{"id":883036,"date":"2026-10-15T10:02:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T10:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/883036\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T10:02:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T10:02:43","slug":"bueckers-broadsides-to-lady-magics-spice-the-greatest-trash-talkers-in-wnba-history-wnba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/883036\/","title":{"rendered":"Bueckers broadsides to Lady Magic\u2019s spice: the greatest trash talkers in WNBA history | WNBA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, even the most casual of WNBA<\/a> fans have watched some of the league\u2019s biggest stars talking trash on the court. But while the snarling convos look heated, most of the time, they are good-natured, competitive fun.<\/p>\n

Still, we wondered, who are the best trash talkers in the game? Which players over the years have turned talking smack into an art form? Let\u2019s explore.<\/p>\n

Cheryl Miller<\/p>\n

OK, Miller never played in the league \u2013 she retired before the W\u2019s launch in 1997 \u2013 but if there was a trash-talking trophy in the WNBA, it would have to be named after her. Miller is considered by many to be the best women\u2019s basketball player of all time (she once scored 105 points<\/a> in a high school game), and those who saw her at USC or heard her in the booth on TNT know that she can really talk. Of course, her talent for it began in the back yard playing against her younger brother, fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller. From there, a legend was made.<\/p>\n

Diana Taurasi<\/p>\n

Another candidate for greatest player of all time and, like Miller, Taurasi had a knack for talking smack. She did it both on and off the court. For example, in 2016, when the men\u2019s and women\u2019s US basketball teams were together on a cruise ship, Taurasi yelled over to an already-blustery Draymond Green, \u201cHey, Draymond, how does it feel to be the only person in this room who\u2019s never been double-teamed?\u201d Taurasi doesn\u2019t mind \u2013 she\u2019ll even go after the league\u2019s biggest names, chirping incessantly in the ears of players like Caitlin Clark<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Angel Reese\/Caitlin Clark<\/p>\n

Like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, these two players will for ever be linked. It all began in college in the NCAA Tournament when Reese talked some legendary trash to Clark<\/a>, pointing at her finger as if to say, \u201cWhere\u2019s your championship ring?\u201d Those images made global headlines<\/a>. Since then, the two have been rivals. (Even the famed former Showtime point guard has noticed<\/a>.) \u201cThey jaw at each other,\u201d offered Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon<\/a>. But their trash talking isn\u2019t only reserved for each other. Clark is willing to talk smack<\/a> to anyone after a big shot and Reese is on the brink of a title \u2013 something she predicted loudly last year<\/a>. But despite all their verbal battles, Reese and Clark, like Bird and Magic, seem to be more than amicable off the floor<\/a> these days.<\/p>\n

Alyssa Thomas<\/p>\n

In a poll by the Athletic last year<\/a>, Thomas was voted by her peers as the biggest and best trash talker in the league. That\u2019s saying something, but Thomas wears the crown proudly. Explained one opponent: \u201cShe smiles and talks shit, that\u2019s the crazy part, it\u2019s psycho stuff, she\u2019s crazy, man.\u201d Said another: \u201cEveryone knows AT talks shit. I don\u2019t even guard her, and she talks shit to me.\u201d Certainly, Thomas is not one to back down from anything. She was even fined and suspended<\/a> earlier this year for throwing an elbow at Clark. While that isn\u2019t exactly verbal communication, Thomas did send a message.<\/p>\n

Paige Bueckers<\/p>\n

Drafted just last year, Bueckers has quickly become one of the WNBA\u2019s best. She\u2019s an assassin on the floor, capable of hitting game-winner after game-winner. And she\u2019ll let you know about it, too. She\u2019ll strike even if you\u2019re on the bench<\/a>, before nailing a three. Whether she\u2019s speaking up for fellow players<\/a> or talking smack to her opponent<\/a> after a hard foul, Bueckers is not someone to mess with. \u201cI don\u2019t really start it,\u201d she told Jennifer Hudson<\/a>, with a smile, \u201cbut if somebody gets me going \u2026\u201d Yes, that would be a bad idea.<\/p>\n

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Nancy Lieberman<\/p>\n

Lieberman is one of the legends of the women\u2019s game. Known in her heyday as \u201cLady Magic\u201d for her skill at point guard, she was also one of the most biting trash talkers, according to her former GM with the Women\u2019s Professional Basketball League\u2019s Dallas Diamonds, Nancy Nichols. \u201cFrom my experience, Nancy Lieberman was pretty spicy!\u201d Nichols tells the Guardian. \u201cEspecially when she played street ball with the Washington Generals on the Harlem Globetrotters\u2019 tour.\u201d That\u2019s right: Lieberman was so good that she was a standout in the men\u2019s and women\u2019s game. More recently, though, when former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague criticized Lieberman\u2019s friend and mentee Clark, Lieberman came to the Fever star\u2019s defense<\/a>, telling Teague, \u201cJeff, I love you, but, you weren\u2019t a great player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cynthia Cooper<\/p>\n

When the Guardian reached out to two-time WNBA champion coach Michael Cooper for his thoughts on the greatest trash talkers in league history, he was quick to mention Cynthia Cooper (unrelated). A two-time MVP and four-time champ with the 1990s Houston Comets, Cynthia was a marvel on the floor. But she didn\u2019t go about her business silently, often making her feelings known to Michael\u2019s LA Sparks in the playoffs. \u201cWe were playing them for their second title and I was an assistant coach,\u201d Michael says. \u201cShe walked by me during a timeout and said, \u2018Coop, we beating y\u2019all like the Celtics did in 8\u201984.\u2019 I couldn\u2019t help but laugh. She was a shit talker!\u201d<\/p>\n

Teresa Weatherspoon<\/p>\n

Speaking of those 1990s Comets, one of their former players, Fran Harris, was quick to note Weatherspoon\u2019s trash talking ability. Of course, Weatherspoon hit perhaps the biggest shot in WNBA history (against the 1999 Comets<\/a>). But even before that, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year filled arenas with her biting smack talk, not unlike another former DPOY, Gary Payton.<\/p>\n

Skylar Diggins<\/p>\n

There was another marquee player on the Athletic\u2019s poll who received several votes \u2013 a veteran who has long been considered a premiere trash talker. If there was ever any doubt about Diggins\u2019s smack talking prowess, it was silenced last year when she erupted during a game at the Minnesota Lynx <\/a>bench.<\/p>\n