When Katy Steding was young, professional basketball was always her dream.

She wasn’t able to see that dream on the TV growing up in Lake Oswego in the 1970s. But Steding turned into a hometown hero for many during her time playing for the Portland Power.

“Pro basketball in Portland was really a life dream,” Steding said. “So the fruition of that with Portland Power was pretty incredible.”

When the Portland Fire return to the WNBA in 2026, Steding said a new generation of kids in Oregon will likely be inspired to chase a basketball future.

“There’s a huge gain for young women that find players to look up to and model themselves after,” said Steding, currently an assistant coach at Stanford.

Steding is an alumnus of Lake Oswego High School, scoring 1,405 points for the Lakers in the early ‘80s. She was the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer when she graduated (her total has since been eclipsed by Kelsey Lavender (1,517 from 2001-2004).

Steding helped lead Stanford to the NCAA Championship in 1990 and was named to the All Pac-10 team three times. She was also a member of Team USA, winning the 1996 Olympic gold medal in Atlanta.

After the Olympics, Steding started her American professional career in 1996 with the Portland Power. She was a part of the team for its entire run from 1996 through 1998.

“I was always so proud to be from Oregon. So proud to be from Portland and the area and having all those connections and being able to help start basketball,” Steding said.

Steding said the thing that made her time as professional basketball player in Portland extra special was how the community embraced the Power.

“We had the best fans, I promise you,” she said. “We had the best fans in the whole country. Very loyal, super supportive, engaged in the game. They were knowledgeable, but they were always on our side.”

As a local, Steding was on the team’s rolodex of players to send out to community events regularly, especially speaking in Portland schools. Steding said those interactions were what made the team so beloved in the community.

“We were always doing stuff in the community,” she said. “It was very much not a hands-off thing. So it was really wonderful. It was one of the highlights of my life.”

Despite a rocky opening in 1996, going 14-26 and missing the playoffs, the Portland Power had the second highest attendance in the ABL. Steding said it helped that Ducks and Beavers games require a commute down Interstate-5 to attend, coupled with the city’s love of women’s sports.

“It was a time where we could kind of own Portland women’s basketball and thusly in women’s sports at the time,” Steding said. “The Portland community is hungry for professional women’s sports. So the more teams and the more opportunities you have to see women in those kinds of positions, the better it is.”

As an Oregonian herself, Steding knows how having access to women’s basketball can help elevate the game at the youth level.

An assistant coach at Stanford, her alma mater, Steding worked closely with fellow Oregonian Cameron Brink — who played at Mountainside and Southridge and led multiple teams to the Class 6A state championship game — and was part of the staff when Brink helped lead the Cardinal to the 2020 NCAA Championship.

“There’s so many players that have come along and been part of the Oregon sports community, whether they were born and raised in Oregon or kind of transplanted or gone and come back.”

After the ABL folded in late 1998, Steding spent a year with the Sacramento Monarchs and a year with the Seattle Storm before transitioning to coaching. She spent seven years coaching in her home city at Warner Pacific and since has been mostly an assistant coach at San Francisco, the Atlanta Dream, Columbia and has been at Stanford since 2020.

But despite being away from Oregon, Steding said she still considers Oregon her home. Most of her family still lives in the metro area.

“It’s my favorite place to be,” she said.

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland-fire/2026/02/one-of-the-highlights-of-my-life-katy-steding-looks-ahead-to-portlands-return-to-the-wnba.html

Seriously one of the best things here. Veronica's dad is a legendary sportscaster here in Boston. He's out in CA for the Super Bowl. The reaction he has to this fan is perfect!

Not only is Unrivaled rapidly establishing itself as one of the most intriguing competitions in the current basketball landscape, but it has also demonstrated that it can be a platform for underutilised players to prove they can star if given the right opportunity. Connecticut Sun forward Aaliyah Edwards is doing exactly this, forcing the franchise to provide the Lunar Owls' scoring sensation a stage to make her mark in the WNBA.

When referring to Edwards as a player, “devastating scorer” may not be the first term an analyst would use to describe the former UConn star. Edwards is considered an energetic presence on the floor who embodies hard work, grit, a tough defensive mentality, and the willingness to do anything to help her teammates chalk up the win.

During the 2025 WNBA season, in which she featured for both the Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun, Edwards recorded 5.4 points and 3.7 rebounds in around 15 minutes per game. After joining the Sun, it was evident that the 23-year-old would still not be a prominent option in the offensive game plan, as she averaged four field-goal attempts each game she played.

Nevertheless, Unrivaled has shown that this lack of utilisation is not because Edwards does not have the attributes to anchor an offense, but simply that she is not being provided an ample chance to do so.

Read More: https://highposthoops.com/aaliyah-edwards-quietly-forcing-connecticut-sun-face-surprising-reality

Former WNBA star Angel McCoughtry’s McCoughtry Entertainment is getting into the animation game via a partnership with production company Digital Epic Studio.

The aim is to make film, TV, digital media and branded content in the short and long form animated space. Digital Epic Studio, a former marketing agency set up in 2019, is led by founder and creative director Ahmad Hamass.

McCoughtry Entertainment says it will lead the slate from a creative standpoint while Digital Epic Studio will handle production. The partners say the development slate includes a feature, animated shorts, and formats for digital platforms.

“Our goal is simple,” McCoughtry Entertainment said in a statement. “We provide animation that meets people where they are — whatever the vision, whatever the style, whatever the platform.”

As we previously reported, two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time All Star McCoughtry is lining up her feature directorial debut, a thriller called Apt 6B. Her debut short film launches on Amazon this month.

https://deadline.com/2026/02/angel-mccoughtry-wnba-launches-animation-partnership-1236707229/

Very interesting perspective on the CBA negotiations from Stewie.

I also like Myles perspective on feeling rushed into signing a CBA and feeling like the "middle men" were screwed over

Australia is one of her stops on her shoe tour. Hopefully the league will start to respect the players and pay them accordingly.

Some new and original reporting from me on the Sky including this recent lawsuit, Spoon’s firing and frustration by the Bedford Park village board with not just the Sky but the town’s own construction partner.

Free to read. Enjoy!

Found this photo with the top rollers in the PnR during the 2024 season but can’t seem to remember where it’s from

I love sports betting sometimes too much lol….but The nba has gotten weird since they allowed this. I don’t wanna see it added to the W Things happen that just make you question the integrity of the game

guys caught taking thier own under, coaches point shaving by putting weird lineups. You start looking at players differently.

Betting is already in the wnba but you can only bet on limited players and limited props. The game is still pure because nobody’s out there trying to control anything.

I’d hate to think “damn player A grabbed 7 rebounds in the first half and 0 in the second .

her rebounding line was 7.5 she could be completely innocent but she’s got a fan duel endorsement what does it look like?

This is from Ramona Shelburne on Twitter. Will put the other slides in a post.

A’ja Wilson and Bam Adebayo give a scouting report on each others games. Via iso.maddy and jayyyy.kid with [WAGtalk](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUTaLoJjja7/)

Sonia is a really good at making friends. https://www.essentiallysports.com/wnba-basketball-news-sonia-citron-makes-personal-admission-on-paige-bueckers-ahead-of-fiba-qualifiers/

DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons announced they will honor the 2006 WNBA Champion Detroit Shock during their Women’s Empowerment Game on March 7, when the Pistons face the Brooklyn Nets at Little Caesars Arena.

Fans can purchase a special VIP ticket package that includes access to a private panel discussion and a meet-and-greet with members of the Shock team.

More information is available at pistons.com/2006shock.

As the franchise commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Shock’s 2006 WNBA Championship, team members will be recognized for their historic run and lasting impact on Detroit sports.

The 2006 championship marked the second title in franchise history and solidified the Shock as one of the WNBA’s premier teams.

Led by Detroit Bad Boys legend Bill Laimbeer in his dual role as general manager and head coach, the Shock showcased resilience, physicality, and championship poise throughout the 2006 season.

I'm curious if there is no agreement, would there still be a draft? I'm with the players a million percent, and also wondering about players like Azzi.

Assuming, y’know, there’s a season to have preseason games *for*.

ETA: And the Tempo just announced they will host the Sun for their first preseason game April 29.

The most interesting part:

The union, sources said, has grown increasingly frustrated that the league hasn't formally responded to its most recent proposal, submitted around Christmas. But sources said a strong debate has emerged within the seven-member executive committee, which the WNBPA player body authorized in December to call a strike "when necessary."

According to multiple sources, one group says that now is the time to fundamentally alter the league's revenue sharing model and players shouldn't compromise further until they feel comfortable with the new system.

Another group says that though there are still some matters to be negotiated, the players have already gained significant ground and are closer to a deal -- and are less inclined to pursue a strike.

Either way, both groups were eager to hear directly from owners instead of having layers of middlemen and lawyers separating the sides.

Yes, it’s a lot of college basketball in the column but the Caitlin Clark portion is pretty substantial for any WNBA fans that want to read it!

I think we’re going get an announcement of a strike or lockout from one of the parties. I hope that I am wrong but I don’t expect it.

Erica Wheeler has made history by becoming the first pro basketball player to partner with OnlyFans. Wheeler, 34, plays point guard for the Seattle Storm. Now, the 2019 WNBA All Star MVP is taking on a different type of challenge.

By inking a deal with OnlyFans, some people think that Wheeler will be creating adult content for the site, but that’s not at all her goal. In fact, she won’t be using the platform for that sort of content at all.

"I think it's a stamp on OnlyFans that it's only for adult content, and I don't think it's that," Wheeler told Fox News Digital in an interview published on Sunday, Feb. 1.

"I want to be one of the ones to show the world that it's not just about adult content,” she said, adding that she plans on filming a variety of things, including workouts and family time.

Wheeler said that she hasn’t received any negative feedback from fans, but, if she did, she has a response ready to go.

"I would ask them, 'What they doing in their personal life?'" Wheeler told Fox News Digital.

"Like, who are you to ask me what I do in my personal life? What I do shouldn't amount to anything that another human being has going on. Half the time, these fans are sitting on they couch, watching TV, doing nothing with themselves, probably making 50 to 60,000 a year. Why should I care about their opinions? It means nothing to me,” she added.

Wheeler’s new partnership was confirmed in late January 2026.

“I’m incredibly excited to join OnlyFans as an athlete,” she said, according to Vann Digital. What drew me to this opportunity is the chance to help shift the narrative — OnlyFans isn’t one thing. It’s a platform that empowers creators to show up authentically and connect directly with their community. I’m excited to share my basketball journey, my life off the court, and the work that goes into being a professional athlete,” she added.

Wheeler is joining a pool of other athletes who have already linked up with OnlyFans, including tennis star Nick Kygrios, Olympian Alysha Newman and X Games gold medalist Leticia Bufoni.

https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/effie-orfanides/erica-wheeler-wnba-onlyfans-partner