{"id":124603,"date":"2025-09-01T10:04:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T10:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/124603\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T10:04:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T10:04:08","slug":"late-season-wnba-storylines-clarks-struggles-a-new-mvp-threat-and-the-aces-revival-wnba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/124603\/","title":{"rendered":"Late-season WNBA storylines: Clark\u2019s struggles, a new MVP threat and the Aces\u2019 revival | WNBA"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WNBA<\/a> regular season concludes on 11 September after a turbulent summer shaped by injuries, comebacks and unexpected contenders. With the playoffs looming, here are the narratives that have defined the second half of the campaign.<\/p>\n

Caitlin Clark\u2019s injuries reshape the Fever<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the Indiana Fever \u2013 and their passionate fans \u2013 Caitlin Clark<\/a> has spent most of this season in a role no one expected: as a coach from the sidelines. The 23-year-old has been limited by recurring groin injuries during the second half of the campaign.<\/p>\n

She has not been the Fever\u2019s only casualty. On 7 August the team lost Aari McDonald, to a broken foot, and Sydney Colson, to a torn ACL. Ten days later Sophie Cunningham tore her MCL, while newcomer Chloe Bibby \u2013 signed on 1 August to a rest-of-season contract \u2013 injured her knee on 22 August.<\/p>\n

The string of setbacks has forced the club to cycle through hardship contracts and reshuffle its roster every few games. That the Fever remain in playoff contention despite such upheaval is a testament to their coaching and resilience \u2013 but whether that will be enough to meet their 2025 ambitions is another question.<\/p>\n

Natalie Nakase proves a rookie coach can win<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not yet clear whether the WNBA\u2019s newest team will reach the playoffs, but the fact that the Golden State Valkyries are even in contention is among the season\u2019s biggest storylines. The league\u2019s first expansion side since Atlanta in 2008 entered the year with a giant lavender question mark over their heads \u2013 and have steadily erased each doubt since<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Valkyries are led by Natalie Nakase, hired away from the Las Vegas Aces<\/a> after three seasons as Becky Hammon\u2019s top assistant. While Nakase has brushed off talk of individual awards \u2013 \u201cHonestly, I\u2019m just being deadass, our goal is to make the playoffs,\u201d she told Clutch Points last week. \u201cIt should be coaching staff of the year.\u201d \u2013 the case for her as Coach of the Year is difficult to ignore.<\/p>\n

The achievements of the Valkyries in their debut campaign will be hard for anyone else to match.<\/p>\n

The Aces\u2019 A\u2019ja Wilson has averaged 23.4 points and 10.1 rebounds, anchoring the team through their slump and driving their revival. Photograph: Ethan Miller\/Getty ImagesThe Aces are back in contention<\/p>\n

We are on the brink of the playoffs and somehow the Aces \u2013 who had a 5-6 record by mid-June and were playing so poorly at the beginning of July that even Becky Hammon questioned their abilities<\/a> \u2013 ended August ranked No 2 in the league with a 26-14 record and are now within reach of a championship run. And sure, this is a team coming off six back-to-back winning seasons and two titles, but saying the Aces were bad before the All-Star break this year isn\u2019t an understatement.<\/p>\n

At the core of the team\u2019s rapid ascension is the inevitable A\u2019ja Wilson, who is averaging 23.4 points and 10.1 rebounds this season and has found new and bolder ways to carry the team in their lowest moments and inspire them at their peak. Don\u2019t be surprised if Las Vegas end up in the finals this season.<\/p>\n

A new name in the MVP race<\/p>\n

For most of the year the MVP race looked set to come down to A\u2019ja Wilson defending her crown or Napheesa Collier wresting it away. That was the prevailing narrative at the start of 2025 \u2013 and both players did plenty to sustain it.<\/p>\n

But Collier\u2019s ankle injury in early August opened the door for another contender. Alyssa Thomas, one of the most complete athletes in basketball, has seized the moment and is showing no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n

The Phoenix Mercury forward is averaging 15.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 9.2 assists, numbers that only hint at her impact. Thomas has produced a league-high seven triple-doubles this season and became the first WNBA player to record at least 10 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in a game (her line that night was 13-12-16). She has been both floor general and steadying presence, quietly steering Phoenix from opening tip to playoff chase.<\/p>\n

The Mercury have dropped 14 games, but rarely through any fault of Thomas. Since returning from a calf injury in June, she has been unshakable \u2013 and right now, she looks like the player most capable of reshaping the MVP conversation.<\/p>\n

Liberty injuries complicate a title defence<\/p>\n

Injuries have reshaped the season, sidelining some of their biggest stars and leaving teams scrambling to adjust.<\/p>\n

No one has felt it more than the Liberty. They lost Jonquel Jones to an ankle injury in June, then Breanna Stewart to a bone bruise in late July. Sabrina Ionescu also spent time out with a toe problem, while Natasha Cloud has been sidelined with a broken nose. If Jones\u2019s absence was damaging, Stewart\u2019s seemed to send New York into a tailspin. The Liberty were 17-6 and second in the league when she went down; since then, they have slipped to No 5.<\/p>\n

That slide underscores Stewart\u2019s value \u2013 and raises the stakes in New York\u2019s bid to repeat as champions. To defend their title, the Liberty will almost certainly need a top-four seed to secure home-court advantage and avoid a punishing early clash with the Lynx. It\u2019s a tall order, but with their roster finally healthy again, not an impossible one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The WNBA regular season concludes on 11 September after a turbulent summer shaped by injuries, comebacks and unexpected…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-124603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}