{"id":829774,"date":"2025-05-12T11:02:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T15:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/?p=829774"},"modified":"2025-05-12T13:16:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T17:16:42","slug":"mercury-cover-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/the-magazine\/slam-256\/mercury-cover-story\/","title":{"rendered":"The Phoenix Mercury\u2014and their New Big 3\u2014are ready to RISE to the Occasion This Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Without the past, there\u2019s no present. Let\u2019s be real: we can\u2019t talk about what\u2019s going on in Phoenix right now without talking about Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DT was the franchise\u2019s first-ever No. 1 pick in \u201904, and from the moment she arrived until she retired 20 years later, she was the franchise\u2019s centerpiece, the iron at the core of their offense. Taurasi played a style of basketball tougher than the element itself: the spin moves, the fadeaway pull-up jumpers, the crisp dimes, all that attitudeand fire. <\/em>Everyone\u2019s got a DT story, a moment they\u2019ll never forget: the trash talk, the kiss, that selfie she took after getting ejected (\u201cGot tossed, lol<\/em>.\u201d), the door. Early on, the Mercury played a fast-paced, run-and-gun offense under then-head coach Paul Westhead, known as the \u201cThe System,\u201d that allowed DT to evolve into a scoring machine. By \u201906, she averaged a career-high 25.3 ppg; by \u201907, she was a champion. Just two years later in \u201909, the Merc\u2019s legendary trio of DT, her now-wife Penny Taylor and Cappie Pondexter won another one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013, the Mercury drafted a 6-9 anomaly from Baylor named Brittney Griner as the No. 1 pick. BG opened up the team\u2019s spacing, dunked on their competition and helped bring another title back to the Valley of the Sun in 2014. The rest is\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History. No one could have imagined that last season would be the very last time we\u2019d ever see those two in the purple and orange. This past February, the franchise as we know it changed forever: Griner signed with the Atlanta Dream in free agency. Right around the same time, the Mercury made a four-team trade to acquire Alyssa Thomas from Connecticut and Satou Sabally from Dallas, as well as center Kalani Brown and guard Sevgi Uzun (from the Wings). As for Taurasi, it was a matter of if she was going to retire or return for Year 21. On February 25, she announced in TIME that she was retiring from the game. The end of an era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, for the first time in a very, very long time, the Mercury are starting over. Under the helm of head coach Nate Tibbetts, the Mercury have a vision for how their squad, led by the new Big 3, will compete this season. Everyone\u2019s calling it positionless basketball.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GET YOUR COPY OF SLAM 256 <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The term isn\u2019t one Tibbetts came up with directly, but it is one he\u2019s embracing. \u201cI don\u2019t know who has termed it \u2018positionless,\u2019\u201d he said, via Desert Wave Media. \u201cI love the term. We\u2019re just trying to figure it out and play with space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past decade, the Mercury relied heavily on DT\u2019s scoring ability and BG\u2019s defensive dominance, but Tibbetts has reimagined the Mercury\u2019s system entirely. They\u2019ll still play fast and aggressive defensively, but he\u2019s emphasizing way more versatility. \u201cUs going in and getting [Thomas] and [Sabally] is just going to give us more size. Maybe just not at the center position, but just positionally,\u201d Tibbetts continued. \u201cLike [Mercury general manager Nick U\u2019Ren] said, let\u2019s make this our own path. We\u2019ve got different ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By utilizing each player\u2019s individual skill set and not limiting them to the confines of their traditional positions, Tibbetts is going to let his stars unleash their creativity while creating opportunities for others. For a player like Sabally, who earned the nickname \u201cUnicorn\u201d because of how dynamic and unique her game is (in Dallas, she averaged 17.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and a career-high 5.0 assists last season in just 15 games due to injury), it\u2019ll allow her to play with the freedom she hasn\u2019t had before. \u201cPositionless basketball is what we\u2019ve all been doing as individual players,\u201d Sabally said to the media on May 8, while sitting alongside Copper, Thomas and Tibbetts. \u201cNow we\u2019re put into a system that will really enhance that and will let us be free.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As she spoke, Thomas, who is one of the best facilitators in the League and a six-time All-Defensive superstar, nodded her head in agreement. During her time in Connecticut, AT broke the WNBA single-season record for assists (316) and double-doubles (28) in 2023 and remains the franchise\u2019s leader in almost every major category, including games played, rebounds and assists. \u201c[Thomas is] a basketball wizard,\u201d Tibbetts told the media, via TheNext. \u201cI\u2019ve been super happy with how she\u2019s been willing to speak up and use her voice in situations. You can say a lot of things about [Thomas], but the number one thing is, she\u2019s a winner. Her teams win, and they win at a high level. That\u2019s what we want, to win at the highest level here, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With 11 years of veteran experience, Thomas can now tap into all the different layers of her game, from running the point to also playing center and forward. \u201cAT starting the break, imagine a 4 trying to pick her up full court? That\u2019s tough,\u201d <\/em>said Copper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As for Kah, who averaged a career-high 21.1 points per game while earning her fourth All-Star appearance last year, she\u2019ll be expected to drop buckets, play aggressive defense and bring that same intensity, grit and Philly-bred attitude she\u2019s always played with (who could forget the in-your-face staredown she gave Sophie Cunningham in Game 2 of the Finals in 2021?). But her impact this season, specifically, will go way beyond just the Xs and Os. Kah is undeniably one of the team\u2019s leaders, and having played with greats like Candace Parker, whom she won a title with in Chicago, as well as Griner and Taurasi last year, this is now her time to lead a squad of her own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlaying with great players is a great thing,\u201d Copper said earlier this month, via AZcentral.<\/em> \u201cYou learn different leadership styles. Just going back to my 2020-21 season [in Chicago], winning the championship, that team was full of leaders, but leaders in their own way. And I think you\u2019re able to be your best, most authentic and genuine self when you do it your own way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While it\u2019s only been a few weeks since training camp started in late April, it\u2019s Copper who will \u201cset the tone\u201d every single day, according to Tibbetts. \u201c[Copper] is special,\u201d Tibbetts said, via TheNext. \u201cShe means a lot to me and what we\u2019re trying to do, and her growth over the course of the year, like, a year ago, she and I, we had just met for the first time, and our conversations, our relationship, our trust, is at the ultimate level\u2026My whole challenge to her this year is lead. And it\u2019s not just with what you say, it\u2019s what you do\u2026And every day she has set the tone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her presence is already being felt by her teammates, too. \u201cWe\u2019ve already had a conversation\u2026 she was like, I\u2019m gonna demand a lot from you,<\/em>\u201d says Sabally. \u201cWe looked each other in the eyes and we were like, Yeah, good.<\/em> I want that. I know her drive as a player. That\u2019s where I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As for what happens next, all eyes will be on Phoenix to see how exactly they rise to the occasion this season, which officially starts May 16. Still, it\u2019s obvious that the Mercury are not looking to rewrite the past, but pen their own chapter. No one can replicate what Taurasi and Griner brought to the organization, but with a new roster, a new training facility, a new philosophy and a ton of new additions\u2014including sharpshooter Sami Whitcomb from Seattle, overseas standouts Monique Akoa-Makani, Anna Makurat\u00a0and <\/a>Shyla Heal, and new signees like Alexis Prince and Kitija Laksa, to name a few\u2014the opportunities are endless. \u201cI anticipate I\u2019ll get some of the most open looks I\u2019ve had probably in my career, because people will leave me to guard them,\u201d Whitcomb says of the Big 3. Adds Kalani Brown: \u201cNate has given me a green light, and he wants me to evolve. So I\u2019m very happy about that. It\u2019s very uncomfortable at first, but I think once I get it down, it\u2019s gonna be better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without the present, there\u2019s no future, and right now, the Mercury are locked in on just that. Exactly how it\u2019ll all come together, only time will tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the end, it\u2019s still basketball,\u201d says Satou. \u201cThe ball has to fall in the hoop, and we\u2019re pretty good at that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SHOP MERCURY COLLECTION<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Portraits by Erik Isakson.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Without the past, there\u2019s no present. Let\u2019s be real: we can\u2019t talk about what\u2019s going on in Phoenix right now without talking about Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner first. DT was the franchise\u2019s first-ever No. 1 pick in \u201904, and from the moment she arrived until she retired 20 years later, she was the franchise\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":424,"featured_media":829787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65393],"tags":[9476,62525,63807,1332,64355,63726],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-829774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-slam-256","tag-alyssa-thomas","tag-feature-1","tag-kahleah-copper","tag-phoenix-mercury","tag-satou-sabally","tag-wslam"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829774"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":829802,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829774\/revisions\/829802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829774"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=829774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}