WNBA: 6 must-watch early-season matchups, beginning with CC vs. PB

The WNBA’s decision to release the 2026 schedule is puzzling.

Yes, knowing the schedule does allow teams to begin to take care of logistics, namely arena availability and travel plans. It also will give broadcast partners similar clarity.

Yet, the move can also be interpreted as one full of presumption and pressure. The league is presuming that a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) will be reached, and it will be reached in a timeframe that will accommodate the proposed schedule. The schedule release also can been seen as an effort to pressure the players to lessen their demands and agree to a new CBA, lest fans blame them for holding up the scheduled 2026 season. (That’s part of the reason why Edwin Garcia argues that it might be time for players to exercise their agency and initiate a strike.)

For now, we’ll live in the league’s fantasyland and pretend the 2026 WNBA season will unfold as intended. As most teams’ rosters contain very few players, as all but two of the league’s veterans are free agents, it’s hard to get too excited about scheduled games.

But, we can still responsibly imagine what the major storylines might be for some prominent early-season matchups. These six, in particular, promise to be intriguing.

Dallas Wings vs. Indiana Fever (May 9, 1 p.m. ET)

Yes, we see what you’re doing here, WNBA. And yes, we’ll bite.

Last season, Caitlin Clark was limited to 13 games due to injury, although one of those did include the Fever’s home game against the Wings on July 13, a Fever win in which Clark contributed 14 points and 13 assists. On the other side, Paige Bueckers had a game-high 21 points for the Wings.

Clark, however, missed the first and final two games between the two teams. The WNBA, it appears, wants to make sure to maximize the high-profile appeal of the Clark-Bueckers matchup by pitting the 2024 No. 1 pick and Rookie of Year against the 2025 No. 1 pick and Rookie of the Year in the teams’ first game of the season.

Hopefully, rather than fueling fanbase animosities, the opener can serve as an appreciation of the league’s young talent, inclusive of and beyond Clark and Bueckers, especially as the 2023 No. 1 pick and unanimous Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston and the 2026 No. 1 pick and possible Rookie of the Year [insert name here] will also be on the court. Last season, the Fever won the season series over the Wings 3-1 in large part due to Boston, as Indiana outscored Dallas by 52 points in her 120 total minutes across the four games.

Las Vegas Aces vs. Los Angeles Sparks (May 10, 6 p.m. ET)

Lisa Leslie might be delivering a pep talk to her Sparks before this one, inspiring Dearica Hamby, Azurá Stevens, Sweet Baby Rae Burrell and whichever of her other Unrivaled favorites remain on the Sparks to not simply take down the champs, but also to ensure that the Aces do not match the WNBA-record 18-game winning streak set by Leslie and the 2001 Sparks.

The WNBA schedule makers did well to increase the drama around the Aces’ win streak by having the potential record-tying game come against the Sparks in LA. Although requiring the Aces to try to match the 2001 Sparks on a back-t0-back is more than a bit cruel.

Of course, A’ja Wilson has a habit of turning inconveniences and obstacles into extra motivation that ignites her excellence.

Minnesota Lynx vs. Phoenix Mercury (May 12, 10 p.m. ET)

The Lynx return to where it all went wrong. And since then, it has continued to go wrong for the Lynx.

In Game 3 of the semifinal series between the Lynx and Mercury, Napheesa Collier suffered ligament tears in her ankle that not only sidelined her for the remainder of the WNBA playoffs, effectively ending Minnesota’s hopes of a title run, but the injury is also keeping her out of the entire Unrivaled season, with her readiness for the start of the 2026 WNBA season in question.

There’s a strong chance that Collier, nor Kayla McBride, if she returns to the Lynx, are ready for this game. McBride, competing for Fenerbahçe, tore a quad muscle in a training session with the Turkish club. A timeline for her return has yet to be established.

A 2025 season that, for long stretches, seemed like a sure thing for the Lynx quickly has become a 2026 season full of unknowns. An early-season trip to Phoenix, when the Mercury may or may not look like the team that eliminated Minnesota, will be an unpleasant reminder.

Las Vegas Aces vs. Atlanta Dream (May 17, 3 p.m. ET)

Gateway Center Arena might as well be Colonial Life Arena when the Aces come to Atlanta, and if the M’VP performs as she consistently has against the Dream, she might get a statue outside, too.

In recent seasons, Gamecock FAMs have made the trek from Columbia to College Park to see A’ja. Last season, they took it to another level, overtaking the arena and serenading Wilson with MVP love. As the Dream were in a direct battle with the Aces for playoff seeding, Rhyne Howard was understandably not thrilled about the home fans creating an away atmosphere for the Dream, especially since the Dream roster featured two former Gamecocks in Allisha Gray and Te-Hina Paopao.

Will Atlanta come alive for the Dream, supporting the local squad that hopefully returns Howard, Gray and the rest of a strong supporting cast? Or, will the A’TL belong to A’ja again?

Golden State Valkyries vs. New York Liberty (May 21, 8 p.m. ET)

Will new head coach Chris DeMarco have finished reading every book about the Liberty by the time the Valkyries, the Golden State-based sister team of the NBA franchise for which he worked for 14 seasons, visits Brooklyn?

Let’s hope so. For DeMarco’s sake, let’s also hope that the majority of the Liberty’s veteran star core, from Breanna Stewart to Sabrina Ionescu to Jonquel Jones, remain in seafoam. Because regardless of who is or is not wearing Valkyrie Violet, head coach Natalie Nakase will have them prepared, with the reigning Coach of the Year providing DeMarco with an up-close example of what makes a great WNBA coach.

Portland Fire vs. Toronto Tempo (May 23, 6 p.m. ET)

Who knows who will be playing for the Fire or the Tempo? Maybe, as Eric Nemchock projected in his most recent 2026 WNBA mock draft, Kiki Rice will be running the show for the Fire as Ta’Niya Latson gets buckets for the Tempo?

Regardless, the first game between the two expansion teams will be appointment viewing. That will be the case even if both teams build rosters that indicate they are prioritizing “winning” the No. 1 pick in the 2027 WNBA Draft. Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello, surely, has thought about how JuJu Watkins might look in “Tempo Bordeaux.”