🌟 WELCOME TO THE PLAYOFFS!

TIME TO PLAY THE GAME!

After 44 games and a lot of long nights from coast to coast, the WNBA playoffs are here! It’s been an incredibly fun season as we’ve seen rookies establish themselves as professionals and current superstars create new and exciting memories.

The stakes become even higher, and we will find out which team truly stands out above the pack.

We’ve got four first-round series on deck, so let’s dive in! Check out my comprehensive analysis, including updates from the opening night of the 2025 WNBA Playoffs.

#1 Minnesota Lynx vs. #8 Golden State Valkyries

The Valkyries exceeded every expectation imaginable in 2025. The team lost All-Star Kayla Thornton to a season-ending knee injury, but the team continued to fight and got stronger as the season progressed. Golden State led the WNBA in three-point attempts at close to 33 per game. They don’t have many players that can break defenses down off the dribble, which explains their second-lowest in the WNBA, 12.7 field goal attempts per game inside the restricted area.

For the Valkyries to pull off the upset, they will need Veronica Burton to find even higher gear. VB is having the best season of her career and has made the absolute most of her fresh start in Balhalla. This season has been an unmitigated success for the Valkyries, and anything they do in this series will be a nice cherry on top.

However, they’re going up against the wire-to-wire best team in the WNBA this season. The Lynx started off incredibly strong, and even though they lost Napheesa Collier for a large part of August, Minnesota maintained its grip on first place. Now that Phee is back at full strength, Minnesota will look to go on a run back to the Finals.

With Collier and Alanna Smith guiding the frontcourt, Minnesota held teams to just 59.9% shooting inside the restricted area, the second-best mark in the league. The Lynx don’t give up easy buckets in the paint or from the free throw line and make every possession a struggle for the opponents. The Lynx enter this series as overwhelming favorites and are also favorites to win the WNBA championship. They won’t be overlooking the Valkyries and look to get off to a great start before they have to venture into Balhalla.

Minnesota leads series 1-0
Game 1 recap by Łukasz Muniowski, Swish Appeal

#4 Phoenix Mercury vs. #5 New York Liberty

This is perhaps the most intriguing first-round matchup. With the additions of Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally, the Mercury had their best season since their Finals appearance back in 2021. AT has carried the team on both sides of the ball and generates a bushel of three-point opportunities for her teammates.

On the interior, Natasha Mack has had the best season of her career and is a great deterrent at the basket. With former Finals MVP Kahleah Copper healthy, she gives the Merc a player who can break defenses down and get to the rim every time she has the ball in her hands.

This is Phoenix’s first time together in the playoffs, but they have players like Copper, Thomas, Sami Whitcomb, and DeWanna Bonner who have years of championship-level experience. Nate Tibbets will rely on that as he guides this team against an incredibly tough opponent.

As we’ve talked about on Gotta Get Up, it’s been a bit of a topsy-turvy season for the reigning WNBA champions. Injuries have scuttled their plans all season long, but they are finally healthy and hope that they can go on a big run. The Liberty are unbeatable when the Big Three of Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and 2024 Finals MVP Jonquel Jones are on the court together. In this matchup, they’re going to need JJ to be the force that helped them win the championship last year.

In the final weeks of the season, Sandy Brondello incorporated Rebekah Gardner into the eight-player rotation, and Bek’s pressure, ball instincts, and timing on defense will serve the team well against Copper. The regular season didn’t go the way the Liberty wanted to, but to a person, they’re all excited about going on another championship journey together.

New York leads series 1-0
Game 1 recap by Erica L. Ayala, CBS Sports

#3 Atlanta Dream vs. #6 Indiana Fever

The Dream has been one of the best stories in the WNBA in 2025. Led by rookie WNBA head coach Karl Smesko and darkhorse MVP candidate Allisha Gray, Atlanta is looking to set a new standard for itself and the franchise from now on.

Although Atlanta’s three-point shooting can run hot and cold, they did a great job of limiting turnovers when they had the ball. This series will be the first time the Dream have hosted a playoff game since 2018, and as it happens, that was the same year they last WON a playoff game. Atlanta often struggled to hold on to leads late in the fourth quarter, and now that the pressure is at a new level, Smesko will have to find a way to ensure his group has enough to close games strong.

The Indiana Fever might be the most resilient team in basketball. This team has been ransacked by injuries all season long and has to try to win without superstar guard Caitlin Clark. Kelsey Mitchell has taken on the scoring and distribution responsibilities and is having the best season of her career.

Aliyah Boston will be key in this matchup as the Fever will need her to match the physicality and interior excellence of Britney Griner, Brionna Jones, and Naz Hillmon. AB has also stepped her game up due to the injuries, and the team will need her to find another gear if they want to win this series and move on to the next round.

Atlanta leads 1-0
Game 1 recap by For The Win Staff

#2 Las Vegas Aces vs. #7 Seattle Storm

This is a rematch of the 2024 Playoffs, but these teams find themselves in totally different circumstances. The Las Vegas Aces have been on an all-time run as they enter this series on a 16-game winning streak. Led by another legendary run from A’ja Wilson, the Aces are looking like a contender once again.

During the streak, they’ve held teams to just 98.2 points per 100 possessions, the second-best mark in the WNBA during that time span. With Wilson playing some of the best basketball of her career, Jackie Young playing great on both sides of the ball, and Jewell Loyd coming off the bench, Vegas is in a great position to make its third WNBA Finals appearance in the past four years.

Coming into the year, a lot of people thought the Seattle Storm could contend for a WNBA title. With this being the second year in Seattle for Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins, along with a full season of Gabby Williams, it looked like this was the year Seattle would return to the contenders tier. It… didn’t turn out that way!

Las Vegas leads 1-0
Game 1 recap by Callie Fin, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Despite all their disappointments, the Storm punched their ticket to the postseason with a thrilling win against the Valkyries in the regular season finale. On the latest episode of Tempestade Talk, Erica L. Ayala and Roberta F. Rodrigues broke it down as well, and took a tour around the rest of the WNBA

Rivalries always make for the best playoff matchups, and this will be the fourth time these franchises have played each other in the postseason this decade. Also,

Aw yeah, man!

As we’ve talked about on numerous occasions here at the Women’s Basketball Roundup, the Storm need to have a great showing in these playoffs, or else…

The party gets started on Sunday, September 14!

 🪙 AND THE WINNER IS…

LET’S TALK WNBA AWARDS!

Now that the WNBA regular season is in the books, it’s time to talk awards! Over the course of the postseason, we’ll find out who is considered the best of the best. Here’s the official award calendar from the WNBA

But before we get there, our good friends at the Associated Press handed out some hardware!

Rookie of the Year (Paige Bueckers)

Coach of the Year (Natalie Nakase)

Most Improved Veronica Burton

Comeback Player of the Year - Shakira Austin

They also named their All-Rookie, All-Defensive, and All-WNBA teams. However, we all know everyone’s locked in on the biggest awards. This year, one player pulled off a daily double.

As we’ve written about here at the Women’s Basketball Roundup, A’ja Wilson saved the Aces’ season. They were in dire straits at the beginning of August, but Wilson almost singlehandedly lifted the team up the standings. They fell to 14-14 after getting thumped at home by the Minnesota Lynx on August 2 and took the worst home loss in WNBA history along the way.

After that, they turned back into champions.

They went on a 16-game winning streak to end the season and rose from the eighth seed all the way up to second. Wilson was the driving force behind that rally, and the AP named her as the Defensive Player of the Year and the Player of the Year.

“She’s put in the work and she passes all the tests — the math tests, the optics tests — she’s the most exciting player in the W,” Aces coach Becky Hammon told The Associated Press.

“And here’s the thing, she’s also the most exciting player on the defensive end. She will do something once a game defensively that’s going to get you out of your seat. She’s the only player in this league that I’ve seen that has defensive highlights on a consistent basis.”

Since the Player of the Year award’s inception back in 2016, the winner of the award has won the Most Valuable Player award in every season but 2022, when Breanna Stewart was AP Player of the Year while Wilson won MVP.

We’ll see how things shake out once the announcements start rolling in.

💰 MONEY MOVES

 UNRIVALED LEVELS UP

It’s been a heck of a week for Unrivaled. On September 8, the 3×3 league announced a new valuation of $340 million. The league had a successful debut season in 2025 and is looking to do even more in 2026. With the new funds coming into the league, most of it will go to the players on the court who have made the games fun and exciting to watch.

"They are largely majority shareholders," Unrivaled President Alex Bazzell told ESPN’s Kendra Andrews. "They are going to reap the benefits of these growing valuations, not just, 'oh, congrats, good job,' and 'you'll get better resources.' Our whole brand ethos is coming into effect and improving itself in a short amount of time."

With that development, the league has decided to spread the wealth even more. On September 10, the league announced that they will be adding two new teams into the league starting in 2026. The roster pool will increase to 48 players, and in a new twist, six players will join as developmental players. That brings the number up to 54 overall.

Last year, Unrivaled shared space with the NBA on Turner Sports. With the NBA taking its talents to Amazon and back to NBC, that means there is a huge space of basketball television left to fill. Enter Unrivaled.

The league will play games four days a week in ‘26 as compared to the three days a week they played in 2025. Most importantly, Unrivaled will eliminate back-to-back games in their calendar.

Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports reported that Unrivaled the WNBA and NBA an opportunity to invest in the league early on, but the leagues chose not to. Even without the league supporting them, there is a great sense of pride and accomplishment for Unrivaled in reaching such a valuation without the backing of the W.

“I think that we have a huge sense of pride, obviously knowing that this wasn’t built without the entire team behind it and everybody that’s believed from day one and invested,” Breanna Stewart said at Liberty practice on September 8.

“Just excited for what’s to come [and] the future of Unrivaled. It shows everyone else, the valuation of what our league is and where it’s gonna continue to go.”

As we continue on the road to CBA negotiations, the players are looking to make the most out of this moment for women’s sports.

The fan interest is there, the money is there, and the players are looking to make changes that will improve conditions for athletes in the past, present, and future. With Unrivaled growing by the day, the players have another great outlet to ply their craft and continue providing excellent basketball for fans year-round.

📰 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:

• 2025 WNBA awards: Expert picks for MVP and more, plus the best surprises and biggest disappointments of 2025 WBB Staff, CBS Sports

• WNBA Playoff Bracket Predictions for Every 2025 Series from 1st Round to Finals by Nekias Duncan, Bleacher Report

• Courtney Williams Is A Problem by Courtney Williams, The Players’ Tribune

• [VIDEO] TEMPESTADE TALK: Wheeler Calls Game

• [AUDIO] A Conversation with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert by Khristina Williams, In Case You Missed It with Khristina Williams

• The Sparks’ Cameron Brink is redefining what it means to be a young WNBA star by Claire de Lune, The Guardian

• Alyssa Thomas, Phoenix's Mercurial Superstar by Andrew Haubner, No Cap Space

• WNBA playoffs 2025: Owning the moment has never been more crucial for players ahead of pivotal offseason by Cassandra Negley, Yahoo Sports

• Holding Out for a Late-Inning Rally by Myles Ehrlich

⛹🏽‍♀️ UPCOMING GAMES

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

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