The cat is out of the bag. The job is done. The beans were spilled. It is official, folks. Take your pick of idioms, but the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year race is over.
In a scintillating, down-to-the-wire 81-80 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, the sporting world witnessed one of the greatest basketball performances of all time as Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers ignited for a historic 44 points, tying four-time WNBA champion, two-time MVP, and Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper-Dyke. The former three-time league scoring champion was 34 years of age with a decorated professional career in Spain and Italy before joining the league’s inaugural season.
Bueckers nailed 17 of her 21 shot attempts, becoming the first player in WNBA history to score 40-plus points while shooting at least 80 percent. The records did not stop there. The All-Star guard also scored the most points in a regulation loss in WNBA history, produced the highest-scoring game of the season to date, and tied Deanna Nolan for the third-highest scoring outing in Wings franchise history. Bueckers’ 44 points are now the most scored by a Wings rookie in franchise history. If that felt like a mouthful, the accolades are flowing freely in her first season on the scene for the Wings.
EVERY. SINGLE. BUCKET from Paige Buecker’s historic 44-point performance 🎥 https://t.co/nHmxg1q4js pic.twitter.com/FfJiJoJwgV
— WNBA (@WNBA) August 21, 2025
The 2025 campaign has not been kind to Dallas in any way. After the latest injury news concerning center Li Yueru and guard Arike Ogunbowale, who are both slated to miss the rest of the season, Wings players have missed more than 90 games due to injuries or Eurobasket commitments. Facing several season-ending injuries, players are projected to miss nearly 120 games due to injury on the season.
The Wings have played more than 70% of their games with 10 or fewer players and project to play nearly 80% of their games with 10 or fewer available players by season’s end. In the loss to Los Angeles, Dallas had nine players available, which has been the case in more than 30% of their games.
To say that Bueckers’ rise as one of the best players in the WNBA is not a hot take. If anything, it is a pure fact. Through 29 games, she averages 19.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.7 steals. Bueckers leads all rookies in scoring and helpers, and is fifth and tied for ninth, respectively, in the league in those categories. Through the inconsistent availability of teammates and frequent losses (only lost 17 games in four seasons at UConn), Bueckers has taken all of it in stride as a consummate professional, which was expected given her track record, on and off the court.
10th – Washington Mystics (16-20)
If you had told me that the Mystics would be battling it out for the last playoff berth with just a handful of games remaining in the season, I would have believed you. All-Star rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen were impact players from the start of the season. With a mix of youthful talent and veteran leadership, the future is bright in D.C. The team has eight games left in the regular season and trail the Storm by two games for the final playoff seed. They also own the fourth-hardest remaining schedule with two matchups with the New York Liberty and singular outings against the Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, Golden State Valkyries, Indiana Fever, and Storm.
On paper, this was a team that had enough to compete for a spot in the postseason after missing it in 2024 for just the third time in the last 12 years. All-Star guard Brittney Sykes led the way through most of the season, but after Washington dropped five of its first seven games after the All-Star break, it was clear that a change was needed. Facing Sykes’s impending free agency, Mystics general manager Jamila Wideman took a gamble and bet on the future, resulting in Sykes being shipped to the Seattle Storm for their own 2026 first-round pick and veteran forward Alysha Clark.
Whether the Mystics have enough firepower left in the reserves to mount a run for the eight seed after going 3-4 since the trade or not, this season was a monumental (pun intended) success for Wideman and rookie head coach Sydney Johnson.
9th – Los Angeles Sparks (17-18)
With a crucial victory over the Wings on Wednesday, the Sparks moved within half a game of the Storm for the final playoff spot.
Los Angeles was one of the hottest teams in the WNBA after the All-Star break with a 7-1 record. Since beating the Connecticut Sun on Aug. 7, the Sparks have failed to win two consecutive games in over two weeks. Playing inconsistent basketball right before the playoffs start is not an ideal situation, but the Sparks have the talent and veteran experience to overcome nearly any hurdle. The team’s cohesion in the second half has proved it as much.
Kelsey Plum wins it with a floater at the buzzer
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) August 21, 2025 at 6:04 AM
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When the Sparks traded for All-Star guard Kelsey Plum in a blockbuster three-team deal during the offseason, front office personnel could not have been clearer as to how they viewed the 2025 season. Rather than using the No. 2 overall pick to continue the rebuild around Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson, and Cameron Brink, general manager Raegan Pebley shipped the pick away for an established, championship-winning talent in Plum. The Sparks understand that the window to win their first championship since 2016 is now and not in the draft. For what it is worth, the decision appears to be the right one.
8th – Seattle Storm (18-18)
Seattle might be the biggest disappointment in the second half of the season, if not in its entirety. What was supposed to be a campaign spent as a legitimate championship contender has developed into one spent attempting to secure entry as a bottom seed in the playoffs. In 12 games since the All-Star break, the Storm has lost eight of them, including a six-game losing streak.
The story of the last two weeks has been Seattle’s inability to close games consistently. Amid the losing streak, the Storm lost by an average of 4.5 points, making it the longest losing streak with the smallest variance on the season. Two close wins over the Atlanta Dream and Chicago Sky have stopped the bleeding, but the Mystics and Sparks are within an arm’s reach of the eighth seed.
7th – Golden State Valkyries (18-17)
There is not much the Valkyries can do at this point in the season that would alter how I would view the franchise’s inaugural season. From record-shattering attendance numbers to a developed culture on and off the court, I would be at a loss to find more that could have been accomplished for an expansion franchise that most expected nothing from. What rookie head coach Natalie Nakase and general manager Ohemaa Nyanin have accomplished as a unit from the very start is nothing short of stupendous.
After losing All-Star forward Kayla Thornton just one game into the second half of the season, Golden State has not only righted the ship, but it is sailing with little to no damage. In the last 13 games, the new kids on the block went 8-5, which is the third-best record overall. With nine games remaining on their schedule, the Valkyries have a half-game lead over the Storm for the seventh seed.
6th – Indiana Fever (19-16)
The Fever entered this season with an ambitious goal of competing for a championship. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards as the team dealt with several season-ending injuries and has been without superstar guard Caitlin Clak since July 15. She has only played 13 games, as Indiana has been without a regular point guard presence for most of the season, having seen a slew of hardship contracts in an attempt to keep the team afloat.
Forward Sophie Cunningham was ruled out for the rest of the season, which was the last thing this team needed. Or losing four of its previous six games after rattling off a season-high five-game win streak. With nine games left in the regular season, the Fever holds a one-game lead over the Valkyries.
5th – Phoenix Mercury (21-14)
The Mercury seem to have run into a bit of bad luck as of late after losing three of the their last five games. MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas has carried the load more often than not and has shown up consistently to do so. In a revamped system designed to extrapolate the best of Thomas’ game, she averages career-highs in points per game, assists per game, and field-goal percentage.
One of the main issues that keeps recurring for Phoenix is consistency from players not named Thomas and timely adjustments from second-year coach Nate Tibbetts. Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper have not answered the call with the necessary level of connectivity when it matters most. As for Tibbetts, he has made it known he plans to stick to an eight-player rotation for the foreseeable future.
There is nothing inherently wrong with this because rotations shrink come playoff time. Where complications arise is when he refuses to adjust to what is needed on a game-to-game basis. For example, the Mercury allowed the fourth-most rebounds in their last five games. Tibbetts has options to fix this, such as 6’7” center Kalani Brown. Before the team’s 83-61 loss to the Las Vegas Aces last night, the former Baylor Bear received seven DNP-CDs in the last 11 games. Against Las Vegas, which has one of the most dominant front-court duos in MVP candidate A’ja Wilson and NaLyssa Smith, Brown did not see the court until the fourth quarter. By that point, the game was nearly out of hand. Failing to adjust with numerous examples to pick from over the last few weeks leads to first-round exits in the playoffs.
4th – New York Liberty (22-14)
In the last edition of Temp Check, the Liberty were winners of three in a row after losing three. Since then, the team has lost three of its previous five games by an average of eight points. Wins have not been easy when missing the talent of Breanna Stewart. However, this team’s integrity and experience will not allow for half measures. Like I said previously, New York is one of the few teams in the league that you give a hall pass to and wait until the playoffs get here. That is the case for my concern level for the Liberty.
3rd – Las Vegas Aces (23-14)
To say the Aces are the best story in basketball right now would be the understatement of the century. On August 2, this team was 14-14 in a tie with the Valkyries. Since then, Las Vegas has claimed nine consecutive wins while lapping the Mercury and Dream for the third seed. One of the biggest reasons as to how the Aces were revived midseason, you would have to look at the trade that brought forward NaLyssa Smith to the desert.
Lyss turned on the spin cycle 🌀@NaLyssaSmith // #ALLINLV pic.twitter.com/aAyXhYKOVC
— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) August 22, 2025
Before her arrival, the Aces were one of the three worst teams when it came to rebounding. Since acquiring Smith from the Dallas Wings, Las Vegas ranks in the top three for overall rebounding, offensive rebounding, and the percentages of both. It also does not hurt to have an MVP candidate in A’ja Wilson, who is currently averaging higher totals in several categories that carried her throughout her previous three MVP seasons.
2nd – Atlanta Dream (23-13)
Like Nakase, the belief in Dream coach Karl Smesko to turn a franchise around overnight was minimal, yet the job did not change. In his rookie season strolling the sidelines, Smesko has won the most games (22) in a season since 2018 and is the second-highest win total in franchise history. The team has an opportunity to tie the record on Saturday against the Lynx.
During the first half of the season, one area of significance that held this group back from legitimate championship contention was the lack of continuity in arguably the most important quarter of the game. This was one of the contributing factors that led to a .500 record (7-7) in clutch scenarios before the break. Atlanta surrendered the most points in the fourth quarter in the league. Since play resumed after the break what were once growing pains in the first half for a newly assembled group have developed into reliable strengths when it matters most. In the last 12 games, Atlanta has allowed the second-fewest points (18.3) in the fourth quarter.
1st – Minnesota Lynx (28-7)
The Lynx have been without MVP candidate Napheesa Collier since August 2, and the team has won six of its last eight before losing the previous two outings. Defense wins championships, but role players play a considerable role in overall execution, which the Lynx have many of.
Minnesota is known for its depth and versatility, and it was relied upon heavily over the last two weeks. The Lynx went from fifth in bench scoring to third in a matter of games. The team has a few players who were starters on past teams or played starter-level minutes. Experience does not grow on trees, and no one knows this better than Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve.
“Obviously, Jess Shepard is a great candidate for Sixth Player of the Year,” said Reeve. “Her role would be to kind of come in and give us that lift. I think T [Natisha], you know, the same thing. The two of them, you know, the role that they’re playing for us off the bench is really big, as we saw with T in tonight’s game. DiJonai [Carrington]. So, role players, I think for us, is why we’ve kind of gotten through this stretch. Role players that maybe took on starting roles or a little bit bigger role. I think that’s certainly the key to any team in the regular season, and then certainly when you get to the playoffs and you’re loading up and you’re guarding a team’s best players and actions, etc. It’s the role players that have a chance to make a difference in a game. I thought our role players, our bench, did just that. They had 38 points. Credit to them that they kept us close, and again, to have a chance when it was 79-75 with four minutes to go. We had a chance despite not feeling the best about the way we played.”
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Born and raised in Chicago, Christan Braswell is a women’s sports journalist with a focus on the WNBA and women’s college basketball. He’s an avid fan of elevator screens and stuffed crust pizza. Outside of sports, he’s an avid cook and lover the great outdoors.
Dear reader, this week is going to go a bit differently than my first six articles. One, five of the seven matches this week ended in a draw, though some […]
