Around the W: June Review

How did the month of June shake out for each team.

The WNBA completed its second month of the 2023 season. Most of the teams struggled with seven of the twelve ending the month with losing records. Only the Las Vegas Aces, Connecticut Sun, New York Liberty, Washington Mystics, and Minnesota Lynx finished June with more wins than losses.

Awards

A’ja Wilson won the Player of the Month for the Western Conference. Wilson averaged 19.5 PPG, 8.9 RBP, and 2.2 BPG. She led the Las Vegas Aces to an extremely impressive 10-1 record in the month of June. Coach Becky Hammon also won Coach of the Month for leading the Aces to the best record in the WNBA.

Alyssa Thomas won the Player of the Month for the Eastern Conference. Thomas averaged 14.6 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 9.3 APG, and 2.4 SPG. She helped lead Connecticut to an 8-3 record in June. Thomas also had three Triple-Doubles in the month which is more than most WNBA players have had in their entire careers.

Aliyah Boston won Rookie of the Month for the second straight week. It’s almost a foregone conclusion that Boston will win the Rookie of the Year award. Although Diamond Miller, the number two overall pick, came back from injury and has been crucial to Minnesota’s recent 5-game win streak.

Boston averaged 15.1 PPG 9.5 RPG 2.5 APG 1.5 BPG this past month.

All-Stars Named!

The All-Star Starters include Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Jewell Loyd, Nneka Ogwumike, Arike Ogunbowale, Brittney Griner, Satou Sabally, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, and rookie Aliyah Boston.

Stewart and Wilson were named team captains and will select their teams this weekend.

12 additional players were named as WNBA All-Star Reserves. Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, Napheesa Collier, Elena Delle Donne, Courtney Vandersloot, Sabrina Ionescu, Kahlea Copper, Kelsey Plum, Allisha Gray, Cheyenne Parker, Kelsey Mitchell, and Ezi Magbegor.

Gray, Parker, Mitchell, Magbegor, and Boston were all named to their very first WNBA All-Star selection.

June Records

Atlanta (4-6)

Atlanta struggled for most of June but has started to turn things around. Between the end of June and the beginning of July, the Dream have won four games in a row.

Allisha Gray is averaging 18.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 3.1 APG. Cheyenne Parker is averaging 14.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 1.6 SPG.

As of this writing, Atlanta ranks 5th overall with a 9-8 record.

Chicago (4-7)

The Sky picked up a couple of big wins over the Los Angeles Sparks recently but overall have struggled. They’ve lost 7 out of their last 10 games.

Kahleah Copper leads the way averaging 16.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.8 APG. Marina Mabrey is averaging 15.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 3.7 APG. Courtney Williams is averaging 9.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 6.1 APG.

Chicago currently sits in the 8th and final playoff spot with an 8-10 record.

Connecticut (8-3)

Connecticut has been one of the best teams in the WNBA this season. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as they return many of their top players and reached the WNBA Finals last year.

Alyssa Thomas continues to prove she’s one of the best players in the entire league. Thomas is averaging 14.5 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 8.1 APG, and 2.2 SPG. DeWanna Bonner is averaging 17.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 1.8 APG.

The Sun currently rank 3rd overall with a 13-5 record. Unfortunately, Brionna Jones tore her Achilles heel. Jones will certainly be missed for the remainder of the season.

Dallas (4-7)

The Wings had a rough June. At one point, they lost five out of six games between June 11th and June 25th.

Arike Ogunbowale is averaging 21. 5 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 4.5 APG, and 1.6 SPG. Satou Sabally is having the best season of her career. She’s averaging 18.5 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 3.4 APG, and 1.4 SPG.

At present, the Dallas Wings hold the 6th seed with a 9-9 record. They became the second team to defeat the Las Vegas Aces this season on Friday.

Indiana (4-7)

The Fever are certainly an improved team from years past. But they continue to lose too many close games. They are struggling to get over the hump and as a young, inexperienced team they haven’t been able to close out games to secure more victories.

Aliyah Boston is averaging 15.0 PPG, 8.5 RPG, and 2.4 APG. She is by far the front-runner for Rookie of the Year. NaLyssa Smith is averaging a double-double of 15.4 PPG and 10.1 RPG. Kelsey Mitchell, finally recognized as an All-Star, is averaging 16.9 PPG and 2.9 APG.

Indiana is currently on the outside looking in at the playoffs. They’ve improved but are still losing too many games. They rank 10th overall with a 5-13 record. If the season ended today, they’d own the best odds to land the #1 overall pick again in 2024 due to the two-year lottery rule.

Las Vegas (10-1)

Through two months Las Vegas is the clear favorite to win the WNBA Championship again in 2023. Vegas only lost once in the entire month of June, a defeat to the Connecticut Sun.

A’ja Wilson is having another MVP-type season averaging 19.8 PPG, 9.5 RPG, and 2.1 BPG. Jackie Young continues to get better and better averaging 19.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 3.5 APG. Kelsey Plum is averaging 17.6 PPG and 4.0 APG. While Chelsea Gray is averaging 14.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 6.4 RPG, and 1.5 SPG. All four players were named to the All-Star team.

The Aces currently hold the top spot in the WNBA with a 16-2 record. They’ve only lost to Connecticut and Dallas.

Los Angeles (6-7)

After a strong start in June, the Los Angeles Sparks struggled to end the month. They lost five out of their last seven games in June. Some of their decline likely is due to the team missing Lexie Brown who was having the best season of her career averaging over 13 PPG but hasn’t played since June 14th with an undisclosed illness.

Nneka Ogwumike leads Los Angeles with 19.8 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.1 APG, and 1.7 SPG. Jordin Canada has had a strong season. She’s averaging 13.0 PPG, 5.8 APG, and 1.8 APG. Her three-point shooting has been much improved this year as well. She was a career 20% shooter from beyond the arc but is making more than 33% this season.

With two more losses in July, the Sparks have lost 7 out of their last 10 games. They fell out of playoff position and currently rank 9th overall with a 7-11 record.

Minnesota (6-4)

After starting the season 1-5, the Lynx have really turned their season around. They were one of the few teams to have a positive record in the month of June. Between the end of June and the start of July, Minnesota has won five games in a row.

Napheesa Collier is having an incredible season just one year after giving birth to her baby. She’s averaging 22.6 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.7 SPG. Rookie Diamond Miller returned after missing eight games with an injury and has been nothing short of fantastic. She’s averaging 12.8 PPG and 3.8 RPG. Miller scored a career-high 25 points in an 86-76 victory against the Phoenix Mercury.

Minnesota has moved up to 7th overall with a record of 9-9. They have won 8 out of their last 10 games.

New York (7-3)

Breanna Stewart has been everything the New York Liberty could have hoped for and more. She has already scored 40+ points twice this season and owns the top two highest-scoring games in Liberty franchise history after playing just 16 games with the team. Stewart is averaging 23.3 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 4.2 APG, and 1.7 SPG.

Sabrina Ionescu is averaging 14.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 4.9 APG. Courtney Vandersloot has added 11.4 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and leads the WNBA with 8.6 APG.

The Liberty own the 2nd best record in the WNBA at 12-4. They’ve won 8 out of their last 10 games. While they haven’t absolutely crushed their opponents this year as the Aces have, they are still a cut above the rest.

Phoenix (2-9)

The Phoenix Mercury have been really bad this season. They lost five games in a row between June 13th and June 24th including two games against the Seattle Storm. After they lost by 23 points to the Storm the team fired Head Coach Vanessa Nygaard. The team has certainly missed Skylar Diggins-Smith this season.

Brittney Griner leads the team averaging 19.8 PPG and 6.2 RPG. Diana Taurasi is averaging 14.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 5.3 APG but has struggled at times this season.

Phoenix ranks dead last (12th) in the WNBA with a 3-14 record. They’ve lost nine out of their last 10 games. Two of their three wins have come against the 10th-ranked Indiana Fever.

Seattle (4-8)

This has been a very tough season for Seattle after losing Sue Bird to retirement and Breanna Stewart in Free Agency. The losses continue to pile up for Seattle as they’ve lost four in a row. Things might get worse as they’ve played the majority of their games in Seattle. They play three more road games during this trip before returning home.

Jewell Loyd has done everything she can but it hasn’t been enough. Loyd is leading the WNBA in scoring at 25.6 PPG. Ezi Magbegor has stepped up her game in Stewart’s absence. Magbegor is averaging 14.5 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 1.9 BPG.

Seattle is the 11th-ranked team with a record of 4-13. They’ve lost seven of their last ten games.

Washington (7-4)

The Washington Mystics have had some ups and downs. Their biggest loss was the health of Shakira Austin who left a recent game with a hip injury. She is expected to be back at some point this season.

Elena Delle Donne leads the Mystics averaging 19.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 2.6 APG. Natasha Cloud is averaging 11.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 6.1 APG. They’ve had balanced scoring with Ariel Atkins, Shakira Austin, and Brittney Sykes but at times they’ve struggled to find another dominant scorer besides Delle Donne.

Washington currently owns the 4th best record in the WNBA at 10-4. They’ve won six out of their last ten games.

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