June 5, 2022

Daily Briefing — June 5, 2022: Fire the schedule-maker

We now return to our irregularly-scheduled programming

Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird holds the ball away from a defender's arms while looking to pass

Sue Bird, who retired from professional basketball in 2022, is a four-time WNBA champion (2004, 2010, 2018, 2020). (Photo credit: Lydia Ely | The Next)

Happy Sunday! Welcome to The Next’s Daily Briefing, featuring the W and NCAA Roundups and daily Watch List. Day 26 of the WNBA season is here, featuring, well, everything. For the 25th time in WNBA history — and for the 21st time in the middle of the regular season — the schedule features every team in the league playing on the same day, per Kurtis Zimmerman of Across The Timeline.

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Now, you may be thinking ‘how wonderful, a day chock-full of basketball!’ But I’ve got bad news for you: all six of the games on today’s schedule tip off within a four-hour span, and four of them are completely concurrent! And none are on national television!

As the title reads: fire the schedule-maker.

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But first, read:

Our Antonio Losada gives you the EuroLeague rundown, including one Italian club’s bid to become the next superteam
I open up a mailbag full of questions on the Storm, from vibes to Ezi Magbegor to matchups and more!
Our Jacqueline LeBlanc details the odyssey of a Sun week that includes four games in six days
Our Tony East recaps this week in Fever, including contextualizing their coaching change and the addition of a legend to the staff
Basketball News’ Mark Schindler breaks down what makes the Sky’s defense so good
OregonLive’s Aaron Fentress reports on Portland’s eagerness for an expansion team

W Roundup

Connecticut: Big Stephanie Jones’ hardship terminated, with big Joyner Holmes clearing health and safety protocols

Seattle: Combo guard Kiana Williams’ emergency hardship terminated, with point guard Sue Bird and big Ezi Magbegor clearing health and safety protocols

Watch List, Sunday, June 5

(All times in Eastern, Game Of The Day in bold)

Minnesota @ New York, 2 p.m., League Pass (Local: Bally Sports North Extra, YES)

Indiana @ Atlanta, 3 p.m., League Pass (Local: Indiana Fever Livestream, Bally Sports South)

Washington @ Chicago, 6 p.m., Amazon Prime video (Local: Monumental, Marquee) — would be Game Of The Day, but Elena Delle Donne is out

Dallas @ Las Vegas, 6 p.m., League Pass (Local: Bally Sports Southwest Extra, My LV TV)

Los Angeles @ Phoenix, 6 p.m., League Pass/Facebook (Local: Spectrum SportsNet, Bally Sports Arizona)

Connecticut @ Seattle, 6 p.m., League Pass (Local: NESN+, JOEtv/Amazon Prime video)

NCAA Roundup

Transfer portal

Out of the portal:

Morasha Wiggins: The off-ball guard out of North Carolina committed to Arizona State

Written by Emily Adler

Emily Adler (she/her) covers the WNBA at large and college basketball for The Next, with a focus on player development and the game behind the game.