WNBA

The Connecticut Sun are in full-on rebuilding mode, and veteran Marina Mabrey doesn't want to be a part of it.

But the team isn't granting her wish.

ESPN's Alexa Philippou reported on the situation Tuesday and noted the Sun denied Mabrey's trade request in a move that angered the guard's agent, Marcus Crenshaw.

"In this current age of women's empowerment and support of the players, the CT Sun threatening to force Marina Mabrey to play for them after her trade request is mind-boggling," Crenshaw said. 

"Why would anyone try to force someone to play on their team when they don't want to be there? It's counterproductive in a ton of ways and everyone we have spoken to is perplexed about how they are handling Marina, after trading away Hall of Fame caliber players."

While the Sun reached the WNBA semifinals in each of the last two seasons after playing in the 2022 WNBA Finals, they are going to look much different in 2025. Head coach Stephanie White left for the Indiana Fever, and many of the recognizable names from last year's roster are no longer on the team.

DeWanna Bonner (Fever) and Brionna Jones (Atlanta Dream) left in free agency, while Alyssa Thomas (Phoenix Mercury), DiJonai Carrington (Dallas Wings) and Ty Harris (Dallas Wings) were traded.

"The coach parted ways," Crenshaw said. "No free agents returned and they are doing all they can to try and force Marina to stay when she clearly doesn't want to be there. It's interesting."

Mabrey, 28, also doesn't have a long history with the Sun seeing how she arrived last season after the Chicago Sky granted her trade request by moving her to Connecticut in exchange for a 2025 first-round pick, a 2026 pick swap, and guards Rachel Banham and Moriah Jefferson.

Connecticut team president Jennifer Rizzotti highlighted how much the team gave up to acquire Mabrey as one reason it doesn't want to trade her ahead of the 2025 campaign.

"The reasons that we have for not trading Marina are rooted in positivity," Rizzotti said. "It's rooted in a desire to build around her, have her here, have her be the catalyst for what we want to do offensively, taking advantage of her versatility, knowing that the style that [coach] Rashid [Meziane] plays with will suit her game, and knowing that we can put her in an individual situation to be really successful as this current CBA closes and a new one opens."

Mabrey has one more season remaining on her contract, which is notable because a new collective bargaining agreement will be in effect in 2026.

There is a world where Mabrey could be a veteran leader for a team looking to surprise in 2025 after also adding Tina Charles, Diamond DeShields, Natasha Cloud, Jacy Sheldon and Lindsay Allen this offseason.

That could also put her in position to sign a more lucrative contract next offseason with the new CBA in place.

Her ability to shoot from the outside stands out, and she played well for the Sun last season while averaging 14.9 points per game and connecting on 42.4 percent of her triples in 16 contests.

But that skill set would also be enticing to other teams if the Sun do eventually grant her trade request and look to move her. If nothing else, they could surely get plenty back in return as they look to continue reshaping their roster.

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White likened superstar guard Caitlin Clark to Taylor Swift when asked by Richard Deitsch of The Athletic on the Sports Media Podcast about how she can manage the "circus" around her.

"I think first and foremost, she does an outstanding job of managing it all. Like, she’s incredibly humble. She understands the big picture. So she views it understanding her celebrity, No. 1. But No. 2, she’s a Midwest kid, a Midwest person and she is who she is. She tries to live her life in an authentic way. But she’s very much Taylor Swift 2.0.

"So I think from my perspective, and from our staff and franchise, it’s how do we help her navigate all of this? How do we help her protect her peace? Because it can be a lot. How can we be a resource for her? It’s a different level now with social media and fan engagement. We want to be a resource and help protect her.

"She’s an incredible kid. I call her a kid, but she’s obviously a young woman. An incredible talent. She’s an incredible human being. She works her tail off. There’s a reason she is who she is in terms of a player. She’s handled all of this with such grace and poise that most 23-year-olds wouldn’t be able to."

Swift is one of the world's most recognizable celebrities and artists, and Clark has become one of the United States' most popular athletes over the last few years. She was named Time Magazine's Athlete of the Year for 2024, and the WNBA notably set viewership and attendance records during her rookie year.

"The WNBA attracted an all-time record of more than 54 million unique viewers across all its national broadcasting platforms during the regular season, and the league’s overall attendance jumped 48% year over year to its highest level in more than two decades," Sean Gregory wrote for Time.

So there's obviously an incredible amount of attention around Clark, a media circus of sorts. That's what Swift faces, hence White's comparison, but the Fever's new coach clearly understands the need to help Indiana's star player manage it all.

Clark somehow exceeded her massive first-year expectations, earning All-Star and All-WNBA First Team honors while leading Indiana to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. White happened to be Indiana's coach back then as well before leaving for Vanderbilt and then the Connecticut Sun before making her way back to Indianapolis.

Now Clark enters year two with the spotlight still shining bright. As White noted, though, Clark has done an "outstanding job of managing it all," so it's clear any external factors shouldn't have an effect on her play.

If anything, Indiana could very well make another huge leap as the team looks to take the next step in hopes of a deep playoff run.

People really want Caitlin Clark rookie cards.

Per Brooks Peck of The Athletic, the hunt for those cards has driven up prices for WNBA cards in general:

"On Feb. 12, Panini, which currently holds the exclusive trading card licenses for both leagues, released its flagship 2024 Prizm set for the WNBA. Even though the league's 2024 season is long over, hobby boxes are presently selling for an average of around $1,200 each across retailers, according to Waxstat, which tracks sports card retail prices. Panini's 2024-25 NBA Prizm set will be released on Feb. 19 and the average presale price of a hobby box is currently around $800, according to Waxstat.

"WNBA and NBA Prizm hobby boxes each contain 12 packs with 12 cards in each pack and a guarantee of two autographed cards per box. Hobby boxes of 2023 WNBA Prizm carried a suggested retail price of $150, which means the price of the latest release marks a 700 percent increase."

The 2024-25 NBA set isn't drawing the same level of intrigue as the WNBA one, given a less exciting rookie class. But the 2023-24 Prizm boxes are selling for $1,300 on average, per Peck, given the interest in securing a Victor Wembanyama rookie card.

As for Clark, the WNBA Rookie of the Year took the league by storm, averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game while leading the Indiana Fever to the playoffs.