Women’s sports fans — they get the job done

The GIST: The Seattle Storm officially completed the WNBA’s eight-team playoff field with last night’s win over the Golden State Valkyries — but postseason positioning will come down to the last two days of the season…and so will the league’s MVP award.

• It’s essentially a two-player race between Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier and Las Vegas Ace A’ja Wilson, but which hooper is most deserving of the coveted individual prize? Let’s break it down.

🏆 The award: The regular-season award honors the W’s most valuable player, but as is true in every league, there’s always a fiery debate about what that actually means: Should it be awarded to the player most valuable to their team, the best player on the best team, or the league’s top overall player? Sometimes that’s all the same athlete, but not always.

🐱 The case for Napheesa Collier: The Lynx superstar is the best player on the league’s best team. Case in point? She’s only the third W hooper to ever record at least 700 points, 50 steals, and 50 blocks in a single season, and she did it in just 32 games. She’s been the MVP frontrunner all season long, but an August ankle injury sidelined Collier for more games than any previous winner.

🃏 The case for A’ja Wilson: The three-time and reigning MVP made a late charge, leading the Aces to 15 straight wins and a meteoric rise in the standings. Often considered the league’s most impactful player, Wilson tops the W in scoring and blocks, not to mention 20- and 30-point double-doubles. She’s also the first player in W history to put up a 30-point, 20-rebound game.

⚖️ The verdict: The 2025 MVP winner will ultimately come down to one not-so-simple question — how do each of the 54 media voters define “most valuable”? The good news is there’s no wrong answer: While we’re giving Wilson a slight edge, both icons are worthy winners. How lucky are we to watch the battle unfold.

The GIST: There have been numerous record-breaking transfers in women’s soccer this year, most recently former North Carolina Courage midfielder Jaedyn Shaw’s $1.25M transfer to Gotham FC. With so many gals on the go, let’s kick around some questions about the state of the global women’s game.

💨 Where are some NWSL players heading?: Shaw’s record transfer to Gotham is more than double the NWSL’s previous intra-league transfer record. However, the league was dealt a tough blow when Angel City FC’s best player, forward Alyssa Thompson, recently signed a five-year contract with Chelsea, a star-studded club in the English Women’s Super League (WSL).

• WSL teams are shelling out serious cash to attract the world’s best talent, from USWNT captain Naomi Girma’s million-dollar Chelsea move to Canadian international Olivia Smith’s $1.36M transfer to Arsenal from fellow WSL squad, Liverpool, over the summer.

• These deals are possible because, unlike the NWSL, the English league does not have a salary cap, aka a limit on the maximum amount a team can spend on player contracts.

💰 What’s the current NWSL salary cap?: This season, it’s $3.3M and set to rise to $5.1M by 2030. There aren’t individual maximum salary limits, so a club could pay just one player $1.3M, but that would leave just $2M to be spread out among the team’s other 24 athletes.

🤔 So are salary caps a bad thing?: Not necessarily, as they promote league-wide parity by enforcing a level playing field. However, some believe the NWSL salary cap will be detrimental to its future growth, particularly with stars like the Washington Spirit’s Trinity Rodman nearing the end of their contracts — and already dreaming of playing overseas.

• That said, the NWSL is still pulling in and retaining top talent, as evidenced by Shaw’s intra-league move and Mexican star Lizbeth Ovalle’s then–record-setting August transfer to the Orlando Pride. TL;DR? The global competition in women’s soccer isn’t limited to just the pitch.

🚨 Attention bracketeers, buzzer-beater believers, and hoops fans: The women’s pro basketball playoffs are right around the corner. That's why we're bringing back our free-to-play Women's Pro Basketball Bracket Challenge.

• That’s right, you’ll get to fill out your very own bracket (or three!), choosing winners for each round until you crown your women’s hoops champ.

• The eight-team bracket will be finalized on September 11th, but you can click here to pre-register. Then, we’ll send you a reminder email to submit your picks before the deadline.

✨ Supporting women in sports? Check. Winning sweet prizes? Check. Having fun with a like-minded community of GISTers? Check, check, check. We can’t wait to see your name on the leaderboard.

⚾ MLB: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Seattle Mariners — Tonight at 9:40 p.m. ET — MLB.TV

• Mariners star catcher Cal Raleigh’s historic home run–hitting pace has slowed a bit, but the Big Dumper is still only 7 dingers away from the rare single-season 60-homer mark. Just keep swinging.

⛳ LPGA: Kroger Queen City Championship — Tomorrow through Sunday — Golf Channel

• Pari-tee has been the name of the game in women’s golf, but there’s still some favorites emerging as the tour visits Ohio. Reigning champ and world No. 3 Lydia Ko will be swinging to defend her title, while world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul will look to continue her strong season.

🏈 NFL: Washington Commanders vs. Green Bay Packers — Tomorrow at 8:15 p.m. ET — Prime Video

• These teams have a lot in common: dynamic quarterbacks in Washington’s Jayden Daniels and Green Bay’s Jordan Love, rushing attacks that dominated in Week 1, and talented wide receiver corps. However, only one NFC contender can come out on top. Can’t wait.

🏈 Want to dive deeper into the NFL convo? At The GIST, everyone’s invited. That’s why we launched our free-to-play NFL Pick’em Challenge: quick, fun, and easy picks with weekly and season-long prizes on the line.

• Just ask Kristin, who won last week’s challenge and scored some GIST merch for her efforts. All you have to do is choose who’ll win each matchup this week, and you could be next.

💌 Consider this your official invite. Nothing to lose, and a whole NFL community to gain. FOMO waits for no fan — make your picks now.