Canadian WNBAers embracing women's hoopla — the good and bad
'You felt it this summer. It was obvious in arenas and social media,' says 6-year veteran Bridget Carleton
From March through September there was palpable, permeable excitement.
Women's basketball, from college through the WNBA and onto the Olympics, seemed to pierce through the noise and become a cultural touch point — for all the (mostly) good and (some) bad that entails.
At the centre of it all was Caitlin Clark, the Iowa superstar whose logo three-pointers vaulted her squad to the national title game before she was drafted first overall to the Indiana Fever and went on to set scoring records while winning WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Clark quickly became a bona fide A-list celebrity, the type who gets top billing at an LPGA Tour pro-am alongside tournament namesake Annika Sorrenstam.
Yet Clark — essentially through no fault of her own — also became the subject of controversy, from her rivalry with LSU product and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese to some strange media coverage and even a mild beef with the legendary Diana Taurasi.
It wasn't just Clark, either. The WNBA Finals, won by the New York Liberty over the Minnesota Lynx in an instant-classic five-game series, drew significant viewership.
A movement
In totality, women's basketball asserted itself as a movement. The WNBA responded by announcing two more expansion teams in addition to the Golden State franchise set to join the league in 2025.
One of those new clubs will be based in Toronto, the other in Portland.
Toronto is a fitting choice — throughout all the year's hoops hoopla, Canadians starred as crucial role players.
Bridget Carleton, of Chatham, Ont., started all five Finals contests for the Lynx and made a pair of victory-clinching free throws in Game 4.
Aaliyah Edwards of Kingston, Ont., entered the league as part of the standout rookie class alongside Clark and Reese after helping UConn reach the Final Four.
Carleton and Edwards featured prominently in some of the most entertaining and most-watched basketball games of the year — and Edwards said she felt the increased attention on the sport.
"I think that's a big thing that we celebrated this season, especially my historic rookie class," Edwards said. "We brought in a lot of new basketball fans and supporters, [and] bigger than that, more people who support women's basketball and more people who respect women's basketball."
Edwards inferred that the growth of Women's March Madness while her age group was going through college enabled her to handle a similar phenomenon at the WNBA level.
"I think our rookie class just had a big impact in staying true to who we are as people, let alone what we do on the court," said Edwards, who's rocked purple and yellow braids due to her love of Kobe Bryant since before his death.
"And I think that our experience and what we had to navigate in college just was further amplified once we got into the league and we made a positive impact."
Meanwhile, the six-year WNBA veteran Carleton told CBC Sports' Anastasia Bucsis that the league was ready for the Clark- and Reese-fuelled explosion.
"You felt it this summer. It was obvious in arenas and social media. … It was just the perfect timing for them to just blow us up. We've had so much talent, so many exciting games, so many legends of the game," Carleton said.
"We just needed people to give us a chance to watch us, pay attention to us. And they did this summer."
WATCH | Carleton excited for Canada's 1st-ever WNBA team:
Women's basketball calendar
Because of how the annual women's basketball calendar works, Edwards, 22, barely had a break between her senior season with UConn, her rookie campaign with the Washington Mystics and a trip to the Paris Olympics with Team Canada jammed in between.
"Adulting is hard," she noted.
But even now, in her supposed off-season, Edwards is not stopping. Earlier in November, she arrived in Toronto for a mini national-team get-together, then headed straight to Kingston for her second annual training camp at her old high school.
"I wanted to tap back into my community and help elevate, not only women's sport, but just educating and creating opportunities for the next generation falling behind me," she said of the camp being run by her old coach and teacher, Mrs. Pixley.
In January, Edwards will become one of 36 players to compete in the inaugural season of Unrivaled, a three-on-three league based in Miami and birthed by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
Edwards said the main appeal of the league is that it is player-led, in addition to being a place to make off-season money stateside versus having to play professionally overseas.
"We are the ones who are in control of our brands and in control of our careers. And I think with this league being pretty much a 50-50 revenue share split, we're able to capitalize and really showcase our skills and get paid rightfully so for it," she said.
Potential bad
Her answer hints at some of the potential bad that may come from the WNBA's boom in interest.
One day after the Liberty won the title, the Players' Association opted out of the collective bargaining agreement, scrapping the current deal as of the end of the 2025 campaign.
In July, the WNBA inked a new U.S. media rights deal that could be worth $200 million US — perhaps an incentive for players to seek a larger share of the pie.
Edwards, in the same breath as expressing her excitement for growing enthusiasm about the league, also mentioned the business side.
"I'm glad that as a young player in this league, I was able to impact the league in that way and kind of help push those hard conversations of equalizing the revenue share or getting equal pay or even prioritizing our bodies as women. We were able to have charter flights," she said.
The potential labour strife could also affect the Toronto franchise if bargaining leaks into next off-season or causes any games to be missed.
For now, though, the new team is being met with pure excitement.
"I expect that it would be an amazing feeling," Edwards said of potentially stepping onto the for a WNBA game in Toronto. "I always love playing on home court and home soil. … Whatever end of the court I'm on, whether I'm playing home or playing away, I feel like I'll feel the love and support from this country who just loves basketball and loves watching women win."
Carleton said people across her life have peppered her questions about the team — even though she doesn't have any answers.
"I'm excited to have somewhere so close to home to play — on the road, with Minnesota for now. Who knows what's gonna happen in the future? It's just incredible, something that I didn't have as a kid growing up and loving the game, and it's so much fun.
"People love Toronto around the WNBA."
The women's basketball news cycle should continue to flow over the next few months. The NCAA season is just underway — and with plenty of Canadian talent — while the WNBA off-season will include the Golden State expansion draft in addition to the regular free agency and trade bonanza.
Toronto, a team official said, may reveal its identity and branding early in the new year.
More intrigue, drama and controversy will undoubtedly emerge. But Edwards knows one thing for sure.
"No one could call me a rookie anymore."
