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SPORTS Friday 24 May 2019
WNBA's new season ready

to tip off its 23rd season

By DOUG FEINBERG early part of the season as las Wings lineup at some
AP Basketball Writer Candace Parker is side- point this season. Maya
NEW YORK (AP) — It's been lined with a hamstring injury Moore decided to take a
a busy offseason for the for a few weeks. year away from playing
WNBA with big names Here are a few other tidbits basketball to focus on her
changing places, a new for the upcoming season. family and "some ministry
commissioner and a few in- MISSING IN ACTION: Stew- dreams that have been stir-
juries to some of the sport's art, Bird and Parker aren't ring in my heart for many
greatest players. the only players not play- years." Seattle Storm's Sue Bird tosses a basketball as she waits to be
The league will tip off its ing for the early part of the NEW LADY IN CHARGE: The photographed at the basketball team's media day Monday,
May 13, 2019, in Seattle. The Storm is the defending WNBA
23rd season on Friday with season because of injury. WNBA has a new leader as champion.
many teams hoping to win Angel McCoughtry is still the league hired Cathy En- Associated Press
the championship this year. recovering from a knee in- gelbert as its commissioner
The defending champion jury she suffered last year. last week. The previous four been CEO of Deloitte US, broadcast 40 of its games
Seattle Storm may be ex- Diana Taurasi is out for at leaders of the WNBA had an accounting organiza- on the CBS Sports Network
tremely hard-pressed to least a month while re- been known as president. tion that works with Fortune . That nearly doubles the
repeat. Reigning MVP Bre- covering from a back in- "Commissioner, first of all, 500 companies. She was amount of games on na-
anna Stewart suffered an jury. It isn't just injuries that honored and humbled to the first woman to hold that tional television from last
Achilles injury in the winter are sidelining some of the have that title. And it comes job. Engelbert won't start till year. The TV channel will
while playing for a Russian league's top players. Skylar with awesome responsibil- around the All-Star Break in use local broadcast feeds
club team. She'll be side- Diggins-Smith gave birth to ity ... just really humbled," late July. for now, similar to what NBA
lined for the season. a baby boy this spring and Engelbert said. MORE TV OPTIONS: The TV does for WNBA games.
The Storm took another hopes to return to the Dal- Since 2015, Engelbert has league struck a deal to q
hit this week when it was
announced that veteran
point guard Sue Bird was
going to be sidelined indef-
initely with a knee injury. Se-
attle is also missing coach
Dan Hughes for an indeter-
minate amount of time as
he battles cancer.
"The most important thing
to us is that Sue is healthy
and strong. Based on her
feedback and evaluation
from her longtime surgeon
and our medical team, it
was determined the best
course of action was a
scope," Storm CEO and
general manager Alisha
Valavanis said. "We have
confidence this will support
Sue's full recovery and we
look forward to her return
to the court."
With the Storm short-hand-
ed, Washington, Las Vegas
and Los Angeles are the fa-
vorites to win the title. The
Mystics lost to the Storm
in the WNBA Finals last
season. The Aces added
6-foot-8 Australian star Liz
Cambage last week. The
runner-up for the MVP in
2018 will give Las Vegas a
dynamic duo in the front
court, pairing her with last
season's rookie of the year
A'ja Wilson.
The Sparks added Chiney
Ogwumike from the Con-
necticut Sun, pairing her
with her sister Nneka. The
sisters will have to carry
the load a little more in the