The Portland Fire Did What?

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What to Know About Women’s Basketball Today

Just five games into the season, the Portland Fire made several surprising roster moves. The team waived Haley Jones, Sug Sutton, and Kamiah Smalls, promoted Holly Winterburn and Frieda Bühner to the active roster, and activated 35-year-old Slovenian rookie Teja Oblak. (Oregon Live)

WHY IT MATTERS: It’s unusual to see a team make this many roster changes only five games into the regular season. The moves also show Portland leaning even more into international talent, which fits GM Vanja Černivec’s background as a former European player and executive. The Fire seem to have an evolving vision for the kind of team they want to build.

Gabby Williams, Sydney Colson, and Theresa Plaisance are set to appear in a new sports romantic comedy called Courtside. The film follows an injury-plagued women’s basketball superstar whose championship goals get complicated when she falls for a teammate. (Deadline)

WHY IT MATTERS: It’s another sign that women’s basketball is becoming part of mainstream entertainment and pop culture. It’s also interesting to see Sydney Colson and Theresa Plaisance step into acting while they appear to be near the ends of their playing careers and currently off WNBA rosters. Most former players go into broadcasting if they stay in the entertainment field, so this is different. Gabby Williams, meanwhile, is still very much an active WNBA player for the Golden State Valkyries.

With her 10th point during Thursday night’s Sparks-Mercury game, Nneka Ogwumike passed Tamika Catchings for fifth on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list. The milestone basket, her 7,381st career point, came on a jumper from the elbow in the second quarter. (ESPN)

🎥 Watch the moment Ogwumike became the WNBA’s 5th all-time leading scorer

WHY IT MATTERS: Ogwumike has been one of the WNBA’s most respected players for a long time, and she’s still producing at a high level 15 seasons into her career. She’s also known as the kind of veteran younger players learn a lot from. Since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2012, she’s won an MVP award, a WNBA championship with the Sparks, and now sits in the top five on one of the league’s biggest career lists.