It started the day after the New York Liberty won their first WNBA championship.
That’s when the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, in an expected move, opted out of the collective bargaining agreement two years early. In a time of unprecedented growth and star power, sparked in 2024 by rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, it sets the stage for fascinating negotiations that could determine the future direction of the league.
Within weeks, more than half of the league’s teams were looking for new head coaches.
In early December, the Golden State Valkyries — the WNBA’s first new team since 2008 — held their expansion draft.
And later this month, a new 3×3 league featuring high-profile WNBA stars and backed by A-list money, kicks off a must-see offseason experiment.
All of that is to say it has been a wild offseason for women’s professional basketball, and things are only getting started here in 2025.
ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, Kevin Pelton, Alexa Philippou and Michael Voepel look at what the new year brings for the women’s pro game.
What should we expect in WNBA free agency?
After unprecedented player movement in WNBA free agency the past two years, the trade market might do more to change teams’ fortunes than free agency this year.
Several of the…
, Unrivaled's inaugural season, a new WNBA playoff format and possibly a new CBA are coming in 2025.){kind=link}