With the WNBA season approaching its climax, the league's biggest stars are known for more than just their on-court prowess—trash talking has become an art form. While the heated exchanges look intense, most are good-natured, competitive fun. Here's a look at the players who have perfected the craft over the years.
Legends Who Set the Standard
Cheryl Miller never played in the WNBA, retiring before the league's launch in 1997, but her trash-talking legacy looms large. Considered by many the greatest women's basketball player of all time—she once scored 105 points in a high school game—Miller honed her skills against her younger brother, fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, in their backyard.
Diana Taurasi, another candidate for greatest of all time, had a knack for smack talk both on and off the court. In 2016, while on a cruise ship with the US men's and women's basketball teams, she yelled to Draymond Green, "Hey, Draymond, how does it feel to be the only person in this room who's never been double-teamed?" She's also known for chirping at stars like Caitlin Clark.
Modern Rivals and Rising Stars
Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, are forever linked. Their rivalry began in the NCAA Tournament when Reese pointed at her finger as if to ask, "Where's your championship ring?" The images made global headlines. Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon noted, "They jaw at each other." Clark talks smack after big shots, while Reese, on the brink of a title, predicted her success loudly last year. Despite their battles, they seem amicable off the floor.
Alyssa Thomas was voted by her peers as the biggest and best trash talker in the league in an Athletic poll last year. One opponent said, "She smiles and talks shit, that's the crazy part, it's psycho stuff, she's crazy, man." Another added, "Everyone knows AT talks shit. I don't even guard her, and she talks shit to me." Thomas was fined and suspended earlier this year for throwing an elbow at Clark.
Paige Bueckers, drafted just last year, has quickly become one of the WNBA's best. An assassin on the floor, she hits game-winners and lets opponents know it, even from the bench. "I don't really start it," she told Jennifer Hudson with a smile, "but if somebody gets me going …"
Veterans With a Bite
Nancy Lieberman, known as "Lady Magic" in her heyday, was one of the most biting trash talkers, according to her former GM with the Dallas Diamonds, Nancy Nichols. "From my experience, Nancy Lieberman was pretty spicy!" Nichols tells the Guardian. "Especially when she played street ball with the Washington Generals on the Harlem Globetrotters' tour." More recently, when former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague criticized Clark, Lieberman defended her, telling Teague, "Jeff, I love you, but, you weren't a great player."
Cynthia Cooper, a two-time MVP and four-time champ with the 1990s Houston Comets, often made her feelings known to Michael Cooper's LA Sparks in the playoffs. "She walked by me during a timeout and said, 'Coop, we beating y'all like the Celtics did in 8'84.' I couldn't help but laugh. She was a shit talker!" Michael says.
Teresa Weatherspoon, who hit perhaps the biggest shot in WNBA history, filled arenas with her biting smack talk, not unlike former DPOY Gary Payton. Skylar Diggins, another marquee player on the Athletic's poll, silenced doubters last year when she erupted during a game at the Minnesota Lynx bench.
