WNBA

The W25 Snubs: Here’s the players left off the WNBA’s full list of 25 greatest players

The WNBA turned 25 this season and in honor of their quarter-century anniversary, the league released the W25; a list of the 25 best players in the WNBA’s 25-year history. The WNBA officially referred to the list as “a collection of the 25 greatest and most influential players in WNBA history,” with the players chosen based on their overall contributions to the WNBA.

For someone like me that has followed the WNBA over the years, I was able to quickly fire off a list of 20 players that I knew were 100% locks on the list. It should come as no surprise to see that the W25 includes Cynthia Cooper, Diana Taurasi, Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird, Sheryl Swoopes, Elena Delle Donne, and Candace Parker. That’s easy money at ku casino. For me, it wasn’t much of a strain to come  up with twenty of the most essential WNBA players in the league’s history:

W25 Accomplishments
Player Titles MVPs Finals MVP All-Stars All-WNBA
Becky Hammon 0 0 0 6 4
Breanna Stewart 2 1 2 3 3
Brittany Griner 1 0 0 7 5
Candace Parker 1 2 1 6 9
Cappie Pondexter 2 0 2 7 4
Cynthia Cooper 4 2 4 3 4
Diana Taurasi 3 1 2 10 14
Elena Delle-Donne 2 1 0 6 5
Katie Smith 2 0 1 7 2
Lauren Jackson 3 2 1 7 8
Lisa Leslie 2 3 2 8 12
Maya Moore 4 1 1 6 7
Nneka Ogwumike 1 1 0 6 4
Seimone Augustus 4 1 0 8 6
Sheryl Swoopes 4 3 0 6 7
Sue Bird 4 0 0 12 8
Sylvia Fowles 2 1 2 7 6
Tamika Catchings 1 1 1 10 12
Tina Thompson 4 0 0 9 8
Yolanda Griffith 1 1 1 8 5

The above are no-brainers. I added their accomplishments and outside of Becky Hammon, the players all have either have one or multiple championships, MVPs or more than six WNBA All-Star selections. That leaves Ticha Penichiero, Swin Cash, Lindsey Whalen, Angel McCoughtry, and Tina Charles. Not that these legends do not deserve to be on the W25, but there are strong arguments for other players to consider. Let’s take a look at their accomplishments.

W25 Accomplishments
Player C'ships MVPs Finals MVP All-Stars All-WNBA
Ticha Penichiero 1 0 0 4 3
Swin Cash 3 0 0 4 2
Lindsey Whalen 4 0 0 5 5
Angel McCoughtry 0 0 0 5 6
Tina Charles 0 1 0 8 5

When it comes to a combination of awards, MVPs, all-star selections, and championships, as great as these players are, their resumes don’t measure up to the 20 before them. With that, we’ll look at which players may have a better argument to be in the W25.

The W25 Snubs

The W25 started with a long list of 72 nominees. Paring that list down through the first five cuts wouldn’t have been that hard. Twenty-five isn’t a small number by any means, but it’s an small enough number that you know the final list of players would have to the best-of-the-best. Based on who was selected, here’s our list of WNBA players that were left off the W25 and maybe shouldn’t have been?

  • A’ja Wilson
  • Candace Dupree
  • Deanna Nolan
  • DeLisha Milton-Jones
  • DeWanna Bonner
  • Katie Douglas
  • Nykesha Sales
  • Penny Taylor
  • Rebekkah Brunson
  • Skylar Diggins-Smith
  • Taj McWilliams-Franklin

A’ja Wilson is the only WNBA MVP not to make the W25, but that’s more because she’s only been in the league for three years after being drafted in 2018 and doesn’t yet have the body of work. She’s got a good case for the W30.

Next let’s talk DeWanna Bonner who is a two-time WNBA champion and a 4x WNBA all-star that sits 16th all-time in WNBA scoring. Two-time WNBA champion DeLisha Milton-Jones is 17th in scoring with 5571 points. WNBA champion and and 5x all-star Katie Douglas should also get some consideration for the W25.

I also want to give some love to Taj McWilliams-Franklin. Never the star of her team, she was 6-time WNBA all-star despite not coming into the league until she was 28 years old.

 

Candace Dupree and Rebekkah Brunson snubbed

But the W25’s biggest snubs based on their overall contributions to the league? Then it has to be Candace Dupree and Rebekkah Brunson.

Dupree is not only fourth all-time in WNBA scoring, but she’s an NBA champion and a seven time all-star. If we’re talking WNBA championships, no one has more than 5x WNBA all-star Brunson. She’s has 5 WNBA championship rings and is the league’s all-time rebounding leader. Rebekkah was a core to the Minnesota Lynx dynasty that won WNBA championships in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Those teams included teammates that are on the W25: Moore, Fowles, Whalen, and Augustus. Brunson too, deserves to be on the list.

Based on these accomplishments, I would have easily chosen Dupree or Brunson over Penicheiro who has one WNBA championship and four WNBA all-star selections. On this list, that doesn’t make the cut for me.

Brunson or Dupree over Penicheiro would be the only change I would make on the W25 because it would be tough to remove McCoughtry, Whalen, Cash, or Charlies as they have a comparable combo of championships, all-star berths, scoring numbers and MVPs.

And that’s the problem with lists, they all cut off at some point and more often than not, there’s controversy on whether player A should have made it over player B. With the W25, the list needed just one more spot to accommodate Brunson and Dupree’s significant contributions to the WNBA.

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