Kahleah Copper

They call her KFC for a reason – Kahleah Copper gets BUCKETS. She broke out in the 2021 WNBA season, helping a star-studded Chicago Sky team to their first franchise championship. Since then, she’s been one of the league’s toughest forwards.

One of the first things someone will notice when watching Copper on the court is how fast she is. If you're just half a step behind her, she will blow past you on her way to the basket. She’s efficient, with a career 2-point field goal percentage of 48.4 percent. She doesn’t shoot the 3-ball too much, but has shot 34.8 percent from distance in her career. Copper is a player with a high IQ. She knows exactly what to do when she’s on the court. If she’s feeling hot when shooting, she’ll let it fly. If she knows she can benefit from getting straight to the hoop, she’ll do it again and again. According to Her Hoops Stats, Copper scored 98.6 points per 100 possessions in 2024 — her first season with the Phoenix Mercury. She also had a career-high usage rate in her first season with the Mercury, at 31.5 percent.

Phoenix had a lot of the right pieces this season, but couldn’t seem to put together a long stretch of success. It was the first year for not only their head coach but for Copper, as well as Natasha Cloud. A new iteration of the team with familiar mainstays in Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner. It will be interesting to see what this team does next season with more chemistry and a better understanding of each other. Copper will be one to watch in 2025 — she averaged 21.1 points per game in 2024 and led her team to multiple wins. She made buzzer-beaters, brought them back from deficits, and got them going on offense when things were slow. If this team is successful, it will likely be in large part because of Copper.