F.A.Q. About the W.N.B.A. | The New Yorker

The W.N.B.A.’s twenty-ninth season is in full swing, with the league enjoying its continued upturn in attendance, viewership, merchandise sales, and popularity. The “W” has always had a core base of diehard followers, but they’re now joined by millions of new fans. If you’re among the many tuning in for the first time, here’s everything you need to know about the W.N.B.A.

When was the W.N.B.A. established?

Most agree that the W.N.B.A.’s first game was played on June 21, 1997. Others, however, claim that the league did not exist until May 14, 2024, when it sprang forth from the ether, a fully formed metaphysical anomaly, at the precise moment that Caitlin Clark played her first professional game.

So, which date is correct?

The school of thought you subscribe to likely depends on whether you prefer to source your information from what is true or from the worst comment thread you have ever read.

Why is the ball orange and white?

The orange stripes represent basketball, and the white stripes are a nod to Meg White, another talented, successful, and extremely cool woman who is absolutely unaffected by the fact that you angrily and inexplicably believe that you could do her job better than her, Declan.

What’s with the team names?

From the New York Liberty to the Atlanta Dream, one thing is certain: on the day in elementary school when you learn that a noun can be a person, place, thing, or idea, the person responsible for naming W.N.B.A. teams was zoning out and only heard the last one.

How many of the players are lesbians?

Yes.

In what ways has the W.N.B.A. been a trailblazing force for women in sports?

Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson, Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, Maya Moore, Caitlin Clark—from the nineties till today, it’s clear that the W.N.B.A. has always been a proud advocate of alliteration.

I am a man who loves Caitlin Clark. However, much more than that, I am a man who hates women, basketball, and women’s basketball, so it should go without saying that I’m a season-ticket holder who is loudly and violently rooting for the downfall of the W.N.B.A./women in general. Is there a place for me in this league’s fan community?

Bizarrely and unfortunately, yes.

Speaking of—Angel Reese or Caitlin Clark?

Nope, next question.

I love the idea behind the W.N.B.A.’s 2025 “No Space for Hate” initiative. How can I show that I’m an ally?

There is no room for discrimination in the W.N.B.A.—after all, some women are just born straight. As an ally, the best thing you can do is remember that, at the end of the day, love is love, and that’s true whether you’re a woman who loves other women, or a woman who loves faux-cursive vinyl stickers that say things like, “Messy hair don’t care!”

I keep hearing announcers talk about players hitting three-pointers “from the logo.” What does this mean?

A shot “from the logo” is an unofficial term for an ultra-long-distance three-pointer—the kind of jaw-dropping twenty-five-to-thirty-five-foot bomb that some players, like the N.B.A.’s Stephen Curry, are known for—taken so far out from the basket that the player is at or near the center-court logo. But the women’s game is a little different than the men’s, so keep in mind that when people talk about, for example, Caitlin Clark’s shooting percentage “from the logo,” they obviously don’t mean the center-court logo. They mean any logo, of anything, literally anywhere on earth.

WOW. YET AGAIN SHOVING THIS ANGEL REESE NARRATIVE DOWN OUR THROATS. THIS LEAGUE LITERALLY WOULDN’T EXIST IF NOT FOR CAITLIN CLARK, AND YET NO ONE IN THE MEDIA EVEN MENTIONS HER. HMM, WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?

I need to say from the bottom of my heart that no one knows why you guys are like this.

One of my favorite things about men’s basketball is how the announcers seem to have access to an endless stream of the world’s most specific stats. Does the W.N.B.A. do this, too?

Ummm, is Paige Bueckers the first rookie in W.N.B.A. history to average a Golden Ratio (1.618) when multiplying her scoring-efficiency rating by her assist-to-turnover ratio minus double-doubles in her first seventeen games? (Yes.)

Is it true that a number of players in the W.N.B.A. find themselves playing alongside, or against, their exes?

Yes, it is true that in certain cases, these world-class athletes are blocking each other in the paint while they are also blocking each other on social media. And if you don’t think that’s a categorically incredible thing to witness, then the W may not be for you. That’s O.K.! You can still find community elsewhere, like in line at the L.E.D. Strip Lighting for Horrible Bedrooms Store or on the r/Lawns Subreddit.

But don’t those complicated relationship dynamics interfere with the players’ ability to focus on the game?

Anyone who knows basketball at all knows that teams live and die by communication. And, not to put too fine a point on it, but brother—have you met lesbians?

I genuinely don’t mean this as an insult, but isn’t it just a biological fact that, in terms of pure physicality, there’s a big difference between what players in the N.B.A. and the W.N.B.A. are able to do?

It’s true that there are physical feats that players in one league can accomplish that players in the other league simply cannot. For example, one league has players like DeWanna Bonner, who can carry and give birth to twins and return the next season to average 17.3 points and 7.2 rebounds a game, while the other league has multiple players like LeBron James, who can carry the ball.

As a man, I’ve noticed that some of the women in the W.N.B.A. are getting a lot of attention. But the thing is, I want attention, and also, quite frankly, I’m taller.

Is . . . did you have a question?

Yes. Angel Reese or Caitlin Cla—

Shut up shut up oh my God shut upppppppp. ♦