The Phoenix Mercury are on the second day of a back-to-back that included a road loss in Las Vegas.
And Mercury star Satou Sabally shared her concerns with her postgame comment about player safety regarding the WNBA’s scheduling this season, with which former NBA guard Patrick Beverley took issue.
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“Terrible. It’s like they don’t care about players’ safety,” Sabally said. “It’s like they don’t care about scheduling or whatever. I only mentioned that one time at the beginning of the season.
“I know people always love to come and say, ‘Oh, you guys want to get paid more, you guys need to play all these games,’ but at some point, there’s a sports science to it.”
Mercury guard Kahleah Copper injured her rib during the third quarter when taking a hit from Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson and didn’t return in the game. She’s questionable for the Friday, Aug. 22, contest against the Golden State Valkyries.
The Mercury have played one back-to-back this season, June 18-19 in Connecticut and New York. The Mercury won the latter contest in New York, but will play a road-and-home back-to-back for the first time this season.
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“It’s honestly just like game on game on game,” Sabally said. “We’re professional, and we’ll do it.”
However, Sabally’s comments drew criticism on X from Beverley, a noted defensive pest and sometime instigator during his playing days. In a video, Beverley said he agrees that WNBA players should be paid more, but didn’t agree with Sabally’s comments on back-to-back games.
“All right now, come on now… Y’all had me, W had me,” Beverley said. “These ladies deserve more money, but come on, man. You gotta play back-to-backs. You got to. It’s part of it… I’m all with it, but don’t lose me there now.”
Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, WNBA rosters contain 12 players, while NBA rosters have 15 players and can carry up to 18 with two-way contracts.
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Sabally isn’t the only player who has taken issue with the league’s scheduling. New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud expressed her concerns on Aug. 12 about playing back-to-back games in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and said, “There’s gotta be a better way.”
During the All-Star weekend, Cloud’s teammate, Sabrina Ionescu, also agreed that the All-Star break was too short for those in the All-Star game.
“I think it probably would have been more competitive if teams didn’t play in such a short amount of days,” Ionescu said. “That’s something as we’re talking, obviously, into our CBA, and understanding that All-Stars don’t really have a break.”
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Satou Sabally’s WNBA schedule comments spark debate
