Las Vegas secured a dynasty, can the WNBA secure a deal?

Bring ’em out.

Aces secured the dynasty, can the WNBA secure a deal?

The Las Vegas Aces won their third WNBA Championship on Friday, sweeping the Phoenix Mercury to put a bow on the league’s longest-ever season — while also starting the clock on its next CBA.

• “We have great players,” Aces guard Chelsea Gray told reporters, stressing the deal’s importance after helping secure Las Vegas’s third title in four years. “You need to treat them like that.”

Big picture: Like many teams across the league, the Aces have just one player under contract for 2026 — rookie Aaliyah Nye — after a rash of now-free agents opted to sign one-year contracts in anticipation of the upcoming CBA’s changes.

• “I think they’ll work it out somehow, I hope — I haven’t been consulted,” Aces owner Mark Davis said of the negotiations, which are likely to extend past their October 31st deadline after tensions erupted between players and commissioner Cathy Englebert in recent weeks.

• Davis also joked about making Hammon the best-paid coach in the WNBA, whose reported $1 million yearly salary is four times the single-year supermax player contract under the league’s current CBA.

Follow the money: The WNBA PA says they’re focused on expanding revenue sharing, while the league is reportedly aiming to keep salary structures mostly intact.

• “It’s basically the same system that we exist in right now,” Players Association president Nneka Ogwumike told ESPN in August. “When you approach it from the perspective of their response to our proposal, yes, money is more, but ultimately if you look at the growth of the business, the money relative to the percentage of everything is virtually staying the same.”

• According to Front Office Sports, the league’s most recent offer included an $850,000 supermax contract plus a veteran minimum near $300,000.

Time is ticking: The WNBA will likely have until the end of 2025 to strike a deal, but with little common ground so far, the potential for a work stoppage looms large.

KC’s Temwa Chawinga nears 2nd straight NWSL Golden Boot

Current striker Temwa Chawinga is nearing yet another trophy, as the 2024 NWSL MVP and Golden Boot winner lifted No. 1 Kansas City over No. 4 Gotham with her 15th goal on Saturday — taking the lead in this season’s scoring race.

• Chawinga’s 51st-minute tally secured the 2-0 victory, as the Current became the first-ever NWSL team to reach 20 wins in a single season. (Watch full highlights)

• The Malawian international is just the second player in league history to score 15+ goals across multiple seasons, after Sam Kerr’s 2017, 2018, and 2019 run with Sky Blue and Chicago.

Big picture: With two regular-season matchdays left, this year’s Golden Boot race has come down to Chawinga and Gotham’s Esthér, with the Spain star registering 13 goals of her own.

• Chawinga holds the advantage in form, scoring in her last four NWSL matches while Esthér hasn’t recorded a league goal since mid-September.

• No. 8 Louisville’s Emma Sears and No. 14 Chicago’s Ludmila round out the season’s top scorers with 10 goals apiece. (See full stats)

Bottom line: The Current might be laser-focused on team wins after picking up the 2025 NWSL Shield, but Chawinga’s individual dominance is stealing the spotlight.

Aces star A’ja Wilson headlines 2025 All-WNBA First Team

2025 WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson had herself a weekend, adding All-WNBA First Team honors to her stacked resume hours before winning her third league title on Friday.

• The Aces star was joined by fellow unanimous First Team selection Napheesa Collier (Minnesota), with Alyssa Thomas (Phoenix), Allisha Gray (Atlanta), and Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana) rounding out the bill.

• Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle), Jackie Young (Las Vegas), Sabrina Ionescu (New York), Aliyah Boston (Indiana), and Paige Bueckers (Dallas) headlined this season’s Second Team. (See full release)

How it works: Players are named to All-WNBA Teams regardless of position, racking up five points for each First Team vote and three points for each Second Team vote.

• Each member of the All-WNBA First Team receives a $10,300 bonus, with Second Team honorees awarded $5,150 apiece.

SC star Chloe Kitts will sit out NCAA season with torn ACL

South Carolina star Chloe Kitts has been sidelined, with the university announcing Monday that the forward will miss the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season after sustaining an ACL tear.

• “While this isn’t how I expected my senior season would go, I’m trusting God’s timing and purpose,” Kitts posted to social media. “I’ll continue to lead, support and push my team from the sidelines.”

• "Her teammates are capable of stepping up, and I know that her competitive fire and tenacity will be felt from the sidelines as she pours what she can into them to ensure our team’s success,” said Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley. (See full statement)

Big picture: Starting for South Carolina for the last two seasons, Kitts helped win an NCAA Championship title in 2024 before finishing second behind UConn in 2025.

US star Coco Gauff wins 2025 Wuhan Open

World No. 3 Coco Gauff has won her 11th-career WTA title, taking down fellow US star No. 5 Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 in Sunday’s Wuhan Open Final.

• Gauff now has a perfect 9-0 record in hardcourt tournament finals, lifting her first WTA 1000 trophy of 2025 without reaching a third set in Wuhan.

• “Winning every match in straight sets, I don’t know if I’ve done that before on a title run,” the 21-year-old said afterwards. “I just felt like I was really proud of what I accomplished this week, regardless of the result today.” (Watch full highlights)

Big picture: The weekend battle furthered a dominant campaign for US tennis stars, with a US-based athlete featuring in every Grand Slam final this year.

• US women also top the current WTA Rankings, with Gauff and Pegula joined by No. 4 Amanda Anisimova and No. 7 Madison Keys in the Top 10.

Seattle Reign legend Lauren Barnes announces retirement

Seattle Reign captain Lauren Barnes is calling it a career, as one of the founding NWSL team’s last remaining original members announced plans to retire at the end of the 2025 season.

• “From day one, Seattle has been home,” the 13-year Reign alum said in Monday’s statement. “I’ve grown up here — as a player, a leader and a person. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built and the culture we’ve created.”

• “Lu has been the heartbeat of this club since the very beginning,” echoed Reign manager Laura Harvey. “She has been the glue that has held us together through the ups and the downs.”

End of an era: Barnes is just one league veteran hanging up their NWSL boots this year, with Kansas City’s Kristen Hamilton, Angel City’s Ali Riley, Orlando’s Morgan Gautrat, and Seattle teammate Veronica Latsko also set to retire.

Quote of the day

2025 WNBA Champion A’ja Wilson
giving her teammates props while shaking a pink tambourine during the Aces’ postgame press conference on Friday.