We are only in Week 3 of the WNBA season, but that doesn’t mean there has been any lack of storylines, from injuries to investigations.
To start, there are two undefeated teams. The New York Liberty, who haven’t lost a game since winning the WNBA Championship last season, are off to their best start in franchise history at 8-0. The Minnesota Lynx are hot on their tails, off to a 9-0 start. Both teams look unstoppable, regardless of what data you look at.
The Liberty have the best offensive rating in the league (112.0) and the Lynx have the second-best at 107.0. It’s the same for the defensive rating — Liberty are at 88.6 and the Lynx are right behind them at 93.6. Ironically, the last time the two met was in Game 5 of the 2024 Finals, which saw the Liberty outlast the Lynx to become the champions.
The Liberty and Lynx are at the top, watching the Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, and Dallas Wings struggle mightily. The three teams are combined 5-15 after three weeks of play.
So while some teams pull away from the rest of the league — in good and bad ways — injuries have also made the headlines.
The Sky, already in crisis mode sitting at 2-5, lost their veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot to a torn ACL in a June 7 blowout to the Indiana Fever.
Vandersloot’s injury comes at a rough time for the Sky, who are staring down a long season if Angel Reese continues to struggle, knowing they have a lack of draft picks in the next draft if things really go awry and a rebuild is necessary. While Vandersloot’s injury was jarring to WNBA fans, so was the May 24 quad injury to Fever superstar Caitlin Clark (quad).
Indiana Fever fans can feel confident, even from the middle of the WNBA standings
With no publicly announced return date, Clark will miss her fifth straight game on Tuesday. Despite her absence, as well as Sophie Cunningham's injury and absence, the Fever are 4–4 overall (2-2 without Clark) and have used a hardship exception to sign extra players in the meantime.
Remember the stats showing how good the Liberty and Lynx were playing? Here’s another stat showing why the Fever have more reasons beyond inning games without Clark to be hopeful as the rest of the season transpires.
The Liberty (as expected) have the best net rating in the league at 23.3. The Lynx rank second with 13.4 — and hello to the Fever, who are third in the league with 10.8. No other team besides those above three broke into the double digits.
A reminder that net rating measures how well a team performs per 100 possessions by comparing offense and defense. It’s calculated by subtracting the team’s defensive rating from its offensive rating. A positive net rating means a team scores more than it allows (per 100 possessions).
So while their record isn’t the best just yet, they have a lot to look forward to when Clark gets back and only helps them get hotter.