The WNBA season inched a step closer to starting after the league announced its schedule for the 2023 season. For the first time in league history, each WNBA team will play 40 games in the regular season. The rosters will look different by the time teams tip off in May but the intrigue is palpable. Here are four matchups to look forward to in 2023.
Las Vegas Aces-Seattle Storm: May 20
The Aces and Storm have been neck and neck for years and
This game also has extra intrigue after the Aces publicly lamented having to play on the road to start the season despite them winning the WNBA championship last season. It is the first time since 2014 a reigning champion will play their season opener away from their home arena. Kelsey Plum expressed her frustration with it.
“Someone looked at this schedule — not saying any names — but someone looked at this schedule and said, ‘How can we screw over the Aces?’” Kelsey Plum told Yahoo Sports. “Well, they tried. We’ll see if it works.
Indiana Fever-Minnesota Lynx: June 9
This will be the matchup between the teams with the two top picks in the 2023 WNBA draft. South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston is most likely to be the No. 1 overall selection while the following pick is up in the air. The Lynx could pick up Maryland’s Diamond Miller, Stanford’s Haley Jones or go in a different direction. Whoever they end up taking, there will always be a connection between the first and second pick in any draft.
Miller is showing why she should be the No. 2 overall pick and has led a depleted Maryland team this year. They remain in the top-25 despite not having a true center. Miller’s versatility on both ends of the floor is devastating and seeing her on a Lynx team with multiple athletic front court pieces will be fun to watch on opening weekend.
Chicago Sky-Connecticut Sun: June 25
These two teams are quickly becoming one of the best rivalries in the WNBA. They took turns eliminating each other in the the semifinals in 2021 and 2022 and will play each other four times this upcoming season. The Next Hoops pointed out this:
Depending on how free agency pans out, both teams will respectively return a good amount of their 2022 rosters. The Sky will be coming for the Sun after last year’s heartbreaking Game 5 loss. All of these games will be must-see TV when the season begins.
These teams will be going after each other when they go toe-to-toe in 2023.
Connecticut Sun-Los Angeles Sparks: June 18
When these two teams tip off, it’ll mark the first time Curt Miller has been on the opposite sideline of the Sun since 2015. After leading the team for seven years and helped take them to last year’s WNBA Finals, Miller and the Sun agreed to part ways. He ended up taking the head coaching job in Los Angeles, where he coached in 2015.
There might not be any bad blood between the two sides but they will most certainly want to be the one on top when these two play each other for the first time this season.
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