🏛 THREE LEGENDS BECOME IMMORTAL

BIRD, MOORE, AND FOWLES TAKE THEIR PLACE IN HISTORY

Hall of Fame weekend is one of my favorite times of the basketball calendar.

The icons of the game all get to come together and celebrate basketball from around the world. It’s a great time and the ultimate honor for a basketball player. This year, three legends of the game took their place alongside basketball’s immortals.

Sylvia Fowles’ career can be divided into two, and both are Hall of Fame caliber. As a member of the Chicago Sky, she won Defensive Player of the Year twice, won Gold Medals with Team USA twice, and set various franchise records in Chicago. As a member of the Minnesota Lynx, Syl won DPOY twice, two Finals MVP awards, two championships, and helped seamlessly lead the Lynx from their dynastic years into the Napheesa Collier era. This was the second Hall of Fame induction for Fowles in 2025 as she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this summer. Syl is one of the best to ever do it, and it’s beautiful to see her accomplishments be rewarded with a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Maya Moore, Fowles’ teammate during the Lynx title years, was inducted this year as well. Upon her (official) retirement in 2023, Maya Moore put forth a resume that very few people in basketball history can match. A champion at all levels of basketball and in all parts of the world, Moore was the blueprint for what a superstar is.

She could score from everywhere on the court, was a clutch-time monster, and someone who carried the weight of expectations of a franchise and league that was entering a new era.

Maya ultimately left the game of basketball to focus on a higher calling, but is loved and appreciated every time she attends an event. Moore is one of the greatest of all time, and her impact will never be forgotten.

During her speech, Maya imparted some wisdom on the next generation of athletes who are adjusting to the next level.

Sue Bird, Moore’s fellow UCONN Huskie, took the stage. Sue Bird has been one of the most important people in American basketball history.

She grew to be a star at UCONN, helped keep professional basketball vibrant in Seattle after the Supersonics were moved to Oklahoma City, and was one of the most successful players here in the United States and abroad.

Bird has won everywhere she’s been and has made everyone around her better throughout her journey.

Bird’s work isn’t done yet, as she is now the Managing Director of the United States Women’s National Team and will help select the team that will represent the USA in the 2026 World Cup in Germany and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Like Fowles, this was also Bird’s second Hall of Fame induction this year.

You can check out all of the speeches from this weekend’s ceremonies below

Salute to all the Hall of Famers!

🎙 ACROSS THE BRM NETWORK

ONE SPOT LEFT IN THE WNBA PLAYOFFS…

On September 7th, the Indiana Fever beat the Washington Mystics in Baltimore to punch their ticket into this year’s WNBA playoffs. It’s a testament to the team’s togetherness and inner strength that they made it to the dance despite all the injuries they’ve suffered this season. Indiana will be the seventh as they lost the season series to the Golden State Valkyries. That leaves one spot remaining. Enter the Seattle Storm.

On the September 5th edition of the Women’s Basketball Roundup, we previewed the Storm’s game against the New York Liberty. Both teams were in need of a win in the worst way. Thanks to some inspired play by Breanna Stewart and Leonie Fiebich, the Liberty were able to walk out of Seattle with a much-needed victory.

On September 7, we talked about the matchup as well as looked ahead for both teams on Gotta Get Up

Seattle’s magic number to clinch the eighth and final playoff seed is one. They can take care of it themselves with a win against the playoff-bound Golden State Valkyries on Tuesday night at Climate Pledge Arena.

If they don’t, they have to hope the Sparks lose to either the Phoenix Mercury or Las Vegas Aces to end the season. LA has the tiebreaker over Seattle and would make the playoffs if the teams end up tied.

Safe to say, missing the playoffs would open up a world of trouble for that franchise as they enter the great unknown of the WNBA off-season.

💰 MONEY MOVES

 CONNECTICUT IS PREPARED TO FIGHT

Here at the Women’s Basketball Roundup, we’ve been covering the saga surrounding the Connecticut Sun. To catch you up to speed, the team’s owners want to sell the team and have a preference to keep the team in the Northeast. The WNBA and NBA league offices, with Cathy Engelbert being the face of the operation, wants the Sun out of Connecticut and into Houston. Safe to say, our friends in Connecticut are pretty pissed! How pissed are they? Well…

It’s never a great day at the office when a U.S. senator says you might be violating antitrust laws.

The Sun owners have continued looking into their process of selling the team, and the state of Connecticut is looking to join the process. According to Alexa Philippou of ESPN, the state has submitted a proposal that would keep the Sun in Connecticut and not moved elsewhere.

If this were to be approved, the Sun would split home games between Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville and the PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford. Aside from the benefits of keeping a popular professional sports team within the state, it would help maintain a relationship between the team and a great business partner.

"The Mohegan tribe is very committed to trying to keep the Sun in the state, and the state of Connecticut very much values the tribe as a key partner, Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz told ESPN. “We want to keep that strong partnership with the tribe that we've had going because they took a leap of faith going back to the beginning, saying that Connecticut should have a women's basketball team here when not a lot of others thought that was a great idea."

As Andrew Haubner of No Cap Space discussed in August, the Sun stepped up for the WNBA at a time when NBA owners were fleeing in droves. Keeping the Sun in the northeast would be well deserved and allow the league to maintain its presence there as it continues expanding.

The WNBA and NBA league offices have not handled this situation well. They’ve tried to strong-arm the Sun into selling the team to Tilman Fertitta of the Houston Rockets at a discounted price. In the process, they’re trying to rip away pro basketball from one of their most dedicated markets in order to double-dip and enrich NBA owners even more. It’s very disappointing and a bad sign as to what the league thinks is important.

In order to stop a bully from picking on you, you have to stand up and fight back. Good on the Mohegan Tribe, Sun and state of Connecticut for standing up to the bullying tactics of the NBA and WNBA league offices.

📰 WHAT WE’RE READING

At Black Rosie Media, we love to give flowers to other writers and creators in the women’s basketball community.

Here’s what we’re reading:

• New York Liberty wing Leonie Fiebich is critical to a repeat by Brian Fleurantin, Black Rosie Media

• Maya Moore has 'no regrets' about basketball career as she enters Naismith Hall of Fame by Daniel Connolly, UCONN WBB Weekly

• Maya Moore’s Hall of Fame career is the least important reason she’s an all-time great by David Aldridge, The Athletic

• The Sky Has Fallen by Andrew Giuntini-Haubner, No Cap Space

• Why the Connecticut Sun Sale Saga sets the tone for Future WNBA teams by Nathan Snell, Team NBS Media

• Courtney Williams' Career Year From Three Has Supercharged the Lynx Offense by Jonah Maves, Zone Coverage

• No Valkyries Without Oakland & Who Should Really Sit Courtside by Maya-Goldberg Safir, Rough Notes

• Why I had to see Trump at the US Open with my own eyes by Marisa Kabas, The Handbasket

⛹🏽‍♀️ UPCOMING GAMES

Here’s the schedule for the next few days (Eastern Standard Time)

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