We present you with the Sports Rabbi’s weekly update from the Holy Land’s persons of interest currently playing in the WNBA – whether they’re signed on to play in the Israeli Women’s Premier Basketball League (the Athena Winner League) next season or whether they’re otherwise intrinsically connected to the Holy Land, we are here to let you know how they’re traveling in the W! We also were lucky enough to have the opportunity for an exclusive catchup with one of Israel’s favorite players, Alysha Clark!
Player: Alysha Clark
College: Middle Tennessee State University
Draft: 2010, Round 2, Pick 17
Current WNBA Team: Las Vegas Aces (30-6, 1st in Western Conference, 1st overall)
2023-24 Israeli Team: — (2022-23 with Elitzur Ramla)
Summary: The Aces split their games 2-2 on their road trip over the last week, with wins over the Atlanta Dream (112-100) and the Chicago Sky (94-87), followed by losses to challengers, the Washington Mystics (62-78) and the New York Liberty (85-94). Over the four games, Clark averaged 4.25 points, 4.75 rebounds, 1.25 assists, 0.75 steals and 0.25 blocks in 24 minutes. While not the best week for the Aces, one of the highlights was the individual performance of A’ja Wilson in the win over the Dream, tying a league-record of 53 points. The Sports Rabbi caught up with Clark briefly after the historic game for a chat.
What Clark said of Wilson’s performance: “A’ja is special. She’s such an unselfish player and so to be able to tie the record and do it in a way that’s efficient, she didn’t force anything, nothing was hard. She flowed and that’s just the kind of player she is. She’s a great player and she’s going to go down as one of the greats in this game. So I was excited to see her go to work today. It’s always a fun thing to do when you get to witness greatness and that’s what happened today.”
What Clark said about the home stretch of the regular season: “Any road win in this league is tough to get, so when you can get them, however you get them, they’re always good. We want to be going into the last stretch of the season playing our best basketball. So if it means taking a little lull, taking some hits early on, we’ll take that. It’s going to turn for us. We don’t want to peak too soon, we want to hit tough bumps now, see what type of character and see how to get out of it. That’s what we’re doing.”
Whether we will Clark in Israel next season: “Yeah, maybe. I’ve been talking to a few teams, so we’ll see. But right now, I’m focusing on finishing out strong in playoffs and family life stuff right now. If I do it, it’ll be in the second half of the season for sure.”
Player: Kalani Brown
College: Baylor University
Draft: 2019, Round 1, Pick 7
Current WNBA Team: Dallas Wings (19-16, 2nd in Western Conference, 4th overall)
2023-24 Israeli Team: Maccabi Bnot Ashdod
Summary: The Wings went 1-2 over the past week, but maintained their position in the standings, as they search to secure a playoff spot. Back-to-back losses against the Minnesota Lynx, 86-91 away and 81-90 at home, were followed by a 77-74 away win against the Phoenix Mercury. Brown averaged 3.5 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.5 blocks in the losses to Minnesota, but she came up big against the Mercury, with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in 22 minutes.
Player: Leigha Brown
College: University of Michigan
Draft: 2023, Round 2, Pick 15
Current WNBA Team: Connecticut Sun (24-11, 2nd in Eastern Conference, 3rd overall)
2023-24 Israeli Team: ASA Jerusalem
Summary: The Sun went 2-1 over the last week, with a 68-64 away win over the in-form Washington Mystics, a 90-95 home loss to the conference-leading New York Liberty and then an 83-68 home win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Brown appeared in the win over the Sparks, with 1 rebound and 1 steal in 2 minutes.
Player: Veronica Burton
College: Northwestern University
Draft: 2022, Round 1, Pick 7
Current WNBA Team: Dallas Wings (19-16, 2nd in Western Conference, 4th overall)
2023-24 Israeli Team: Elitzur Holon
Summary: The Wings went 1-2 over the past week, but maintained their position in the standings, as they search to secure a playoff spot. Back-to-back losses against the Minnesota Lynx, 86-91 away and 81-90 at home, were followed by a 77-74 away win against the Phoenix Mercury. In the three games, Burton averaged 2 points, 0.67 assists and 0.33 steals in 5.67 minutes.
Player: Maya Caldwell
College: University of Georgia
Draft: 2021, Round 3, Pick 33
Current WNBA Team: Indiana Fever (11-24, 6th in Eastern Conference, 10th overall)
2023-24 Israeli Team: AS Ramat Hasharon
Summary: The Fever went 2-0 over the last week, with home wins over the Seattle Storm (90-86) and the Atlanta Dream (83-80), to keep their season alive . Caldwell appeared for 6 minutes in the win over the Storm, recording 1 rebound and 1 assist.
Player: Amanda Zahui
College: University of Minnesota
Draft: 2015, Round 1, Pick 2
Current WNBA Team: Indiana Fever (11-24, 6th in Eastern Conference, 10th overall)
2023-24 Israeli Team: Maccabi Bnot Ashdod
Summary: The Fever went 2-0 over the last week, with home wins over the Seattle Storm (90-86) and the Atlanta Dream (83-80), to keep their season alive. Zahui averaged 2.5 points, 0.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.5 blocks in 8.5 minutes in the wins.
University of Maryland’s Jewish star, Abby Meyers, was released by the Washington Mystics on August 6. Team Israel star, Jennie Simms, was released by the Washington Mystics on August 17.
Current Standings
1. Las Vegas Aces (30-6)
2. New York Liberty (28-7)
3. Connecticut Sun (24-11)
4. Dallas Wings (19-16)
5. Minnesota Lynx (17-18)
6. Washington Mystics (16-18)
5. Atlanta Dream (16-19)
8. Los Angeles Sparks (15-19)
9. Chicago Sky (14-21)
10. Indiana Fever (11-24)
11. Seattle Storm (10-25)
12. Phoenix Mercury (9-25)
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