Season 30 of the WNBA tipped off last night, perhaps its most anticipated one yet. For one, there’s an overwhelming sigh of relief that the season got off to an on-time start at all, given that off-season tensions between the league and its management that at times escalated to outright bitterness threatened to derail it clear into March. But cooler heads did eventually prevail, the league was able to relocate heroines from the exciting 2025-26 college season and incumbents who filled out the expansion rosters in Toronto and Portland and last night the first three regular season games of what will be the busiest summer ever–330 games with the earliest regular season start date yet-tipped off.
CBS SPORTS’ expert on all things women’s hoops Jack Maloney dropped a recap of the first one percent of that slate early this morning:
The 2026 WNBA season is underway. The New York Liberty got their quest for a championship started in style with a 31-point win over the Connecticut Sun, while the Washington Mystics outlasted the Toronto Tempo in the expansion team’s first game. In the evening’s finale, the Golden State Valkyries dominated the second half to beat the Seattle Storm.
Perhaps the most encouraging news of the evening came in Brooklyn, where the much-anticipated return of a true superstar paid off in immediate dividends:
(Breanna) Stewart’s 2025 was frustrating. She underwent meniscus surgery on her right knee prior to the season, suffered a right knee bone bruise late in the season that kept her out for a month and then sprained the MCL in her left knee during Game 1 of the Liberty’s first-round playoff series with the Phoenix Mercury. Not only did the Liberty’s title defense end in the first round, but Stewart averaged her fewest points since her rookie season and failed to make an All-WNBA team for the first time since 2019.
Entering 2026, Stewart was fully healthy and ready to get back to an MVP level under new coach Chris DeMarco. It didn’t take her long. She scored on the Liberty’s first possession of the season and finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds, one steal and three blocks in a dominant two-way performance to lead New York to a 31-point win despite Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally’s absence.
Meanwhile, some new beginnings took place just north of Lake Ontario:
Coca-Cola Coliseum was rocking on Friday night, and though the result didn’t go the Toronto Tempo’s way, the expansion team’s first-ever game was a historic moment years in the making. The Tempo, one of two expansion teams that joined the league this season, are the first WNBA team in Canada and the first outside of the United States. After Marina Mabrey hit a 3-pointer in the middle of the fourth quarter to briefly give the Tempo the lead, the decibel level got up to 105.4 — well above the level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss, per Yale University.
The Tempo came up just short, but they can draw inspiration from the fact that last year’s expansion surprise, the playoff-qualifying Golden State Valkyries, began their sophomore campaign with a sign that aren’t heading for any jinx:
After an interesting offseason in which they made few additions, there were once again real questions about the Valkyries’ offense and whether they had enough shooting — particularly after the team announced that stretch five Iliana Rupert was pregnant. They certainly did on Friday. Janelle Salaün went 5 of 10 from 3-point range to tie her career high, seven different players hit a triple and they shot 15 of 37 (40.5%) as a team in a double-digit win over the Storm.
All of that was a tasty appetizer for the next servings that are due up today, including one of the more delicious offerings on any menu, as FORBES’ Allison Smith observed:
Perhaps the most anticipated match-up of opening weekend will be a showdown between the last several seasons No. 1 overall draft picks as the Dallas Wings, Paige Bueckers, and Azzi Fudd look to steal a win from Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston at home in Gainbridge Arena…Indiana was ranked No. 3 in the pre-season WNBA polls, and with Clark back and healthy, as well as securing Boston and guard Kelsey Mitchell to seven figure deals, the Fever are looking to begin a championship run.
At 3:30 pm EST on ABC the 2025 Finals rematch is set between pre-season No. 1 Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury. The Aces are fueled again by their veteran heavy roster including the league’s best player in A’ja Wilson.
The 2025 Defensive Player of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and Finals MVP signed on April 15 to one of the largest deal in league history. Wilson, inked a contract worth $5 million over three years.
And the Tempo’s expansion sisters will bring some needed excitement to a city desperately desiring it, especially in the wake of its male sibling’s unceremonious ouster from the NBA playoffs:
(T)he Chicago Sky featuring former Liberty point guard Natasha Cloud, and former Storm guard Skylar Diggins will play the other expansion team in the Portland Fire. The Fire’s first game in the league is at home in Moda Center in Portland(.)
It’s an ever-growing and ever-appealing cornucopia of talent and true diversity. We could all use more of that everywhere these days. Especially if you’re over 30.
Courage…