{"id":50959,"date":"2025-07-31T21:33:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T21:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/50959\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T21:33:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T21:33:31","slug":"running-point-and-running-vibes-rachel-banham-steps-up-for-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/50959\/","title":{"rendered":"Running point and running vibes: Rachel Banham steps up for Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s the well-known version of Sky<\/a> guard Rachel Banham \u2014 the one she\u2019s played for most of her 10-year pro career. An assassin, with a shooting release so fast you can hardly see it. Hired to hit 3-point shots, usually near a 40% clip.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a slightly more hidden version, too: Banham running the offense, handling the ball at the end of the shot clock, sticking a step-back jumper as time expires.<\/p>\n

This season, she\u2019s had to be both for the short-handed Sky, taking the request to play point guard in stride. Though she hadn\u2019t played much point since college, she\u2019s always had a point-guard-like influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the epitome of our camaraderie,\u201d rookie Maddy Westbeld told the Sun-Times.<\/p>\n

Westbeld remembers not having anywhere to sit for a game of UNO early in the season, when Banham invited her in. Now the two watch film together on every trip, and Westbeld sees her as a big sister.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a familiar arc. Banham\u2019s teammates \u2014 past and present \u2014 all say the same thing: she allows people to be themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you step into a room as yourself, it makes it easier for everybody else around you to be themselves,\u201d said Lynx guard Courtney Williams, who played with Banham in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Another former Lynx teammate, Napheesa Collier, put it this way: \u201cShe\u2019s not afraid to be weird, which allows you to be weird.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banham\u2019s comfort in her own skin \u2014 quirks and all \u2014 has mostly come naturally. But over the years, she\u2019s leaned into it more.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially in this league, it\u2019s very much a fun league where you can be yourself,\u201d Banham told the Sun-Times. \u201cI\u2019ve come to just be a weirdo and not care.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as head coach Tyler Marsh often points out, she\u2019s not just a goofball \u2014 she\u2019s a workhorse and a student of the game. On game days, the two often stay up late on the phone, dissecting what went wrong and what can improve.<\/p>\n

For Marsh, a first-year head coach, Banham brings steadiness and adaptability in a season marked by chaos. The team\u2019s major offseason signing, Courtney Vandersloot, went down in early June, and the Sky started the season 3-10.<\/p>\n

Banham\u2019s willingness to stretch herself was key in righting the ship. She played double the minutes she\u2019s used to. She expanded her shot diet: instead of knocking down open looks or coming off screens, she\u2019s now creating a quarter of her three-pointers herself.<\/p>\n

And she kept turnovers low as she adjusted to the role, ranking top 15 in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio before the All-Star break.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told her, \u2018I never want to take you out of the game,\u2019\u201d Marsh said in June.<\/p>\n

The Sky went 4-4 before the break, including a win against the first-place Lynx. But then the injury bug bit again<\/a>, with leading scorers Ariel Atkins and Angel Reese missing time. The Sky haven\u2019t won a game without Atkins, who\u2019s still recovering and will likely miss Friday\u2019s action against the Valkyries.<\/p>\n

The depleted roster has weighed on Banham. She\u2019s turning the ball over much more since the break, including seven turnovers in a loss to the Fever. But she makes no excuses. In press conferences, she\u2019ll call herself out for dribbling the ball off her leg \u2014 then crack open a Diet Coke the moment the cameras turn off. She\u2019s still herself, facilitating a sense of ease around her.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also still shooting the lights out \u2014 42% on seven attempts per game since the break. For the season, she ranks ninth among all qualifying players in 3-point percentage at 38.9%.<\/p>\n

There have been times in her career when she\u2019s lost confidence on the court. But this season has been different.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really nice to be believed in and trusted to be that person,\u201d Banham said after hitting seven threes against the Lynx earlier this season. \u201cI\u2019m having a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s the well-known version of Sky guard Rachel Banham \u2014 the one she\u2019s played for most of her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-50959","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\/50959","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=50959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}