The 21st WNBA season is ready to test athletes to the fullest, demanding more from its stars than ever by reinventing the way the game is played. No longer are point guards just ball-handlers, power forwards strictly low-post hustlers and centers board-crashers. Basketball unicorns are roaming freely throughout the league following an organization-saving season that saw MVP Nneka Ogwumike finish a fadeaway dagger in the final seconds of a decisive Game 5 to lock up a Los Angeles Sparks championship win over the perennial favorite Minnesota Lynx.
High-octane play will be felt from the jump as the Washington Mystics reintroduce themselves in what many expect to be the best offense the WNBA has ever seen, modeled after the Golden State Warriors. Nabbing the Sparks' starting point guard Kristi Toliver and 2015 MVP Elena Delle Donne, the defending champions and revenge-seeking Lynx have a third party threatening their chances for a Finals rematch.
If you haven't been paying attention, now is your chance. This league is here to stay, its rivalries are building up, and a trio of powerhouse teams is ready to shatter the basketball precedents set before them. It's a new age in the W.
—Matt Ellentuck