Mercury Star Satou Sabally Sends Clear Message About Boos Amid Facing Ex-Wings Team
The Phoenix Mercury's July 3 game against the Dallas Wings marked the first time that Satou Sabally returned to Dallas to play her former franchise, after she joined Phoenix this past offseason.
Sabally was the Wings' No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft and spent the first five seasons of her WNBA career there. This past offseason, Sabally announced that her time playing with the Wings was done and that she would be seeking a new WNBA team for the 2025 campaign.
This seemed to frustrate some Wings fans, who were hoping that she would remain a key part in what Dallas was trying to build (which was kicked into gear when they drafted Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft).
This led to Sabally being booed during Thursday's game (at least in Sabally's opinion), which she addressed when speaking with the media after her team's 98-89 defeat.
“The city booed me, so I'm moving on," Sabally said, per an X post from Desert Wave Media. "I was happy to see everyone in the back and hug everyone, and I was actually really happy to come here. But then, I guess it's also a sign of respect to be booed. So I'll take that.”
Satou Sabally on the reception she received in her return to Dallas:
— Desert Wave Media (@DesertWaveCo) July 4, 2025
“The city booed me, so I'm moving on. I was happy to see everyone in the back and hug everyone, and I was actually really happy to come here, but then I guess it's also a sign of respect to be booed.”#WNBA pic.twitter.com/T6GRASEyr8
For what it's worth, Wings beat reporter Joey Mistretta made an X post disputing Sabally's stance that wrote, "There honestly wasn’t a lot of boos tonight. Every Mercury player got booed at the free throw line and there wasn’t many boos when Sabally was announced."
Thoughts on this…
— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) July 4, 2025
Satou Sabally’s exit from the Wings obviously wasn’t ideal. However, there honestly wasn’t a lot of boos tonight. Every Mercury player got booed at the free throw line and there wasn’t many boos when Sabally was announced.
However, I also understand Satou’s… https://t.co/MOC4T0fR3o
Regardless, Sabally seemed to think the boos were loud enough to address them postgame.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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