One of the WNBA’s most controversial rivalries has thankfully reached its denouement — but the spiciest on-court drama is still to come with the league’s inaugural Rivals Week tipping off tonight.

Minnesota Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier will sadly be sidelined for the foreseeable future after leaving Saturday’s game early with a sprained ankle. That’s one question answered — but it’s far from the only WNBA query with tomorrow’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline looming.

Last year, Relo Metrics spoke with The GIST about its first year of tracking sponsor media value (SMV) in the WNBA. On Wednesday, we checked in with company CEO Jay Prasad on how the 2025 season so far compares with an explosive 2024 season that generated $136M in SMV for league sponsors.

Season two of Overtime Select — the high school girls’ basketball tournament launched by Gen Z sports brand Overtime (OT) last year — tips off on Saturday, so we spoke with OT about its growth numbers and the ROI for brands that want to capitalize on the next generation of women’s basketball stars.

LA Spark Cameron Brink has been cleared to hit the hardwood nearly 13 months after tearing her ACL, but as she prepares to make her highly-anticipated return, injuries continue to wreak havoc across the league — and the repercussions could be far-reaching.

The Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark has shattered records once again — or at least her likeness has. Last Thursday, a signed one-of-one Panini trading card depicting Clark sold for $660K, beating the previous $366K record set by another of Clark’s Panini cards in March. Let’s explore how Clark has recalibrated the memorabilia market with her unparalleled WNBA stardom.

Yesterday, sponsorship insights platform SponsorUnited released its inaugural WNBA Partnerships Report, covering 12 WNBA teams over 2024 season and the 2025 season so far. The report — which Lynch says has been three years in the making — notes a 17% surge in deals during the 2025 WNBA season alone.

Earlier this month, Sports Business Journal shared data from sponsorship analytics platform Blinkfire on social media engagement among professional North American sports teams. Eight of the top 10 are WNBA teams, led by the Dallas Wings, Indiana Fever, and Golden State Valkyries.

Just like your fave tunnel fit, the WNBA’s back serving looks as the second half of the season tipped off with last night’s five-game slate. Let’s hoop to it with a mid-week round-up of who’s hot and who’s not, plus a look at the road ahead.

The WNBA’s All-Star Weekend (ASW) drove a variety of online conversation, from ongoing CBA negotiations to the proliferation of StudBudz, the player-powered shared social media profile that offered an entertaining inside look into ASW.

From a shoe phone capturing all the action to the StudBudz streaming the non-stop party, WNBA All-Star Weekend truly left no crumbs…but players are still hungry for their rightful piece of the pie.

And it’s not just the typical Midwest summer weather — it’s WNBA All-Star Weekend (ASW), where the league’s best will converge on Indianapolis for two days of hoopla. Cue Smash Mouth and let’s go play.