The 2023 WNBA season is off to a great start. Expectedly, the race to the top is taking shape despite being in the early stages of the tournament. Fans, managers, sponsors, pundits, and the entire WNBA fraternity are looking forward to the exciting unfoldings on and off-pitch given the season’s record of 40 games per team. 

As usual, the 2023 WNBA fixture scheduling activities started early culminating in an all-format series for the second season in a row. The first round will be guided by the 2-1 formatting indicating that the higher-seeded team from respective conferences will host the first two games. Semi-finals and finals format remain unchanged with qualifying teams battling it out in the best-of-five series. 

Officially starting on May 19th, the season will run up to September 10 with CarMax presenting the WNBA Tip-Off 2023 on the opening day. Google will present the final WNBA playoff and we simply can’t wait to see which team gets this year’s crown. 

While commenting on the sidelines of the official start, Cathy Engelbert, the WNBA Commissioner, expressed optimism that this year’s tournament expanded schedules will provide greater opportunities for fans to enjoy animated grounds and the unparalleled talent pool given the new signees. 

Cathy is upbeat that 2023 will pick from last year’s hugely successful season. It was the most watched season with increased social media engagement, digital consumption, and an upshot in merchandise sales. It will get better and bigger this year! 

Top Aussie Players To Keep An Eye On in the 2023 WNBA Season 

With a few fixtures down the line, the 2023 WNBA season has produced spectacular performances and some Aussie players have been in the thick of things, as sideline commentators like saying! 

Usual suspects, including Las Vegas Aces, Connecticut Sun, Chicago Sky, and New York Liberty have hit the ground running with at least 3 wins. 

As the dust settles, our radar has been on the following players whom we believe will have a phenomenal experience as their teams battle to upstage the tourney favorites. 

Rebecca Allen 

Bec Allen’s pre-season was a little unfortunate. She had suffered a serious injury which was initially misdiagnosed. Scan images later revealed she had two broken ribs and a collapsed lung while playing for her home country team, the Opals team in the 2022 women’s basketball World Cup. Despite the setback, she went through a largely successful healing process and Connecticut Sun signed her as a free agent from New York Liberty. 

Although she is yet to feature in the starting lineup, her defensive chores playing the guard position have brought the much-needed complement to Allysa Thomas, the team’s natural starter for the position. 

She has featured in the Sun’s 4 games averaging 16.3 minutes and 4 points per game. Her Rebounds, Assists, and Steals per game stand at 3.0, 0.3, and 0.5, respectively. While these stats are relatively below her averages before the pre-injury period when she was playing for Opals, they point to a great start at Mohegan Sun where she has enjoyed the fan’s warm welcome. 

Cayla George 

Cayla George signed as a free agent for Las Vegas Aces before the start of the WNBA season. The Last Vegas Aces management and scouts have landed a gem in Cayla. Between 2015 and 2017 she was a constant forward player for Phoenix Mercury before joining Dallas Wings in 2018. 

Her 2023 outlook is riding high on her recent form in the 2022 WNBL where she was part of the team that won the league. Also, her fitness levels are unquestionable having played more minutes than any other player during the 2022 WNBL season. 

Cayla’s team, Las Vegas Aces, has won all four matches of the season. She has featured in 3 of these duels averaging 6.3 minutes per game.  Although she is yet to make it to the starting lineup, she has averaged 4 points per game which is above her career average of 3.8

Going forward, we believe she is going to be a force to reckon with the Aces. In the meantime, we keep a close eye on how pivotal and valuable she becomes to the team with early indications of an unbeatable mentality. 

Kristy Wallace 

Indiana Fever, the WNBA team that signed Kristy Wallace from Melbourne Boomers could be experiencing their worst start of the season. They have lost two of their season-opening matches to Connecticut Sun and New York Liberty. 

Nevertheless, tables could turn as Kristy fought tooth and nail to outscore the dream 90-87 in the season’s so far hotly contested match. 

She has featured in all of the team’s three games averaging 19.3 minutes and 8.7 points per game. Kristy’s defensive grit was monumental in Opal’s bronze medal win in the 2022 Women’s Basketball world cup and slowly she is picking from where she left off with epic performances that seem to justify Indiana Fever’s talent scouts’ effort to bring her to Gainbridge Fieldhouse. 

Alanna Smith 

Alanna Smith made it to the headlines when she became the 5th Australian to be selected within the top 10 of the WNBA Draft. She went on to play alongside the then-American superstars Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi who played for Mercury. 

Fast-forward to 2023, Alanna has grown into her mentor’s shoes. She is now playing for Chicago Sky and she is perfecting her forward position skills. 

In their team’s recent win over the Wings (94-88), she posted incredible stats; 14 points (4-8 FG, 1-5 3Pt, 5-7 FT), 2  blocks, 6 assists, and 12 rebounds within a record 28 minutes. 

While she is climbing up the pecking order, we wait to see if she will bench Morgan Bertsch who will be returning in action in their next fixture. 

Steph Talbot 

The whole WNBL and WNBA fraternity was elated by the Los Angeles Sparks signing Steph Talbot. It is doubtless, Steph has worked to earn the call-up having played for Minnesota and Phoenix previously. 

However, as fate would have it, the 2023 season is going to be bumpy for her. Only a few days after the announcement of the LA Sparks deal, she suffered an ACL injury throwing all the pre-season excitement and plans into disarray. 

The sporting spirit is, nevertheless, high, and we believe she will be a valuable asset to her team when the healing process comes to a successful end. 

Ezi Magbegor 

Ezi Magbegor returned to familiar grounds when she re-signed for Seattle Storm in February 2023. Her history in WNBA dates back to 2019 when she was selected at number 12 in the first round of the draft by the same club. 

Although her team has already suffered two defeats in a row, her individual performance isn’t reflective of the team’s overall efforts. Her season opener saw her score 15 points, 1 assist, 2 blocks, and 12 rebounds. 

Despite her team losing 95-91 to Dallas, Magbegor shot a crowd-moving 6-of-9 from the field and she is averaging 31.5 minutes per game which is above the last season’s average of 24.8 minutes. 

Sami Whitcomb

In-trading is common in WNBA; no wonder Sami Whitcomb will be returning to Seattle Storm after spending the previous two seasons with New York Liberty. 

This will be her 6th season as a regular feature in the WNBA and her team manager plus fans are banking on her experience and skills to help cultivate the needed winning spirit. 

Her team has lost the two season-opening matches to Las Vegas Aces and Dallas Wings but she remains hopeful things will turn for the better as the season unfolds. 

With an average of 17 minutes and 4.5 points per game, this is a nosedive from her career-long averages of 17.6 and 6.5. Even so, going forward, Talisa Rhea the club’s manager might give her significant time on the pitch as she looks forward to sealing the seemingly devastating loopholes before competitors gain pace.