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Good morning! It’s time for the FIBA World Cup. Coming:
- 🤕 Wilson came out
- 💭 Your MVP thoughts
- 🏀 NCAA decision
Planned hiatus: Wait, what happened to the WNBA?
WNBA fans are used to the league taking a break every four years for the Olympics, but this is the first time the league will hit a break for the World Cup, which begins this week in Berlin and runs through Sept. 13. As a result, the WNBA won’t recover until Sept. 17, when each team begins a four-game sprint to end the regular season.
The league has previously been able to squeeze in its schedule before the World Cup, but with an early start date and a longer WNBA calendar (for reference, the 2022 tournament began on Sept. 22, when the WNBA schedule was 36 instead of 44), 2026 required some creativity.
However, this is the last time the WNBA will be inconvenienced by the FIBA schedule, as the 2030 World Cup is already scheduled for November. The WNBA may not have had enough leverage in previous years to bend the world calendar to its will, but now it does: More and more of the world’s best players are fitting into this league, European leagues are moving their fall-winter seasons to finish before the start of the WNBA, and even FIBA is moving its world championship to host the W.
These are the basics of the FIBA World Cupbut now we will take a closer look at the field…
World Cup preview: Team USA is the heavy favorite
The USA is a heavy favorite to win the gold medal for the fifth consecutive tournament at this year’s World Championships. Seven of the team’s 12 players were All-WNBA selections in 2024 and/or 2025. No other country has even one All-WNBA player on its roster.
However, the American roster no longer includes current back-to-back MVP A’J Wilson, who is withdrew from the tournament due to health reasons, along with Kelsey Plum. The Americans have replaced them with two All-Stars (Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron), but it’s hard to replace Wilson, the greatest living player who has led Team USA in scoring in the last three major internationals.
The rest of the world now has a window to dethrone the Americans. Here’s what you need to know about the area:
- France was one possession away from losing to the Americans at the 2024 Paris Olympics and returns much of that same team. Gabby Williams leads the pack with a deeper perimeter squad (hello Carla Leite and Pauline Astier!) and the more experienced Dominique Malonga.
- Belgium is the defending European champion, and now has a healthy Julie Allemand to join Emma Meesseman, the best player not currently playing in the WNBA. They are coached by a familiar face in Mike Thibault, who was an assistant on Team USA in 2024 and a WNBA champion with the Mystics in 2019, when Meesseman was Finals MVP.
- Germany is unlucky not to be without three-time WNBA All-Star Satou Sabally, who will miss the tournament and the rest of the WNBA season with a head injury. The German hosts have lacked offensive firepower in recent competitions and even home ground advantage may not make up for Sabally’s absence.
- Australia has eight WNBA players and coached by two-time WNBA champion Sandy Brondel. The Opals (isn’t it great when every national team has its own nickname?) won bronze at the 2022 World Championships and the Paris Olympics.
- No team leans on pace and space like he does Japan, while theirs Chinese the neighbors rely on the height and skill of their inner presence in Li Yuer and Han Xu. Nigeria he was increasingly popular on the international stage and played with the USA in Paris.
Who do you have your eye on at the World Cup? And who will be Team USA’s MVP with Wilson out of the picture? Let us know what you think at NoOffseason@theathletic.com.
Fast Breaks
🏀 The sky is shuts down Skylar Diggins for the final four games of their season while she focuses on recovering from an injury. Diggins, who started all 19 games in which she appeared for Sky, has not played since July, when she was dropped from the bench.
💬 Guardian of the sky Natasha Cloud refused to name Enes Kanter Freedom as he spoke to reporters for the first time since the two verbally sparred. “I’m not going to talk about anything that happened to an irrelevant person.” What was she talking about instead.
🏆 Valkyries have best chance to win it all, according to The Athletic‘s 2026 WNBA Projections. Lynx are next with the second best odds.
🩼 Ace starter NaLyssa Smith is out of season. How Las Vegas is responding?
🖊️ DeWanna Bonner it’s not over yet. The 17-year WNBA veteran is signs with Dream (26-14) by the end of the season.
💰 After a round of funding, a professional three-on-three league Unrivaled he said its the new estimate is $650 million.
🏀 Meet Jose Fernandez, the cage-rattling trainer challenges Paige Bookers and revives Wings.
🎙️ On the “No Offseason” module, Zena and Sabreena talk about the World Cup and which WNBA teams have the most at stake going forward. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch the awards: Another entry for MVP
The MVP race remains fascinating. Even without games in the next two weeks, they will be on top.
Wilson’s stats are impeccable, even when dealing with a back injury. Team Olivia Miles is still on top WNBA standingseven if the Lynx (31-9) experienced a skid. Kelsey Mitchell continues to score 20-plus points per game (and Kaitlin Clark also does most games, with added playmaking), while Breanna Stewart and Rhyne Howard (or maybe Angel Reese?) could give their teams a late-season advantage.
We asked you for your thoughts on MVP last week and you did not disappoint.
The Case of Wilson Newsletter Readers:
- “She does so much on both ends of the floor for a team that wouldn’t be even close to a title favorite this year without her.” — Peter B.
- “She’s a two-way player, dominant on offense and defense. She continues to lead her team to wins. The runner-up is Olivia Miles. Without her, the Lynx don’t win.” — Kyle F.
- “If anyone had the first choice to start a new team, it would always be Wilson. Every possession starts with her, and she leads in so many categories.” — Walter H.
- “A’ja Wilson is playing his best basketball of an incredible career. Hands down MVP.” — Gere F.
The case for Mitchell:
- “Kelsey Mitchell, hands down. She’s carried the fever on her back for the last two years despite major obstacles and in doing so has reached heights that no one else has. … She’s humble. She’s a great leader and teammate. Kelsey Mitchell represents the best of the WNBA.” — Rosie H.
- “I don’t think Kelsey Mitchell gets enough credit for her defense. She may not have the defensive stats of A’ja Wilson (eg blocks – how can she, she’s 5-8), but she’s constantly tasked with guarding the opposing player at the top of the perimeter.” — Vanessa T.
The case for Clark:
- “Obviously she scores, passes (turns over), but her value is seen in how the opposition guards her. She guards all over the court, they try to get the ball out of her hands, she’s often double or tripled. — Gary W.
- “The stat that really blows my mind and jumps off the page is the numbers that Clark has put up in points. She is truly an outstanding, you could say ‘generational’, offensive engine.” – Justin D.
The case for Miles:
- “There’s no way the Lynx can lead the league without her. Best passer, floor general I’ve ever seen” – Dick K.
- “Miles came in and almost from the start kept the team focused and winning, even without Collier.” — Thomas M.
Among MVP quotas, Wilson remains the heavy betting favourite.
NCAA: The five-year-olds are back, for now
A judge in Dallas signed an order barring the NCAA and SEC from stopping the Class of 2022 from returning to college sports for another season. Even if a player has signed a professional contract, he can return to college basketball if he is still within five years of starting college, this week’s legal decisions are awaited.
This means that players who have signed WNBA contracts or spent time on a WNBA roster can play college basketball in the 2026-27 season, provided their first NCAA season was 2022-23. So far, we haven’t seen any players who played WNBA minutes in the 2026 season indicate their intentions to rejoin the NCAA, but it’s theoretically possible.
South Carolina landed a veteran point guard in Brooke Quarles Daniels, who helped lead Michigan to the Elite Eight in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks lost three players from last year’s roster (Raven Johnson, Ta’Niya Latson and Maddy McDaniel) and needed some experience to help out freshman Jerzy Robinson.
Louisville’s frontcourt got even deeper with the addition of LSU’s Amiya Joyner, and Oklahoma State added full-time point guard Callin Hake to its star experiment of Audie Crooks and Liv McGill. Two other players mentioned in the Dallas pecking order – Christeen Iwuala and Bailey Maupin – would have significant impacts wherever they decide to land.
Recruiting season is truly never over in college basketball.
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