Roughly a few weeks have been completed in the 2023 season. Of course, there is still plenty of season to go and actually there is also plenty of season prior to All-Star Weekend.
Expect closer to the mid point of the month when there begins to be more talk about who which stars from the W’s ranks will be booking trips to Las Vegas next month for the All-Star Game. But since we will eventually get to All-Star weekend and given the fact that our 12 teams now have a few games under their belt, that conversation will begin sooner rather than later.
Many of the WNBA’s usual suspects are once again putting up noteworthy statistics on the board. Those, of course, include A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and DeWanna Bonner. All three have previously played under the All-Star limelight when we arrive at a season’s midpoint.
Every season there are emerging stars that place notable numbers on the board that get them worthy of being in that same conversation as well.
First up is the Indiana Fever’s Aliyah Boston – who appears the be the early leader in the clubhouse for Rookie of the Year. For some youngsters, there is a bit of a transition period into the WNBA (ask Sabrina Ionescu in 2021).
As of this writing, the Fever have only won one game but Indiana’s misfortune has nothing to do with Boston. She is looking like a multi-season veteran.
Dawn Staley had her well-prepared for the W (it’s what she does down in South Carolina). Boston tallied 15 points in her first couple of games against the Connecticut Sun and New York Liberty than most recently went for 25 and 11 on the road at a Chicago Sky team that is exceeding expectations.
Aliyah. Las. Vegas.
Next up is the Washington Mystics’ Shakira Austin. She was the No. 3 overall draft pick by the Mystics in last season’s draft and wasted no time making an impact on the WNBA’s landscape. She emerged last season as a viable big of the future for when Elena Delle Donne calls it a career.
That No. 3 pick was acquired by the Mystics following a trade with the Atlanta Dream that allowed Dan Padover to draft Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard first overall. The trade worked out for both teams. Howard became Rookie of the Year and Austin was a key contributor to a playoff team along with being part of the assembling USA Basketball sent to last year’s FIBA World Cup in Australia.
So far, Austin has followed up what was a great rookie campaign with a stellar sophomore showing in 2023. Through the first six games of the season, Austin is averaging 13.7 points and nine rebounds per game. She boasts the highest field goal percentage of any Mystic and has logged the second-most minutes per game at over 28.
If one were to take a poll of Dallas Wings fans – or even women’s basketball aficionados as a whole, likely one name would come up when asking those Wings fans or WNBA heads who Dallas’ leading point-getter would be through its first six games.
Almost certainly that name would be Arike Ogunbowale. And while Ogunbowale has, indeed, put up Ogunbowale-type numbers, she is not the leading scorer for Latricia Trammell’s Wings up to this point in the season.
That honor, so far, belongs to Satou Sabally. She is averaging 22 points per game to Ogunbowale’s 21. The only other Dallas player that is in the double-digits in terms of point average is Natasha Howard at 17 points per game.
In addition to the 22.2 points that has been averaged by Sabally at this point in the season, she is actually averaging a double-double. Sabally has added over 10 rebounds to her game along with spending this season – 10.7 rebounds per game to be exact. She also is averaging a robust 91.4 percentage from the free throw line – one of four from the Wings roster to averaging at least 90 percent from the charity stripe. Ogunbowale, Howard and Veronica Burton are also doing the same.
An All-Star selection would not be the first for Sabally in her career. Sabally was named to the 2021 All-Star Game which also emanated from Las Vegas. Since she was drafted in 2021, she has spent her entire career with the Wings.
As of this writing, Sabally is one of the leading point-getters in the WNBA. She also is one of the leading rebounders and free throw shooters the WNBA has. She also can collect a number of steals.
With the numbers that have been put together by Austin and Sabally, many a WNBA pundit has Austin & Sabally firmly in the Most Improved Player of the Year conversation. With all due respect, that conversation may be a bit thinking too small.
If Austin & Sabally keep putting up the numbers they have put up this season, then we need to start mentioning both as potential candidates for this year’s All-Star Game. Filling up the stat sheet is nice, but playing amongst the W’s best and brightest today would be priceless.
