Biggest Surprises and Overreactions From the First Week of the WNBA Season

Now a week into the season, it’s time for some way-too-early takes and to look at some of the best moments so far.

Angel Reese (right), who has notched a pair of double-doubles to start the season, has been fitting right in with the Dream and has one writer already booking Atlanta for the Finals. | Stacy Revere/Getty Images

The WNBA’s 30th season is now a week old and we’ve already had quite a bit of fun. Rookies are making a splash (though some are easing into their pro careers). Officiating is back in the spotlight (but maybe that’s a good thing this time around?). And the expansion teams in both Portland and Toronto are bringing the fun. 

Most teams have played just two or three games, but that won’t stop us from making some overreactions. Plus our writers and editors go through their biggest surprises and favorite moments of the season so far. 

What has been the biggest surprise so far? 

Emma Baccellieri: The Lynx. I know, I know, doubt Cheryl Reeve at your own risk, but  … without a healthy Napheesa Collier, and after a fairly lackluster free agency, I wasn’t expecting particularly much here. Instead? Minnesota has opened the season with one of the most cohesive offenses in the league. The Lynx are leading the WNBA in shooting with a 53% field-goal percentage. Their frontcourt has looked surprisingly effective. (Don’t look now, but Natasha Howard is shooting more efficiently than she ever has.) Nia Coffey is poised for a career season, Olivia Miles looks like the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, and Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams are deadly as ever. This almost reminds me of the 2024 Lynx—underestimated after a patchwork roster overhaul but ultimately a title contender. The ceiling here is much higher than I’d expected. 

Clare Brennan: The Valkyries. Golden State looked impressive in wins over the Storm and Mercury before falling to the Sky in a low-scoring game. Still, there are plenty of positives to take from the team’s opening three outings, with the Valkyries looking more formidable than some had previously predicted. Golden State lost vital pieces in Carla Leite, Monique Billings and Temi Fágbénlé during the offseason, but gained Gabby Williams. The addition from the Storm has proved fruitful, with Williams not only bolstering the Valkyries’ defense but also adding offensive firepower. She shot 3-for-6 from three against the Sky, scoring 18 points after dropping 19 points on 53.8% shooting against the Mercury. With the help of Williams, alongside Kayla Thornton and Veronica Burton, early indications show Golden State could be more than just a gritty, hard-nosed team this season. 

Dan Falkenheim: The Liberty’s backcourt. With Sabrina Ionescu sidelined, it would have been fair to assume that Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones would have to carry the team. Well. Marine Johannès has played with boundless confidence and has hit one-legged shot after one-legged shot. She became one of seven players (ever!) to start a WNBA season with at least 17 points and two steals in three straight games. While Johannès’s wizardry has never been a secret, rookie guard Pauline Astier already looks like one of the biggest steals of free agency. Against Portland, she tied the record for most points by an undrafted rookie in a WNBA game since 2011. She’s already a confident driver and wields a deadly right-to-left crossover when attacking the basket. Imagine what New York will look like when they have the option to bring either Johannès or Astier (or both) off the bench? Mazette.

Blake Silverman: The Sky might be frisky. Chicago is off to a 2–0 start after two wins out West over Portland and Golden State. There’s plenty left to be said while we wait to see the Sky against the likes of the Liberty or Aces, but it’s as good a start as you could draw up after Angel Reese was dealt to the Dream over the offseason. Kamilla Cardoso absolutely dominated in the opener against the Fire with 22 points and 14 rebounds. The presumed Rickea Jackson leap in a new situation looks legit early on and Skylar Diggins is the veteran presence this young group needs—one who is still among the WNBA’s elite players at that. Some questioned the Sky’s pick of Gabriela Jaquez at No. 5, but she’s already made two starts and played a strong supporting role alongside Chicago’s new core. It’s early and we need to see the Sky tested, but they’ve looked good thus far after many questions surrounding the franchise’s direction over the offseason.

What was your favorite moment of the first week?

Baccellieri: Sarah Ashlee Barker’s buzzer-beater. This one had all the elements of a perfect game-winner: an unlikely hero, an upset win, a raucous home crowd, an ecstatic celebration. This might be a long season for the Fire. (Most projections had the expansion team finishing in last or close to it.) But even if not too many wins follow, they’ll always have this, and they couldn’t have asked for a better one to be their first. Or, to be more precise, their first in a very long time. 

SARAH ASHLEE BUCKETS 🪣

the cinematic view of Sarah Ashlee Barker's game-winning buzzer beater over the New York Liberty! pic.twitter.com/mlasNpAbwI

— Portland Fire (@theportlandfire) May 13, 2026

Brennan: Olivia Miles chirping at Alyssa Thomas. It took some real gusto from the rookie to stare down one of the fiercest competitors in the league in just her second regular-season game. After driving to the basket and depositing the layup, Miles seemingly exchanged words with Thomas as she jogged back to the Minnesota bench—no Welcome to the W jitters here. And the 23-year-old backed up her bravado on the court, notching 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds to help the Lynx to an 88–84 win over Phoenix. This came after a 21-point and eight-assist debut from Miles, who looks incredibly poised at the helm of Minnesota’s offense. 

Falkenheim: Julie Vanloo’s near triple-double and her subsequent press conference. Speaking of the Liberty’s European talent, Vanloo was cut by the Sparks and then balled out in New York’s season debut with 12 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds in 22 minutes. Her passing prowess was on full display and she played with freedom, which made her postgame interview all the more poignant. “I really wanted to give up and go home,” Vanloo recalled feeling after she was waived. “I’m super thankful for this organization. My anxiety just went away and I just feel super free, liberated.” Vanloo had said that she’d ride her Penny board to Venice Beach, playing on any court she could to rediscover her joy. It’s a reminder that WNBA careers are not linear, take twists and turns, stop, start again and somehow, someway, a player can find themselves back on the hardwood floor. Those are the moments that make sports transcendent.

Silverman: That Wings-Fever finish. To start year two for Paige Bueckers, Dallas had to go on the road to Indiana in Caitlin Clark’s return. Kelsey Mitchell dropped 30 points for the Fever, but the trio of Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale and Odyssey Sims got the upper hand as the Wings walked away with a thrilling 107–104 win. Clark had 20 points and had a shot to tie the game with seven seconds left and force overtime, but her shot rimmed out, which forced Indiana to send Bueckers to the free-throw line. She shockingly missed both foul shots, which kept the Fever alive and Mitchell got a great look at the buzzer, but she wasn’t able to connect and the Wings survived. It was the second most-watched WNBA regular-season game across ESPN networks and fans were treated to an incredible duel with 11 lead changes in just the first of many future battles we’ll see between Bueckers and Clark.

WHAT A GAME BETWEEN THE FEVER AND WINGS 🍿

Kelsey Mitchell was this close to sending the game to OT 😱 pic.twitter.com/k0NMhElA5d

— ESPN (@espn) May 9, 2026

What’s your immediate overreaction?

Baccellieri: The Rookie of the Year race is Miles’s to lose. (Maybe that’s actually not that much of an overreaction with how she’s played, but…) I’d originally thought this year might be a wide-open race for ROY. Besides Miles, I saw potential for Azzi Fudd, Kiki Rice, Flau’jae Johnson or Georgia Amoore, and mea culpa for not thinking more about Astier or Jovana Nogic. But Miles has instantly looked comfortable and poised in Reeve’s system in Minnesota. (Not to mention productive.) She’s set the bar high with both her playmaking and her scoring. And this is without Collier on the floor for the Lynx: Once the star forward gets healthy, Miles should have even more opportunities to rack up assists. It’s still (very) early. But this one just might end up being the clearest of all the award races.

Brennan: The Dream will make it to the Finals. Atlanta added Reese this offseason, hoping she could be the missing piece that finally pushed this team over its postseason hump. The Dream have been knocked out of the first round of playoffs in each of the past three seasons, and are desperate to make a deeper run. So far, things look promising for Atlanta, kicking off the season with back-to-back wins against the Lynx and Wings. Resse recorded a double-double in both outings, settling into Karl Smesko’s scheme. And that’s without Brionna Jones, a critical frontcourt piece, who should only boost Atlanta’s offensive production when she returns from injury. If Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard are their typical productive and efficient selves, there’s no reason to believe this team can’t contend with the giants of the league.  

Falkenheim: The biggest edge a WNBA franchise can have is a robust international scouting pipeline. Count me among the many viewers who frantically googled who Nogic was after she scored 19 points in her season debut. It’s not just Nogic, though. The Liberty plucked Astier from USK Praha in Czechia. The Lynx also snagged Emma Čechová from USK Praha, and she has looked like a real rotation piece. (Čechová suffered a non-contact knee injury during the Lynx’s win against the Wings on Thursday and didn’t return.) And the list goes on. As the league continues to expand, luring the best international talent will be essential for bolstering depth and warding off roster turnover. (Front offices should also heed the words of Mercury forward Valériane Ayayi, who said, “The American season will be enough for those who want time off. It’s a huge change, which will impact Europe in particular: fewer and fewer high-profile players will return there.”)

Silverman: Clark could actually win the MVP this year. Maybe not the hottest take as a preseason favorite for the award, but I was skeptical of Clark’s case as she came back from injury and with A’ja Wilson, ya know, still being A’ja Wilson. However, Clark hasn’t seemed to miss a beat after the long layoff from WNBA play with 44 points and 16 assists combined over the Fever’s first two games of the season. The scary part—and why I’m bullish on Clark in the way-too-early MVP race—is that her three ball has yet to fall. She’s just 3-of-16 from three-point range thus far and, no matter how much defensive attention she gets, we know that won’t last and water will find its level. In spite of the early shooting woes, she’s still put together two great performances. When everything’s clicking, watch out. Wilson was my preseason MVP pick and while she remains the best player in the world, Clark may have a real shot to receive her maiden MVP award this year.

---