These are the final power rankings of the 2025 season, and though it’s too early to make a final judgement on the year that was before the playoffs, it is a good time to stop and take stock.
When I look back on the 2025 WNBA season, here are some of the things I’ll remember.
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• Minnesota being out for revenge the second 2024 ended. The Lynx have a lot of feelings about the conclusion of last year’s finals — Kayla McBride even said she had PTSD walking into Barclays Center for the first time — but they have channeled those into sustained dominance. An excellent regular season doesn’t avenge the title they feel was stolen, but it’ll simplify the path forward.
• Another rookie class arrived with immediate impact. The start of the 2020s featured some weaker drafts, but the 2025 class replicated the promise of 2024. Three rookies were All-Stars, and a number of others have been key rotation players on playoff-bound teams. It isn’t just the NCAA system that has leveled up, as international players like Dominique Malonga, Leïla Lacan and Monique Akoa Makani have been ahead of schedule. Nevertheless, some of the struggles of the 2024 class of sophomores provide a cautionary tale that maintaining success can be even more challenging.
• A’ja Wilson reminded the world that she is the best player alive. Whether that equates to MVP or not, her ability to resurrect the Las Vegas Aces when they were left for dead is proof that she is among the greatest to ever play this game.
• The Golden State Valkyries set a record with 22 sellouts of 18,064 per game as the WNBA collectively passed 3 million in attendance for the first time. Even with the longest season in league history, it’s an important milestone as it builds on a breakout 2024 season and sustains its growth. Seeing all the fans in actual WNBA gear, which has been hard to obtain in recent years, is another boon for the league.
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• A rash of injuries took some of the shine off an exciting season. As the WNBA expands and adds more games to its calendar, it’s worth considering the physical toll this has taken on the players. Players are the league’s most important asset, and their protection has to be a priority.
There might never be another WNBA season like this one with expansion and a new CBA on the way. It’s worth celebrating this last month as this era of the league comes to a close. Here’s where teams stand in my rankings:
Three standout performances
1. A Breanna Stewart’s block party
Breanna Stewart hasn’t been mincing words about the New York Liberty’s performance. A loss to the Valkyries was New York’s fifth in a row on the road, a game in which the Liberty shot 31.6 percent from the field and trailed by as many as 24 points. Stewart said afterward: “We have three games left and we’re not where we need to be. It’s frustrating, it’s tough, but I know our team is going to continue to show up every day and fight for where we need to be.”
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Stewart backed up that talk on Friday in a return to her old stomping grounds. Without Sabrina Ionescu against Seattle and with Jonquel Jones ineffective due to foul trouble, it looked like New York was on its way to another listless away performance, especially when the Storm won the second quarter 31-17.
But the Liberty found some life in the second half, and Stewart’s activity was at the center of it. She got to the line 12 times and had four blocks, both totals exceeding the entire Seattle team. The two-time MVP had a sequence in the second half when she created stops on three consecutive possessions: first, she stripped the ball from Nneka Ogwumike, then blocked her shot, and then knocked the ball off of Ezi Magbegor out of bounds. During that swing, the Liberty stretched a three-point lead to eight and created just enough of a cushion to hold on for the win.
Stewart’s shooting has waned this season, but her ability to impact games defensively is still at its peak. Whatever shortcomings New York has had in 2025 can’t be pinned on her performance.
2. Jackie Young’s playmaking
It’s easy to forget sometimes that Jackie Young’s pro career began as a point guard for the Aces. Once Chelsea Gray arrived in Las Vegas, Young moved off the ball and turned into a lethal secondary scoring option behind A’ja Wilson.
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She still does that, but Young has also posted the first two triple-doubles of her career this season as she takes on more ballhandling responsibilities in the absence of Kelsey Plum. She has at least five assists and two turnovers or fewer in 10 of her last 12 games. The Aces are 19.6 points per 100 possessions better with her on the court.
“(Young) is super solid in her decision-making all the time,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “You can just trust her with the ball in big-time moments. She’s going to make the right decision, she’s going to get to the right spot, she’s going to get the ball to the right people at the right time.”
3. Maya Caldwell peaking for the Dream
What a time for Maya Caldwell to put together arguably her two best games of the season. Caldwell had her first- and third-highest game scores (per Basketball Reference) of 2025 in Atlanta’s last two games, tying a career-high in rebounds in the first win and points in the second victory as the Dream chase the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
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Allisha Gray was out with injury, and Caldwell easily soaked up the extra possessions in her absence. The Sparks had to assign a bigger defender to Rhyne Howard (not that it made any difference on Howard’s long-range shooting), and Caldwell found her spots in the paint, elevating over smaller guards. That she was unconscious from 3-point range — 7 of 11 over the two games — didn’t hurt.
Atlanta has a deceptively deep rotation; opposing general managers have commented on how many good players they continue to bring off the bench. Even within this past week, Caldwell was limited to four minutes against Connecticut in Jordin Canada’s return to the lineup. That depth is a luxury, and it’s easy to imagine Caldwell being able to swing a quarter of a playoff game as defenses key in on Gray and Howard.
Rookie of the week
Aneesah Morrow, Connecticut Sun
A fun parlor game to play heading into the 2025 WNBA Draft was to ask executives around the league how tall they thought Aneesah Morrow really was. Although she is listed at 6-foot-1, answers varied significantly from that number. No matter her height, Morrow has proven she can rebound at the professional level. She has the best rebounding percentage among rookies (21.7 percent of available rebounds) and the second-best in the league behind Angel Reese. In Connecticut’s recent win over Phoenix — a game that the Mercury needed to win for playoff positioning — Morrow kept drawing fouls because Phoenix couldn’t keep her off the offensive glass. Twice, Satou Sabally thought she had possession but was whistled for a foul trying to box out the relentless Morrow. She was a game-high plus-11 in the victory and had 13 rebounds in addition to her trips to the free-throw line.
Game to circle
Golden State at Seattle, 10 p.m. (ET) Tuesday
There is only one playoff spot up for grabs in the final week of the season, and the Storm control their destiny: win and in. But nothing has been quite so simple for Seattle this season. The Storm have lost eight games when leading heading into the fourth quarter, including their most recent contest against New York. Both teams have something at stake here, as Golden State can clinch the No. 6 seed with a win, securing an easier first-round matchup than against Minnesota or Las Vegas.
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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Seattle Storm, Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Indiana Fever, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, Golden State Valkyries, WNBA
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