What’s up, Enjoyers? We’re only Dikembe Mutumbo days away from the start of the 2025-26 NBA Season: 😎

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday to Franz Wagner, Kevin Huerter, and Breanna Stewart! 🎉

Around the Association

Breanna Stewart makes her return from injury, leads Liberty to 81-79 win over Sun

Breanna. Is. Back. 🔥

Seven time All-Star Breanna Stewart made her return for the Liberty Monday night, after being sidelined since July 26th with a leg injury suffered in a game against the Sparks.

Stewie’s absence on the court was more than apparent on both sides of the ball, with her squad going just 5-8 without her in the lineup, falling from second to fifth in the WNBA standings.

Stewart made an immediate impact in her return, and New York fans definitely missed seeing her stuff the stat sheet like this: ⬇️

The UConn Alum wasn’t the only Liberty hooper to make a return from injury Monday night. Sabrina Ionescu came back from her one-game absence, and dropped a near triple double (11 PTS, 7 REB, 9 AST). 🔥

To round out NY’s big three, Jonquel Jones was lightttts out in this one, going for 18 points on 80% from the field, along with 11 rebounds and six assists. Talk about doing it ALL!

Fun Fact: With Stewart, Ionescu, and Jones all in the lineup, the Liberty are 10-0 this season. With the playoffs approaching fast, the defending champs are getting healthy at the right time for their quest to go back to back.

WNBA Rookie Spotlight

With the regular season winding down and the playoffs on the horizon in the W, let’s take a moment to spotlight a rookie who’s needed practically zero time to acclimate herself to the pros and has been scorching the nets all season long- Sonia Citron!

Drafted third overall in the 2024 draft by the Mystics, the Notre Dame product’s rookie season has been nothing short of spectacular. Her game is extremely well-rounded, but she’s been making the most noise from beyond the three point line. Just by looking at her shooting splits (47% FG, 42% 3PT, 88% FT), it’s almost hard to believe she was playing college ball just one short year ago. 😱

It’s common for most rookies to hit the “rookie wall” as the grind of the regular season goes on, but Citron has proven time and time again she’s immune to that wall!

Based on what we’ve seen in her opening season in the league, we can be certain there are a LOT of more buckets to come from Sofia. 🔥

Wayback Wednesday

With most players, we as fans gravitate towards higher point and assist totals when reading a stat-sheet.

With some players, though, the focus isn’t on the numbers themselves, but how they achieved those numbers. Their style of play is what draws the fan’s attention, not the numbers in a vacuum.

On today’s edition of Wayback Wednesday, we’re diving into a player who let his style of play do alllll of the talking for him. One of the flashiest and creative passing guards to ever play the game, Jason Williams! 🔥

To say J-Will had fans in awe from the moment he stepped foot on an NBA court as a rookie in the 1998-99 season with the Sacramento Kings would be a massive understatement. From the jump, he was creating jaw-dropping highlights, trying passes in-game that no other player would even dare try.

I mean, he literally made a pass with his ELBOW. Check it out: 😱

Although he only spent the first three seasons of his 12-year career in Sac-Town before being traded to Memphis prior to the 2001-02 season, those familiar with White Chocolate remember his days as a King the most fondly. 👑

With career averages of only 10.5 points and 5.9 assists per game, he’s in extremely rare company of leaving a lasting mark on fans even without putting up eye-popping numbers.

Although his individual accolades may not be the most glamorous, he was able to achieve what a lot of players would trade their personal accolades for any day of the week. Williams was a member of the 2006 Heat squad that won the title, led by Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal. 🏆

If you have a spare 13 minutes, take a look at just how electrifying of a passer J-Will was at his peak. Seriously, you won’t regret it! ⬇️

Three in the Key

We as basketball fans have all spent time creating starting fives of our favorite players, or the best players at each position. But on the latest Numbers on the Board episode, Kenny, Mike, Pierre, and Darrick take it a step further.

The guys came up with a bunch of random starting fives- including what ifs, player celebrations, and more.

Give it a listen! ⬇️

Signing Off

That’s all for today, Enjoyers! Thanks for taking some time out of your day with us. Make sure to soak in these last few weeks of summer. Get outside and soak in the warm sun while you still can!

See you on Friday!

Bobby Kasmire