It\u2019s late December and another year of women\u2019s basketball is reaching its conclusion. The last 12 months have seen continued growth in women\u2019s college basketball and the WNBA, with new teams launching, historic franchises and players winning titles and new talent entering the scene.<\/p>\n
But it also included tension in the boardroom, significant injuries and uncertainty entering 2026. Before we look forward, and to mark the holiday season, The Athletic\u2019s Sabreena Merchant and Ben Pickman reflect on their gifts (winners) and coal (losers) for 2025.<\/p>\n
Gift: A\u2019ja Wilson<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start here: Wilson became the first player in WNBA or NBA history to win a championship, scoring title and earn finals MVP, league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year honors in the same season. That alone would make her a big winner this past calendar year. But when you consider it was her third title in four seasons, her league-record fourth MVP, and the Aces 17 consecutive wins, she is all the more impressive. That\u2019s all merely some of her on-court accomplishments. Off the court, Wilson debuted her signature Nike sneaker, the A\u2019One. She was named Time magazine\u2019s Athlete of the Year<\/a> and will be part of the Met Gala\u2019s host committee. She has every reason to still be rattling the pink tambourine she broke out after the Aces\u2019 title. \u2014 Ben Pickman<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a symbol of just the joyfulness we have right now, and I\u2019m grateful to be with this bunch.\u201d<\/p>\n A\u2019ja Wilson on the importance of her pink tambourine after winning the WNBA finals \ud83c\udfc6 pic.twitter.com\/WKKqRcKI41<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 espnW (@espnW) October 11, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Coal: Injuries to Caitlin Clark, JuJu Watkins and more<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to forget all of the women\u2019s basketball players who sustained significant injuries and were sidelined for extended stretches. In the WNBA, Napheesa Collier, Caitlin Clark, Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot missed chunks of last season. Satou Sabally is still dealing with lingering concussion symptoms after suffering a head injury in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals and is out indefinitely as Unrivaled nears tipoff.<\/p>\n USC star JuJu Watkins\u2019 ACL tear in the second round of the NCAA Tournament marred the event and was the most prominent injury of the college season. South Carolina\u2019s Chloe Kitts tore her ACL before the start of the 2025-26 season in the latest in a string of high-profile knee injuries.<\/p>\n Both the NCAA Tournament and WNBA seasons still crowned deserving champions, in UConn and the Las Vegas Aces, but Watkins\u2019 injury was one of the two prevailing stories of March Madness. Clark\u2019s absence put a damper on Indianapolis\u2019 All-Star Weekend, and her returns provided jolts of excitement that many fans wished could have lasted the entire season. Gift: Geno Auriemma and Paige Bueckers<\/p>\n Most programs would celebrate a stretch of seven NCAA Tournaments that included six Final Fours and one trip to the national title game. At UConn, it was almost catastrophic to go that long without adding another national championship, especially as South Carolina won three titles in that period to assert itself as the new power in women\u2019s college basketball. Entering the 2024-25 season, the pressure on Paige Bueckers \u2014 already a national Player of the Year and multi-time All-American \u2014 was mounting to end the drought and cement her Huskies\u2019 legacy with the ultimate crown.<\/p>\n Take it all in.<\/p>\n Paige Bueckers, National Champion pic.twitter.com\/8OxY6LxU4c<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 UConn Women\u2019s Basketball (@UConnWBB) April 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The regular season had a couple of hiccups, but in hindsight, UConn was just biding its time. Coach Geno Auriemma perfectly paced UConn so it was ready to peak in March for a dominant postseason run that left no doubt which was the nation\u2019s best team. Bueckers dazzled as she captured more national honors and was the no-brainer No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft. She ended the season as an All-Star starter, all-WNBA second-team and Rookie of the Year, then she was invited to Team USA as one of the senior national team\u2019s future faces. Auriemma\u2019s Huskies continued their dominance into the second half of the season, and they\u2019ve been unbeaten since February as they chase title No. 13. \u2014 Sabreena Merchant<\/p>\n Coal: Work stoppage threats<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a tense few months in the WNBA as the league and players\u2019 union are entrenched in collective bargaining agreement negotiations. As the calendar soon flips to 2026, they still appear far from reaching a new agreement. Both sides want a deal that increases player compensation, but they seem to agree on little else. Plenty of specifics still need sorted, and a fissure of trust \u2014 or distrust, really \u2014 might not be repairable. The disdain each side has for the other is often apparent.<\/p>\n Both parties surely hope to avoid missing a season \u2014 or even games \u2014 in 2026, but pinpointing when a new deal will be reached is difficult. In the short term, both sides appear to be waiting for the other to blink. Players recently approved their executive committee to authorize a strike if deemed necessary. The lack of clarity has brought a cloud of anxiety over the sport, and questions loom about how a work stoppage might impact the sport\u2019s positive momentum.\u00a0\u2014 Pickman<\/p>\n Gift: Napheesa Collier<\/p>\n Few athletes around the country had as much impact on their sport more broadly than Collier in 2025. In January, she launched Unrivaled, a winter three-on-three league she co-founded with a focus on player experience, paying record-high salaries and offering the inaugural participants equity. Collier won the league\u2019s one-on-one tournament and led her team, the Lunar Owls, to the top playoff seed.<\/p>\n During the WNBA season, Collier\u2019s performance for the Minnesota Lynx made her an MVP front-runner until an ankle injury in August. She exited Game 3 of the semifinals with ankle and shin injuries as part of a chaotic final sequence.<\/p>\n Minnesota finished Game 3 without Napheesa Collier or Coach Cheryl Reeve.<\/p>\n Coach was assessed a second technical foul and ejected after Collier collided with Alyssa Thomas on this play. pic.twitter.com\/6ZNGuUSXi9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 espnW (@espnW) September 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2013 Pickman<\/p>\n