Introducing WNBA Explained, a new weekly women’s basketball column answering your questions

I’m thrilled to announce WNBA Explained, a new weekly column that will go beyond the headlines, and dive into a different topic related to the league each week. The WNBA is fresh off of a season of massive growth, elite basketball, and incredible competition — and as more resources are invested in its coverage, SB Nation is excited to launch a deep dive, explainer-style weekly column as a part of Breakaway, our new vertical featuring coverage of women’s sports from across its almost 200 communities.

Are you curious about the process for WNBA referees to get hired — and how that compares to other professional sports leagues? We’ll have an exploration of that this offseason.

Want to learn more about why — long before this current popularity boom — the league was selling out games in its early years, and where things went awry? We’ll be speaking with the players and coaches from the league’s early days to diagnose what went wrong in the early 2000s, and how a variety of stakeholders can ensure the same drop-off doesn’t occur.

Keep hearing people say that the NBA single-handedly funds the WNBA? We’ll break down the truth — and misconceptions — behind that claim.

And those are just a few of the many topics we are aiming to tackle. Because with so many new eyes on the WNBA, the goal is for this weekly series to dive into the news and provide additional context on the big stories of the day, or big questions facing the league.

We’ll speak with the experts who have been following, covering, playing, and working in the W over these past 27 years, all with the unwavering intention to help inform our audience about all things WNBA.

We’ll also share stories about the players who have made this league what it is, both past and present — and dive into the next generation of women’s basketball players who will continue to transform this league.

Have a WNBA-related question you’d like to see explored? Shoot over an email to noa.dalzell@voxmedia.com.

And while you’re here, check out just a few of the stories about a variety of WNBA players from this past season — from three-time MVP A’ja Wilson to the rookies that mostly watched from the sidelines this time around: