The Honorable Mentions

Brittney Sykes

If Brittney Sykes had been healthier this season, she could have easily finished inside the top 20. She is the bus driver of the Toronto Tempo, more so than the teammate who also appears on this list. Being the lead option usually hurts a player’s efficiency, and efficiency has been one of my long-standing concerns with her play style. Still, her usage, gravity, and need to play herself back into game shape have clearly affected her numbers this year.

Sykes fits a specific archetype: the two-way guard with shooting limitations. It is an old-school style that has struggled to find a comfortable place in modern basketball. Her approach and movement remind me a little of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, although she obviously does not produce with Shai’s absurd efficiency. Relative to her own league, however, I think Sykes is the better defender. You can put her on the opponent’s best guard and move on with your day. She reaches without constantly fouling, plays with intelligence, and competes on every possession.

I would love to see her extend her range and spend less time in the hero-ball mode she occasionally falls into. For the first time in a while, she is on a team with real spacing and good coaching, which should allow her to defer more often. I would not be surprised, and this is also a Toronto Tempo take, if she has a career year next season. With better spacing and more continuity, a tenacious two-way player with shooting limitations can lean into what she does best. Instead of having to be the entire offensive engine, Sykes can play within herself, become more efficient, and resurrect herself as one of the league’s most valuable winning players.

Marina Mabrey

Marina Mabrey is fairly well known because every once in a while she drops 40 points, hits eight threes against one of the league’s best defenses, and completely eviscerates it. I first watched her closely with the Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky. You could immediately see the talent, along with some obvious bus-driver limitations. When she is your second-best player or a strong 1B, though, you can build a very feisty team.

Her role was supposed to be lighter this season, but that plan went straight out the window once the injuries piled up. In some ways, the circumstances made me appreciate her more. Surround Mabrey with even semi-competent players, not even the good players her roster was supposed to have, and she can single-handedly drag a team toward a surprising level of competitiveness. It is difficult to call her a bona fide top-20 player, but in the right situation there is no reason she cannot be as effective as a stylistically similar player such as Allisha Gray.

I also love Mabrey’s competitive nature and toughness. She will talk some s***, throw a hip check, and commit the occasional old-school foul. She is not a dirty player. In fact, she shows great sportsmanship. She is simply hyper-competitive and hates losing, which I appreciate. She feels like someone who hates to lose more than she loves to win.

Mabrey has also been a strong mentor and leader for the young talent around her. She rides for her teammates, and that jumps off the screen. I am comfortable leaving her outside the top 20, but I still felt obligated to include her here and throw some flowers in her direction.

Jordin Canada

Jordin Canada is a unique player who still does not receive enough attention. She is technically a veteran and has been around the block, but she is often overshadowed by her teammates, the media, and the league’s broader rankings. She reminds me a little of Rajon Rondo. She is a smaller guard with shooting limitations who uses her intelligence and speed to overcome them.

Canada is a great and, dare I say, annoying defender. That quality matters enormously to winning basketball. You can assign her to the opponent’s best scoring guard without thinking twice. She is also savvy and fearless when she drives, and she has excellent chemistry with her teammates. I should admit that she is one of my favorite players to watch and someone I have rooted for since the first game I saw her play.

Of course, she has flaws. She is not a great isolation scorer and still cannot consistently punish defenses for going under screens. That is why I cannot place her inside the top 20. Even so, she is essential to Atlanta’s fast, pass-heavy scheme, even if all the demands around her sometimes push her to the back of the family picture. She also brings a veteran meanness that the rest of the Dream feeds off.

When Canada gets going, Atlanta becomes terrifying. If she is drawing doubles, she has answers to the test that most guards with shooting limitations do not. So, O Canada, I am a huge fan for some reason. Everyone has one guard whose value they will defend with their life. Canada is that guard for me.

Arike Ogunbowale

With all due respect, I feel confident leaving Arike Ogunbowale outside the top 20. No one can deny how talented and unique she is, but she belongs in the double-agent category. For anyone missing the joke, that means she can lose her team a game almost as quickly as she can win one. Her career before this season reflected that tension.

Speaking from experience as a bettor, Arike can become your favorite player or make you want to yell at your screen because of her decision-making. When the three-point shot is falling and she is not settling for impossible attempts, she can look almost as good as Kahleah Copper. She reminds me a little of Russell Westbrook because her game is a constant tug of war between the brilliant and the maddening. She takes shots she has no business considering, then follows them with displays of superstar-level athleticism.

Her efficiency leaves plenty to be desired, but she has found a role in this new version of the Dallas Wings. She has also spent much of her career on terrible teams with coaches who had no business leading a professional basketball team. Arike deserves some blame for the results, but the context matters. She is closer to Zach LaVine than peak Westbrook in my estimation. On a team with a top-five player, she needs to be better if Dallas wants to compete seriously for a championship.

The criticism is harsh because a cleaner version of Arike could push Dallas into the league’s heavyweight class. Right now, the Wings feel more like a puncher’s-chance team that still needs something else. At her best, Arike is a walking mismatch who punishes any advantage the offense creates. She gets to the line, overwhelms excellent defenders, and scores in ways most guards can only dream about. She is also a solid defender who competes hard, and her teammates have always seemed to love her fire. I just cannot shake the feeling that the roller coaster is due to run off the tracks.

I have already thrown several NBA comparisons at her, but with a little improvement she could land somewhere near Donovan Mitchell, whose move set she often resembles. They attack in similar ways. Arike is more of a get-the-f***-out-of-my-way downhill driver, but she uses many of the same Euro steps and swipe-through moves.

I am rooting for her to shut me up and make me look like an idiot in the playoffs. She is the kind of player you need to watch every night. Catch her on one good night or glance at her averages and you might conclude she is one of the best players the league has to offer. She is very good. I admit that. Hoop Hub simply needs to see more consistency before willingly calling her a top-20 player.

Kelsey Plum

Kelsey Plum was a difficult omission because who does not love Kelsey Plum? For a player with such an aggressive, I-need-the-ball style, she is surprisingly efficient from every level. Her run in Los Angeles was short-lived and underwhelming, but I attribute more of that to her surroundings than to any individual failure.

Injuries hurt both her production and the team’s morale this season. Plum was the heart of the Sparks while Nneka Ogwumike felt like the soul, and both will be gone after this year. I expect some pushback because Plum’s former teammate, Madame President, landed at No. 20 while Plum missed the list. That choice was driven primarily by what we saw this season. To be clear, a healthy and comfortable Plum is easily a top-12 player. I am simply unsure whether her best basketball is behind her or whether another chapter remains.

She was traded to Phoenix, which will miss the playoffs, and she reaches free agency after the season. Where she signs will matter to the entire league. Put her in a stable infrastructure where she can simply go score instead of carrying every responsibility that comes with being, without a doubt, the bus driver, and everyone else should be worried.

I once believed she could become the cornerstone and leader of the Sparks. Maybe she could have done it a year or two earlier, but her time in Los Angeles exposed some flaws in her style more than in her talent. She feels a little James Harden-esque, and not merely because she is left-handed. She needs the ball, and nearly all of her elite value comes on one side of the court. Her leadership, which assist numbers cannot fully measure, has also left something to be desired. That has become harder to dispute as we move further from her years with the Aces.

Still, you cannot punish her too much. Fewer than 10 players in the league can carry the role she was asked to fill, and she spent much of the season hurt. I have also disliked several Sparks decisions, including trading Rickea Jackson and replacing Azurá Stevens with Nneka. Plum feels more like a victim of the situation than its cause.

Sydney Taylor

Sydney Taylor was probably the hardest omission because my eyes tell me one thing while my brain tells me another. She could be the WNBA’s Isaiah Thomas. Taylor went undrafted, spent time overseas, and entered the league buried on the bench. She flashed early in the season with several scoring outbursts and passed the famous eye test. In earlier Where the Mind Wanders articles, I argued that she should take minutes from some of the veteran guards because she already looked polished and composed.

Then one injury led to another, Taylor finally got her chance, and she has not looked back. With a different résumé, she would easily be in the top 20. My hesitation comes from not knowing whether this is one exceptional season or whether nearly everyone in the league was simply wrong about her. The film makes a convincing case for the latter. She has a deep bag, plays clean basketball, and gave the Chicago Sky life when their season appeared headed toward complete disappointment.

After sorting through the rich tapestry of factors, it felt premature to place her over players who have performed at this level for more than half a season. Still, everything I have seen on tape suggests this is who she is and will be. She does not face the same extreme size disadvantage Thomas did, but she is not an overwhelming athlete either. If I were describing her to a friend, I would simply call her a hooper. Rankings may never respect her, and people may always hold her pedigree against her, but she contributes to winning.

Taylor reminds me of Celtics-era IT, who appeared almost from nowhere and produced one of the great runs I watched growing up. Her calling card will be offense, even if she is serviceable on the other end. She is a legitimate offensive engine who eases the strain on everyone around her while still allowing her teammates to shine.

I cannot help but root for a player who was overlooked and willed her way into stardom. The Chicago front office and much of the roster entered the season under pressure to show any sign of life. Now the Sky can enter the offseason knowing they found a diamond in the rough.

Aliyah Boston

Aliyah Boston has produced at a high level this season, which made leaving her off the list difficult. I am still having second thoughts. She is a well-rounded player with a very high floor, but I question the height of her ceiling. She can create for herself, and she is unquestionably a winning player, but she benefits greatly from her environment. That mattered in my evaluation.

You cannot fault a player for sharing the court with excellent teammates, but Boston’s job can look unusually easy. Opponents cannot send many double-teams, which lets her establish strong post position, yet I still think her efficiency sometimes falls short. She loses matchups I expect her to win, and that keeps her outside my unquestioned top 20.

Here is the hypothetical that requires a few brain cells: place Boston in a less advantageous situation and she might become a good-stats player on a bottom-tier team. I do not think she has enough scoring variety or defensive presence to lead a team. Thankfully, Indiana does not ask her to do that. I sometimes wonder whether players such as Olivia Nelson-Ododa or Isabelle Harrison could approach her impact if they shared the floor with Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell under Stephanie White.

There is some solid hate. Now it is time for the compliments. Very few players can match Boston’s size and strength. She is remarkably quick and agile for a center, and at her best she looks unstoppable in the paint. She is also smart. Even on a talented team, she makes life easier for everyone around her. Her pick-and-roll play opens countless options for Indiana’s offense.

Several players might be capable of filling her role in theory, but Boston performs it at a very high level and remains essential to one of the league’s scariest teams. I expect her to improve with age and become a perennial top-20 player. She simply has a little more to clean up first, and I believe she will.

Kayla McBride

Kayla McBride deserves a place here because certain nights make it feel as though she cannot miss. Everyone knows she is a lights-out shooter who can heat up like Klay Thompson. That has always been my favorite comparison for her, and it extends beyond the shooting.

Klay spent much of his career trapped in the only-a-shooter box, with occasional recognition for his defense. He did far more for Golden State than that label suggests. McBride is similar. Both players drive and finish better than people assume, and both create spacing and basketball harmony for extremely talented teams. Their value reaches beyond the gravity of the jumper, even though leaving either one open can destroy your night. Once they see one or two shots fall, the first 10 misses no longer matter.

I value Klay and Kayla because they understand winning basketball. They defer when the game calls for it, handle the role-player work their teams need, and still take over when no one else can generate offense. They read the game at an elite level and play to win. On the rare occasions I have bet against Minnesota, it has felt as though McBride received the news personally and decided to make me look like an idiot. Watching her catch fire is uniquely demoralizing. The difficulty of the shot and the quality of the contest stop mattering. She takes your soul one three-pointer at a time.

McBride also deserves more credit for what she did while Napheesa Collier was out. Every other player on Minnesota who does not wear glasses and have poofy hair failed to receive enough appreciation, which is a shame because all they did was keep finding ways to win without the leader of their organization. Courtney Williams, Natasha Howard, and McBride each raised their level when the Lynx needed them. The ball flew around the court, the offense created easy layups and wide-open threes, and Minnesota ran circles around top teams without its leader.

I also wonder whether Olivia Miles would have become elite this quickly without the leadership and mentorship of McBride and Williams. KMAC deserves credit for that, too. She is exactly the kind of running mate I would want beside my best player.

Veronica Burton

Veronica Burton was one of the hardest omissions from the top 20. Her statistics are not eye-popping, especially this season, but she has accomplished something very few players can. She took an expansion team and made it a legitimate threat before Gabby Williams arrived. The Golden State Valkyries’ identity rests on Burton’s toughness and leadership almost as much as it rests on Natalie Nakase’s coaching.

Burton took a collection of weird parts, put them on her back, and became the foundation of Ballhalla. There is no version of the Valkyries as we know them without what she does on the court. She had a similar effect with the Chicago Sky, helping turn them into a serious basketball team. I always say that if you want to be a competitive and serious team in any league, you need competitive and serious players. Burton embodies the adult in the room.

She is excellent at the podium and exactly the kind of player I would want on my team. She reminds me of Fred VanVleet. You might want a little more production at times, but very few players can enter any locker room and immediately give good and bad teammates alike more confidence and toughness. I could not be higher on her as a leader, and she is also damn good at basketball. She is physical, fearless, and incredibly smart.

Writing this is starting to convince me that Burton should be an unquestioned top-20 player. She certainly was last season. She organized a roster full of unusual pieces and specialists, then made sure each one had a place. Culture setters are rare in this league.

Her on-court production should not be discounted either. Burton is an excellent facilitator who knows when to force the issue. This season she has stepped back and allowed teammates to shine, but do not confuse a smaller workload with passivity. She does not lose easily. Like VanVleet or Chris Paul, she seems prepared to do whatever winning requires, and she never goes quietly.

In the playoffs, Burton will face guards who rank ahead of her here and look better by plenty of metrics. I do not think she believes that whatsoever. She is prepared to raise h*** on both ends and go straight at the so-called superior, elite guards with a level of aggression they might not be ready for.

Burton is one of the players who helped me fall in love with the WNBA. I have always appreciated players whose off-court presence strengthens everything they produce on the court. On top of that, she is a mean, excellent two-way player. She escaped the role-player box and became a franchise cornerstone. That is a story I will tell my children someday, assuming I do not die alone in a dark room.