Nothing the Mercury did in the offseason was enough to put them on people’s radar consistently.
And yet, the Mercury didn’t seem to care.
After the Mercury’s 4-1 start to the season, people began to recognize the talent in the locker room beyond Copper, Thomas and Sabally.
When the Mercury went 4-0 on their mid-June road trip, including wins over the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty, as well as a franchise record performance against the Chicago Sky, fans and media began to talk. The team then followed up the trip with a blowout win over New York and another franchise record.
“Things starting in training camp, just everybody buying into what we wanted to do this season, no one had been talking about us, but we don’t care,” Thomas said to media after the second win over New York. “We’re going to do what we do each and every day, and I think that’s what’s so special about it, is that everyone’s on board. We go out there each and every day and compete.”
Coming out of the All-Star break, Phoenix has the third-best record in the league (15-7) and have one of the leading MVP candidates on the roster in Thomas, despite being underestimated for much of the year.
How the Mercury got here
It started when the fans, media and even opponents underestimated the talent of the Mercury’s rookies. Guards Lexi Held, Monique Akoa Makani and Kitija Laksa, and forward Kathryn Westbeld all took unique paths to get to the WNBA and spent years playing overseas before getting an opportunity with the Mercury. Due to early injuries to key players, they all played big minutes early on and were crucial to the Mercury’s 6-4 start without Copper and Thomas, who was in and out of the lineup.
Now that the Mercury are healthier, Westbeld and Akoa Makani have remained starters, while Laksa and Akoa Makani are emerging as two of the league’s premier 3-point shooters. Held was also immensely valuable before suffering a pneumothorax on June 19, and after missing the last eight games, is expected to return Wednesday against the Atlanta Dream.
“They’re great players, and I knew what we had in our rookies, just nobody else knew and understood,” Copper told media in June. “I had been practicing with them, so I knew what they were capable of, but I’m definitely excited for what they’ve done.”
Throughout the season, the Mercury have become skilled at blocking out the noise, positive or negative. Their internal narrative has been defined by mottos such as “Mercury Vibes Only” and “US >>>>>>.”
Those unifying statements have created a “Mercury vs Everybody” mentality.
“I think Nate kind of started that, really, at the beginning of the season, just kind of saying, like ‘This is about us,’ and it really has been,” Westbeld said in late June. “I feel like [when] we started out, people kind of doubted our abilities. They said we work hard, but they haven’t really said how good we are, how skilled we are, how good we are as a team. So it really is us against everyone else. And I think keeping it kind of in house like that, it’s really special, because we’ve been able to build such a bond just within our team.”
With the Mercury set to resume play Wednesday, the team is arguably stronger than ever. Head coach Nate Tibbetts expects to see the return of Copper and Sabally, who missed the last four games with a right ankle injury, respectively, in addition to Held.
On July 8, the team bolstered its roster by signing wing DeWanna Bonner, who, in three games played, is averaging 13.3 points on 53.8% shooting from the field and 44.4% from three, in addition to 6.0 rebounds per game and 2.0 assists.
“She just brings an easiness to the group,” Tibbetts said of Bonner after the team’s win over the Golden State Valkyries on July 14 in which she finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. “She’s seen everything. This is year 16. … She just makes plays. She’s never in a hurry, and she doesn’t even really know all of our sets yet. We’re kind of learning as we go. … But yeah, just a veteran presence that has seen anything. She’s won championships, she’s been in big games, and this group needed that piece.”
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As the back half of the season progresses, experience from Bonner and other players on the roster could be crucial. Phoenix has already played a number of close games – 14 of their 22 games have been decided by less than 10 points – with many having atmosphere compared to playoff settings.
Tibbetts and the players have previously spoken about the importance of these types of games happening early in the season and closer to the midpoint, with some coming at home and some being on the road. That preparation could be the difference-maker down the stretch when the postseason arrives.
“I think early on the season, we’ve had a couple [close games] at home,” Thomas said at Golden State. “We have a lot of lot of rookies, so we’ve had a lot of rookie mistakes early on. Definitely proud of how we grew today and stayed composed down the stretch. Of course, we need to do a better job not letting them get the shots off, but to not foul, to execute our offense and not turn the ball over. It’s a huge, huge growth for us.”
Health will play a large factor in whether or not the Mercury reach their ultimate goal, yet they’ve already proven their ability to compete while unhealthy. Only Westbeld has played in all 22 games this season. Thomas, Copper and Sabally have only played together in six games, and still the Mercury are just four wins short of their total from last season.
Despite the ins and outs, Sabally is averaging a career-high 19.1 points. Thomas leads the league with 9.5 assists per game and is shooting the highest field goal percentage of her career at 51.7%. On July 15, Thomas was named Western Conference Player of the Week, and she has emerged as a top-3 MVP candidate since the month started. Both Sabally and Thomas were selected as All-Stars this season, with Sabally being named a starter despite not being able to play due to injury.
Having adopted a three-and-D style of play, multiple players on the team are shooting above 35% from beyond the arc, and the team is third in the league in defensive rating.
This is all while the Mercury have not even seen their roster at its full potential.
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The remaining 22 games of the season will be telling for Phoenix. Although they’ve looked the part of a powerhouse, now they’ll be challenged with maintaining that status. Other teams are still looking for ways to get stronger, as evidenced by the Liberty signing Emma Meesseman on Monday.
They’re 1-3 against the first-place Lynx and 2-0 against the second-place Liberty. Phoenix will have to prove they can keep up when it counts to stay in contention for a title. But with their best basketball presumably still ahead of them, that doesn’t seem like too tall of an ask for Tibbetts and company.