Plum, Kelsey (1994- )

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    WNBA Players Seek Expert Advice as They Assess Next Union Contract

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    With the league’s popularity rising, players have never had more leverage when it comes to issues like salaries, travel accommodations and revenue sharing.W.N.B.A players have never had more leverage than they have right now.A sparkling rookie class, headlined by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, has catapulted a league that was already growing into a new stratosphere in terms of popularity and visibility. Attendance and viewership records are being shattered, and everyone wants to know why the players’ salaries aren’t higher. The league is about to receive a windfall from a newly negotiated media rights deal which is expected to earn it at least six times what it does in the current deal, according to a person familiar with the numbers who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been finalized.It would seem an ideal time to take advantage of the opportunity they have this fall to opt out of their collective bargaining agreement, two years before it is set to expire.But the players’ union doesn’t want to be too hasty. So last month, it created a five-person advisory committee consisting of lawyers, academics and financial and media professionals to help its members parse the decision.“What we need to do as players and as part of the P.A. is we make a united decision, but also listen to the pros and the cons both ways,” said Breanna Stewart, forward for the New York Liberty and the league’s most valuable player last season. “Staying in, opting out — what are our goals going forward, especially after the things that have changed this year?” said Stewart, a vice president for the union.The advisers are Claudia Goldin, a Harvard professor who won the Nobel Prize in economics last year for her work on women in the labor market; W. Charles Bennett, a former F.B.I. agent, as well as an accountant and fraud investigator; Deborah Willig, managing partner at the Philadelphia law firm Willig, Williams and Davidson, who has negotiated on behalf of other players’ unions; Tag Garson, a longtime executive in sports and entertainment; and David Cooper, a communications specialist and professor at New York University.The professional credentials of the advisory group are a sign of the importance the union is placing on the next contract. Travel arrangements — players hope to codify charter flights into the next C.B.A. — salaries and the structure of revenue sharing are expected to be significant issues.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      What to Know About the 2023 WNBA Season

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      New superteams, new rules and Brittney Griner’s return are reshaping the league as star rookies try to make their mark.The W.N.B.A. begins its 27th season on Friday with new rules, new rosters and one big return. Here’s what to expect.Brittney Griner is back.After nearly 10 months in detention in Russia, Brittney Griner is playing basketball again.Griner’s detention clouded the W.N.B.A. season last year. She was arrested at an airport near Moscow on drug charges in February 2022, and subsequently convicted and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. The league regularly paid tribute to her during the season, and her fellow players spoke out on her behalf.Brittney Griner is back with the Phoenix Mercury on a one-year contract after missing the 2022 season while she was detained in Russia.Matt York/Associated PressGriner was released in a prisoner swap in December, and after time spent recovering privately, she signed a one-year contract to return to the Phoenix Mercury.Griner played no basketball during her imprisonment and is still working to get back into game shape. “Everybody tells me to give myself grace and that it’s going to take time,” she said at a news conference in April, “but that’s the hardest thing to do for a pro athlete because we always want to be right back at our top shape.”Griner and the Mercury open their season on Friday in Los Angeles against the Sparks.Star players are joining forces.The off-season was dominated by free-agent signings and trades that established what could be two superteams: the Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces.The Liberty made three key moves: First, they traded with the Connecticut Sun for Jonquel Jones, the league’s most valuable player in 2021. Then they landed one of the top free agents: Breanna Stewart, the 2018 M.V.P., who had won two championships in Seattle. Finally, they signed the league’s active assists leader, Courtney Vandersloot. Those three join the returnees Betnijah Laney and Sabrina Ionescu, who have each made an All-Star team.Breanna Stewart was one of the top free agents. She had been with the Seattle Storm since she was drafted No. 1 overall in 2016.Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesThe reigning champion Aces already featured an impressive collection of talent: last year’s M.V.P., A’ja Wilson (who also won in 2020); Chelsea Gray, the 2022 finals M.V.P.; and their fellow All-Stars, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum. And then they went and signed Candace Parker, the two-time M.V.P., two-time champion and seven-time All-Star. They also picked up the veteran Alysha Clark, who won two titles with Seattle.The rest of the league isn’t backing down from the superteams. “In the best movies, the underdog ends up on top,” Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics told reporters this month.But still, the Aces and Liberty are far and away the betting favorites to win it all.Rookies look to make their mark.Some of the newest W.N.B.A. players are just weeks removed from finishing their college careers. How they make that transition will be crucial to the fortunes of their new teams.Aliyah Boston was the obvious choice of the Indiana Fever as the No. 1 overall pick in the April draft. Boston, who led South Carolina to a national title in 2022 and back to the Final Four this year, is expected to be a franchise cornerstone for the Fever as they rebuild. Though the competition she faces will be tougher in the W.N.B.A., Boston should be able to score more easily without facing the same double and triple teams she saw in college.With this year’s No. 2 pick, Minnesota drafted Diamond Miller, who led Maryland with nearly 20 points a game in the 2022-23 season. Miller is a versatile and athletic wing who should pair well with Napheesa Collier.Haley Jones, the No. 6 pick in the draft, was a leader for four years at Stanford, including the Cardinals’ 2021 title run. She slots in well on an Atlanta Dream team looking for more playmakers.New rules will add new wrinkles.The league also updated its rule book this off-season.W.N.B.A. coaches will now be able to challenge one — and only one — call per game. Coaches can ask for reviews on three kinds of calls: a foul called on their team, an out-of-bounds call, or a violation for goaltending or basket interference. Coaches will be limited to one challenge even if the challenge is successful, and even if the game goes to overtime.W.N.B.A. coaches, like Seattle’s Noelle Quinn, will have one challenge per game this season as part of series of rule changes.Steph Chambers/Getty ImagesOfficials may also now penalize players for committing a foul during a fast break without making a legitimate play on the ball. For this, a transition take foul, the offensive team will be awarded one free throw, which can be taken by any player on the floor, and the offensive team will keep control of the ball.The W.N.B.A. also has new guidelines governing sideline behavior. In an effort to limit disruptions and distractions, the league is telling players who are not in the game that they may not stand “for a prolonged period.” Players and coaches are also prohibited from “attempting to distract their opponents in an unsportsmanlike manner.” Teams could receive a delay-of-game warning or a technical foul for a violation. More

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      Las Vegas Aces Beat Sun for First WNBA Championship

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      The Aces shook off their reputation for being better in the regular season by holding off several rallies by the Sun.UNCASVILLE, Conn. — With a championship on the line for a team with some of the W.N.B.A.’s biggest stars, the Las Vegas Aces leaned on Riquna Williams, who had scored in double digits just twice this postseason.Williams raised her index finger to her lips to silence the Connecticut Sun’s white-knuckled fans in Game 4 of the finals as she hit one big shot after another in the fourth quarter. The last of her 17 points came on a step-back shot just inside the 3-point line over the outstretched arms of Natisha Hiedeman. Guard Kelsey Plum raised her hands, and Williams ran around the court with her arms spread wide as Sun fans began to leave.The Aces defeated the Sun, 78-71, on Sunday to win their first W.N.B.A. championship, their postseason reflecting the regular-season dominance that led them to tie Chicago for the best record in the league.The Aces led by as many as 10 but had to fight off several furious rallies by the Sun before clinching the title in the final minutes of Las Vegas’s third win in the best-of-five series. Chelsea Gray led the Aces with 20 points and was named the most valuable player of the finals.“I worked so hard for this,” Gray said as she became emotional and her teammates cheered.The Las Vegas Aces had long been considered better in the regular season than in the playoffs.Maddie Meyer/Getty ImagesGray and the Aces’ loaded roster kept Las Vegas a step ahead of the league all season. Four Aces were named All-Stars — A’ja Wilson, Plum, Jackie Young and Dearica Hamby — and Plum was voted M.V.P. of the All-Star Game. Wilson won her second league M.V.P. Award and was named the defensive player of the year. Becky Hammon, in her first season with the team, was named the league’s coach of the year.But coming into Game 4, Williams, who scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, hadn’t scored more than 14 points all season. The Sun held Wilson to just 11 points on Sunday, her third-lowest scoring performance of the playoffs.“I got a group of really resilient players,” Hammon said, adding: “You saw different people step up at different moments tonight and that’s what makes us difficult to beat.”The Aces finished with the best regular-season record in two of the past three seasons and second in the year they didn’t finish first. The Seattle Storm swept them in the 2020 finals. Las Vegas had shouldered the reputation of being a team good enough to win in the regular season but not able — or willing — to make the adjustments needed to succeed in the postseason. Its star-laden roster was seemingly too talented for its own good, with the best players often leaning on the isolation basketball they excel in but that has kept the Aces from closing out championships.This year, a large group of fans in red, black and gold Aces gear made their way down to the lower levels of Mohegan Sun Arena as the Las Vegas players flooded the court after the game. It was an invaluable moment for Gray.“I’ve been on two teams and that was loud,” Gray said of the Aces fans. “They’re going to celebrate us, and we’re going to celebrate them.”Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray had 20 points and 6 assists on Sunday. She was named the most valuable player of the finals.Jessica Hill/Associated PressLast season, the Aces lost the decisive Game 5 of the semifinals to the Phoenix Mercury, who celebrated on the Aces’ home floor. Gray said that ending had stuck in her mind since.“And now I’ll just have a different replay in my head,” Gray said with a smile.As the buzzer sounded on Sunday, the Aces players — now champions — yelled and hugged each other, their cheers of excitement bouncing around an otherwise quiet stadium that had been rocked with the deafening roars of Sun fans just moments before.As Connecticut players exited the court in tears, Sun center Jonquel Jones walked the length of the floor into the Aces’ celebration to hug and congratulate Wilson. As Jones walked away, she paused to clap and thank the fans that remained before heading to the locker room. Jones dominated the Aces physically in the Sun’s lone win of the series in Game 3, and she nearly led them to another victory in Game 4.Wilson spoke highly of Jones after the game.“I had to go and speak to her because she played her heart out,” Wilson said of Jones, who was last season’s M.V.P. “It’s so hard to guard her, and I just have all the most respect for J.J.”The loss for the Sun, the No. 3 seed, is another disappointing finish for a franchise with the second most wins in W.N.B.A. history but no championships. For the second straight game, Sun forward Alyssa Thomas had a triple-double. She is the only player to have a triple-double in a W.N.B.A. finals game.Hammon said it was a “battle” to beat the Sun. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” she said.Bill Laimbeer, who had been the Aces’ coach for four years, stepped down before the season. The Aces hired Hammon, who had been an assistant with the N.B.A.’s San Antonio Spurs. She took over a team led by Wilson, who won her first M.V.P. Award in 2020.Riquna Williams of the Las Vegas Aces hit big shot after big shot during the fourth quarter of the championship-clinching victory.Maddie Meyer/Getty ImagesAs Hammon guided the Aces to the first seed, she said she saw glimpses of the style of play that had kept the Aces from winning a title. But that shifted in the Aces’ semifinal win over the Storm, during which Hammon said the players were “choosing each other” and learned how to “take a punch.”That proved true as the Aces found ways to win playoff games while their stars struggled and they faced deficits — precisely what happened on Sunday — finally shaking the reputation of a team with unfulfilled potential.Hammon thanked Laimbeer for putting the team together and praised her players.“What I’m most proud of is we became a real team out here, and a team that cares about each other and trusts each other,” she said.Hammon said it was a “little surreal” to win her first W.N.B.A. championship. She played in the league for more than a decade, including several seasons with the Las Vegas franchise when it was in San Antonio.She said the Aces had “tremendous leadership” among the players, and that they had persisted when they weren’t playing well during the season. She applauded Williams for coming through on Sunday when the Aces had been struggling to score.“She knows she’s got the ultimate green light,” Hammon said.Wilson also spoke about growth — hers and the team’s.“I know who I am now more than ever,” Wilson said. “I feel like I’ve established myself in this league. And the Aces aren’t done yet.” More

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      Plum Finds Her Way as Aces Move One Win From W.N.B.A. Title

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      A scorer shakes off her struggles after a scolding, and helps Las Vegas take a 2-0 lead in the finals.LAS VEGAS — A’ja Wilson approached her teammate Kelsey Plum after their Las Vegas Aces narrowly won Game 1 of the W.N.B.A. finals with a simple message. To win the series, Wilson made clear in a hail of shouts and expletives, the Aces need Plum to play better.“We need her to make shots,” Wilson said. “And I know it sounds harsh, but K.P.’s a pro, and she went out there and took care of business.”In Game 2 on Tuesday night, Plum responded to Wilson’s rebuke with arguably her best game of the playoffs, scoring 20 points and adding 7 assists in the Aces’ 85-71 win over the Connecticut Sun. The victory gave the Aces a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five finals, putting them in position to close out the series — and win their first W.N.B.A. title — in Game 3 on Thursday night in Connecticut.Plum said Wilson’s diatribe was not the only message she had received in recent days, but she acknowledged all of the exhortations — however they were delivered — had made a difference.“I got people trying to encourage me, I got people cussing me out,” Plum said. “But everyone wants to win, you know? So I really, actually, welcomed it very much.”Plum had 20 points and 7 assists in the Aces’ Game 2 victory.Lucas Peltier/USA Today Sports, via ReutersFor anyone who watched the Aces play this season, the idea that Plum would need a scolding from a teammate to raise her game might seem strange. She was the Aces’ leading scorer in the regular season, averaging 20.2 points, and finished third in M.V.P. voting behind Wilson and Seattle Storm Forward Breanna Stewart.But the regular-season version of Plum had vanished for much of this playoffs, and she quickly became an afterthought behind the dominance of Wilson and Chelsea Gray. Scoring suddenly seemed to be a challenge for Plum, beginning in the Aces’ semifinal series against the Storm. She scored in double figures in each game of that series, but the points came inefficiently as she made only 38 percent of her shots.“She wasn’t K.P.,” Wilson said. “I felt it in the locker room. She wasn’t herself.”The most startling element of Plum’s struggles was her inability to hit 3-point shots. Plum had established herself as one of the best long-distance shooters in the league in the regular season, making 42 percent of her 3s while attempting 7.5 per game. But since Game 1 of the semifinals, Plum had been abysmal from behind the 3-point line, making only 18 percent of her shots going into Tuesday’s game.The dreadful stretch was unlike any Plum has had in her career. Her scoring ability in college was what had made her the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 W.N.B.A. draft. She was one of the best players in women’s college basketball history at the University of Washington, where she set an N.C.A.A. record with 3,527 career points and averaged 31.7 points a game as a senior.“I don’t remember a period where I ever felt like she was in a slump,” Mike Neighbors, her coach at Washington, said before Tuesday’s game. “She’s like no other human being I’ve ever been around. She developed this ability to focus more than anybody I’ve ever seen.”On Tuesday night, that focus took the form of Plum’s attacking the basket fearlessly. Her 3-point shooting woes continued (she shot 1 of 6 on 3s), but she masked that by attacking the Sun’s physical and tall frontcourt for layup after layup, repeatedly contorting her 5-foot-8 body around bigger defenders like Jonquel Jones (6-foot-6), DeWanna Bonner (6-foot-4), Brionna Jones (6-foot-3), and Alyssa Thomas (6-foot-2).Plum’s most impressive finish came with just over four minutes left in the third quarter, when she finished a drive around the outstretched arms of Bonner while drawing a foul.The play drew roars from the Aces’ white-knuckled fans, and when she made the free throw Las Vegas had an 8-point lead. Wilson, who led all scorers with 26 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds, followed with a jumper to extend the advantage to 10, and by the end of the quarter the Aces’ lead had grown to 14. They never looked back.“I’ve been a little bit, you know, frustrated with how I’ve performed throughout the whole playoffs,” Plum said, “so I’m just glad that they’ve been carrying it, and I decided to join the party.”The Suns’ length and physicality, which had flustered the Aces in Game 1 on Sunday, proved ineffective on Tuesday night. Missing, too, was the excitement the Sun had been oozing after their narrow loss that night, a matchup that Jonquel Jones, who led her team with 16 points and 11 rebounds on Tuesday, had said was “our game for the taking.”“They were just extremely aggressive,” Jones said of the Aces after Game 2, though she might have been describing Plum specifically.It was that version of Plum that Wilson had hoped to bring out with her message after Game 1. It is also the version the Aces still will need to close out the series.“This is a statement game for K.P.,” Wilson said. “I don’t care how she sees it. It’s a statement game. It puts a lot of people notice.” More

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      W.N.B.A. Semifinals Check-In: Can’t. Stop. Candace. Parker.

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      Both semifinals series are tied, 1-1. The Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm have shown offensive power, while the Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky dig in on defense.As Chicago Sky guard Kahleah Copper and Connecticut Sun guard Courtney Williams tussled over the basketball in Game 1 of their W.N.B.A. semifinal series, Sky forward Candace Parker walked down the court, waving her hands in the air to ignite the Chicago crowd. The moment reflected how physical the series had been, and it was reminder of the teams’ history.In 2021, the sixth-seeded Sky beat the top-seeded Sun in the semifinals en route to winning the championship, a title that has that has eluded the Sun. If the Sky win the title this season, they will be the first team to repeat since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001-2. After the Sky’s 85-77 victory in Game 2, the best-of-five series is tied at one game apiece.Sky forward Azurá Stevens said the series is “just about who wants it more, because they have beef with us from last year.”On the other side of the bracket, the Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm are also tied at 1-1. The series features some of the most recognizable names in the league and seven former No. 1 overall draft picks: Sue Bird (2002), Tina Charles (2010), Jewell Loyd (2015) and Breanna Stewart (2016) for Seattle; and Kelsey Plum (2017), A’ja Wilson (2018) and Jackie Young (2019) for Las Vegas.This is a rematch of the 2020 W.N.B.A. finals, in which the Storm swept the Aces and Stewart was named the most valuable player of the series. Stewart also won the award after leading the Storm to the title in 2018. If Seattle wins its fifth championship this year, it will break a tie with the Minnesota Lynx and Houston Comets for the most in W.N.B.A history. The Aces are still looking for their first title.Game 3 in each series is Sunday. Here is a look at how the teams have fared so far.No. 1 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 4 Seattle StormChelsea Gray has been the Las Vegas Aces’ leading scorer against the Seattle Storm.Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesThe Aces were the best offensive team in the W.N.B.A. this year. They led the league in points per game (90.4) and offensive efficiency (109.6). Four starters averaged at least 10 points per game: Plum (20.2), Wilson (19.5), Young (15.9) and Chelsea Gray (13.7).Through the first two games of the series against the Storm, Gray has arguably been the Aces’ most important player, managing the offense and scoring, and making pinpoint passes at crucial moments. She’s leading the team in points (21) and assists (6) per game during the playoffs.But Las Vegas has struggled in the first quarter.In Game 2, the Aces matched the Storm almost point-for-point in the first seven minutes and got out to a 16-13 lead. Then a 3 by Seattle’s Stephanie Talbot tied the game and sparked a 10-0 run that pushed the Storm toward a seven-point advantage going into the second quarter. The first quarter of Game 1 was similar, as the Aces gave up 26 points and trailed by 11 at the end of the period.Stewart and Loyd combined for 50 points on 52.8 percent shooting in Seattle’s Game 1 win. Stewart dominated most of the game, and Loyd scored 10 of the Storm’s final 12 points and assisted on the other basket. Her most impressive basketball of that tear came with just over 30 seconds remaining in the game, with the Storm holding a 1-point lead and Wilson — the defensive player of the year — guarding her at the 3-point line. Loyd crossed from her right to left hand before stepping back and knocking down a long 2-pointer over Wilson’s outstretched arms.But Loyd struggled in the Game 2 loss.Loyd finished 2 of 10 from the field and 0 for 3 from the 3-point line for just 8 points. While Stewart tallied 32 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, the only other Storm player in double figures was Charles, who scored 17 points on 17 shot attempts. The good sign for the Storm is that even with Loyd’s struggles, they were in the game until the end.No. 2 Chicago Sky vs. No. 3 Connecticut SunJonquel Jones has helped the Connecticut Sun outrebound the Sky.Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesThe Sky have struggled in Game 1s this postseason, losing both at home. The Sun benefited from that in their semifinal series, but they have felt the pain of playing against Parker.The Sun had the second-best defensive rating in the league in the regular season (96.3), and they held the Sky to their lowest point total of the season in their 68-63 Game 1 victory. But Parker still had an astounding stat line: 19 points, 18 rebounds, 6 blocks, 5 assists and 4 steals. All of that and she had just 2 turnovers.Parker is doing almost everything for the Sky on the floor. She had another impressive stat line in Game 2 with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks in the win. She also hit 3 of 4 3-pointers.The most challenging part about playing the Sky is that on any given night, a different player, or multiple players, could go for 20 points. The stat line doesn’t show Parker’s effectiveness in keeping the Sky’s offensive churning: After rebounds, she often looks ahead to Copper, who is often already behind the defense for a score.The Sky’s roster is among the best in the W.N.B.A., and they breezed to a franchise-best 26 wins because of it. Still, the Sun’s physical frontcourt, with Jonquel Jones (6-foot-6), DeWanna Bonner (6-foot-4), Brionna Jones (6-foot-3) and Alyssa Thomas (6-foot-2), has outrebounded the Sky in the series, 86-65. The rebounding advantage didn’t hinder the Sky from picking up a win in Game 2 and nearly securing Game 1, when Parker had 18 rebounds. But they will need a group effort to neutralize the Sun’s size. More

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      What to Know About the WNBA Playoffs

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      The Chicago Sky will try to defend their championship, but Las Vegas and Connecticut are threats. So is Seattle, with the retiring Sue Bird.The Chicago Sky are set to begin their bid to become the first back-to-back W.N.B.A. champions since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002. But the regular season was close at the top, and several teams could easily lift the trophy this year.Here’s how the W.N.B.A. playoffs shape up.When do the playoffs start?Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern time, when the second-seeded Sky host the seventh-seeded Liberty. At 10 p.m., the top-seeded Las Vegas Aces host the eighth-seeded Phoenix Mercury.The other two series — No. 3 Connecticut Sun vs. No. 6 Dallas Wings and No. 4 Seattle Storm vs. No. 5 Washington Mystics — start Thursday.How do the playoffs work?The first round is best of three, with the higher-seeded team hosting the first two games. If a third game is necessary, it will be played at the home of the lower-seeded team.The semifinals and finals are best of five, following a traditional 2-2-1 format for home games.Besides the joy of making it to the end, the finals will bring the players another perk. For that round only, the league will pay for teams to fly by chartered plane.Where can I watch the games?ABC and the various ESPN channels will show the playoffs. Games can also be streamed via ESPN.When are the finals?They are scheduled to begin on Sept. 11 and run through Sept. 20 if all five games are needed.Who’s going to win?The big three are Las Vegas, Chicago and Connecticut, who all finished within a game of each other at the top. Seattle and Washington, which finished with identical records of 22-14, are the next tier down.Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson is a leading candidate for the Most Valuable Player Award. She’s aiming to win her first championship.Rebecca Slezak/The Dallas Morning News, via Associated PressIt is very hard to see any of the bottom three teams winning. Dallas was .500, and the Liberty and Phoenix both lost more than they won in the regular season.For the statistically minded, Las Vegas had the league’s most potent offense, scoring 109.6 points per 100 possessions. Washington had the stingiest defense, allowing just 96 points per 100 possessions.But in net rating, combining offense and defense, it was Connecticut at the top, scoring 9.5 points more than the opposition per 100 possessions. That could make the third-seeded Sun a sneaky favorite.Who are the players to watch?The top-seeded Aces have a powerful one-two punch. Forward A’ja Wilson is a favorite for the Most Valuable Player Award after finishing in the top five in points per game (19.5) and rebounds per game (9.4), and guard Kelsey Plum scored 20.2 points a game while leading the league in 3-pointers made.Seattle has another M.V.P. candidate in forward Breanna Stewart, who led the league in scoring with 21.8 points per game, and few will take their eyes off the legendary Sue Bird, 41, the W.N.B.A. career assists leader, who will retire after the playoffs.And it will be worth watching Sabrina Ionescu of the Liberty, who at this point still has just one career playoff game.What’s the history?Seattle has four W.N.B.A. titles, all of them — yes, even the one back in 2004 — with Bird. Phoenix has won three times; once each for Washington and Chicago. The Dallas Wings won three times when they were known as the Detroit Shock. The other three teams are seeking their first titles. It’s an especially sore point for the Liberty, who have been in the league since its first season in 1997.What teams and players are missing?Seven of the eight teams are the same as in last year’s playoffs. With Washington returning after a year away, the odd team out is the Minnesota Lynx, who finished 14-22 and snapped an 11-season playoff streak.That means no playoff showcase for Sylvia Fowles, who is retiring after a season in which she led the league in rebounds per game.The absence of the Los Angeles Sparks will cost fans a chance to see more of Nneka Ogwumike and the steals leader, Brittney Sykes.The Mercury will be without both the injured Diana Taurasi, the W.N.B.A.’s career leader in scoring, and Skylar Diggins-Smith, who led Phoenix in scoring this season but will miss the playoffs for personal reasons. But the team’s grimmest absence of all is Brittney Griner, who is appealing her conviction on drug-smuggling charges in Russia, where she has been imprisoned since February. More

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      Why One American Basketball Team Won’t Be at the Summer Olympics

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      The U.S. invented basketball but does not dominate one form, three-on-three, when it comes to Olympics qualifying. So, go … Latvia?When three-on-three basketball has its Olympics debut in Tokyo this summer, Latvia will be there. So will Poland. But a men’s team from the United States, birthplace of basketball and winner of 15 of 19 men’s gold medals in the traditional five-on-five game, will not.The Americans were eliminated from a qualifying tournament in Austria on Sunday, 21-16, by the Netherlands.How did this happen?One clue is the American men’s roster. It consisted of Dominique Jones, Robbie Hummel, Kareem Maddox and Joey King. All were capable college players. All have honed their games in three-on-three play for several years in preparation for the Games. But they hardly represent the best players the U.S. could offer.Several factors prevented the U.S. from rolling out a threesome like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. For one, the best N.B.A. players are currently in the middle of the playoffs.Still, even hustling together a group of stars from teams not in the playoffs would not have been possible. Hoping to promote its three-on-three tournaments around the world, the international federation, FIBA, mandated that Olympic hopefuls earn points in those events. Since they took place in the winter, all N.B.A. players and even most Americans playing for European teams were out.FIBA is aware of what it is doing. It hopes to build the game beyond merely the Olympics, so it demands participation in its other, lower-profile events. It also wants to have as many countries involved as possible. The U.S. men did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup either, though Andorra, population 77,000, did, in part merely for showing up.“Andorra has heavy participation every weekend,” an official explained at the time.The unforgiving nature of the qualifying tournament over the weekend didn’t help. The U.S. won its pool with a 3-1 record. But that only got them into the quarterfinals. The loss to the Netherlands eliminated them, since only the top three teams advanced to the eight-team Olympic tournament.Dominique Jones was on the U.S. three-on-three roster but it lacked the biggest names. Christian Ugarte/EPA, via ShutterstockIn the three-on-three game — or 3×3 as FIBA insists on calling it — baskets are worth 1 point. What would be a 3-point shot in the regular game is worth 2 points. The Dutch made four 2-pointers down the stretch to put the Americans away.“Obviously, it’s not the ending we wanted,” said Joe Lewandowski, who has the title of coach/adviser (coaching is not allowed during games). He is the head coach at Point Park University, an N.A.I.A. school in Pittsburgh. The traditional men’s five-on-five team has qualified and will be coached by Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.Another American team in a very American sport will face its own challenge this week when men’s baseball sends minor leaguers to try to qualify for the Games.Kara Lawson of Duke coached the American women’s three-on-three team, which qualified for the Games with ease, finishing 4-0 in its pool, then beating Belarus, 21-10, and Spain 21-13. The winner is the first team to 21 points or the leader after 10 minutes. (Dawn Staley of South Carolina will coach the women’s five-on-five at the Games.)The women’s three-on-three roster has much more familiar names, all with W.N.B.A. experience: Allisha Gray of the Dallas Wings, Stefanie Dolson of the Chicago Sky, Katie Lou Samuelson of the Seattle Storm and Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces, a former No. 1 overall draft pick. Because the W.N.B.A. is a summer league, the opportunity was there to recruit some top players who were available to earn points at FIBA events in the winter.Those stars will now return to their W.N.B.A. teams. In contrast, the players on the men’s teams include a news producer and a development specialist.Though one spot is left in the men’s field at the Olympics, the U.S. is not eligible for it. In another quirky FIBA decision, that place is reserved only for nations that did not have a team in the 2012 or 2016 Olympic Games. So men from Mongolia, Hungary or Romania could be at the Games, while the nation of Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving watches from home. More