WNBA in 2025 was pure cinema. Coming off a wildly successful 2024, the anticipation for the league was at its peak. Many were interested in how the WNBA will maintain its past success and deliver to the fans. Safe to say, the league followed through with several significant moments. 

1. Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese rivalry flares up 

The Clark-Reese rivalry was central to the league’s 2024 boost. So, you know it was deliberate slating the Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky game as their season opener.

Things got heated in the third quarter of that matchup, when Reese shoved Fever forward Natasha Howard while battling for a rebound. After Reese grabbed the ball, Clark committed a hard foul, stepping across her and knocking her to the floor.

As Clark turned and walked away, Reese popped back up and let her hear it, forcing Fever center Aliyah Boston to step in and separate the two. After the officials sorted it out, Clark was hit with a flagrant-1 foul, while both Reese and Boston were assessed technicals.

Clark eventually came out on top with a win, finishing with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and a career-high four blocks. The game drew 2.7 million viewers on ABC, the most-watched WNBA game, regular-season or playoffs, since Clark and Reese were drafted. This was the flashpoint for the season and gave fans even more anticipation of what’s to come next.

2. WNBA announces expansion to three new cities

In July, the league announced a historic expansion capitalising on their recent success. The WNBA is set to expand to a record 18 teams by 2030, with franchises in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia joining previously announced teams in Portland and Toronto, which begin play in 2026. 

All three expansion teams announced are backed by NBA ownership groups, and each one paid a $250 million expansion fee. That figure is roughly five times what the Golden State Warriors paid to launch the Valkyries just a few years ago. On top of that, all three franchises are planning to pour additional money into the league by building practice facilities and upgrading team infrastructure.

3. Caitlin Clark suffers from recurring injuries

Caitlin Clark is the most popular player in the league with a global fanbase. She is among the primary reasons the WNBA has grown at such a fast pace in the last two years. After a prolific rookie season where she shattered the assists record while leading the Fever to their first playoff appearance in almost a decade, her sophomore season was the most anticipated storyline of the season. 

However, the season began on a bad note, as she sat out of Indiana’s preseason opener with a left quad injury. That turned into a left quad strain, then a left groin strain. Then, when it seemed she was back for good, Clark made a bounce pass to a cutting Kelsey Mitchell against the Connecticut Sun and tweaked her right groin.

During her rehab, Clark was also dealing with a bone bruise in her ankle, which completely shut down any realistic talk of a comeback. She ended up playing just 13 games, putting up 16.5 points and 8.8 assists per night while shooting a career-low 27.9 percent from three.

Given how close the Indiana Fever came to knocking off the Las Vegas Aces in a five-game semifinal series, there’s a real argument that they could have gone to the finals if Clark had been healthy. Still, even with everything that went wrong, Clark did enough in 2025 that it would be unfair to call the season a total loss.

4. Injury-ravaged Indiana Fever almost beat the eventual champions 

After upsetting the Atlanta Dream, the Indiana Fever came up against the mighty A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces. A sweep was imminent, especially because the Fever were without Clark, Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson, Chloe Bibby, Damiris Dantas, and Aari McDonald. 

However, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, and Odyssey Sims took the sword to Vegas’ neck. After upsetting them in Game 1, the Aces stormed back with two commanding wins. However, the Fever went against the odds for the nth time and tied the series 2-2 with a crucial Game 4 win. It took Kelsey Mitchell being hospitalized and Aliyah Boston fouling out for the Aces to win Game 5, in overtime, no less. 

5. Players make a statement at the 2025 All-Star Game

Tensions were at an all-time high at the 2025 All-Star game. An event that was supposed to be a celebration of their success was a battleground for the ongoing CBA negotiations. With almost the entire world watching, the players decided to make a statement.

They walked out with pitch-black shirts during the warm-up with a clear message written on them: Pay Us What You Owe Us. It brought them the public support they needed at the negotiating table. It was an important aspect that signaled the league not take the players lightly. 

6. A’ja Wilson solidifies herself in the GOAT debate with the Las Vegas dynasty

2025 may as well be named A’ja Wilson’s year. She was coming off probably the best season anyone has ever had in 2024, dragging the Aces to the semifinals all by herself. Topping or even matching that was going to be difficult. Somehow, Wilson managed to continue on that same wavelength. 

In 2025, Wilson averaged 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.6 steals while missing just four regular-season games. She won her 4th MVP and her 3rd Defensive Player of the Year. In the postseason, she was even better, averaging 26.8 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks, including a Finals MVP while winning Las Vegas their third title in the last four years. 

She now has the same number of titles as Diana Taurasi, Candace Parker, and teammate Jackie Young. These WNBA greats are the only women with more rings than Wilson: Rebekah Brunson (five), Chelsea Gray (four), Cynthia Cooper (four), Tina Thompson (four), Sheryl Swoopes (four), Maya Moore (four), Seimone Augustus (four), and Sue Bird (four).

With Young and Chelsea Gray, Wilson has firmly put Vegas on the map as a dynasty. She also had her signature Nike shoes drop and was also named Time’s Athlete of the Year.

7. Debutant Valkyries set the standard for expansion

Not much was expected of the Golden State Valkyries. They had a team made up of role players from different teams and Natalie Nakase, a first-time head coach. No expansion team had ever made the WNBA playoffs. Yet, the Golden State Valkyries proceeded to have a season that will be talked about for ages.

With a 23-21 record, the team uncovered new stars like Nakase, who won the Coach of the year and Veronica Burton, who won the Most Improved Player Of The Year. The team formed a proper identity as Nakase drilled down a defensive system that choked their opponents.

The team won off the court as well. They set the all-time WNBA attendance record for average attendance (18,064) and total fans (397,408). Financially, also, the team did well. 

Forbes reported that the organization projected at least $55 million from sponsorships and ticket sales alone, a figure that’s nearly $20 million higher than what any women’s sports team has ever made in a single year. Then in June, Forbes left Golden State off its 2025 list of the WNBA’s most valuable franchises, but still projected that the Valkyries are on track to become not only the league’s most valuable team next year, but the most valuable women’s sports team in the world.

8. Napheesa Collier torches Cathy Engelbert 

Napheesa Collier was not going to leave without setting the stage on fire. With the CBA negotiations going nowhere, and the emphatic end to Collier’s season meant she was heated. As a member of the top brass in the WNBPA, Collier said that the WNBA has the “worst leadership in the world.” While criticizing the league office for its ignorance towards many issues, she revealed details of her private conversation with the commissioner.

“This past February, I sat across from [Engelbert] and asked how she planned to address the officiating issues in our league,” Collier said. “Her response was, ‘Well, only the losers complain about the refs.’ I also asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like [Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers], who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league and are making so little for their first four years.”

“Her response was, ‘[Clark] should be grateful. She makes $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.’ And in that same conversation, she told me, ‘Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.'”

This sent the entire sports ecosystem into overdrive, leading to a lot more coverage regarding the players’ fight. While Engelbert gave her own reply, it was not as impactful as Collier’s statement. She had a lot more support among the players, analysts, and the public.