PHOENIX—The Phoenix Mercury hosted media day on Wednesday inside the newly opened practice facility ahead of the 2025 WNBA season.
Why Is the Mercury Being Overlooked as a Championship Contender?
Although Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner have departed, the team aims to enter the new era with a positive mindset in the upcoming season. It will focus on developing new team chemistry in defense, pace, leadership, and positionless basketball.
Since the first day of training camp, players and coaches have emphasized playing positionless basketball—focusing on the defensive end and pace.
“What we want is a team that’s gritty and tough defensively,” Phoenix Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts told Ballislife Wednesday. “We want to fly around. It fits who [Alyssa Thomas] is. It fits who [Kahleah Copper] is. It fits who I am. We want to be disruptive. Create turnovers and that allows us to play fast.”
The one thing Phoenix knows is a heat wave. pic.twitter.com/zv741TILDy
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) April 30, 2025
Forward Alyssa Thomas and guard Kahleah Copper have talked about the benefits of playing positionless basketball and the intensity it brings on the defensive end.
Thomas also expects the Mercury to finish in the top three in the league in defensive rating in the new season. When she was a member of the Connecticut Sun, the team finished No.1 in defensive rating at 94.1 and Phoenix finished No.9 with 105.4 defensive rating last season.
“When you’re trying to play positionless basketball in up-tempo, it starts on the defensive end,” Thomas told Ballislife. “You’ve got to go out there and go into a different mindset, like goblin mode, where you just try to do whatever it takes to stop whoever you need to stop.
“So for me, defense is part of my identity. I love to play defense. I take a lot of pride in it, and hopefully we can all go out there and be top three in defense this year.”
Positionless basketball allows players to move freely across the court without being restricted to traditional positions. This approach emphasizes versatility, enabling players to adapt their roles based on their strengths and situational needs.
How Kahleah Copper is Stepping Up as a Leader
Throughout her career, Copper has played alongside some of the greatest names in women’s basketball, including Candace Parker and Taurasi.
As she enters her tenth WNBA season, she aims to expand her leadership role—especially with the additions of Thomas and Sabally, and the departures of fan favorites Taurasi and Griner
“You’re able to be your your best, authentic and genuine self,” Copper told Ballislife. “When you do it your way, you don’t try to do it any like anyone else does it, because that’s what makes you who you are.
“Your teammates, they also see you being your authentic self, so they feel inspired to do the same thing. So for me, just having great leaders, seeing them be themselves, and also get me to follow that was inspiring. So I’m just trying to do the same, do it my own way.”
Last season, Copper achieved a career-high 21.1 points per game, finishing in the top three. She made history for the franchise by scoring 30 or more points in several of the season’s opening games, and has been a game changer in the locker room and on and off the court.
Tibbetts praised Copper for being a “special” type of player and highlighted her significant development in the league over the years. Both joined the Mercury as new head coach and player last year. This season, they enter their second season with heightened expectations regarding their leadership roles and positionless basketball.
“She’s seen some of the greatest leaders in W history with Candace [Parker] and [Diana Taurasi],” Tibbetts told Ballislife. “And she was super respectful to the group last year. But it’s kind of hard to lead when you walk in with two cornerstones of [Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner]. And so I think you’re really going to see her kind of spread her wings and take pride.”
The Phoenix Struck Gold in Free Agency With Satou Sabally
When Satou Sabally decided to sign with the Mercury during free agency, she expressed that Copper would have high expectations of her and is excited to play as teammates.
“She challenges me, and we already had a conversation, especially around recruiting time,” Sabally told Ballislife. “She was like, ‘I’m gonna demand a lot from you.’ And we looked each other in the eyes, and we were like, ‘Yeah, good.’
“I want that, because I know her drive as a player. I played against her. She is one. So that’s where I want to be, so I’m ready to learn. And even the third practice, or the second practice, she just huddled everyone together and spoke up.”
On Friday, second-year guard Celeste Taylor expressed her gratitude for having Kelsey Copper as a “big sister.” Taylor has looked up to Copper since she was drafted by the Indiana Fever out of Ohio State in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
After fully recovering from a foot injury she sustained while playing in Australia during the offseason, Taylor is eager to continue learning and growing under Copper’s leadership.
“[Kahleah Copper] has been great since I got here,” Taylor told Ballislife Friday. “She rides with me places [and] always wants to bug me. She’s definitely my big sister. It’s been amazing to have someone I looked up to coming into the W. We had some similarities in our style of play. It’s been great to have her.”
Phoenix Mercury’s Expectations on Defense and Winning
Defense is the main focus for the Mercury this season. As they work on playing faster, Thomas has made an emphasis while mentioning her identity on the defensive end.
“We’ve focused a lot on defense early on,” Thomas told Ballislife. “Like I said, it’s going to be a big part of our identity this year. It was a lot of people trying to learn the offense. We’ve done a great job so far trying to pick everything up. And I’m just excited the talent that we have here, and it’s only going to get better. Chemistry is still a work in progress, but overall, right now, it’s just going out there and doing what you do and to your best of your ability.”
Guard Sami Whitcomb explains that the Mercury is developing team chemistry while building patience throughout the long regular season. She emphasizes that consistency and fast play on both ends are key for Phoenix.
“We’re building blocks, or setting the tone for what we want to be long term,” Whitcomb told Ballislife. “And that’s really exciting for me to get to be a part of that. We want to do things the right way, and be really intentional about how we’re doing that. So camp is really important in a lot of areas for that, of course, we want to win.
“We know that this, getting to a place where you’re winning regularly and consistently is hard in this league, and that’s what we’re trying to do now.”
Satou Sabally’s Fresh Start in a New City
After spending her first four seasons with the Dallas Wings, Sabally is headed to the Mercury for a new start.
Sabally praised her teammate Kalani Brown, who was acquired through a four-team trade in the offseason. She believes Brown will be a valuable asset as a center, stepping in to fill Griner’s role.
“I love playing with bigs and I think having Kalani [Brown] on the team will be such an asset,” Sabally told Ballislife. “She’s very mobile and she can run the floor. But she’s also a good shooter and knows the game. Her IQ is really high and I’ve profited of having big people in the paint because you need to guard them. You need to box them out.
“They will just rebound the ball and I love my little dish-offs to the post inside, too. It creates this form of being able to rely on people, and obviously we had two last year, we were really big in Dallas but I feel like we are really big here, too.”
Sabally shares her thoughts on Tibbetts’ plan for a “position-less basketball” team, emphasizing the importance of team chemistry and playing at a faster pace throughout the regular season.
“It’s really in today’s way of playing basketball,” Sabally told Ballislife. “I think people just become more skilled at everything, and I have always been a player where it’s like, oh, ‘I don’t even know which position I’m at’, I’m versatile and I love playing the point or bringing the ball up. I love posting up, and the same goes for [Alyssa Thomas].
“We have Kalani (Brown) shooting three—Having that flow and that unpredictable movement of offensive players. We know what we’re doing.”
The Phoenix Mercury will begin their regular season at home on Saturday, May 17, when they welcome the visiting Nneka Ogwumike and the Seattle Storm.
