The 2026 WNBA season – the 30th season in the league’s history – has concluded with a stunning result. That result was the Golden State Valkyries – in only its second season as a franchise – prevailing in a thrilling 7-game Finals over the Atlanta Dream.
A number of years ago, it was a real question as to if the Finals would be covered the way a championship series deserves to be covered. In the year 2026, that is no longer a problem as the Finals did indeed receive Finals-level coverage.
A great deal of that coverage was courtesy of Brian and Garrett Gonzales who are the hosts of Podhalla – a Golden State Valkyries podcast. It is part of the Bay Area Sports Podcasting Network which also features podcasts dedicated to other Bay Area teams – including the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and MLB’s San Francisco Giants.
Originally Valks Valley, this pod has chronicled the ins and outs of all things Valkyries since the beginning – which was only in 2025. And in 2026, Podhalla has chronicled the story of the 2026 WNBA champion Golden State Valkyries. This podcast has been an integral element of Golden State’s ascent since the beginning and that will certainly continue as the team continues to evolve into 2027 as defending WNBA champions.
Also – speaking of the Valks, 95.7 The Game KGMZ-FM in the Bay Area (an Audacy station) is the flagship station for Golden State. It had radio coverage of all seven of the Valkyries’ contests with the Dream. We appreciate a great radio call (Wendell Epps, anyone?) and Kevin Danna on Valkyries radio nailed the first-ever championship call at Ballhalla. Send a huge bouquet of flowers his way.
The Valkyries championship also allowed us to think of Alex Simon, who is currently the sports editor at SFGate. It also made us think of Marisa Ingemi at Valkyries Beat.
Speaking of women’s basketball media, we at Beyond The W also extend congratulations to Lulu Kesin who announced that she is heading to Sports Illustrated as a national women’s basketball reporter. She established herself as a rising star with her solid coverage of South Carolina women’s basketball and that experience will certainly more than serve her well in that new role with SI.
One would be hard-pressed to find anyone within the WNBA’s media space that had a bigger year – both inside and outside said space – than Meghan Hall at USA Today. Name a random WNBA event and she was there. Whether it was at WNBA All-Star this past year in Chicago or covering the Finals at both State Farm Arena and Ballhalla,
Not only that, but we forget earlier this year she was on site for FIFA World Cup matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which was rechristened as “Atlanta Stadium” for the duration of the tournament. She has rapidly established not only a résumé, but plenty of much-deserved respect across the board in the sports media realm. Something tell us, though, she is just getting started.
That team of reporters which are dedicated to the women’s game is only growing within the USA Today family of networks. Another is Callie Fin who established herself with her exemplary coverage of the Las Vegas Aces and has brought her many journalistic talents to USA Today. Fin recently was on site for the return of JuJu Watkins to USC. USA Today refers to its women’s sports coverage as Studio IX and it also includes Mitchell Northam as well as Danielle Lerner who previously worked at the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Houston Chronicle. Lerner is still Houston-based and she is already covering the story of the revived Comets – including reporting on their event last month where its logo and watermarks were unveiled.
Next year, we will re-introduce Houston to the WNBA family. This year, two cities became part of said family – one that was previously there and one that made its debut this year. One of those cities is Portland. The other of those cities is Toronto. Last season was the first season for the Toronto Tempo and one of its reporters that was front and center with Tempo coverage was Chelsea Leite of TSN.
We at Beyond The W had the opportunity to interact with Leite back in July at All-Star in Chicago. With names such as Leite that are the correct blend of insight and personality, Canadian WNBA fans from Québec to BC are in good hands with Leite continuing to chronicle the increasing “Tempo” of the 6’s WNBA franchise. “She The North” became a reality – fittingly – in 2026.
The 2026 season may have been the first of the Tempo and the relaunched Fire – but it was also the final season of the Connecticut Sun prior to the move to Houston. We had a chance to chat a bit with the team’s play-by-play voice, Brendan Glasheen midway through the season about his career, arriving at this point and what is next following this season.
One thing about Glasheen, he knows how to find work. In addition to his stellar work calling games for Unrivaled, Glasheen was also on the call for TNT Sports’ coverage of the FIBA Women’s World Cup. While the Sun may have relocated, our guess is that we will see – and hear – plenty of New England’s very own in the years to come.
Speaking of coverage of women’s sports in New England, we also greatly recommend the stellar work of Maggie Vanoni at Hearst Connecticut. The Sun may have set in New England, but she is still providing excellent coverage of the UConn women’s team that will always be in the national championship conversation as long as Geno Auriemma continues to call the plays in Storrs.
The “Sunset Season” also meant it was the final year on the call for Terrika Foster-Brasby. But, in similar fashion to Glasheen, she also is in high demand when thinking about WNBA journalists. As her various social media handles display – she knows sports. CBS Sports has recognized this too – as evidenced by her work for it. USA Sports – one of the WNBA’s new media partners this year – recognized that too – as evidenced by her work there. She even hosted an orange carpet event prior to Game 2 of the Finals this past season.
The folks at iHeartMedia are continuing to recognize this too as evidenced by her “Levels To This” podcast she hosts with Sheryl Swoopes. She will continue to be a vital part of WNBA media going forward in the coming seasons – not to mention while life after the Sun has set in, her beloved Detroit will rejoin the WNBA in 2029.
Speaking of CBS Sports, one of our favorite journalists has always been Erica Ayala who is one of the hosts of the We Need To Talk program along with Alicia Jay. Ayala, who we had a chance to interact with during All-Star weekend, is one of those who is not new to this, but true to this. The founder of Black Rosie Media, women’s sports are Ayala’s forte but her résumé also includes extensive hockey work as well.
In fact, guess who Ayala interviewed on a recent edition of We Need To Talk? Gabby Williams. Yeah – that Gabby Williams. The very Williams who tallied 30 points in Game 7 of the WNBA Finals en route to Finals MVP honors for the Valkyries.
The phrase “not new to this, but true to this” also applies to one Khristina Williams who is continuing her excellent work covering the WNBA – in large part via her podcast, “In Case You Missed It.” One of her most recent interviews is with Kiah Stokes who was one of the defensive standouts that led the Valkyries to its first-ever championship. Another is with Cori Close, the UCLA coach that guided the Bruins to a national championship last season.
If anyone is more than deserving of flowers for her tireless work over the years to elevate the WNBA, it is Williams. And even though we have nothing against ESPN’s Shams Charania, Williams – already a gifted newsbreaker – deserves more of these major W scoops that Charania and others seem to get.
Anyone who has followed Beyond The W over the years understands that Tyler DeLuca is another one of our favorites. Even though larger outlets such as NBC, USA Network and NBA TV have stepped up their WNBA postgame coverage lately, DeLuca was doing postgame coverage of WNBA games before it became a cool concept.
DeLuca wasted no time going onto the No Cap Space YouTube page and breaking down every one of the seven games of this year’s WNBA Finals. Even though the W season may have concluded, he has shifted his coverage to women’s basketball.
He and the team at No Cap Space, which includes Andrew Haubner, also deserve plenty of credit for their in-depth breakdown into the plethora of off-court happenings regarding the Chicago Sky’s front office that they released back in February.
Two names that we always make sure to shout out are Aya Abdeen and Nekias Duncan. To say that the Phoenix Mercury – Abdeen’s forte – have been undergoing a transition is an understatement. The 2026 season may have been an unexpectedly sour one in Arizona – especially considering the Mercury were in the Finals at the conclusion of the 2025 campaign.
Even though this season had more highs than lows in Phoenix, Abdeen still diligently chronicled the Mercury’s season from start to finish. Our WNBA space is undoubtedly a better place as long as Abdeen is in it.
And what more can be said about Duncan? In the past few years, we have seen those who have covered the W as journalists land front office jobs – such as Ben Dull to the New York Liberty and Ben Pickman (formerly of The Athletic) earn a gig with the Fire. It also includes Mark Schindler who deservedly landed a job as the Manager of Scouting and Basketball Strategy at the Tempo. If a WNBA team (or an NBA team for that matter) were to hire Duncan as much as he studies basketball film, it would be a home run hire.
Until that happens, Duncan is continuing to put forth great work on his Dunker Spot podcast on Yahoo. But we still say he deserves a program either on Yahoo or NBA TV where he is breaking down key plays made during games – like the old “Playbook” show that used to air on NFL Network.
Another podcast that is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds is Pull Up with Myles (Ehrlich) and Owen (Pence) produced by Kevin “KDot” Lewis. The latest guest on their podcast? Nneka Ogwumike who recently called it an end to her WNBA career. Pence has deservedly had bylines in plenty of publications and Ehrlich completed another season as one of the premier beat reporters covering the Liberty. One can assume that 2027 will include another year of outstanding work and interviews for both Ehrlich and Pence.
A highlight of the season was the opportunity to cover All-Star media day at the Obama Presidential Center – where Obama himself made a cameo appearance. The number of journalists that were on site for the occasion was a large amount. One that especially came to mind was Kareem Copeland. He was previously laid off from The Washington Post, but has found solid footing with ESPN. In addition, Copeland is as great a person as he is a reporter – as are most individuals that are WNBA journalists.
During the season, not only did we at Beyond The W have the privilege of covering another All-Star Game, we also had boots on the ground at both Hall of Fame induction ceremonies – the Women’s in Knoxville and the Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts. Kesin was there – as was another of our favorite reporters – Charles Hallman with the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. Hallman will always be worthy of flowers for continuing to shed a light on diversity (or the lack of it) in sports media.
Another individual that we saw at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony was Jordan Robinson. She even took part in a conversation with Taj McWilliams-Franklin at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame for her podcast with Emma Baccellieri – Court Queens. As the number of platforms dedicated to the women’s game continue to rise, The Women’s Hoops Show continues to be one of the signature podcasts that there is – and that will continue into the future.
Speaking of those who also wrote books, credit also must be given to Tamryn Spruill who previously was at Swish Appeal as its editor-in-chief. She also wrote a book chronicling the WNBA’s history and has a website called The Hard Screen. Her work over the years has also included bylines in Slam, The New York Times and The Athletic.
The many names that are continuing to put forth excellent work within the WNBA’s media space are indeed many. That includes Aryeh Schwartz and the team assembled at Winsidr. It includes Howard Megdal at The IX. It includes Jackie Powell – another of the excellent WNBA writers whose work particularly centers around the Liberty. It includes Quita Loves Sports – one of the most credible YouTube channels there is that covers the game.
It includes Annie Costabile at Front Office Sports who has become a force to be reckoned with in her own right. It includes Nia Symone. It includes The 9450 Podcast. It includes Monica McNutt and Chiney Ogwumike among others. It also includes the extremely valuable resource that is Her Hoop Stats.
Dallas is an underrated hotbed for WNBA media – and it has a team in the Wings that is clearly on the rise. Wings fans are also sitting pretty considering scribes such as Dorothy Gentry are providing in-depth coverage. Another who does so is another of our favorites – Rob Tiongson at The Podium Finish whose range of coverage goes far beyond Dallas.
It also includes those that work at more “traditional” outlets such as ESPN’s Alexa Phillipou and Michael Voepel and Doug Feinberg at the Associated Press. It also includes Julia Poe at the Chicago Tribune. As WNBA seasons continue to become longer and as more media wade their way into the W space, covering a season becomes more of a chore than what it previously was, but we continue to understand that it is a labor of love that we have all decided to embrace.
Also – there is no way we could forget one of our favorites of favorites in Ari Chambers who will always be “so important.”
Those who also embraced that labor of love were the teams at NBC Sports and USA Sports as the 2026 was the first under the W’s new media deal where NBC and USA split rights to air the Finals. Two words – Elle. Duncan.
Also, speaking of NBC Sports, Natalie Esquire’s work is more than worthy of praise.
It will also not be long before an expansion franchise arrives in Philadelphia – 2030 to be exact. One can only imagine that another one of our favorites – Rob Knox – is counting down the days until WNBA hoops finally tips off on the City of Brotherly Love.
We also must give ourselves at Beyond The W flowers as well – not only for being in the mix at Hall of Fame inductions and All-Star weekends. We recorded a couple of episodes of The W Podcast – one with Sydney Carter (now the assistant coach at Auburn) and one shortly after the collective bargaining agreement was announced and ensured that there would be a 2026 WNBA season.
What more can one say about our photographer Lamar Carter who is excellent with a lens as Kelsey Mitchell is from 3-point range. Not to mention, he recently celebrated is 40th birthday! Plus our Head Coach/Editor-In-Chief Laureen Edwards who first had the vision for Beyond The W back in 2014 – and the rest has been history ever since!
Today, covering women’s basketball is a year-round undertaking between the WNBA, the college game and leagues such as Unrivaled, Project B and now Upshot. It is especially the case considering only two weeks following the conclusion of the Finals, we will be onto the draft lottery. Also, there is the ongoing suspense about who will succeed Cathy Engelbert as WNBA commissioner.
The coverage of the WNBA has been under intense scrutiny over these last few years – including by us here at Beyond The W. But we see those like the many names we mentioned in this article who want to shine a spotlight on the entire league – and not solely for the purpose of sowing division between one or two players and the rest of the WNBA family.
Every season is an adventure – and we got through it together as always. In the meantime, give yourselves your own set of flowers. Even though more individuals have found their way into the WNBA media space, one must not forget that the space is what it is because it reflects the overall diversity of the W itself.
Continue to elevate yourselves and this league. After all, as it continues to expand in size and scope, this task has never been more important.
Headline: 30 SEASONS OF WNBA, 30 SEASONS OF OUTSTANDING STORYTELLING
Subhead: Talented, young, vibrant and diverse collection of hoops enthusiasts recognized for championship-level coverage of W’s 30th anniversary
