Her Game Her Voice™

WNBA Pain, Valkyries Gain, Atlanta’s Floor Shame

• Kaari Peterson • Season 1 • Episode 14

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The Golden State Valkyries just made history as the first WNBA expansion team to reach the playoffs — and they did it in style. But while the Valkyries are soaring,  injuries in the WNBA are piling up. So Kaari's digging into the whys and what’s next regarding the league’s injury crisis.

This week’s Listener Question takes us court side: how do teams decide which basket to shoot at in the first and second halves? (Spoiler: there’s more strategy to it than you’d think.)

And of course, it wouldn’t be Her Game Her Voice without the awards:

🏆 Buzzer Beater: Valkyries Guard Veronica Burton earns her flowers as the WNBA's Most Improved Player.

❌ Airball: WNBA broadcast graphics and timing — because seriously — we want to see the game.

🚫 Flagrant Foul: Atlanta Dream’s shiny black court somehow manages to disappear players and confuse viewers at the same time.

Kaari's got big wins, big injuries, and big misses — all in one little episode!

“Big stories, little episodes—amplifying the voices shaping the game on and off the court." - Her Game Her Voice Podcast by Kaari Peterson

Kaari:

Greetings, hoop heads, and welcome to another episode of Her Game Her Voice. It's been a minute. I have been in the Midwest for an occasion affectionately known as the "Summer Weddingpalooza Tour." Big shout out to the happy couples Harris and Leah, and Josh and Micah. It was a fabulous trip, but I'm really happy to be back at the mic talking hoops with you.

Kaari:

Per usual, I'll kick this episode off with a Valkyries update, answer a listener question about how WNBA teams decide which basket they'll defend first during a game. Then I'll do a deep dive into the 2025 WNBA season and injuries. So many injuries. Is it a fluke or just another season? And of course, I'll wrap it up with the awards segment.

Kaari:

So let's tip it off.

Kaari:

The Golden State Valkyries just made history again. Not only are they the winningest expansion team in the WNBA, they're also the first expansion team to ever make the playoffs. And they did it the Valkyries way, meaning it was a heart-pounding nail-biter.

Kaari:

I'll be honest, when team leader Kayla Thornton went down with a season-ending knee injury after the All-Star break, I thought, well, that's that.

Kaari:

But Coach Natalie Nakase's system turned out to be the team's superpower. Even with Thornton out, and Tiffany Hayes, Carla Leight, Cecilia Zandalosini, Monique Billings, and Janelle Salon, all taking turns on the injured list, the Valkyries just kept flying.

Kaari:

To put it simply, Coach Nakase built a roster of 12 players who defend like their hair's on fire, dive for every 50-50 ball, and launch threes like they're getting paid per attempt. The result? A bold, fierce, mentally locked-in squad that refuses to fold.

Kaari:

Playoffs, here we come.

Kaari:

And now it's time for our listener question. This week's listener question comes from Andy in Van Nuys, California.

Kaari:

Andy asks, "In the WNBA, how is it decided which team shoots at which basket in the first half versus the second half?"

Kaari:

Great question, Andy. Here's how it works.

Kaari:

At the start of the game, the visiting team chooses which basket they'll shoot at in the first half. After halftime, the teams automatically switch baskets so each team spends one half attacking each side. This setup is part of the official WNBA rules and is standard across pro basketball.

Kaari:

The idea is simple. It keeps things fair and balanced.

Kaari:

For comparison, in college basketball, teams shoot away from their benches in the first half and in front of their benches in the second.

Kaari:

But in both the NBA and WNBA, the visiting team chooses where to start things off.

Kaari:

But what about strategy? Why would a team care which end of the court they start on?

Kaari:

Well, if you're the visiting team, there's actually research, (and you know how I love research,) showing that the smart move is to pick your first half basket so that after the halftime switch, your offense is right in front of your bench.

Kaari:

But why does this matter?

Kaari:

Because when your offense is in front of your own bench, the communication between coaches and players is at its absolute best.

Kaari:

Picture this.

Kaari:

It's the fourth quarter, the game's tight, and every possession counts. If players can hear their coaches calling out plays, adjustments, or matchups in real time, that can be the difference between pulling out a win and going home with a big L on your forehead.

Kaari:

So yes, something as simple as choosing a basket can turn into a real strategic edge.

Kaari:

That's a wrap on this week's listener question.

Kaari:

Do you have one for me? Send it to hergamehervoice at gmail.com.

Kaari:

While we're on the subject of things that shape the game, there's a storyline this season that we can't ignore. Injuries. Ouch.

Kaari:

The WNBA's 2025 injury report?

Kaari:

Let's just say it could double as beach reading. It's that long.

Kaari:

According to Sports Illustrated, by mid-season 2025, we'd already hit 141 reported injuries.

Kaari:

That's not more than other partial WNBA seasons. That's more than full WNBA seasons in the past.

Kaari:

And then a physical therapist on Reddit named Hunter Summers counted 166 injuries.

Kaari:

So we've got one report with 141 injuries this season and another with 166. That's not a minor discrepancy.

Kaari:

So here's the deal. Even counting injuries is messy.

Kaari:

The league doesn't track them in a consistent way. Some trackers only list day-to-day stuff. Others focus on season-ending surgeries. If you got surgery in May, you might not even show up on the current injury report in June.

Kaari:

But however you slice it, 2025 looks worse than 2024. We're talking 141 to 166 injuries this year versus 157 injuries last year. And no matter where the true number lands, it's clear that the body count is climbing.

Kaari:

So let's talk about the types of injuries. It's knees, knees, and, you guessed it, more knees. ACLs, MCLs, it's an alphabet soup of knee injuries. Courtney Vandersloot, Sophie Cunningham, Kayla Thornton, Sydney Coulson, to name just a few, all out for the season with knee injuries. Add in preseason knee injuries like Georgia Amor's, and the list gets even longer.

Kaari:

And while knee injuries dominate, we've also got good old foot fractures, groin pulls, tendonitis, back spasms, and broken noses.

Kaari:

Playing in the WNBA sounds like fun, doesn't it? Nope.

Kaari:

So why is this happening?

Kaari:

Well, there's a few theories.

Kaari:

First, the schedule. This year, the league jumped from 40 to 44 games. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it shrunk the average rest window from over four days back in 2021 to about 2.7 days this season. Sports medicine folks say 48 hours is the minimum recovery time between high-intensity games. WNBA players are often playing again 36 hours later. It's like telling your body, congratulations, you just ran a marathon. Please do it again tomorrow.

Kaari:

Another hypothesis? The WNBA's limited rosters.

Kaari:

With only 12 roster spots, when injuries hit, healthy players log more court time. And when everyone's tired, injuries snowball.

Kaari:

We should also throw in increased physicality. And we've talked about this on Her Game, Her Voice a few times. Coaches and sports writers keep noting that the league has gotten rougher and that the officiating needs to get a better handle on the game to prevent injuries. Increased physicality is great for TV journalists

Kaari:

And there's travel. Yes, charter flights help, but if you're still playing four games in six nights, a private jet is basically just a comfier way to limp to your next game.

Kaari:

And finally, when it comes to injuries to female athletes, there's something that people don't always talk about. The menstrual cycle.

Kaari:

Some research suggests, yes, I love my research, that injury risk, especially ligament tears, may rise when ant flow comes to visit.

Kaari:

Seriously, in certain phases, like right before ovulation, when estrogen peaks, a female athlete's risk of injury increases.

Kaari:

Other studies suggest fatigue and cramping during ant flow's visit may increase minor injury risk.

Kaari:

But the evidence is mixed.

Kaari:

Translation It's complicated, but it's real enough that many elite programs track athletes' cycles to manage workload and lower risk.

Kaari:

Based on what we know, what could help reduce the number of injuries in a WNBA season? Here are a few ideas.

Kaari:

More rest days. This is an obvious one. Fewer games crammed into fewer days.

Kaari:

Roster expansion. And this is something that the WNBA Players Association is fighting for. Give teams more than 12 roster spots so minutes can be spread out across the team and hardship contracts don't become the norm.

Kaari:

And how about smarter scheduling? Why not limit those brutal three games in five days stretches?

Kaari:

And finally, better injury reporting would be nice. It's hard to get a handle on the overall scope of players' injuries when the numbers change depending on who's counting.

Kaari:

The bottom line? If the league isn't careful, the real winner of the WNBA's 2025 season won't be the finals champion. It'll be the orthopedic surgeons.

Kaari:

Let's move on to something a little brighter now, the awards section of this episode.

Kaari:

First up, we have the Buzzer Beater Award. This week's Buzzer Beater Award goes to Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton for being named the WNBA's most improved player for the 2025 season.

Kaari:

Burton was the only Valkyrie player to start all 44 games and served as the team's primary playmaker and go-to scorer. This year, she averaged career highs in points, assists, rebounds, and steals per game.

Kaari:

And Burton is the only player in the league this season with three games of 10 or more assists and zero turnovers.

Kaari:

Yep, that's right. Zero turnovers.

Kaari:

Burton started the league in 2022, playing two years with the Dallas Wings. After Dallas cut her in 2024, she was picked up by the Connecticut Sun and became a bench player for them.

Kaari:

Fast forward to 2025 and Veronica Burton is an award-winning point guard for the first WNBA expansion team to ever make the playoffs. It's an amazing accomplishment. Congratulations, Veronica.

Kaari:

This week's Airball Award goes to the poor use of graphics during WNBA game broadcasts. Shmoopie and I have noticed that sometimes ESPN or other networks cut away from key plays to show us some WNBA-related graphic that the announcers are way too excited about.

Kaari:

And half the time the graphics aren't even in context.

Kaari:

It's like you're watching a murder mystery and right when the killer is going to be revealed, the screen cuts to a pie chart about America's favorite snack foods.

Kaari:

I don't want to see the graphic you're so incredibly excited about. I want to see the game.

Kaari:

And that's why the Airball Award goes to the poor use of graphics during WNBA game broadcasts.

Kaari:

And now it's time for the Flagrant Foul Award. This one goes to the Atlanta Dream, not for fouling on the stat sheet, but for the design of their home court.

Kaari:

The Dream rolled out a new, first-of-its-kind black court for the 2025 season. I get the intention. Bold, memorable, an admirable goal. But the dark, glossy surface makes it hard to track players in the ball.

Kaari:

At times, I literally cannot tell whether someone in a dark uniform is a player or a reflection. Other times, the overhead lights create a glare, and I'm like, "seriously, who is actually on the court right now?"

Kaari:

That court is a huge user experience fail. As someone who used to test prototypes and run user experience research for a living, the little researcher inside my head keeps asking, "did anybody test this design before they made it so?" Like maybe create a small prototype of the new court design. Get a few players in real jerseys, some dark, some light. Have them run around on the court. Make sure the arena lights are on. Now shoot some video and review it.

Kaari:

If they'd done this, they might have caught the player versus reflection problem before committing to the horrible full court design.

Kaari:

Maybe there's a reason that no other professional basketball team has ever had a black basketball court. Duh!

Kaari:

That's it for another episode of Her Game Her Voice. 

Kaari:

Thanks for listening, and happy hooping!

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Kaari Peterson

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