“I think that perception [is] based on misinformation,” Kayla McBride said. “I think a lot of people who have this perception of women’s basketball or the WNBA compare it to the NBA most of the time. They compare it to the men’s story, their ways and salaries and stuff.”
WNBA
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
White and Black athletes should stand together against injustice
Lindsay Whalen, about this time two years ago, stood alongside her Black teammates wearing black T-shirts to protest the Philando Castile shooting in Falcon Heights, a similar shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and other such tragedies.
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
Pro hoopsters go to Harvard
Harvard Business Administration Professor Anita Elberse, who first started and teaches the semester-long course with NBA players, pairing them with MBA student mentors. This year a new program was opened to WNBA players.
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
Lennox, a stand-out Lynx rookie in 2001, calls the team ‘my first home’
“It was my first [pro] team,” Betty Lennox recalled in a recent MSR phone interview. Just the season before, she and Grace Daley became only the second rookie duo ever to combine for the most made three-pointers (72) for the same team. Now 42, she is the women’s basketball coach at Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley in Kansas City, Missouri.
Posted inLynx/WNBA
Former local prep stars who’ve reached the WNBA
Lindsay Whalen (Hutchinson, University of Minnesota, Minnesota Lynx), Tayler Hill (Minneapolis South, Ohio State University, Washington Mystics), Nia Coffey (Hopkins, Northwestern University, Las Vegas Aces), and Rachel Banham (Lakeville North, University of Minnesota, Connecticut Sun) have all made their marks thus far in the WNBA’s 20th season.
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
WNBA rookie Wilson off to a strong start
Amber Stokes is one of two Black female coach/GMs in the WNBA. Now in her second year in Chicago, Stokes told the MSR that she has adjusted to her dual role.
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
Traditional ‘bigs’ give way to roaming centers
This season there are 25 WNBA players officially listed as centers, and seven others are listed as center-forwards. Williams, who has coached in the W for 15 seasons, says, “You need a big to alter shots or at least have [an] opportunity in the paint, a person with length who can move off screens and can play good defense. You got about five or six bigs who are top scorers in our league.”
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
The sisters Ogwumike enjoy ‘tag-teaming’ each other
The older sister heads the players union. Her younger sister, a middle child in a family of four daughters, is virtually working two jobs at the same time. Both are WNBA stars. They are the sisters Ogwumike, Nnemkadi and Chinenye.
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
Member of first U.S. women’s pro hoops league once swore ‘never again’
“I told Kwame this game has broken my heart for the last time. I’m never going to play basketball anymore. He left me alone for about a year.”
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
Southside teacher blazes trail to basketball Hall of Fame
As a former member of the Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL), Chavers will be inducted as one of the “Trailblazers of the Game.”
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
There in the beginning: recalling the Lynx’s first year
The Minnesota Lynx is celebrating its 20th year in the WNBA this season. In this 20-part occasional series we will take a year-by-year look back, featuring reflections from players, coaches, fans and others. This week: the year 1999
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
WNBA ‘walks the walk’ with new charity initiative
The WNBA just days before the start of the 2018 season announced a partnership with six national organizations that primarily work on behalf of girls and women.
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
Shifting the WNBA season to fall/winter a bad idea
Since assuming office in 2014, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver seemingly likes to sow seeds of doubts about the WNBA’s future at inopportune times.
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
Cheryl Reeve: Lynx have ‘lots of things’ to improve (audio)
“We have lots of things that we can improve on, ” Minnesota Lynx General Manager and Head Coach Cheryl Reeve told Larry Fitzgerald in a recent interview. Click the link below to find out what Coach Reeve said the four-time champs needs to do this season to be successful.
Posted inGophers/College, Lynx/WNBA, Sports
Whalen named new Gopher coach after ‘whirlwind’ search
Will she be more successful recruiting local Black athletes? I love Lindsay Whalen. I’ve known her since her freshman year at Minnesota and throughout her stellar WNBA career. “You saw this coming?” a local reporter asked yours truly, the longest-tenured Gopher women’s basketball beat reporter, of my thoughts on perhaps the quickest coaching search since […]
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
It’s WNBA Draft time!
The perennially underreported WNBA Draft is Thursday. It typically is barely discussed by the sports media, unlike the exhaustedly long NFL and oft-overhyped NBA drafts. “I think the draft has definitely been talked about more over the years,” ESPN’s LaChina Robinson told the MSR during the April 6 pre-draft media call. “Even this call right now — […]
Posted inLynx/WNBA, Sports
WNBA again earns top grades for gender and racial diversity
The WNBA has since its inception been the sports industry leader for racial and gender hiring practices. It recently got an A for its overall race, gender and combined grades for the 13th consecutive year from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES). The league received five A-plus grades in five categories for […]
Posted inLynx/WNBA
Photo gallery | Lynx victorious over Sparks, win fourth title
On October 4, in front of a thunderous, sell-out crowd at Williams Arena, the Minnesota Lynx outlasted the L.A. Sparks to clinch the 2017 WNBA Championship title. With the win, the Lynx make league history by tying the Houston Comets with four titles — their fourth in seven seasons. A championship parade is scheduled for today […]
Posted inSports
Poor WNBA officiating still the bane of league’s existence
This series will cover the WNBA’s 21st season with at least one story on the league weekly from the season’s May 13 opening to its closing on September 3 and through the 2017 playoffs The WNBA deserves better officiating. Any expectance of seeing the three-person crews raise up their game as the playoffs begin next […]
Posted inSports
W pres plays it safe in Seattle
This series will cover the WNBA’s 21st season with at least one story on the league weekly from the season’s May 13 opening to its closing on September 3 and through the 2017 playoffs. SEATTLE — Women’s rights are the civil rights of today, declared WNBA President Lisa Borders. All well and good, but her […]