Following the WNBA’s impressive 2022 season, the ’23 regular season schedule brings an exciting slate of games from the league’s opening weekend and throughout the year.
The league will seek to increase its popularity even further after the 2022 campaign was the most watched in 14 years and broke new thresholds for social media consumption and merchandise sales. Fans will also get more opportunities to watch their favorite teams battle it out on the hardwood, as the league has increased the number of matches to 40, up from 36 last season. The Commissioner’s Cup will also return for a third year.
Let’s take a look at some of the hottest games in 2023, which include rematches during opening weekend and what could be the last home games for two WNBA legends.
Jessica Hill / Associated Press
Aces in the Storm: May 20, 2023
Before Aja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Bloom, and the Aces captured their first WNBA title in Becky Hammon’s first year as coach in 2022, Las Vegas ran through a best-of-five semifinal series against the Storm. While the Aces won four games, the series was one for the books that included amazing shot-making performances from Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd, Gray and Wilson, and the end of Sue Bird’s WNBA career. While the retired Flyers won’t please the floor this year, the tense, pressure-packed games between these two teams will certainly carry over into opening weekend. Get your popcorn ready and plan accordingly.
Aces in Sparks: May 25, 2023
Six days into the season, the WNBA champion will make a short trip to Los Angeles to face the Sparks. Los Angeles experienced some upsets prior to the season, missing the playoffs for the second straight season. However, former Sun coach Kurt Miller is entering his first season with the franchise. There is nothing better than watching another clash between Miller and Hammon Connected through Tom Cullen’s training tree. While it may not be a Finals rematch – the Aces beat the Sun to win it all – it will be interesting to see how Miller builds this squad to take on a very talented Aces team so early in the season.
Liberty at Sky: June 2, 2023
Liberty came out strong in the first round last year, taking out the 2021 champ in the first game of the best-of-three series. The win even gave New York its first playoff victory since September 2015. But in the next two games, the defensive Sky stepped up and tied Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu’s play to eliminate New York. with New season and freedom seeking to build In their 22 campaign, an early June rematch between Candace Parker’s Chicago team and New York City will be a thrill.
Sky at Aces: June 11, 2023
Throughout last season, many believed that the games between Las Vegas and Chicago were final previews for the WNBA (although The Sun has something to say about those predictions). When these two teams are chasing, the back and forth fights are intense. Last season aces Scatter 28 points lead to the sky As Chicago completed the largest comeback in WNBA history on the floor of the aces. But then Las Vegas returned the favor, Defeat Heaven in the Commissioner’s Cup While adding a third win over Chicago in his second-to-last game of the regular season. With two teams full of all-star players, this clash will be no less intense in 2023 and will be one of confrontation.
Sun in Sparks: June 18, 2023
Miller spent seven seasons with the Sun and made two WNBA Finals appearances but was unable to bring Connecticut a title. Going into his first season with Los Angeles, Miller will get a chance to face his former team about a month into the 2023 season. However, depending on the WNBA’s free agency ramifications, things could look very different when the two teams meet. The majority of the Sun’s salary cap space is tied to 21 WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones, four-time All-Star DeWanna Bonner and three-time All-Star Allyssa Thomas under first-year head coach Stephanie White. While White seeks to pair the right players around the trio, Miller faces a similar situation: Only five Sparks players are under contract for a 23 season. Currently, those players don’t include Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike. Despite all that, this is one to mark on your calendar.
Aces in Mercury: September 8, 2023
If you thought it was hard to watch the Bird play their last game, get ready for what could be Diana Taurasi’s last regular-season home game at the footprint center. Taurasi, who Returning for its nineteenth season, potentially in the middle of helping Phoenix secure a playoff spot in the final days of the ’23 campaign. With Skylar Diggins-Smith next season in limbo now due to the recent announcement of her pregnancy and the ongoing situation with Brittney Griner’s imprisonment in Russia, Taurasi will have her hands full.
Taurasi He ended the 2022 season early, on August 8, due to a quadriceps strain before losing to Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs. If this is the three-time WNBA champion’s last home game, she will no doubt leave everything she has on the floor against a fiercely competitive Aces team. Circle this match immediately.
The Sky in the Sun: September 10, 2023
Just like Taurasi, Parker has been weighing whether to return for a 16th season in 2023. In May, the 36-year-old thought Season 22 would be her last. Two weeks ago, the two-time champion announced that she plans to play a 23rd season, according to Richard Deitch of the athlete.
Parker last season He broke the league’s triple-double record in late June, earned her seventh All-Star selection and started in last year’s All-Star Game in Chicago, a city very near and dear to her. In what could be Parker’s last regular season game of her career, it was fitting that the Chicago Wizards face off against the Suns, a squad that took the best of the heavens in a best-of-five semifinal series in the 2022 playoffs. Fourth between the two teams in the 23 season.
