MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The WNBA season is here - yay. This past weekend, the league's two new teams played their first regular-season games, and among the stars back in action is the Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, who is healthy after missing most of last season with injuries. NPR sports correspondent Becky Sullivan is with us now to bring us all up to date. Becky, good morning.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So the two new teams are the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire. How'd they do?
SULLIVAN: Yeah, yeah. I mean, this is big - adding both of these teams. This is bringing the WNBA now to 15 teams. They got to host their first games this weekend. The stands were packed. Both teams lost, unfortunately, but the fans showed out - 8,200 fans in Toronto, which was a sellout, and then more than 19,000 in Portland, who play in the same arena as the NBA's Trail Blazers. They gave the Fire a big standing ovation, even as the team lost by 15.
It's just, like, a cool moment for both of these teams, playing their first games. A Toronto Tempo player named Temi Fagbenle said something that really stuck with me headed into the season. She is actually now on her second new team in a row because she played for the Golden State Valkyries, which, as you know, Michel, was the new team last season, when they joined the league. And here's what Temi said about that experience.
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TEMI FAGBENLE: Everything we do here is basically history-making. You know, that's the same thing as it was last season in San Francisco. So it's, like, everything is, like, a big deal. But I think it's important to - what I learned from my experience last season is just to take it all in your stride. Don't get too high, don't get too low, but just enjoy it.
MARTIN: You know, that's kind of a good philosophy for the fans - right - to be in too, right?
SULLIVAN: Yes (laughter). Yeah, exactly. I do think it is hard for an expansion team in any sport, really, to be great, so I think you do have to keep the expectations in check. But using the Valkyries, as we talked about, for a standard last year, they did reach the playoffs. That's a great first season for an expansion team. And they set high bars in other ways, too, including in attendance. Golden State led the league in attendance last year - 18,000 fans each game on average. They, in fact, set an all-time attendance record for a single season. So that kind of engagement - you know, that buy-in from locals who are sort of instantly becoming a big fan base - that's the goal. And by the way, of course, there are still three more new WNBA teams to come over the next few years in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Detroit.
MARTIN: OK, let's talk Caitlin Clark, who missed all but 13 games last season. She is back. How'd she look?
SULLIVAN: Yeah. She played 31 minutes. She scored 20 points. You know, the Fever, they - their goal with her this season is to let her play off the ball a little more, so she's not handling the ball so much, so she's not coming into so much contact all the time. Afterwards, she said she had some first-game jitters but she worked through them. The Fever did lose that opening game to the Dallas Wings, who have their own young, awesome superstar in Paige Bueckers, who looked great. But with the Fever and Caitlin Clark, you know, last year they reached the playoffs even without her. They made it all the way to the semifinals. And so with her, the thinking is they should be a title contender. So it's a long season ahead.
MARTIN: So how - right. What about Angel Reese?
SULLIVAN: Yeah. I mean, so Angel Reese, she was, you know, the main piece in a big trade with the Atlanta Dream and the Chicago Sky, so she's now playing for Atlanta. That big trade for them paid off with her. She had the game-winning block in their opening game over the Minnesota Lynx. They look pretty exciting.
You know, in terms of other contenders, I think the Las Vegas Aces, you got to mention them. They've won three of the past four titles. How could you not? The four-time MVP A'ja Wilson, of course, playing for them. They had mixed results this weekend. The New York Liberty also came into the season as favorites to win it all. They are now 2 and 0...
MARTIN: All right.
SULLIVAN: ...So they are living up to the hype so far.
MARTIN: Living up to the hype. As is NPR's Becky Sullivan.
SULLIVAN: (Laughter).
MARTIN: Becky, thank you.
SULLIVAN: Of course. You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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