WNBA after the Basketball World Cup: Doubles, triples and dunkings

Three three days. The 27 WNBA players from Germany, France, Spain and the USA only had that long to recover from the Basketball World Cup in Berlin. To process victory or defeat, to regenerate, to deal with jet lag. And that's probably not even true, because after arriving in the USA on Monday, we soon had to train again for the weekend games.

The WNBA took a break for almost three weeks so that the German players Nyara Sabally, Frieda Bühner, Leonie Fiebich, and of course the entire squad of the US team, could play at the World Cup. But there wasn't any more time, the season has been running again since last Thursday. The final phase of the regular season is upon us and this is where the decision will be made as to which teams will make it into the playoffs. That means: four important games in just one week. Per team, of course.

No problem for stars like Breanna Stewart, who plays with Leonie Fiebich at the New York Liberty. She had just been awarded the gold medal (for the fourth time), and on Friday she was back on the floor for almost the entire game and achieved a double-double – 24 points, 10 rebounds. Did something happen in Berlin in between?

For the top US stars from the strongest basketball league in the world, the tournament in Berlin a few days later seems to have been just a short training trip to Europe. Where you can quickly pick up a gold medal. And you probably hardly notice that the full halls, the atmosphere around the tournament, even the brief hype of women's basketball in Germany in the last few weeks, are actually very far from the normality of basketball in this country.

In the WNBA, however, a full arena like the World Cup final is now a reality every game weekend. Yes, most US players will probably have laughed at the tournament if they had the time. Over 12,000 tickets sold per game? In the WNBA, 15,000 spectators per game are now normal. Merch stands, half-time show, post-game interviews? Standard. Fast game, high hit rates, results with over 100 points? No longer a rarity in the WNBA, the first dunkings are now even occurring there, something that hasn't happened in women's basketball for a long time.

The records in the WNBA have been overflowing for several years now. This weekend, Angel Reese became the first player in WNBA history to grab 500 rebounds in just a single season. And then there's Alyssa Thomas' triple-double record; She has managed to score double-digit points in a game 28 times and record double-digit numbers of rebounds and assists. Something that was really rare in women's basketball until a few years ago.

By the way, Alyssa Thomas wasn't there at the World Cup. Neither does superstar A'ja Wilson, who, at 30 years old, has to "take care of her body" and if she can't give it 100 percent, she feels like she's not only letting down her teammates, but also "this USA jersey." Instead, this went to the young talent, and the team did not lose any quality as a result.

After returning from the “small” tournament in Berlin, Angel Reese, who played at a World Cup for the first time, also scored 30 points for Atlanta Dream. And Caitlin Clark scored 28 points for the Indiana Fever a day later, plus 14 assists on top. Just a three day break after the World Cup? Easy.