Ellie is putting the rest of the WNBA’s mascots on notice

What makes a good mascot can be subjective in some ways, but as a former WNBA mascot (who must remain anonymous because all mascots require anonymity to preserve their illusory magic) described it to The Next, “A mascot needs to be entertaining, trendy and approachable. They reinvent the wheel to consistently create magic. A good mascot has a bag of go-to tricks, but must be willing to improv and try out new concepts.”

Over WNBA All-Star Weekend, The Next interviewed members of Team USA and the WNBA All-Star team to get their opinions on a crucial topic — league’s best and worst mascots.

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Ellie stands alone at the top

When players were asked their favorite mascot (excluding the mascot from their own team), the choice was unanimous — Ellie the Elephant swept the board. Ellie, the New York Liberty’s current mascot, was introduced to the world in 2021. She took over for the Liberty’s prior mascot, a dog named Maddie (named for Madison Square Garden), when the team moved to Brooklyn. 

Ellie was designed by a creative team composed of three Black women: the Liberty’s Chief Brand Officer, Shana Stephenson; the Liberty’s CEO, Keia Clarke; and the Liberty’s Senior Director of Entertainment, Criscia Long. Ellie’s seafoam crown honors the Statue of Liberty, while her name, in addition to being a snappy shortening of elephant, also evokes Ellis Island, equipping her with multiple symbols of welcoming and inclusion. The choice to make Ellie an elephant references a stunt in which the famed showman P.T. Barnum marched 21 elephants across the Brooklyn Bridge to demonstrate its structural integrity. Ellie’s creators found the stunt an apt metaphor for the Liberty’s own journey from Manhattan to Brooklyn. 

Ellie checks all the boxes as an entertainer, hypewoman and representative of the New York fanbase — but she doesn’t stop there. She takes it to the next level with extravagant pregame arrivals and halftime performances themed around popular musical artists. These performances power her social media stardom, allowing her to reach a wide range of fans beyond just those who can attend Liberty games in person. 

Least favorite mascot?

The players were also asked about their least favorite mascots, but the results lacked consensus. Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd called out the Atlanta Dream’s lack of mascot representation, “Atlanta doesn’t even have one right?” she asked before making her selection, “Yeah, let’s go with Atlanta.”

The Dream had a mascot until February of 2020, when Star, a gray bird, made a retirement announcement via social media. In it, Star promised a new mascot was on the way, saying, “And please don’t fret Dream fans. I have been grooming my replacement for a while now and you will NOT be disappointed.” As of this writing, Dream fans still await the reveal of Star’s successor.

Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young defied the poll’s only guideline, which disallowed players from choosing their own team’s mascot. “I think BUCKET$ is great,” she said with a small smile that made it clear she would not be offering any further mascot opinions, good or bad.

The Aces website describes BUCKET$ as, “A black-tailed jackrabbit native of the Mojave Desert with origins in Utah and Texas, this furry creature hopped his way from the desert to Las Vegas in the Spring of 2018.”

Close readers will recognize BUCKET$ Utah and Texas lineage as a reflection of the Aces own lineage. The franchise began as The Utah Starzz, one of the WNBA’s original teams, then later moved to San Antonio as the Stars, before making its current home in Las Vegas. The BUCKET$ lore also includes a tale where the jackrabbit is pulled from a hat outside Michelob ULTRA Arena, which alongside having two rabbits’ feet, makes BUCKET$ a literal magic charm.

Like Young, Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride insisted on shouting out Prowl as one of her faves (a love that seems genuine) before ultimately crowning Ellie. Prowl doesn’t have the same luscious backstory as some of the league’s other mascots, but the cat’s biographical information does highlight Prowl’s 12’ vertical leap (so long as trampolines are permitted). But even though fans may not know much about Prowl’s past, the mascot creates plenty of new stories in the present, performing elaborate skits at games and cultivating an active social media presence to engage with fans. 

Though players might, understandably, want to avoid harsh attacks on other teams’ mascots, a gentler form of criticism might comment on the unsettling nature of certain mascots, the ones not based as closely on commonly known animals or human characters.

Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas, while being careful to exclude herself from this sentiment said, “I would say [Blaze] probably startles a lot of people,” noting that the Connecticut Sun mascot is at times a point of confusion for the fans. The confusion is understandable since the only explanation given for Blaze is that the mascot’s orange fur is meant to give rise to thoughts of the sun, both as a reference to the team’s name and Mohegan Sun, the team’s home venue.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby shared how her kids interact with the league’s mascots, saying, “They’re fun. My kids like them, so that’s good. They’re not scared of any of them.”

If anything, it seems the league’s quirkier mascots err on the side of bewilderment over fright. The only player bold enough to specifically name a least favorite mascot did so on the basis of befuddlement.

“I think the Dallas one makes no sense. Sorry, Dallas people. I guess,” said Lynx forward Napheesa Collier.

Collier has notes for Lightning, the Wings ode to the Pegasus statue, which used to sit atop the Magnolia Building in downtown Dallas but now resides in a nearby park. Lightning is also a convenient mashup of a very Texas image (a horse), with the team’s nickname imagery (wings). Her name is meant to imply she brings electricity to the arena, and though not explicitly stated, Lightning connects the Wings to the franchise’s previous iteration as the Tulsa Shock.

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Though the player’s responses suggest that the WNBA mascots do their jobs well in representing their teams, it’s also clear that Ellie has elevated the mascot standard and the rest of the league needs to figure out how to get down in their own way, if they want to rise up and meet her. Until then, Ellie sits atop the throne as Queen of the WNBA.