Player Award and was named to the All-Defensive team after a breakout season with the Atlanta Dream.The Liberty finished 2020 in last place with a 2-20 record and are still searching for an identity and footing.“Everyone wants to be here, they want to win, they want to support one another,” Hopkins said. “If we learned anything from last year it’s how to bounce back from a loss.”Indiana FeverIndiana Fever forward Lauren Cox, right, missed the beginning of last season after testing positive for the coronavirus.Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressThe Fever finished last season with the lowest-ranked defense (111.8 points allowed per 100 possessions) and missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. This season, the second-year Coach Marianne Stanley’s goal is to have a stronger defensive identity.“Each and every player on this team needs to buy in to the defensive end of the floor and make sure they’re doing everything they can to improve and make us a team that is stingy on defense,” Stanley said during her media day news conference.Indiana gets a shot in the arm with a healthy Lauren Cox, who missed the beginning of last season after testing positive for the coronavirus, and a positive outlook for Victoria Vivians, who last played a full season in 2018. Stanley said Vivians had been an early standout during training camp.Add to that the growing star power of Kysre Gondrezick, drafted fourth over all this year out of West Virginia, and the Fever are on the cusp of having not just a stronger defensive identity, but a concrete team identity as well.“She’s shooting the ball well,” Stanley said of Gondrezick. “She’s fitting in with her teammates. Just getting adjusted to the rigors. Just about as we expected. She’s a pretty well-rounded guard, and we really like what we’re seeing in her.”The Fever lost Candice Dupree to Seattle in free agency but added Danielle Robinson and the bigs Jantel Lavender and Jessica Breland.Chicago SkyChicago Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot set a single-game assist record last year with 18.Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressArguably no other team had a better off-season than the Sky, who landed Candace Parker, the top free agent, champion and winner of last season’s Defense Player of the Year Award.Parker, who had spent her entire career with the Los Angeles Sparks, will add veteran experience to Chicago, a team two years removed from an unexpected playoff run and coach of the year honors for James Wade.The Sky’s star power continues with shooting guard Diamond DeShields and forward/center Azura Stevens, who are both returning from injury, and Courtney Vandersloot, who set a single-game assist record last year with 18.With a stellar roster headlined by Parker, and a high-scoring offense (ranked fourth last season) expectations for the Sky are, well, sky-high.“I think it creates expectations from outside,” Wade said. “My goal is to just get us better, that’s it. We’ll end up where we are going to end up.“Having the players we have, it puts us in a conversation where people think we can do better than a lot of other teams. I just try to get us in situations where we can win games and build some confidence around what we want to do.”Connecticut SunConnecticut Sun forward Jonquel Jones, left, battling for the ball against Washington Mystics center Emma Meesseman.Nick Wass/Associated PressIn 2020, the Connecticut Sun once again overperformed. Without the 6-foot-6 forward Jonquel Jones, who sat out the season, the Sun still managed to nearly knock off the top-seeded Las Vegas Aces in the playoffs. Their upset-filled run to the semifinals was fueled in large part by Alyssa Thomas’s tireless defense and consistent scoring; even after she dislocated her shoulder early in the Sun’s second game against the Aces, Thomas led the team to victory two days later with a double-double.Thomas won’t be with the Sun this season, though, meaning they once again will be short-staffed. She injured her Achilles’ tendon while playing overseas, and isn’t slated to return until 2022. Jones is back, though, and together with the veteran star DeWanna Bonner — 6 feet 4 inches — creates an unenviable matchup for even the league’s most elite bigs.The Sun have favored a slower, grind-it-out pace, averaging the third-least points per game in the W.N.B.A. last season. But without the defensive might of Thomas and with two forwards who can shoot 3s in Bonner and Jones, it seems possible they might favor a more offense-oriented style in 2021.Forward Brionna Jones reached a new level in 2020, more than tripling her points per game and becoming an important contributor on defense as well; now, she adds to the size and overall athleticism of the Sun. The veteran guards Briann January and Jasmine Thomas round out the starting lineup. More

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      W.N.B.A. Preview: Don’t Bet Against the Aces in the West

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      The return of Liz Cambage and Kelsey Plum makes Las Vegas even more formidable. Did we mention it still has A’ja Wilson, the reigning M.V.P.?The W.N.B.A. begins its 25th season on Friday with the returns of some big-name veterans and the debuts of promising rookies.“Rosters are stacked with incredibly talented veterans, and the last few rookie classes are bringing a whole new element to the fierce competition within the league,” W.N.B.A. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told The New York Times.Below, our reporters tell you what to expect this season in the Western Conference. (And here’s what to expect in the East.)Las Vegas AcesA’ja Wilson of the Aces won the Most Valuable Player Award in 2020 and led them to the finals.Mike Carlson/Associated PressA medical exemption (Liz Cambage) and torn Achilles’ tendon (Kelsey Plum) kept two of Las Vegas’s key players out for the 2020 season. In their absences, A’ja Wilson (Most Valuable Player Award) and Dearica Hamby (Sixth Woman of the Year Award) notched award-winning seasons. Angel McCoughtry, in her first season with the franchise, added playmaking and veteran poise, and the Aces made it to the finals.Cambage and Plum are back, along with JiSu Park, but little else is familiar.Kayla McBride, a fan favorite, signed with the Minnesota Lynx in free agency, and Las Vegas brought in the former Los Angeles Sparks’ guards Chelsea Gray, as a starter, and Riquna Williams, in reserve.Plum will come off the bench.Gray, who had been playing overseas, joined the Aces just 36 hours before the Aces’ preseason game against her former team, so there’s an acute need to develop chemistry. Coach Bill Laimbeer set forth simple goals heading into their regular-season start on Saturday: Get to know one another better, stay healthy and improve conditioning.Simple goals, but not easy ones.McCoughtry tore an anterior cruciate ligament on Saturday, and is expected to miss the season. McCoughtry’s absence will slow the chemistry-building process, as will Plum’s: A member of the U.S.A. Basketball 3×3 team, she will miss a week at the end of May while competing in an Olympic qualifying tournament.Dallas WingsDallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale was the league’s leading scorer last year, averaging 22.8 points per game.Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressAs the first W.N.B.A. team ever to have the top two picks in the draft, the Dallas Wings had a unique opportunity to fortify an already young, developing group.They added Charli Collier of Texas, who was the consensus No. 1 pick, and Awak Kuier, a 6-foot-4 center from Finland. One of Dallas’s biggest weaknesses last season was interior offense. Wings Coach Vickie Johnson told reporters last week that Collier’s scoring in the paint had stood out, and that should earn her playing time.She will be a good scoring punch alongside forward Satou Sabally, last year’s No. 2 overall draft pick, and guard Arike Ogunbowale, who almost led Dallas to the playoffs last season as the league’s leading scorer, averaging 22.8 points per game.Moriah Jefferson played just nine games a year ago but will be a part of the regular rotation this season now that she’s healthy, and Tyasha Harris earned valuable experience overseas and is expected to contribute more than her 6.9 points per game from last season.Then there’s the fifth-year veteran Allisha Gray, who may be the glue for the roster of third- and second-year players.Los Angeles SparksWith the departures of Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray, Nneka Ogwumike, right, is expected to fill a leadership role.Mike Carlson/Associated PressFor the first time since 2007, the Los Angeles Sparks will be playing without Candace Parker, who led the team to their third championship in 2016. Parker, a free agent, signed with her hometown Chicago Sky in the off-season, but the Sparks have a fair amount of star power on deck to attempt the unenviable task of replacing her. The sisters Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike will be joined by the free agency acquisitions Amanda Zahui B — whose job will be to help fill the Parker-size hole in the paint — Erica Wheeler and Kristi Toliver, both veteran guards.Beyond that, the Sparks will look to make the most of what seems like a transition season. Young guards like Te’a Cooper and the second-round draft pick Arella Guirantes will undoubtedly find strong mentorship in Toliver, a W.N.B.A. champion and recent N.B.A. assistant coach. Nneka Ogwumike will be compelled to step into a leadership role with the departure of not only Parker but the Sparks’ 2020 second-leading scorer, Chelsea Gray, and fourth-leading scorer, Riquna Williams. Guard Brittney Sykes will also be returning to the team as one of just a few familiar faces to help ease the transition, but Ogwumike is the centerpiece of the new-look Sparks.Third-year Sparks Coach Derek Fisher hasn’t been able to capitalize on his team’s impressive regular-season records in the postseason. With so much change on this year’s roster, it seems unlikely that Los Angeles will make a deep run in 2021. But the Sparks have the talent — both veteran and up-and-coming — to challenge any team in the league.Minnesota LynxSylvia Fowles is returning to the Lynx lineup this season after being sidelined by a calf injury last year.Chris O’Meara/Associated Press“She just looks like a coach that knows how to win,” forward Rennia Davis said of Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve. That assessment will be put to the test right away, though Reeve is used to challenges early in the season.Jessica Shepard, picked 16th overall in 2019, was clicking beautifully with Napheesa Collier, that year’s sixth overall pick, when Shepard went down with a knee injury six games into her pro career. Now Davis, the ninth overall pick in this year’s draft, is out indefinitely with a foot injury.But after missing the rest of the 2019 season and all of 2020, Shepard is back.Sylvia Fowles is back, too.After setting the career rebounding record in 2020, Fowles was sidelined by a calf injury that forced her to miss most of the season. Yet the Lynx persevered, nearly upsetting the Seattle Storm in Game 1 of the semifinals before losing the series in a sweep. Reeve said she will restrict Fowles to roughly 24 minutes per game and diversify offensive schemes so that her title-winning veteran doesn’t have to carry the load.But with Collier and Kayla McBride, who signed on as a free agent, arriving late from playing overseas, Reeve will have to improvise once again. So far, forward Natalie Achonwa, who joined in free agency, has made herself irreplaceable to a team seeking to shore up its defense beyond Fowles. Aerial Powers, who won a championship with the Washington Mystics in 2019 and averaged 4.9 rebounds per game last season, is expected to help that effort.Seattle StormBreanna Stewart is hoping to lead the Seattle Storm back to the W.N.B.A. finalsChris O’Meara/Associated PressThe reigning champions had a surprisingly eventful off-season, headlined by their decision to trade their starting center Natasha Howard to the Liberty for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft. They then flipped that pick to the Dallas Wings in exchange for the third-year forward Katie Lou Samuelson and a 2022 second-round pick. They also lost starting guard Alysha Clark, who, along with Howard, was key to Seattle’s success on defense during their 2018 and 2020 title runs. Clark signed with the Mystics in free agency.But the finals M.V.P. Breanna Stewart, the star shooter Jewell Loyd and perhaps most impressively Sue Bird have all returned to the Storm to compete for the W.N.B.A.’s first back-to-back titles since the Sparks won in 2001 and 2002. Bird will be in her 18th season, a feat of longevity unmatched by any of her peers currently competing — although Candice Dupree, who signed with the Storm in the off-season, also has double-digit seasons under her belt.With Stewart, the Storm don’t need to find another once-in-a-generation player among their young talent. They do, however, need to figure out who in that pool will best recreate the alchemy of their title teams, positioning Jordin Canada as the point guard of the future and finding a go-to center in either Mercedes Russell or Ezi Magbegor. If they can do that and keep Stewart, Loyd and Bird healthy, the Storm have a better chance than most teams to make history as the only five-time W.N.B.A. champions by the end of this season.Phoenix MercuryThe Phoenix Mercury have the triple threat of, from left, Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith.Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressBrittney Griner’s back. Skylar Diggins-Smith is back. And Diana Taurasi, often referred to as the GOAT, is too.Sprinkle in teammates like Brianna Turner and Bria Hartley, and newcomers like Kia Nurse and Megan Walker, and the Phoenix Mercury are focused on returning to their championship-winning ways.“You just see all these pieces,” Taurasi said, adding, “And if we can all get on the same track and on working toward the same goal, I think we can do some special things this summer. But that’s just all nonsense if we don’t come in and put the work in every day.”The Mercury finished with a 13-9 record last season, losing to the Minnesota Lynx in the second round of the playoffs. With an eye toward a deeper playoff run, they acquired guard Nurse and Walker in an off-season trade with the Liberty. Hartley, an eighth-year guard, is working her way back after a knee injury, and more offense could come from Turner.But the biggest impact is likely to come from the Big 3 — Griner, Diggins-Smith and Taurasi — who accounted for much of the Mercury’s scoring last season. Taurasi averaged 18.7 points and 4.5 assists per game; Diggins-Smith averaged 17.7 and 4.2; and B.G. averaged 17.7 points and 7.5 rebounds in 12 games.“We have pretty good chemistry,” Coach Sandy Brondello said. “We grew a lot together as a team last year. Hopefully we can continue to build on that.” More