The 2024 WNBA Season is Underway
By: Dylan Tehada
The WNBA season is fully underway and has already had so many memorable moments. Women’s basketball has seen a major uptick in popularity amongst basketball fans worldwide, and the WNBA is seeing the direct impact of this interest early in the new season. 19,103 fans came out to Crypto.com Arena to watch the duel of the top 2 picks in the 2024 draft, Cailyn Clark and Cameron Brink, and viewership of WNBA games on television have reached all time highs. Household names like A’Ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart continue to dominate the game and their impact in the popularity of the game cannot be understated. In fact, some of the WNBA’s brightest stars like Sabrina Ionescu, Haley Jones, Aliyah Boston, Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum all have ties to UPB and have been killing it in the young 2024 season.
Sabrina Ionescu is one of the most recognizable figures in the entire WNBA. Ever since she was drafted with the first overall pick in 2020 by the New York Liberty she had been lighting up the league with her elite three point shooting and high IQ. In her fifth WNBA season, Ionescu is averaging 15.5 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.8 rebounds in 6 games this year and is playing a big role in the Liberty’s 5-2 record and second place standing in the Eastern Conference. Ionescu has been a regular at UPB as a Bay Area native, training primarily with Coach Packie Turner and continues to build on her impressive young WNBA career.
Haley Jones was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2023 WNBA draft by the Atlanta Dream. She made an impact right away after an impressive rookie season where she played in all 40 games with the Dream and earned a place on the 2023 AP Rookie Team of the Year. This season, she has become an everyday starter and is currently averaging 4.5 points, 4.3 assists, and 1.5 rebounds per game in 20.3 minutes of play. As a former Stanford University star, Jones has strong ties to the Bay Area and has even trained at the UPB Facility where she has elevated her game and built on her success in college.
Aliyah Boston was drafted with the number one overall pick in the 2023 WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever. After a legendary collegiate career at the University of South Carolina and with the USA women’s basketball team, Boston has lived up to the hype in her young career. After an impressive rookie season in 2023, Boston is currently averaging 11 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2 assists per game. Boston and her new teammate Caitlyn Clark have led the charge on the Fever’s rebuild as they embody the future of the league and women’s basketball in general.
Chelsea Gray is a WNBA veteran entering her tenth season. She currently plays for the Las Vegas Aces and has been a key contributor in the team’s recent dominance and back to back titles. In her tenth season, Gray is averaging 15.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 7.3 assists leading the Aces to a 4-1 record and a number one seed in the Western Conference.
Kelsey Plum, Gray’s teammate on the Aces, and former teammate of Player Development Coach Hannah Johnson is also killing it in her seventh WNBA season also playing a huge role in the Aces recent dominance and championship pedigree. After being drafted out of the University of Washington with the number one overall pick in 2017, Plum has shown constant improvement year over year. Despite a limited sample size, she is averaging a career high 20.8 points per game along with 1.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Plum has become a household name over the course of her career so far and looks to continue dominating the league this season.
As the WNBA season continues to progress, we know that these five stars will have tons of memorable moments and priceless impacts on their teams. We look forward to seeing their games continue to grow and to witness the season unfold!
