oscar piastri’s defense attorney

the 2020 wnba season was postponed indefinitely on april 3rd, 2020. we had no idea if a season would happen. they still held the draft two weeks later (over Zoom) which was exciting (albeit a little awkward), but we were doubtful any of those players would get a true rookie season.

in truth, even though we all missed basketball, we knew that we would be okay without a season. everyone's health was more important, and ending the pandemic was a community effort. in addition, with the resurgence of the black lives matter movement starting in may 2020, players and fans alike felt that there were bigger things to focus on than basketball.

however, basketball is a business, and cancelling the nba and wnba seasons would mean losing a lot of money. the nba immediately started planning a way to have a condensed, safe end to the season. on june 4th, the nba board of governors approved the nba bubble.

22 teams would travel to the walt disney world resort in orlando, florida. everybody would quarantine for two weeks and resume play in an accelerated season. daily testing, contact tracing, masking in specific areas, and extensive sanitation measures would be required. if players brought approved guests (partners, children, or other family members), they would have to follow these rules too. lastly, nobody would be allowed to freely go to and from the resort. everyone would have to stay on campus until their teams were eliminated from the playoffs (or under extenuating circumstances where they'd be leaving the season early and not coming back). in other words, the nba season would be happening inside of a bubble.

since the wnba operates under the nba, the wnba could start to prepare their own bubble once the nba's plan was approved. the wnba was concerned with more than just having a season not to lose money. 2020 was supposed to be a new era for the wnba: the w began a focused rebranding campaign during the 2019 season, and 2020 would've welcomed the college star sabrina ionescu, along with a new CBA for the players. it wasn't just the money: the wnba didn't want to lose out on the moment.

on june 15th, the plan for the wnba bubble (called 'the wubble') was approved. on the first week of july, 12 players from each of the 12 teams would travel to img academy in bradenton, florida. everyone would go through an individual quarantine period. once the players were cleared, an accelerated season would begin: there'd be a "training camp" period (though no players would be cut; rosters were decided beforehand because players could not come and go from the wubble), and a 22-game season would begin on july 25th. playoffs would happen in the standard format starting on september 15th, with teams being allowed to leave the wubble as soon as they were eliminated from playoffs.

in addition, the season was dedicated to the black lives matter movement. the wnba had long been at the forefront of social justice activism in sports leagues, and it goes without saying that BLM is important to a predominantly black league. "black lives matter" and "say her name" slogans were added to the courts and jerseys, and players also wore "breonna taylor" nameplates on their jerseys (in addition to their own names).

in the weeks leading up to the wubble, the rosters were under construction as players decided whether or not they would go play. several players had or sought out medical exemptions (elena delle donne was infamously denied an exemption for her post-lyme disease symptoms). others, like natasha cloud, chose to sit out the season to focus on social justice.

once the rosters were finalized, players headed to florida to start quarantining at img academy. and... move-in day was interesting.

the teams and staff were split between three housing situations: apartment-style villas and two different on-site hotels. one of the hotels had bugs, visible mousetraps, broken beds, and more. i remember stewie posting stories about her bed and dearica tweeting that the wubble was "trubble" LOL. multiple nba players spoke out about how the conditions were unacceptable, and it sparked a conversation about the treatment & accommodations for male athletes versus female athletes. luckily IMG academy fixed the issues quickly and players were made happy, but it was such a wild day to witness on social media lol

we learned a lot about what the wubble was like due to players posting pictures and videos while they were there. it felt like watching all of your favorite players having fun at summer camp & it was a much needed serotonin boost while we were all stuck inside!!

isabelle harrison, bella alarie, lexie brown, and more players posted vlogs on youtube about their lives in the wubble (i've linked one below, but you can see a full playlist here).

diamond deshields posted regular updates about when she encountered bugs or lizards and it still sends me to this day LOL

there were sooooooooo many dance videos (these two lived in my head rent free all summer)

several players started podcasts! a'ja wilson and napheesa collier made 'tea with a & phee' (which was hilarious & actually went on for a while beyond the wubble)

stewie also started a podcast where she had different players on as guests and i think the first episode with gabby and diamond really gives a great overview of what the wubble was about: making the most of playing basketball in a weird time but also using their platform for social justice.

remember that while everyone is having fun in the wubble, there are also huge protests happening across the country to fight against police brutality. black people are dying in cruel, inhumane ways at the hands of police and it's hard for black people to stomach—especially the black women in the league.

recall that i mentioned that black lives matter was one of the main slogans of the 2020 season. kelly loeffler, who was a republican senator for the state of georgia at the time and an atlanta dream co-owner, was quick to speak out against this decision.

Loeffler, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, wrote, "I adamantly oppose the Black Lives Matter political movement, which has advocated for the defunding of police, called for the removal of Jesus from churches and the disruption of the nuclear family structure, harbored anti-Semitic views, and promoted violence and destruction across the country. I believe it is totally misaligned with the values and goals of the WNBA and the Atlanta Dream, where we support tolerance and inclusion." She told Engelbert that she was "incredibly disappointed to read about efforts to insert a political platform into the league," adding, "The truth is, we need less -- not more politics in sports. In a time when polarizing politics is as divisive as ever, sports has the power to be a unifying antidote. And now more than ever, we should be united in our goal to remove politics from sports." In the letter, Loeffler said that she thinks adding the American flag to jerseys and licensed apparel would be a "common-sense" solution. "Though I was not consulted about -- nor do I agree with the League's decision in this matter, I am proposing a common-sense recommendation to ensure we reflect the values of freedom and equality for all," she wrote. "I believe we should put an American flag on every jersey. Include it in our licensed apparel for players, coaches and fans." —ESPN, "Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler critical of WNBA's Black Lives Matter initiative", ESPN, July 7th, 2020

the atlanta dream promptly denounced her statement. players across the league spoke out against loeffler and asked that she be removed from the dream ownership team, an action which commissioner cathy engelbert did not take.

players refused to stop there. loeffler's senate seat was up for grabs in the upcoming election, and she was being opposed by democrat raphael warnock—so, after a conversation with former georgia house representative stacey abrams, the dream decided to back warnock's campaign full-force. the rest of the league followed.

the protest was incredibly successful, both in bringing awareness to warnock's campaign and educating fans on the power of their vote.

in january's runoff election, warnock would defeat loeffler to become one of two new democratic senators in georgia, successfully flipping the state of georgia blue and getting the point across: americans want representatives that care about the people they serve. click here to read a great write-up on this situation!

a month later, the atlanta dream would win the war when loeffler sold her ownership shares. this story is an incredible one that shows the power of activism & one that i felt lucky to witness. a few years ago, a documentary was released detailing this story from start to finish if you want to learn more about it.

this was not the only major act of protest that was taken in the wubble.

on august 23rd, 2020, jacob blake was shot 7 times by police officers during an attempted arrest. though blake survived the shooting, he was paralyzed from the waist down and could not walk ever again. like with other instances of police brutality, the excessive force used by police officers led to nationwide protests—including protests by professional athletes.

on august 26th, over in the nba bubble, the milwaukee bucks refused to leave the locker room for game five of their first-round playoff series against the orlando magic, and all other nba games that night were cancelled. the wnba wanted to protest too, but they took a different approach.

at 7:00 PM, the mystics and the dream were supposed to play. instead, they gathered on the court and took a knee for the national anthem. they left once the anthem was over.

the mystics wore shirts spelling out jacob blake's name and 7, the number of times he was shot. on the back of everyone's shirts were drawings of 7 bullet holes. the image was powerful enough without words, but the players wanted to take advantage of the broadcast stage. after the players left the court, elizabeth williams read out a statement.

"After speaking with representatives from teams playing tonight, as well as our WNBPA leadership, the consensus is to not play in tonight's slate of games and to kneel, lock arms, and raise fists during the national anthem. "We stand in solidarity with our brothers in the NBA and we'll continue this conversation with our brothers and sisters across all leagues and look to take collective action. "What we have seen over the last few months and most recently with the brutal police shooting of Jacob Blake is overwhelming, and while we hurt for Jacob and his community, we also have an opportunity to keep the focus on the issues and demand change. "These moments are why it's important for our fans to stay focused, hear our voices, know our hearts, and connect the dots from what we say to what we do. "We encourage everyone to go and register to vote now, today. If you truly believe that Black lives matter, then vote. Go and complete the 2020 census now. Don't wait. If we wait, we don't make change. "It matters. Your voice matters. Your vote matters. Do all you can to demand that your leaders stop with the empty words and do something. "This is the reason for the 2020 season. It is in our DNA. We have been saying her name. We are lifting the names of Black and brown women whose murders have been forgotten. We will continue to use our platform to speak of these injustices that are still happening and demand action for change. Black lives matter. Say her name. Say his name. "Tonight, we stand, and while we have heavy hearts, we stand with strong and determined voices and ask all our fans to vote to engage and to make that difference."

ariel atkins and the washington mystics also spoke about the importance of their protest.

all games for august 26th and 27th were rescheduled in protest, and play resumed on august 28th. there weren't any other game protests, but the players continued to speak loudly against injustice for the remainder of the season.

espn would later make a documentary about the season and its social justice efforts entitled 144. if you haven't seen it before, you might want to click this link :)

after all of that, you might be wondering: what the hell happened with the actual basketball? here's a quick list of the notable events:

sabrina didn't get a real rookie year, nor was she the savior of the new york liberty, because she sprained her ankle in her third game and had to sit out the rest of the season. the liberty went 2-20.

chennedy carter was going off for the dream until she also hurt her ankle and had to sit out the rest of the season. (crystal dangerfield on the lynx became the rookie of the year, partly due to her talent and partly due to not injuring her ankle.)

the dallas wings did not make the playoffs despite their strength in rookies and arike averaging 22.8 ppg. (the dream and the fever also missed the playoffs.)

the big free agency moves (skylar diggins to phoenix, dewanna bonner to connecticut, and seimone augustus to LA) were very entertaining to watch in action (and the DB/AT romance started here too!)

DT told a ref "i'll see you in the lobby later" after a call she wasn't happy with and it immediately became part of wnba fan lexicon lol

shey peddy's iconic buzzer beater sends the mystics home after the mystics had cut her and the mercury picked her up (read the lore here)

all-wnba first team: courtney vandersloot, arike ogunbowale, a'ja wilson, breanna stewart, candace parker

all-defensive first team: alysha clark, betnijah laney, brianna turner, alyssa thomas, elizabeth williams

all-rookie team: crystal dangerfield, julie allemand, chennedy carter, jazmine jones, satou sabally

MVP: a'ja wilson, las vegas aces (her first!!)

MIP: betnijah laney, atlanta dream

DPOY: candace parker, los angeles sparks

6POY: dearica hamby, las vegas aces

end of season league standings: las vegas aces, seattle storm, los angeles sparks, minnesota lynx, phoenix mercury, chicago sky, connecticut sun, washington mystics, dallas wings, atlanta dream, indiana fever, new york liberty

the finals came down to the aces and the storm. this was the first time the aces had made the finals since their relocation and it was the first time we really saw the vision of what the aces could be, while the storm had last won the championship in 2018.

the series was a clean sweep by the storm. dearica hamby, 6POY, was injured in the semifinals and her absence had a huge impact on the aces. (i strongly believe it would've been a different series if she were healthy.) the storm had an incredible performance throughout with the sue and stewie dream team plus vets like jewell loyd, natasha howard, and alysha clark.

i remember that when they were celebrating, one of the things they screamed on the court was "WE'RE GOING HOME!"

the wubble season may have been short, but it was one of the biggest ever. even though it felt like the world was on fire in 2020, the wubble brought a lot of joy in community and hope that the world would be a better place if we fought for it. the wubble represented everything i love about the wnba, and i look back on it with so much fondness. if you're learning about the wubble for the first time from this post, i hope that you got to feel some of the same pride and joy i experienced as a wnba fan in 2020. :)