Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images
These players were already good, but have taken their games up a level to kick off the 2024 WNBA season.
This WNBA season has started with a ton of excitement, great competition, and a lot of new faces in the league. And while this year’s much-hyped class of rookies are showing out in their first professional season, the league’s veterans are coming out strong as well.
With only 144 available roster spots currently in the WNBA, it’s one of the hardest leagues to find a place in. That just means every player is extremely elite, and the competition to stick around is fierce.
With that context in mind, a few players have come out of the gates in 2024 ready to show the league and the fans who they are, and further secure their place in the W hierarchy. They’ve led their teams, provided some show-stopping performances, and come back this year better than ever.
Let’s take a look at five of the most impressive, and the specific improvements they’ve made.
Napheesa Collier — Minnesota Lynx
Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images
Napheesa Collier has been one of the best players in the league for years, but she’s really starting to come into her own as a SUPERstar. She was drafted sixth overall by the Minnesota Lynx in 2019, and has thrived in her time as a pro.
The Lynx have been in an era of transition over the past few years — in 2022, legendary leader Sylvia Fowles announced her retirement, changing the dynamic of the team. They did not make the playoffs that year, and struggled to piece together their roster as they entered a new era.
Collier herself missed most of the 2022 season after giving birth to her daughter. When she came back in 2023, it seemed like she had taken a HUGE leap in skill despite not really playing in the WNBA for a year and a half. While the team was still experiencing growing pains, the future was clear — build around Collier.
She averaged 21.5 points per game (PPG), 8.5 rebounds per game (RPG), and 2.5 assists per game (APG) in the 2023 season while shooting 48.5% from the field.
This season, she’s come out of the gates as an early frontrunner for the league’s MVP award. The Lynx have impressed early on, winning four of their first five regular season games, and Napheesa has showed out in all of them. She scored 31 points in the team’s only loss — a one-point overtime defeat to the Connecticut Sun.
While Collier has always been talented, it’s her leadership that has blossomed in recent seasons. Maybe that’s because she’s a mom now, or maybe she’s just transitioning seamlessly from talented young star to the centerpiece of a franchise. No matter the exact cause, Collier is playing some of her best basketball to date, and doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.
Biggest Improvement: Becoming the team’s x-factor, transforming into a seasoned vet.
Kahleah Copper — Phoenix Mercury
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Kahleah Copper shocked the women’s basketball world by requesting a trade from the Chicago Sky after the 2023 season. The 2021 Champions and Finals MVP left the franchise after a season of chaos for the Sky, and headed to the Phoenix Mercury — the team the Sky beat for the Championship in 2021.
But sometimes the grass IS greener on the other side, because Copper is absolutely hooping to kick off the season. The Mercury won three of their first five games to start the 2024 season, and Copper scored 30+ points in three of those five.
The team’s biggest success of the season so far? Winning a game against the reigning back-to-back champion Las Vegas Aces. Copper scored 37 points to go with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block in that win.
Copper is obviously climbing the MVP ladder more with each passing game, and is the biggest reason why the Phoenix Mercury have looked great to start the season despite missing star center Brittney Griner due to injury.
Biggest Improvement: Being able to relax and hoop effortlessly now that she has the help surrounding her that she needed to be successful.
Arike Ogunbowale — Dallas Wings
Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
Arike Ogunbowale is known for a few things as a basketball player, and one of them is having ice in her veins. She can get a shot off from anywhere on the court, and often does.
Her Dallas Wings have struggled to find the secret sauce over the past few seasons. They have talented players, but this league is tough. You can’t just have one or two all-stars and call it a complete roster. They’ve tried to draft and build but haven’t quite moved up in the ranks from mid-level team to championship contender.
Ogunbowale seems to be trying to take things into her own hands this season. The Wings won three of their first five games, and Arike scored 20+ points in every single one of them. She even scored 40 points in one game to help her Wings secure a win over the Phoenix Mercury.
If Arike can improve on anything, it’s her consistency, as she sometimes goes through shooting slumps. Yet, when you recover from that with a 40-piece game, it’s hard to deny the power there.
Biggest Improvement: Being able to close out games and come back from shooting slumps with ease.
Jackie Young — Las Vegas Aces
Photo by David Becker/Getty Images
Jackie Young is a great player on a team of superstars. As a quieter person by nature, sometimes Young gets a little lost behind the bigger personalities of players like A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, or Chelsea Gray. Don’t get it twisted though — Young is an absolutely essential component in the Las Vegas Aces’ three-peat hopes.
With Chelsea Gray out with an injury to start the season, Young has had to step up. She is second overall in assists league-wide with 7.8 per game while filling in for Gray as the Aces’ primary point guard, and is putting up points as well.
Her best performance was a 22-point, 11-assist game she had against the Los Angeles Sparks — helping the Aces win.
It all just goes to show how Young has developed as a player over the past few seasons. She may still be a little quieter, but she is a force. Whenever the Aces need her, she’s there, and those kind of steady, consistent players are essential to a championship team.
Young is the kind of player who may not produce a jaw-dropping stat line every night, but she is always consistent. She is always making an impact.
There is no direct timeline on when Gray will be back, but for now, the Aces are in good hands with Jackie Young.
Biggest Improvement: Seamlessly taking over point guard duties while Chelsea Gray is out, and becoming a vocal leader.
Dearica Hamby — Los Angeles Sparks
Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images
Despite the fact that the Sparks have lost four of their first five games in the 2024 season, Dearica Hamby has been playing incredibly well. In fact, she seems to be in peak form in her second season in Los Angeles.
Hamby returned to playing form extremely quickly in 2023. After giving birth to her second child in March, she was already playing for the Sparks when last season kicked off in May. This season, she looks better than ever — as a force in the frontcourt, defensively, on the glass, and overall as a leader to her teammates.
Despite their less-than-ideal record, all of the Sparks’ losses have been pretty close games. They aren’t getting blown out — they are competing.
Hamby is joined in the Sparks’ front court by rookie Cameron Brink — who has been showing OUT in her first few weeks as a pro. Hamby’s skill, experience, footwork, and ability to be productive from anywhere on the floor mixes well with Brink’s lengthy wingspan and defensive prowess. As the two continue to build chemistry, they’ll only become more lethal in the post.
Above all else, Hamby has cemented herself as the team’s leader. She is not only leading the Sparks, but also serving as one of the leaders of the WNBA in general — she tops the entire league in rebounds currently with 13.2 per game. As the team gets used to one another, Hamby’s leadership will only help them reach new, higher heights.
Biggest Improvement: Being the team’s sole leader in every facet — vocally, on the court, in the locker room, and in the media.
The season has only just begun, so watch out for these players and more as they continue to impact their teams.
