2026 WNBA Season Preview: Catchings & Holdsclaw Weigh In, Lead USA Network’s Star-Studded Coverage ...Middle East

Name a better way to kick off a historic era of WNBA basketball than by picking the brains of some of the best to ever do it.

In a conversation with USA Sports’ WNBA commentators, featuring WNBA Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings as game analyst, 2026 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Chamique Holdsclaw as studio analyst, Kate Scott on play-by-play, along with USA Sports’ WNBA coordinating producer and director Ted Ballard, we got their insights on the 2026 WNBA season, favorite rookies, and everything in between.

And trust us, there’s a lot to uncover. Let’s get into it.

New Era of the WNBA: Year 30, Day 1

The ever-changing landscape of the WNBA makes it feel like the league is still young. But it’s not. It’s been around for three decades now, older and longer-running than any other women’s sports league in America.

Still, this season feels like a new beginning. A new era, if you will.

With the new CBA, the WNBA and its players are closer than they’ve ever been to turning the league into its own living, breathing entity. And you don’t get there without talent, mainstream relevance, and the right people talking about the league, not because they have to, but because they genuinely want to.

“My son is a little boy and he’s very much into soccer and the NBA, but he loves Caitlin Clark,” said Chamique Holdsclaw. “We watch the games and he’s like, ‘She’s the best, she’s the best.’ Then I look at my daughter, and the players that pull her in are Angel Reese and A’ja Wilson because she thinks they’re like Barbie dolls. I say that to say there’s something for everyone, every kid out there, something for every adult… We get to really see who these women are, and I think that leads to great storytelling and brand recognition in a way.”

Top photo (May 3): Paige Bueckers and A’ja Wilson after the Wings-Aces preseason WNBA game in DallasBottom photo (May 4): Paige and A’ja at the Met Gala in New York@paigebueckers1 | @_ajawilson22 pic.twitter.com/CozndclsTr

Now, the league’s mainstream relevance goes beyond just the celebrities sitting courtside at WNBA games. The athletes themselves are celebrities, something only amplified by appearances from A’ja Wilson, Paige Bueckers, and Angel Reese at the Met Gala.

“As we saw just a couple of days ago at the Met Gala, which is so out of my league and range, they are the culture setters these days, right?” said Kate Scott. “They remind me of the NBA in the early 2000s, with Allen Iverson creating this culture that a lot of us didn’t know about — this is how cool people dress, this is the great music we should listen to. And the WNBA, in my opinion, is doing that now.”

Young Talent & ROTY Favorites

But it’s not hard to pinpoint where the boom came from. The league has never been short on talent, but the 2024 WNBA Draft class, headlined by Caitlin Clark, raised the bar and brought the eyeballs with it that the sport deserved. The numbers back it up.

Then the 2025 WNBA Draft kept that momentum rolling when Paige Bueckers headlined another leap forward for the league, even with Clark missing most of last season.

Now here we are in 2026, with another loaded draft class led by Azzi Fudd, national champion Lauren Betts, and more. Keeping up with these young stars, players who generated massive audiences throughout their college careers, has the potential to directly benefit the WNBA. And in turn, it’s made the Rookie of the Year conversation just as heated as the MVP race.

1999 Rookie of the Year Chamique Holdsclaw has her eyes on second overall pick Olivia Miles to win the award she herself earned 27 years ago.

“There’s so many great first-year players coming in, but I live in New Jersey, so I’m really excited to see how Olivia Miles does,” said Holdsclaw. “I think she’s a tough kid, just an amazing player. I really loved watching her at Notre Dame and TCU, so if she continues to play like she has in the preseason with that toughness and team-first mentality, we could possibly see her winning Rookie of the Year at the end of the season.”

For 2002 Rookie of the Year Tamika Catchings though, her excitement is centered around all the young talent that’s entered the league over the last three or four years. And as an Indiana Fever legend, it makes sense considering the franchise’s young core is built around Aliyah Boston and Clark.

But Catchings also highlighted something that needs to be talked about: just how little time young players now get to prove themselves. With so much talent available and only 15 teams to house it all, the clock starts ticking the second you step onto a WNBA court.

“I was surprised about Hailey Van Lith,” said Catchings in a conversation with Bleacher Nation. “But then when you look at Natasha Cloud coming in, you kind of understand a little bit of it, right?”

She was referring to the Chicago Sky waiving their 24-year-old first-round pick after an underwhelming rookie campaign to make room for the veteran presence of Natasha Cloud.

Then there’s the Golden State Valkyries, who selected Flau’jae Johnson with the eighth pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, traded her for the draft rights to Marta Suárez, and later waived Suárez for cap flexibility.

As the league gets more talented, it’s also getting more cutthroat.

The Valkyries have waived 2026 No. 16 overall pick Marta Suárez, the team announced.Suárez, who was originally selected by Seattle, was involved in a draft day trade that sent the TCU forward to Golden State for No. 8 pick Flau'jae Johnson. pic.twitter.com/nDZPep28zg

More Money, No Problems?

Another reason the 2026 WNBA season has been so hyped is the amount of player movement. Most players lined up their old contracts with the new CBA, and we got to see numbers that once felt unimaginable in the W being handed out almost daily. In total, 31 players are set to earn over $1 million in compensation.

A'ja Wilson, the WNBA's first ever four-time MVP, is signing a three-year, $5 million supermax contract to return to the Las Vegas Aces, sources tell me and @Andraya_Carter. The deal, which is the largest in WNBA history to date and fully guaranteed, was negotiated by Jade-Li… pic.twitter.com/xSJhkHOvId

The top tier of WNBA talent was already making serious money through endorsements, but it’s fair to say most of the league was still underpaid. So with that kind of money now entering the league also comes the need for financial literacy, something we hopefully don’t see the ugly side of this season.

“It’s a fear when you don’t know about money, and I would say there’s a majority of young ladies who may be the first person in their family making this type of money, so they need someone to educate them on it. Never be afraid to ask questions. Knowledge is power,” advised Chamique Holdsclaw.

“I’m an example of not knowing the beauty of a financial advisor until one of our practice players was like, ‘Wait, you’re just leaving it in the bank?’” said Tamika Catchings. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s what everybody does.’ Then I got into it and ended up finding the financial advisor I’m with now. But knowledge is power. Ask questions. Don’t spend it on purses and cars.”

Soon, we’ll probably see those millions turn into tens of millions, and hearing those numbers won’t feel surprising anymore. But knowing what to do with that money, and what not to do with it. will make all the difference.

Everything Gets the Update

But at the end of the day, everything that happens on the court is what amplifies everything happening off of it.

Whether it’s A’ja Wilson dominating both ends of the floor or Caitlin Clark pulling up from the logo and cashing threes, if the basketball is good, the great things surrounding the league will continue to grow. And this season, it turns out our viewing experience is getting a step up too.

USA Sports will present more than 50 WNBA games on USA Network this season, including regular season matchups, the playoffs, and the WNBA Finals. They’ll also roll out dedicated pregame, halftime, and postgame studio coverage throughout the year. That’s where we’ll see the likes of Tamika Catchings and Chamique Holdsclaw step into roles we really haven’t seen them in before.

“I think it’s important to point out, as somebody who covers all different sports here in the U.S., the ‘who’ I was going to be working with was a big reason I said yes,” said Kate Scott. “But the ‘how’ we were going to cover this league, not just this year, but for years moving forward, was also a huge reason.”

“Oftentimes, women’s sports don’t get the 11 cameras. They don’t get the coverage they deserve because companies aren’t willing to put that much money and those resources behind them. And USA said, ‘We are coming in hot. We are doing that from the jump.’”

The WNBA on USA Network schedule tips off on Mother’s Day this Sunday, May 10, as the defending champion Las Vegas Aces visit the Los Angeles Sparks at 5 p.m. CT.

Then Wednesday night doubleheaders will anchor USA Network’s WNBA coverage all season long, beginning Wednesday, May 13, when the Aces visit the Connecticut Sun at 7 p.m. CT, followed by the Indiana Fever taking on the Sparks at 9:30 p.m. CT.

The @WNBA is coming to USA with a can't-miss tip off week! ? It all begins when the Sparks take on the Aces Sunday May 10, with coverage starting at 5:30p ET on @USANetwork! pic.twitter.com/3CMwTpC8x1

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