After nearly a month away, the WNBA is back!
The 2024 WNBA All-Star Game kicked off an Olympic break that saw Team USA win its eighth consecutive gold medal, Dallas' Satou Sabally return from injury to display her star power for Germany, and Australia's Ezi Magbegor, Alanna Smith, Stephanie Talbot and Sami Whitcomb overcome the absence of Bec Allen to take home bronze.
While plenty of the W's stars headed to Paris to represent their respective countries, several players like standout rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese used the time to recover after a busy spring that included the quick turnaround from the NCAA Tournament to the WNBA season.
With just a month left in the 2024 WNBA season, things will quickly pick up where they left off before the Olympic break. Here are some of the biggest storylines to keep an eye on for the final stretch of the season.
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Top WNBA storylines post Olympic break
The Rookie of the Year race between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese
At this point in the season, it's become clear that no rookies have been better than Clark and Reese. Not only are they standing out among their rookie peers, but they are also standing out among the entire league.
As action resumes, Clark leads the league in assists per game while Reese leads the league in offensive rebounds and is a close second in total rebounds per game. The numbers show that each player has an elite skill that has immediately translated to the next level.
More important than anything is that Clark's Fever and Reese's Sky are winning. If the season ended today, both would be playoff teams (more on that momentarily) and each franchise's turnaround can be attributed partly to their standout rookies.
Clark has the edge in scoring and a slight edge in efficiency, making her the current favorite to take home the honors. The question is whether or not Reese can make up ground over the season's final stretch.
MORE: Key stats in WNBA ROY race between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese
Las Vegas Aces' back-to-back title defense
The Aces cemented themselves as one of the best teams in league history by winning a second consecutive title in 2023. Now, they'll look to do something that's been done once before: three-peat.
Las Vegas has played a ton of basketball in the past two calendar years. In addition to two Finals runs, four members of the Aces squad took the floor at the 2024 Paris Olympics, each playing a major role.
The overall fatigue — and the absence of Chelsea Gray — was evident to open the season, as Vegas went 6-6 through the first 12 games in 2024. It's a sharp contrast from the squad's 11-1 start in 2023.
Coming out of the break at 16-8, MVP favorite A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Gray will ease back into things after their gold medal win and round into form as the playoff nears.
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New York Liberty's pursuit of No. 1
Despite injuries to key players and overall fatigue from international obligations, New York has been the best team in the 2024 season.
The quest for No. 1 applies to multiple ideas.
As the season resumes, the Liberty have a 2.5-game hold on the league's top spot, which could prove crucial for playoff seeding. In a playoff format that's set regardless of conference, New York could clinch home-court advantage throughout the postseason.
After falling three wins shy of a title in 2023, the Liberty are also eyeing the first WNBA championship in franchise history. Led by gold medalists Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart, New York's super roster that features Jonquel Jones, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Courtney Vandersloot has its eyes on making history.
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The playoff push
Things will get interesting down the season's stretch run.
With each team set to play 15 or 16 more games, only two games separate Seeds 2 through 5. Las Vegas could use its momentum to leap into the top three, which would also place the defending champs on the opposite side of the playoff bracket as New York, which, as noted above, appears poised for the top spot.
The Liberty, Sun, Lynx, Storm and Aces are all scary teams, but as it stands, one will not advance past the first round of the playoffs. On the bottom end of the bracket, Phoenix, Indiana and Chicago appear poised to make the playoffs, meaning we'll see playoff debuts for Clark and Reese and a playoff return for the Mercury, who have plenty of championship DNA and would be a tough out as a lower seed.
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WNBA standings
(At time of Olympic break.)
| Seed | Team | Record | Games back |
| 1. | New York Liberty | 21-4 | — |
| 2. | Connecticut Sun | 18-6 | 2.5 |
| 3. | Minnesota Lynx | 17-8 | 4 |
| 4. | Seattle Storm | 17-8 | 4 |
| 5. | Las Vegas Aces | 16-8 | 4.5 |
| 6. | Phoenix Mercury | 13-12 | 8 |
| 7. | Indiana Fever | 11-15 | 10.5 |
| 8. | Chicago Sky | 10-14 | 10.5 |
| 9. | Atlanta Dream | 7-17 | 13.5 |
| 10. | Los Angeles Sparks | 6-18 | 14.5 |
| 11. | Washington Mystics | 6-19 | 15 |
| 12. | Dallas Wings | 6-19 | 15 |
