Rumors

Eight-time WNBA All-Star and three-time Olympian Tina Charles is signing a one-year deal with the Connecticut Sun as a free agent, sources told ESPN on Sunday. With the move, Charles returns to the franchise that initially drafted her No. 1 overall in 2010, where she spent the first four seasons of her career and won league MVP in 2012.

ESPN

The WNBA — coming off one of its most successful years ever in terms of attendance and attention — had 12 teams this season; seven of those teams currently do not have coaches. The Dallas Wings are about to hire their fourth coach in seven seasons. The Atlanta Dream made the playoffs; they let Tanisha Wright go anyway. The Indiana Fever, with Caitlin Clark coming off her record-setting rookie year, fired Christie Sides over the weekend after a 1-8 start was turned around into a playoff berth. And on Monday, the Connecticut Sun and coach Stephanie White parted ways after back-to-back trips to the WNBA semifinals.

Associated Press

Ball Don't Lie: Part owner Dwyane Wade pulled up to watch his Chicago Sky play the Connecticut Sun 👏 (via @WNBA) pic.twitter.com/b7S9ECcrcU

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Sorry, Big3 fans ... WNBA coach Stephanie West believes you will NOT see Caitlin Clark in the 3-on-3 league this year -- this despite the obvious temptation of Ice Cube's $5 MILLION offer. The Connecticut Sun head coach told Harvey and Charles on "TMZ Live" on Wednesday she feels the legacy Clark can build in the WNBA will ultimately trump the Big3's cash when it comes time to make a decision.

TMZ.com

But, White -- who played five seasons in the WNBA before becoming Sun coach in 2023 -- said if she were in Clark's shoes ... the decision would be a relatively easy one -- albeit one her wallet wouldn't love. "I'm kind of a purist," she said. "I love the WNBA. I probably would've chosen the WNBA as well and then I would've kicked myself financially for the rest of my career."

TMZ.com

For one night next August, the home of the Boston Celtics will become the home of the Connecticut Sun. The Sun will play a regular season home game at TD Garden on Aug. 20, 2024, in an exciting collaboration between the WNBA franchise and its NBA counterpart. Connecticut hinted at a potential August 2024 game in Boston earlier this month, but now the date is set, with a start time set for 7 p.m. ET against an opponent to be determined when the WNBA schedule comes out later this month.

nbcsportsboston.com

The WNBA playoffs have practically been an infomercial for Becky Hammon’s brilliance as a head coach. She has the Aces two wins away from their first WNBA championship going into Tuesday night’s game against the Connecticut Sun. Her in-game decisions have been flawless – if you want to know how to run plays out of a timeout, go back and watch the end of Game 3 of the semifinals against the Seattle Storm – and no less than LeBron James has taken notice. Impressive as Hammon has been, however, it raises a question: What the hell were the Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic doing in passing her by? And what’s the excuse for all the other sad-sack NBA teams that didn’t even bring her in for an interview? “I have not,” Aces owner Mark Davis told USA TODAY Sports when asked whether he’s heard from any jealous NBA owners. “But I’m sure they’re sitting there thinking, 'Hmm, why didn’t I think of that?’ ”

USA Today Sports

Clutch Points: The Connecticut Sun and Phoenix Mercury came together to hold a moment of silence for 42 seconds following Brittney Griner's sentencing today 🙏 pic.twitter.com/mS2tgKTvZH

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Alexa Philippou: With the Las Vegas Aces' win tonight over the Connecticut Sun, Becky Hammon's 9-1 record marks the best 10-game start to a head coaching career in WNBA history.

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Andrew Greif: Ty Lue says he's not sure how Nic Batum's concussion -- suffered Sun. vs. Cleveland -- is progressing. The league's concussion policy doesn't state a firm timetable on returning to play, fwiw, because every case is different.

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1. The 2019 WNBA Finals showcased the best of the league — superb playmaking, athleticism and taut competition. The series between the Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun extended to a full five games before Washington claimed the franchise’s first title. So how was the viewership for the series? Very disappointing, especially given the quality of the games. Game 5 of the WNBA Finals between the Mystics and Sun averaged 440,000 viewers on ESPN2. That was down from last year’s Storm-Mystics clinching Game 3 (519,000 on ESPN2) and down 51 percent from the 2017 clincher (907,000 on ESPN).

The Athletic

Fisher did a ton of journaling before he addressed the Los Angeles Sparks as their new head coach this spring. Thinking through what he would say. What his players needed to hear. The way he hoped they'd learn to play together. The WNBA championship he hoped they'd chase this season. A chase that continues Tuesday (ESPN2, 6:30 p.m. ET) when third-seeded Los Angeles plays the Connecticut Sun in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals. But when he stepped in front of his new team for the first time, before a practice this spring, Fisher knew only one thing mattered: He had to be real with them about his past. "The first step I tried to take was to equalize myself and be very honest with the players about my life," Fisher said.

ESPN

When Kristy Toliver gets home hours later, after practice, weight training and team meetings, the real sharpening begins. That’s when Toliver breaks down film, because this isn’t just the start of her 11th WNBA season, which officially kicks off Saturday when the Mystics travel to play the Connecticut Sun. It’s also her first NBA offseason, and she doesn’t want to lose all she learned in the past year working with the Washington Wizards as the first active WNBA player to serve as an NBA assistant coach. “It’s like game rhythm,” Toliver said. “You don’t want to fall out of it.”

Washington Post

Mark Medina: Byron Scott doesn't expect Louis Williams to return tonight. He wants him to complete at least one practice. Lakers next play Sun vs. NYK

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