Bird is more accomplished than all of them. From that perspective, Catchings' longevity and durability (she played all of the Fever's games eight times during her 15-year career), along with her ability to impact a game at both ends, makes her the right choice. 1 overall in 2007 (traded to Minnesota for veteran forward Smith) and 2013 (Griner), building the core of the Mercury's three title-winning teams. Three of those four players were on the Phoenix team that defeated Indiana 3-2 in the 2009 WNBA Finals. The midseason addition of Sylvia Fowles gave Minnesota four starters who had been All-WNBA First Team selections. You have reached ESPN's Australian edition. Even with an atypically strong class for this year's induction to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, there was never any doubt that Tamika Catchings deserved to make it on her first try. The other candidates for WNBA GOAT had far more lauded teammates. While that doesn't always match up with career scoring totals because of the role longevity plays there -- Tina Thompson rarely got GOAT consideration before being passed by Taurasi, much like NBA all-time leading scorers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone take a backseat to Michael Jordan in that discussion -- points per game is a strong factor. 5 just once after drafting Catchings third in 2001, taking journeywoman Tan White with the No. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. While the Mercury were at least 20 points per 100 possessions better with her on the court in both 2014 and 2018, her average net impact -- throwing out 2012 and 2019, when she played fewer than 10 games due to injury -- has been around nine points per 100 possessions. If you missed out because you refuse to watch, you’re in a shrinking group: television ratings were up significantly this season, proving that if you air them people will watch, and that standing up for what truly matters will not, as Loeffler disingenuous missives suggested, hurt the league. Just shy of her 40th birthday and in her 19th season, Bird set a WNBA Finals record in Game 1 with 16 assists; she totaled 33 assists in the Storm’s three-game sweep. Edit: I know MVPs aren't everything, but I see that Lisa Leslie has won 3 and Sheryl Swoopes also has 3. By contrast, Taurasi led the league in scoring five times in a six-year stretch from 2006 through 2011. They are also both in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. The WNBA is over 20 years old, but it feels like this season it arrived. And all of this came months after they stood up for themselves and those that will follow them in the league, demanding and getting a vastly improved collective bargaining agreement. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. So, let’s celebrate Taurasi as the greatest of this time and let’s also remember the greats who paved the way for her. While playing with Taurasi, four Mercury players (DeWanna Bonner, Brittney Griner, Cappie Pondexter and Penny Taylor) were named to the All-WNBA First Team five times total. (Natasha Howard, then a second-year reserve for the Fever, later developed into a first-team pick in 2019 after changing teams twice.). I have no quarrel with the notion that Taurasi is the best player of the WNBA era (which enters its 21st year in 2017). The tickets for the Women’s Final Four in New Orleans may have been sold out, but the stands were far from full. 2020 election season features sports, politics, athlete activism, voting efforts, Sue Bird turns 40: The evolution and revolution of Seattle's point guard, From Olajuwon to Embiid: How Africa's relationship with American hoops has evolved, Ex-WNBA star Pondexter found safe, agent says, Ionescu eyes playing overseas to prep for 2021, WNBA Finals - Storm's Sami Whitcomb wins title ring ... from 9,000 miles away in Australia, Catchings honored to join Summitt in Hall of Fame, Baylor coach Kim Mulkey's leap of faith lands her in Naismith Hall of Fame, Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2020: Complete coverage, the ability to generate steals in particular, Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus series, Formerly a consultant with the Indiana Pacers. Wilson paid homage on Sunday, wearing a yellow Bird jersey to the Seahawks’ game against the Vikings, and said after leading the game-winning touchdown drive that he felt “like Sue Bird in the clutch.”. Many of the tweets and messages were titled or had the hashtag “GOAT” (Greatest of all Time, for those not up on the latest acronyms). While we’re handing out flowers, let’s get more for Sue Bird. via Instagram. How does political perception differ from reality in American sports? In 1986, Sports Illustrated named her the best male or female player in college basketball. Intact with her feminine side, McBride is blessed with natural beauty and shows it to the world. Miller led the University of Southern California to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1983-84, and was a three-time Naismith Award winner — a distinction no other college female could claim until Brianna Stewart came along in 2014. But is she the GOAT? Lashia Clarendon, who now plays for Indiana in the WNBA, led Cal with 17 points, Follow Finding a Way to Play on WordPress.com, Tribute to David Stern, an architect of the WNBA, Mainstream media still treat the WNBA like a novelty, Standing shoulder to shoulder with the game’s greats. She topped out at second in 2002, her rookie season, with 18.6 PPG. 1 with 93.7 career win shares, 20 more than anyone else. As for versatility, Catchings is the only player in the WNBA's career top 10 in both rebounds and assists, and Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks is the only other to average at least seven rebounds and three assists per game in a career. Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. (Opinion) Who is the GOAT of the WNBA? Stay on current site or go to US version. The WNBA's 'wubble' stood for activism, for Black women and for so much more than basketball. And with her irresistible looks, she’s killing the game. So who’s the GOAT in women’s basketball? It’s beyond time that she be recognized as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. A five-time Defensive Player of the Year, Catchings doesn't just lead the WNBA in all-time steals, she blows away the competition. Those actions aren’t a comprehensive list, nor does it include the deeds of players who sat out the season to dedicate their time fully to causes, like Maya Moore and Renee Montgomery. (The Phoenix Mercury celebrated Taurasi passing Tina Thompson for that honor by bringing in actual goats from a petting zoo.) While playing with Taurasi, four Mercury players (DeWanna Bonner, Brittney Griner, Cappie Pondexter and Penny Taylor) were named to the All-WNBA First Team five times total. She should have been recognized as the GOAT long before this, but there should be no doubt now, not with four Olympic gold medals, four WNBA championships, a dozen European championships playing with Russian teams, and two NCAA titles with UConn. But she also had a stellar college career, won an Olympic silver medal, and can boast of a number of firsts in women’s basketball. Meanwhile, scoring tends to be relatively overrated as a measure of impact. If you're looking at the player you'd take first to win a single game, you'd have a hard time going wrong with Taurasi (who began her career 13-0 in winner-take-all games, including the deciding Game 5 against Catchings and Indiana in 2009). She scored 19 points on June 17 to give her 7,494 in 377 regular-season WNBA games, surpassing Tina Thompson’s 7,488 in 496 games. In doing so, they provided Warnock with a bump in momentum and a surge in fundraising for the campaign: in the three days after WNBA players publicly endorsed Warnock, his campaign raised more than $236,000 online, from 3,500 new grassroots donors; his Twitter audience grew by nearly 4,000 followers. By contrast, Phoenix made the No. She was a two-time Final Four Most Outstanding Player and still holds the tournament records for field-goal percentage (79.4, 121-for-245) and most free throws made (91). Say her name, they demanded. In a tweet, LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant complimented her on her work ethic and consistency over her 12-year career, and National Champion South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley tweeted out: “We all know that’s just a snippet of your special skill set.”. And she was the first player selected in the Women’s Professional Basketball League draft in 1978 — where she was league MVP for the 1979-1980 season. But is she the GOAT? Change ), Finding A Way To Play is a silver award winner in the sports category of the Forward Reviews/INDIEFAB awards contest for independently published books in 2015.

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