Instead of undergoing a year-long suspension mandated by the NBA, Sarver put the Suns/Mercury organization up for sale last September. In the front office last year, Mercury and Suns owner Robert Sarver, was under investigation by the NBA for allegations of racist and sexist behavior, bullying, and other workplace violations. Phoenix finished the 2022 season with a 15-21 record. “They have a sense of resiliency to them and a sense of toughness to be able to put themselves in this spot.” “Changes, adjustments, injuries…you name it, this team has gone through it,” Hammon said. It was a testament to the grit of the Mercury players that they even made the playoffs, a fact that impressed Aces head coach Becky Hammon.
PHOENIX MERCURY ROSTER SERIES
With an eighth-place seeding in the playoffs, the Aces, the eventual league champions, swept the Mercury in the first-round best-of-three series in two games. Taurasi, also did not play in the team’s playoff contests due to a quadriceps strain. After the season ended, she revealed via Instagram that she was pregnant with her second child. She made no secret of her disdain for Nygaard and even tweeted a clown emoji directed at the coach. Late in the summer, Diggins-Smith informed the team that she was not going to return for the remainder of the season. Trenia Barbee asked Phoenix Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard about the conflict between teammates Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith during the game at Las Vegas Tuesday night (May 17). The conflict spread off the court as Aces players could hear Diggins-Smith and Taurasi arguing through the locker room walls at halftime. The tension came to a head publicly when Diggins-Smith and Taurasi had a brief altercation on the bench during the second quarter of a road game at the Las Vegas Aces. Meanwhile, friction between two other Olympians, starting point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith and veteran guard Diana Taurasi was brewing. The team termed Charles’ exit a “contract divorce.” Charles, an Olympian, who led the league in scoring in 2021, quit the Mercury unexpectedly in late June. Nygaard also had to deal with a soured relationship with veteran center Tina Charles, a player the team acquired in a three-team trade that also included adding guard Diamond DeShields. Russia released Griner in early December. Mercury players and staff had a chance to meet with State Department officials about the situation on a road trip to play the Washington Mystics last June. She often spoke of how the Griner situation impacted the team’s mental health. When former WNBA player and Stanford alumna Vanessa Nygaard took over as the head coach in January 2022, she could not have imagined in her wildest dreams what the season would behold. $50 bonus bet and $1,000 deposit match bonusįirst bet on Caesars up to $1,250 + 1000 Tier Credits + 1000 Reward Credits®įirst Bet Offer Up to $1,000 paid back in Bonus Bets (if you don’t win)īet $50 and get up to $1,111 in bonus bets Top offers from Arizona mobile sportsbooks: Arizona Sportsbook Odds for the Mercury to win the 2023 WNBA Championship:Īcross the board, sportsbooks predict the Las Vegas Aces to repeat as WNBA champions. Here’s a look at current Phoenix Mercury future odds, a review of what the team overcame last season, and why 2023 should see brighter days for the Mercury. Now with new ownership, some key signings, and the return of Griner, things can only get better for the franchise. After the season started, personnel issues and internal dissension made the team appear to be an unstable franchise that was lucky to make the playoffs. Last summer was a tumultuous roller coaster ride for the Phoenix Mercury.Įven before the season began, the team began experiencing the harrowing emotional toll caused by the detention and imprisonment of star center Brittney Griner in Russia, a situation that turned into an international relations fiasco.
0 kommentar(er)
