Kevin Pelton

Stewie foresaw articles a year into the future. What a soothsayer!

That's a lot of context to distill into 280 characters, and it's certainly possible the rising tide of women's basketball would have made Unrivaled possible either way, but it's no coincidence that Breanna Stewart was a vocal prioritization critic and played a key role in Unrivaled.

Historically, most WNBA players played in Europe during the lengthy offseason. The league wanted them back for training camp and now requires experienced players to report for the start. That made it less lucrative and opened the door for American alternatives.
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There's a delicious irony in WNBA sources complaining about Unrivaled's role in CBA negotiations when the league exists in no small part because of the prioritization rules the WNBA insisted on during the current CBA. Be careful what you wish for ...

Yes, both coming soon!

WNBA Finals Game 2 live tracker: Can Mercury even series vs. Aces? Can Las Vegas take a 2-0 lead before the series heads to Phoenix? We're tracking Game 2 right here.

Mentioned in our Game 2 preview that the Mercury left money on the table in terms of offensive rebounding. Not today. www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Maybe she means it in a "third Pelton brother" sense?

Your guide to Aces' win over Mercury in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals Las Vegas took the opening game of the first-ever best-of-seven WNBA Finals in history. Here's how it happened.

Our live updates from Game 1 of Aces-Mercury now feature my takeaways on how Las Vegas came back to win and how Phoenix can adjust to the Aces' zone, including stats from ESPN Research tracking: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

How much will Aces' zone defense disrupt Sun in WNBA Finals? With the Spurs, Becky Hammon saw how effective an occasional zone defense can be, and felt it could set the Aces apart and "mix it up a little bit."

Becky Hammon going to the zone in the second half tonight reminds me a bit of her doing so in Game 1 of the 2022 WNBA Finals against another Alyssa Thomas team, after which I wrote a story on how WNBA teams were using zones: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Wild but true

Same, honestly!

WNBA Finals Game 1 live tracker: Updates on Mercury vs. Aces series opener The Mercury and Aces tip off the first best-of-seven WNBA Finals in history. Follow all the live action here.

I'll be contributing my thoughts on Game 1 of Aces-Mercury in our live coverage of the game: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

It's definitely dating when I learned about poker.

Can we call a 10-2 lead in Las Vegas a Doyle Brunson?

I think I was slightly misremembering the rule as allowing the qualifying offer to be signed after that date only with the team's consent, but it's actually that the offer expires on Oct. 1 unless the team chooses to extend the date.

It's common for NBA rosters not to feature the best possible players because of development, but the gap between New York's recent draft picks and the veterans the Knicks have on training camp contracts is notable. Garrison Mathews might be their ninth-best player and isn't guaranteed a spot.

Your guide to the WNBA Finals: Aces-Mercury predictions and how each team could win A'ja Wilson's Aces seek their third title in four years. Phoenix is chasing its first since 2014. The Finals open Friday.

On the eve of the WNBA Finals, our team-written preview of Aces-Mercury with contributions from @kendra-andrews.bsky.social and @michaelvoepelespn.bsky.social and a split panel of picks for the series: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

That one did slip through the cracks timing-wise but I would give very long odds to Thomas making the All-Star team. I don't know if there's anything he can do with the Nets to change his reputation league-wide.

Grading 50-plus NBA deals, including Kuminga, Grimes ending summer standoffs Kevin Pelton breaks down the most impactful signings, including Jonathan Kuminga finally reaching a deal with the Warriors.

With Quentin Grimes in there today, we've finally graded all of the most notable signings from NBA free agency this year, though the file will continue to grow with extensions (including Nikola Jovic, soon): www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Not until my win projections run next week.

Working on our group preview right now and still deciding on my pick.

The fascinating thing is they were nails against Phoenix in the close games during the regular season. I'm still not sure which Aces team we're going to get in this series.

Re-racking my news story from after midnight Pacific on the Aces taking a different path to their third WNBA Finals trip in Becky Hammon's four years as coach.

Aces ride 'twisty, windy' road back to WNBA Finals A'ja Wilson scored 35 points and Jackie Young had 32 to lead the Aces back to the WNBA Finals as Las Vegas held off pesky Indiana in the deciding Game 5.

For the night owls, my news story on the Aces' very different path to a third Finals in the past four years: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

Fifth time it's happened in any game over the last couple of seasons - and three of those five were Wilson/Young. #WNBA

The Las Vegas Aces have outlasted the resilient Indiana Fever, winning 107-98 in overtime for the team's third Finals appearance in the last four years and fourth in the last six. The Aces will host the Phoenix Mercury starting Friday in the first ever best-of-seven WNBA Finals.

Per ESPN Research, A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young are the first pair of teammates in WNBA history with at least 30 points in the same playoff game.

Bizarre stat: A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young combined for 61 of the Aces' 86 points in regulation and have none of their 13 through the first 3:51 of overtime. Chelsea Gray has scored eight and Jewell Loyd five.

Tamika Catchings is also in street clothes

Quiet subplot: It's been a long time since we've seen NaLyssa Smith out there.