| From The GIST Team |
Happy Wednesday! | ||
| Let's get it started with a women's sports win: Unrivaled — the innovative 3v3 basketball league launched by WNBA superstars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart — is now valued at a whopping $340M after their latest fundraising round. Here's to even more buckets ahead. | ||
| Quote of The Day |
| | I need to be able to say, 'Is this person full of BS? Do they even know what they're talking about?' |
| — Indianapolis Colts owner and CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon, who wore a headset on the sidelines of Sunday's season-opening win in order to keep up with the ins and outs of her squad. A woman going the extra mile? Sounds about right. |
| The Latest |
🏀 Anything you can do Source: Kalin Sipes/The Sporting Tribune The GIST: The Seattle Storm officially completed the WNBA's eight-team playoff field with last night's win over the Golden State Valkyries — but postseason positioning will come down to the last two days of the season…and so will the league's MVP award.
🏆 The award: The regular-season award honors the W's most valuable player, but as is true in every league, there's always a fiery debate about what that actually means: Should it be awarded to the player most valuable to their team, the best player on the best team, or the league's top overall player? Sometimes that's all the same athlete, but not always. 🐱 The case for Napheesa Collier: The Lynx superstar is the best player on the league's best team. Case in point? She's only the third W hooper to ever record at least 700 points, 50 steals, and 50 blocks in a single season, and she did it in just 32 games. She's been the MVP frontrunner all season long, but an August ankle injury sidelined Collier for more games than any previous winner. 🃏 The case for A'ja Wilson: The three-time and reigning MVP made a late charge, leading the Aces to 15 straight wins and a meteoric rise in the standings. Often considered the league's most impactful player, Wilson tops the W in scoring and blocks, not to mention 20- and 30-point double-doubles. She's also the first player in W history to put up a 30-point, 20-rebound game. ⚖️ The verdict: The 2025 MVP winner will ultimately come down to one not-so-simple question — how do each of the 54 media voters define "most valuable"? The good news is there's no wrong answer: While we're giving Wilson a slight edge, both icons are worthy winners. How lucky are we to watch the battle unfold. |
| Fun & Games |
Question of the DaySpeaking of the W, as the season winds down, let's reflect on the seven first-year head coaches. Which newcomer bench boss had the most impactful season? |
⚽ She's on the move Source: Kylie Graham-Imagn Images The GIST: There have been numerous record-breaking transfers in women's soccer this year, most recently former North Carolina Courage midfielder Jaedyn Shaw's $1.25M transfer to Gotham FC. With so many gals on the go, let's kick around some questions about the state of the global women's game. 💨 Where are some NWSL players heading?: Shaw's record transfer to Gotham is more than double the NWSL's previous intra-league transfer record. However, the league was dealt a tough blow when Angel City FC's best player, forward Alyssa Thompson, recently signed a five-year contract with Chelsea, a star-studded club in the English Women's Super League (WSL).
💰 What's the current NWSL salary cap?: This season, it's $3.3M and set to rise to $5.1M by 2030. There aren't individual maximum salary limits, so a club could pay just one player $1.3M, but that would leave just $2M to be spread out among the team's other 24 athletes. 🤔 So are salary caps a bad thing?: Not necessarily, as they promote league-wide parity by enforcing a level playing field. However, some believe the NWSL salary cap will be detrimental to its future growth, particularly with stars like the Washington Spirit's Trinity Rodman nearing the end of their contracts — and already dreaming of playing overseas.
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| The GIST's Bracket Challenge 🚨 Attention bracketeers, buzzer-beater believers, and hoops fans: The women's pro basketball playoffs are right around the corner. That's why we're bringing back our free-to-play Women's Pro Basketball Bracket Challenge.
✨ Supporting women in sports? Check. Winning sweet prizes? Check. Having fun with a like-minded community of GISTers? Check, check, check. We can't wait to see your name on the leaderboard. |
| Mid-Week Watching |
Source: FOX Sports ⚾ MLB: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Seattle Mariners — Tonight at 9:40 p.m. ET — MLB.TV
⛳ LPGA: Kroger Queen City Championship — Tomorrow through Sunday — Golf Channel
🏈 NFL: Washington Commanders vs. Green Bay Packers — Tomorrow at 8:15 p.m. ET — Prime Video
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| The GIST's NFL Pick'em Challenge Source: AP Photo/Adrian Kraus 🏈 Want to dive deeper into the NFL convo? At The GIST, everyone's invited. That's why we launched our free-to-play NFL Pick'em Challenge: quick, fun, and easy picks with weekly and season-long prizes on the line.
💌 Consider this your official invite. Nothing to lose, and a whole NFL community to gain. FOMO waits for no fan — make your picks now. |
| As Seen On Social |
| The GIST's Picks |
Here's what has GIST HQ buzzing:
🎾 Who's making historyWorld No. 61 tennis player Alexandra Eala, who became the first Filipina to win a WTA Tour title by clinching the Guadalajara 125 Open over the weekend. Remember the name. |
🍔 What to eatWhatever Alabama's athletes are eating. Sports Dissected gives an inside look at the performance and nutrition side of the Alabama Crimson Tide football program, showcasing their 25,000-square foot facility and its two levels of serving areas. |
📺 What to watch"Dancing with the Stars." Catch the athlete contestants vying for the Mirrorball Trophy this season, including Olympic gold medalist gymnast Jordan Chiles and two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis. |
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