The Phoenix Mercury are on the second day of a back-to-back that included a road\u00a0loss in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
And Mercury star Satou Sabally\u00a0shared her concerns with her postgame comment about player safety regarding the WNBA\u2019s scheduling this season, with which former NBA guard Patrick Beverley took issue.<\/p>\n
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\u201cTerrible. It\u2019s like they don\u2019t care about players\u2019 safety,\u201d Sabally said. \u201cIt\u2019s like they don\u2019t care about scheduling or whatever. I only mentioned that one time at the beginning of the season.<\/p>\n
“I know people always love to come and say, \u2018Oh, you guys want to get paid more, you guys need to play all these games,\u2019 but at some point, there\u2019s a sports science to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercury guard Kahleah Copper injured her rib during the third quarter when taking a hit from Las Vegas Aces forward A\u2019ja Wilson and didn\u2019t return in the game. She\u2019s questionable for the Friday, Aug. 22, contest against the Golden State Valkyries<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Mercury have played one back-to-back this season, June 18-19 in Connecticut and New York. The Mercury won the latter contest in New York, but will play a road-and-home back-to-back for the first time this season.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s honestly just like game on game on game,\u201d Sabally said. \u201cWe\u2019re professional, and we\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Sabally\u2019s comments drew criticism on X from Beverley, a noted defensive pest and sometime instigator during his playing days. In a video, Beverley said he agrees that WNBA players should be paid more, but didn\u2019t agree with Sabally’s comments on back-to-back games.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right now, come on now\u2026 Y\u2019all had me, W had me,\u201d Beverley said. \u201cThese ladies deserve more money, but come on, man. You gotta play back-to-backs. You got to. It\u2019s part of it\u2026 I\u2019m all with it, but don\u2019t lose me there now.\u201d<\/p>\n Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, WNBA rosters contain 12 players, while NBA rosters have 15 players and can carry up to 18 with two-way contracts.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Sabally isn\u2019t the only player who has taken issue with the league\u2019s scheduling. New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud expressed her concerns on Aug. 12 about playing back-to-back games in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and said, \u201cThere\u2019s gotta be a better way.\u201d<\/p>\n During the All-Star weekend, Cloud\u2019s teammate, Sabrina Ionescu, also agreed that the All-Star break was too short<\/a> for those in the All-Star game.<\/p>\n “I think it probably would have been more competitive if teams didn\u2019t play in such a short amount of days,\u201d Ionescu said. \u201cThat\u2019s something as we\u2019re talking, obviously, into our CBA, and understanding that All-Stars don\u2019t really have a break.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n