The new schedule for the unorthodox WNBA 2020 season – 22 games per team to be played in neutral locations – is finally here, and it’s time to highlight the must-see games.
While some of the biggest names in the league are in attendance this season, it still promises plenty of excitement and drama with the debut of an anticipated rookie class led by former Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu and two WNBA legends Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart, returning After a year lost to injury.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at 12 of the season’s biggest games.
Seattle Storm vs. New York Liberty
July 25, noon ET | ESPN
The 2020 campaign begins with the first showdown between Ionescu and Bird, two bases with ties to the Pacific Northwest at opposite ends of their careers. For Bird and Stewart, it will be their first WNBA action since helping Storm win the 2018 championship before the surgeries ended their 2019 seasons before they even started. Both players returned to the court for US basketball last season, including Bird playing against Ionescu when Oregon became the second varsity team to beat the national team.
Los Angeles Sparks vs. Phoenix Mercury
July 25, 3 pm ET | ABC
Later on opening day, we get our first glimpse of the Mercury after a bold new take on the off-season roster highlighted by swapping for All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith to pair up on the backcourt with top scorer for the WNBA, Diana Taurasi. Up front, the clashes between Phoenix and Los Angeles have meant Brittney Griner pitted against the duo of Nneka Ogwumike and Candace Parker on the Sparks’ starry front.
Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces
July 26, 3 pm ET | ABC
Day 2 of the season brings us a rematch of last year’s exciting playoff matchup between Sky and Aces, which was decided when Dearica Hamby’s prayer was answered from across the half court. With seven of the eight players seeing at least a 10-minute playoff return, Chicago will hope to trust continuity. The Aces lost All-Star center Liz Cambage, who is expected to miss the season for health reasons, but still brag about having a strong front from Hamby and A’ja Wilson.
Washington Mystics vs. Connecticut Sun
July 28, 7 p.m. ET
The first rematch between the teams that met in last year’s WNBA Finals will look very different. Connecticut, which had already lost starters Shekinna Stricklen and Courtney Williams in free agency, saw Jonquel Jones become the first star player to decide not to play 2020. Meanwhile, MVPs Elena Delle Donne and newcomer Tina Charles are pending decisions on whether they will be medically excused from the 2020 season, with their status uncertain whether the panel of independent doctors authorizes them to play. Still, coaches Curt Miller and Mike Thibault are two of the best in the league, and will have a shortened training camp to rebuild their rotations.
New York Liberty vs. Dallas Wings
July 29, 8 p.m. ET
The last time Ionescu and his Oregon teammate Satou Sabally were on the court together, they were cutting the nets as the Ducks celebrated winning the Pac-12 Tournament. Although Oregon’s hopes for a national championship were dashed when the NCAA tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ionescu and Sabally were still able to celebrate being the top two picks in the WNBA draft. They will be on opposite sides for the first time as professionals during the first week of the season.
Atlanta Dream vs. Las Vegas Aces
July 29, 10 p.m. ET
After 10 seasons with the dream, including last season’s ceremonial appearance in the last game of a year lost to a knee injury, Angel McCoughtry signed with Las Vegas during the offseason, and he won’t have to wait long for a first confrontation. against his old team. Granted, Atlanta’s roster looks very different from when McCoughtry was injured during the 2018 WNBA semifinals, only three players from that team remain active, but it will nonetheless be an emotional moment.
Seattle Storm vs. Washington mystics
July 30, 6 pm ET | ESPN
The last two champions, Storm and Mystics, met at the 2018 WNBA Finals and would have been favored for another matchup if Washington had their full strength. As it stands, Storm will have to contend with 2019 Finals MVP Emma Meesseman, and a heavily-shot Mystics lineup that could also include former Seattle draft pick Tianna Hawkins in a more prominent role this season.
Indiana Fever vs. Dallas Wings
July 31, 8 p.m. ET
There’s an unfinished business between Sabally and Indiana rookie Lauren Cox, who later took a pick at number 3. The two were on opposite sides when the Cox’s Baylor team brought down Sabally and Oregon in the 2019 Final Four en route. to the NCAA title. Now they will face each other for the first time as enemies of the WNBA.
Phoenix Mercury vs. Seattle Storm
August 8, 3 pm ET | ABC
The last time close friends Bird and Taurasi faced each other, Bird’s big fourth quarter helped propel the storm past the Mercury in a 2018 WNBA semi-final showdown that went a long way. With both players heading towards the finish line of their careers, it is unclear how many more Bird-Taurasi matchups we will get, and it is worth savoring them, especially as both teams enter this season as title contenders.
Los Angeles Sparks vs. Minnesota Lynx
August 9, 7 pm ET | ESPN2
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 draft, Seimone Augustus, eventually became a key part of the largest modern WNBA dynasty in Minnesota, winning four championships and earning Finals MVP honors in 2011. Augustus spent 14 seasons with Lynx, and his first matchup against his old team, which is also a rematch of the 2016 and 2017 finals, appears to be a special night.
Phoenix Mercury vs. Dallas Wings
August 10, 7 pm ET | ESPN2
The relationship between Diggins-Smith and the Wings, their organization throughout their WNBA career (which started in Tulsa before the team moved to Dallas), turned sour during the 2019 season as it stayed out. after giving birth. After her desire to leave was facilitated by an exchange, Diggins-Smith will face her former team for the first time at the start of the third week of the season.
Las Vegas Aces vs. Los Angeles Sparks
September 12, 8 pm ET
So far, it’s hard to say what might be at stake on the last day of the WNBA regular season, but this game has the best chance of helping decide the playoff rankings. Sparks and Aces finished a separate game in qualifying last season and they should both be in the mix again this year.
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