Layup Lines: Sleepy Sunday

Plus, a reader's take on the Commissioner’s Cup.

Author

Everett Cook
June 08, 2025

Happy Sunday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA.

  • We went 2-0 on our bets yesterday and did it the fun way, with Golden State blowing out Las Vegas at home on national TV and the Fever and Sky going well under their total.

This 428 word newsletter should take less than 2 minutes to read.

Bets of the day

  • We’re 23-24 this season and have $853 of our initial $1,000 remaining to wager. There are two games today, both on League Pass — Connecticut @ Washington (3pm ET) and Minnesota @ Dallas (4pm).

    • I wouldn’t say either of these matchups really move the needle so I’m going to avoid the volatility of two bad teams and not watch the Sun and Mystics.

    • But we will be going large on the second game. Dallas gets Paige Bueckers back from a concussion but loses center Teaira McCowan to the 2025 FIBA Women’s Eurobasket and is now very thin inside. The Lynx should feast near the basket and the Wings have a tendency to fall apart in the second half.

      • Bet: Minnesota -11.5, $100 to win $91.

Take of the day

  • Reader Jack D. sent over a take about the Commissioner’s Cup, the league’s in-season tournament that comes with a $500k prize pool.

    • “European soccer has figured out a way to make all these various leagues and tournaments and trophies still compelling. But in the U.S. the media is so championship or bust that there would be no reason to care.” 

  • To Jack’s point, I haven’t mentioned the tournament in this newsletter yet and haven’t though much about it. There’s no anti-cup vendetta — I just don’t find anything interesting about it.

  • The added sponsorship and TV rights sales are nice for the league and players, but nothing really distinguishes these games from others in the regular season for a viewer.

Disagree with this take or want to get something off your chest? Respond to this email!

Top plays from last night

Graphic of the day

The Valks have drawn 72,000+ fans through their first four home games at Ballhalla — a huge deal both for the organization and for future expansion franchises.

Graphic courtesy of @valkyries on Twitter.

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If you bet, please do so responsibly, and we will see you back here tomorrow.

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor