When the Connecticut Sun added Tina Charles in the offseason, they knew they were getting one of the most accomplished players in WNBA history.
They also knew they were adding a player with the character they wanted to help develop the young core they planned to build around.
Charles arrived ready to be the veteran presence players could lean on.
At the start of the season, no one needed a shoulder to lean on more than rookie Saniya Rivers.
The six-week span from Rivers’s Sweet 16 run with N.C. State to her WNBA debut last week felt like a blur.
In between, she experienced the euphoria of being drafted eighth overall and the grief of losing her 47-year-old mother, Demetria, shortly after. At 22, Saniya had to process not only starting her career, but doing it without her mother.
“Losing my mom has been the toughest thing I’ve ever faced in my life, and I’m playing for her,” Rivers said after making her debut against the Las Vegas Aces. “I came out here to play for her and I know she’s looking over me and protecting me in a different way.”
Rivers received support from the coaching staff and the organization, but Charles consistently checked in.
“They’ve done so much for me, on and off the court,” Rivers said. “I wasn’t with them for like two weeks and Tina alone checking in on me every day. It’s just amazing. She didn’t have to. She was just on me every day. How are you? You need anything?
“You hear stories about other teams and you just don’t know how it’s going to be as the rookie and a vet. The fact that she just stepped up and played a big sister role just motivated me.“
Charles wanted to reassure Rivers.
“If it’s one thing I would tell her every day since that day, it’s things are going to change throughout your career, but I’ll forever be your vet,” Charles said. “That will never change and I’m always here for you.”
At 36 years old with 11 years of WNBA experience, Charles has seen a lot, but she acknowledged how difficult it was to put herself in Rivers’s shoes.
“I don’t know where I would be if I was that age — even at this age and this stage in my career,“ said Charles. ”So, just the resilience and the endurance that she’s showing, there’s no reason why we’re not able to build off it. I’m just really thankful for her, thankful to be able to even cross paths.”
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The Sun started with four straight losses, but Rivers has been a bright spot — not only for averaging 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 27.2 minutes, but for the strength she’s shown. She remembered the days after the draft when she and her mother visited Connecticut and met the coaches and staff.
“She was able to rest because she knew I was in good hands,” Rivers said. “Even though it’s hard, I think I know that I’m in good hands and I’m loved and I’m with a program that will care for me, look over me, help me in any way, shape or form.”
Changes of scenery
The Sun broke up the core that came within a win of the WNBA Finals last season. Some of the faces of that run are thriving in their new surroundings, others are still finding their footing.
Brionna Jones, for one, has embraced change.
Under coach Karl Smesko, Jones’s game is expanding out in Atlanta. It’s no secret that Smesko doesn’t see positions, he sees shooters. So when the Dream added Jones, it was a given that her game would stretch from the post to the 3-point line.
“I hope to bring not only more of my post presence that I’m known for, but also a little more versatility and just doing what the team needs,” Jones said when she was introduced in February.
She’s taken nine 3-pointers in five games this season after taking 29 in eight seasons in Connecticut. Jones is averaging 13.8 points and a career-high 11.6 rebounds. And at 3-2 — with wins over the Fever, Wings, and Sun — the Dream have a chance to put together their first winning season since 2018.
Alyssa Thomas landed in Phoenix and things are working out. The Mercury entered Tuesday tied for the third-best record in the league (3-1 behind the undefeated Lynx and Liberty). She’s attempting a career-high 13 shots per game and scoring a career-high 16.5 points while grabbing 7.8 rebounds and dishing out 6.5 assists.
Veronica Burton has become a starter and catalyst for the expansion Golden State Valkyries. She fueled the first win in franchise history with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals, plus a dagger three with 29.1 seconds left.
Burton is seizing the opportunity, giving Golden State career highs in minutes (26.7), points (12), rebounds (4.3), assists (3.7), and 3-point percentage (37.5).
Meanwhile, Ty Harris and DiJonai Carrington landed in Dallas, where the Wings are building around Paige Bueckers.
After averaging 28.8 minutes and 10.5 points in Connecticut, Harris is playing 18.5 minutes and scoring 5.8 points in Dallas. Carrington’s minutes have dropped from 29.6 to 23 and her scoring is down from 12.7 to 8.8.
DeWanna Bonner and Tiffany Mitchell are adjusting to different roles, but they’re doing it for contenders in Indiana and Las Vegas, respectively.
Take a seat
Caitlin Clark, who set the league on fire last season (finishing fourth in MVP voting), will be sidelined for the next two weeks with a strained left quadriceps.
After averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.7 rebounds as a rookie, Clark was right back at it through four games, giving the Fever 19 points a night while upping her assist (9.3) and rebound (6.0) averages.
Clark is one of just seven players who averaged at least 19 points as WNBA rookies. That list also includes A’ja Wilson, Arike Ogunbowale, Cappie Pondexter, Cynthia Cooper, Ruthie Bolton, and Seimone Augustus.
The only one in that group who had a significant scoring spike in her sophomore season was Ogunbowale, who upped her average to 22.8 points per game.
Clark’s second-season speed bump is similar to one that Wilson experienced in 2019. Wilson averaged 20.7 points as a rookie for the Aces in 2018, then suffered an ankle injury midway through her second season that kept her out for four weeks.
The Aces held down the fort, going 6-3 while she was out.
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