Las Vegas Aces rookie Kate Martin has been turning heads since she entered the league. Martin has been one of the top contributing rookies on both ends of the floor, despite being picked out of the stands in the 2024 WNBA draft.
She’s gone from a surprise first-round draft pick to an impact player on a championship roster.
In a previous postgame interview, Aces star Kelsey Plum gave Martin a nickname that has since lived on with the Iowa Hawkeyes product.
Martin entered the game late in the first quarter against the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday and the announcers referred to her as “Kate Money Martin.”
Plum’s label for the rookie may just stick with Martin for the rest of her career.
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When her name was called in the contest against Diana Taurasi and the Mercury, Martin was greeted with a roaring ovation from the crowd, via Heavens FX on X.
She’s becoming a quick fan favorite in her short time in the league.
Chennedy Carter SHAKEN UP After Hard Fall, Slow To Get Up | Chicago Sky vs Indiana Fever | WNBA.
Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky rivalry is gift that will keep on giving for WNBA
CHICAGO — WNBA Finals aside, this was the league’s biggest game since, well, ever.
No disrespect to other exceptional games there’ve been over the years. But the Indiana Fever’s first visit to the Chicago Sky since Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso were drafted gave a glimpse of the league’s future, and it is tremendous.
It was a heck of a game, first of all, the Sky winning 88-87 after the Fever missed a potential game-winners with two seconds left. Reese had her best performance as a pro with 25 points and 16 rebounds. Cardoso showed what a problem she’s going to be once she gets her timing down, disrupting the Fever’s offense time and again, including a redirection of a Clark pass that led to a Reese layup that put the Sky on top for good.
And Clark? Well, we already knew all she does is set records and she did it again Sunday. Her 13 assists, to go with 17 points, was a single-game Fever record.
But the best part of the day was the atmosphere of this game. It was electric, the kind of energy this city hasn’t seen for a professional basketball game since the Jordan years. Wintrust Arena was sold out, and there were lines snaking around the building well before the doors opened. There were celebs sitting courtside. Fans were into it from the opening tip, their cheers downright deafening over the last two minutes.
The game was nationally televised, too, on ESPN. Which likely means more blockbuster ratings in a year that’s already seen a lot of them.
“It’s good for the game. Good for women’s basketball but also good for women’s sports,” Reese said afterward. “Everybody’s watching right now. I think it’s just one of the most important times, right, and we just continue to keep putting on – I think both teams tonight did an amazing job of putting on a show. It was fun.”
Anyone who says differently is being a contrarian. Or a Neanderthal.
The WNBA has always had talented players. Maybe not the depth of it that there is now, but talent nonetheless. There have been some captivating Finals, too. Think the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty last year. The Houston Comets and the Liberty back in the day. Heck, Diana Taurasi’s Phoenix Mercury and … everyone.
What the league has lacked are the fierce regular-season rivalries. Not the personal animosity and cat fighting that some ignorant and ill-intentioned people are trying to stoke. But heated battles that deliver every time the teams meet, with the biggest stars bringing out the best in one another.
Caitlin Clark reacts after scoring against the Chicago Sky on Sunday.
Those rivalries drive sports, fueling interest from the diehard and casual fans alike. We get invested in these games, regardless of what’s on the line. The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers could both be at the bottom of the NFC North and it’ll still be a game worth watching because of the teams’ history and proximity. Same for the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
The NBA is what it is today in large part because of the Magic and Bird’s rivalry, which began in college and carried over to their professional careers.
This is what the WNBA now has in the Sky and Fever.
Reese and Cardoso and Clark and Aliyah Boston are the cornerstones of their franchises. They already have an established history; Clark beat Boston and Cardoso in the Final Four two years ago before losing to Reese and LSU in the NCAA title game, then Clark beat Reese in this year’s Elite Eight before losing to Cardoso and South Carolina in the championship game.
Every one of those games was wildly entertaining and even more compelling.
