Knit to This
Taurasi
What’s the point of having a website with your co-bloggette if you can’t proselytize for something you’re passionate about, whether or not it’s related to knitting?
For today, this website is Modern Daily WNBA.
The Women’s National Basketball Association, aka the W, is an abiding passion for me—I can’t remember exactly which early years of the league I first had season tickets for, but it was roughly 1998/1999 to 2006/2008. (Hey, the little-kid years are kind of a blur.)
In those days, our local team, the New York Liberty, played in Madison Square Garden. The crowds were lively and often electric, but you could not honestly say that they filled up that 20,000-seat cavern.
My law school roommate Ivan and I spent many a raucous and intense night there, screaming and stomping for legends of the game like Rebecca Lobo, Becky Hammon, Sue Wicks, Crystal Robinson, and the unforgettable Teresa Weatherspoon. (OK Ivan was usually just watching the game while I handled the screaming and stomping.)
As my kids grew, it became harder to go to basketball games on random weeknights in the middle of summer, and I lost touch with the Liberty. Ivan kept the seats, but he let me go.
At a certain point I wasn’t even following the team, and by the late 2010s the Liberty were in dire straights that were getting direr. Booted out of Madison Square Garden by their heedless owner at the time, their home court was the Westchester County Center, a suburban venue that holds only two thousand. I feel guilty about this! But: life.
Everything changed in 2019.
Joe and Clara Tsai, new owners of the Brooklyn Nets and longtime leasers of Barclays Center in Brooklyn, bought the Liberty, with huge ambition and faith in their future. And that, along with rising interest in women’s basketball in the U.S. and worldwide, has made all the difference.
The Liberty now draw 17,000 to downtown Brooklyn for home games at Barclays, which fairly levitates from the loudness of the crowd. Every home game is the best and wholesomest party in the city, a joyful cross section of New Yorkers who all agree that the Liberty and all things Liberty-adjacent are simply the best that life has to offer.
Individual players have endorsement deals for everything from big-name shoes to Labubus to period products to makeup. They walk the tunnel in fabulous outfits on game days. They are beauty, they are grace, and they are absolute beasts on the court.
This year, I’ve resumed my perch at home games, in seats that I should never have left, having a fabulous time. It moves me deeply to see young women competing so hard and so well and experiencing forms of success and support that were denied to women for so long. They are heroes. If you have never watched a WNBA game, I urge you to tune in—the playoffs just started! If you have a WNBA team in your city or region, go to a game and see how it makes you feel. You won’t regret it.
Which brings me at last to something good to knit to! As part of my continuing remedial basketball education, I recently watched Taurasi, the new three-part documentary on Diana Taurasi, a college and professional star player whose final season, 2024, included winning her sixth Olympic gold medal on Team USA. Diana Taurasi is a complicated and compelling character, and some say she is the best to have ever played the game. She is also very funny.
Taurasi will get you onboarded to women’s basketball in a really entertaining and efficient way. And then you’ll go right out and watch a game, right?
Let me know what you think!
Yay for supporting Women and yay for The W!
Yes, a plug for women’s sports! My game is soccer (football to our overseas friends). The love and support is the same though.
Love watching the “W,” especially the Liberty. Not a season ticket holder, but did attend one game in The Garden when it was definitely not sold out. Then there is UConn Women’s against Pat Summit’s Tennessee…
Love my Dallas Wings!
Another great documentary about the WNBA is “Power of the Dream” on Prime.
Yes, that one!!
Since Caitlin Clark hit the Fever, I have become a W fan! Watched Taurasi series and learned about her struggles to become successful! Love that you brought this to our knitting clan….cannot appreciate how these early pioneers struggled to succeed! Admire their physical gifts!
I was a Diana fan waaaaay back when she was one of 2 names literally synonimous with UCone BBall, Taurasi & Auriemma (as in Geno) and UConn BBall WAS women’s BBall (the mens team wasn’t half bad either given that the ONLY team in NCAA hiatory to win BOTH mens & womens NCAA titles was UConn who did it in 2004 behind Diana… AND again in 2014… ). One of the best parts of all this? The TV ratings for UConn womens BBall were THRU THE ROOF during the Diana & Geno years &… it was the local PBS station who held the broadcast rights! Nobody else would take them when PBS stepped up to air the games. Then the games became lucrative… REALLY lucrative… & PBS refused to give them up! & New England LOVED them for that!
Now… How do we get broadcasters to refer to them as the Lady Huskies & NOT the Husky Ladies??? Ahhh, but it can be lonely at the top! Mwahahahaha
We’ve had University of Michigan Women’s Basketball season tickets for nearly 20 years. It’s been so much fun watching the journey and progression of women’s sports over these years.
I have always loved watching women’s sports. I fondly remember taking my daughter in her early years to Stanford Women’s basketball games with Jennifer Azzi, Val Whiting, and of course coach Tara VanDerveer. Women’s hockey is a little harder to find on broadcasts but Canada v USA is always a must-see. I am particularly passionate about Women’s football. My daughter and I have been to two Women’s World Cups, including seeing the US women win the championship in Lyon, France and have seen several “friendlies” stateside. The Women’s 2025 Euros were responsible for me finishing a fingering weight sweater in record time!
While I love watching women’s sports, what I really love seeing how the players interact with young fans in a way I rarely seen men do. Young girls are aglow in the stands, wearing their favored player’s jerseys and hoisting signs in their support. I enjoy seeing their devotion and excitement as much as I enjoy seeing the games!
I started watching women’s basketball when Catlin Clark was in college. Then I followed her at WNBA. I started watching her team and my Dallas Wings. Then I started watching whatever game was on. Those ladies work hard and must be in fantastic shape. I’m so glad I found them on tv.
I recommend Brittney Griner‘s book “Coming Home” whether or not you follow the WNBA. Her life experience is both touching and enlightening and her time as a political pawn prisoner in Russia is frightening to say the least.
We are very proud of our Minnesota Lynx team going into the semifinals. Thanks for documentary recommendations.
My husband has actually tuned in for a game or two, wondering what all the fuss was about (I myself live in a subterranean world of HGTV and Guy Fieri reruns where sports broadcasts rarely see the light of day), sorry. But glad to see women’s team sports – not just tennis and golf – doing so much better!
What jumped out at me was your use of the word “heros” because of the context. Yay. No “heroine” which admittedly was useful in Victorian literature to separate what may be two characters in a Bronte story, but would somehow feel like a downgrade in sports or other modern arena. As we know words are powerful and indicative. Your “heros” just felt so right! As if that battle, at least, was won a long time ago. The Liberty and other female team players helped a lot in that.
No diminutives needed!
For me, even though not WNBA, just two words: Cheryl Miller.
Hear, hear!
Valkyries fan here, but I salute your enthusiasm for the game!
Thanks, Kay! Valkyries fan, here. Going to a game would be fun but, to their credit, they’ve been solidly sold out.
Ann Shayne has taught me that there’s always a ticket ↔️
I’m a Valkyries fan! Especially KT, you have the Liberty to thank for her, and boy was she missed in the first round of the playoffs. Niece and daughter and I are going to try to make it to Balhalla in 26!
I love this! Newly minted WNBA fan here thanks to the phenomenon that is the Valkyries!! Going to a game, made me in instant super fan because of all the reasons you say — the vibe is incredible, joyful and so positive, and they players are BEASTS! I’m fully tuned into the playoffs even tho my team is out — the whole league is a thrill to watch.
Now, PAY THE PLAYERS! The entire Valkyries team makes less than the lowest paid Warriors player, and they play on the same court, draw the same sold-out-every-game attendance, owned by the same man… ew!
Right? The pay disparity is gross.
Love the way the Valkyries started their dynasty with a playoffs spot!
Valkyries fan here. I’m happy to watch successful women’s stories. Thanks for the recommendation.
Not much of a sports fan here, but I read with interest the main story in this morning’s (ie Sunday’s) NYT’s morning newsletter about the WNBA’s growing fan base. It described the surge in interest in the WNBA and included this tidbit that this year, “the W.N.B.A.’s fan base was 57 percent male and 43 percent female, according to statistics provided by the league.” The best part was how her 10-year-old son has switched from being a die-hard Warriors fan to a die-hard Valkyries fan. Women’s sports for the win!
Took my kids to see the Liberty in the Garden and loved it too!