Atlanta Dream star Rhyne Howard took things personally. The second-year guard out of the University of Kentucky averaged 16.4 points per game this season entering July 2, the same amount of points she averaged in 2022 when she was named the Atlanta Dream’s lone All-Star. This season, voters gave Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray and forward Cheyenne Parker the All-Star nods, giving Atlanta two All-Stars despite being two games under .500 at the time of the announcement. Regardless of the reason, Howard was irate that she didn’t make this year’s team and responded with a 43-point performance against the Los Angeles Sparks on July 2.
In coaching news from the last power rankings, Chicago Sky coach James Wade has left his team in the middle of the season to become an assistant with the Toronto Raptors. The Phoenix Mercury also fired Vanessa Nygaard as the team began the season with the league’s worst record.
Here are rolling out‘s full power rankings for the week of July 3.
- Las Vegas Aces (15-1) (Previous ranking: No. 1)
- New York Liberty (11-4) (Previous ranking: No. 3)
- Connecticut Sun (12-5) (Previous ranking: No. 2)
- Washington Mystics (9-7) (Previous ranking: No. 5)
- Dallas Wings (8-8) (Previous ranking: No. 8)
- Chicago Sky (8-9) (Previous ranking: No. 9)
- Atlanta Dream (7-8) (Previous ranking: No. 4)
- Minnesota Lynx (7-9) (Previous ranking: No. 11)
- Los Angeles Sparks (7-10) (Previous ranking: No. 6)
- Indiana Fever (5-11) (Previous ranking: No. 7)
- Seattle Storm (4-12) (Previous ranking: No. 10)
- Phoenix Mercury (3-12) (Previous ranking: No. 12)
