Today, even the most casual of WNBA fans have watched some of the league’s biggest stars talking trash on the court.
asserted
some → watch → court
But while the snarling convos look heated, most of the time, they are good-natured, competitive fun.
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they → snarl → time
Still, we wondered, who are the best trash talkers in the game?
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talkers → wonder → game
Which players over the years have turned talking smack into an art form?
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players → turn → form
Let’s explore.
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’s → let → ?
OK, Miller never played in the league – she retired before the W’s launch in 1997 – but if there was a trash-talking trophy in the WNBA, it would have to be named after her.
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it → play → her
Miller is considered by many to be the best women’s basketball player of all time (she once scored 105 points in a high school game), and those who saw her at USC or heard her in the booth on TNT know that she can really talk.
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she → consider → TNT
Of course, her talent for it began in the back yard playing against her younger brother, fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller.
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talent → begin → Miller
From there, a legend was made.
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legend → make → ?
Diana Taurasi
Another candidate for greatest player of all time and, like Miller, Taurasi had a knack for talking smack.
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Taurasi → have → smack
She did it both on and off the court.
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She → do → court
For example, in 2016, when the men’s and women’s US basketball teams were together on a cruise ship, Taurasi yelled over to an already-blustery Draymond Green, “Hey, Draymond, how does it feel to be the only person in this room who’s never been double-teamed?”
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who → yell → room
Taurasi doesn’t mind – she’ll even go after the league’s biggest names, chirping incessantly in the ears of players like Caitlin Clark.
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she → mind → Clark
Like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, these two players will for ever be linked.
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players → link → Bird
It all began in college in the NCAA Tournament when Reese talked some legendary trash to Clark, pointing at her finger as if to say, “Where’s your championship ring?”
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ring → begin → finger
Those images made global headlines.
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images → make → headlines
(Even the famed former Showtime point guard has noticed.)
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guard → notice → ?
“They jaw at each other,” offered Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon.
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Hammon → jaw → other
But their trash talking isn’t only reserved for each other.
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talking → reserve → other
Clark is willing to talk smack to anyone after a big shot and Reese is on the brink of a title – something she predicted loudly last year.
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she → talk → title
But despite all their verbal battles, Reese and Clark, like Bird and Magic, seem to be more than amicable off the floor these days.
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Reese → seem → floor
In a poll by the Athletic last year, Thomas was voted by her peers as the biggest and best trash talker in the league.
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Thomas → vote → league
That’s saying something, but Thomas wears the crown proudly.
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Thomas → say → crown
Explained one opponent: “She smiles and talks shit, that’s the crazy part, it’s psycho stuff, she’s crazy, man.”
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she → explain → shit
Said another: “Everyone knows AT talks shit.
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AT → say → shit
I don’t even guard her, and she talks shit to me.”
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she → guard → me
Certainly, Thomas is not one to back down from anything.
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Thomas → back → anything
She was even fined and suspended earlier this year for throwing an elbow at Clark.
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She → fin → Clark
While that isn’t exactly verbal communication, Thomas did send a message.
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Thomas → send → message
Drafted just last year, Bueckers has quickly become one of the WNBA’s best.
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Bueckers → draft → WNBA
She’s an assassin on the floor, capable of hitting game-winner after game-winner.
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She → ’ → winner
And she’ll let you know about it, too.
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you → let → it
She’ll strike even if you’re on the bench, before nailing a three.
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you → strike → three
Whether she’s speaking up for fellow players or talking smack to her opponent after a hard foul, Bueckers is not someone to mess with.
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Bueckers → speak → foul
“I don’t really start it,” she told Jennifer Hudson, with a smile, “but if somebody gets me going …”
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me → start → smile
Known in her heyday as “Lady Magic” for her skill at point guard, she was also one of the most biting trash talkers, according to her former GM with the Women’s Professional Basketball League’s Dallas Diamonds, Nancy Nichols.
uncertain
she → know → Diamonds
“From my experience, Nancy Lieberman was pretty spicy!” Nichols tells the Guardian.
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Nichols → tell → Guardian
“Especially when she played street ball with the Washington Generals on the Harlem Globetrotters’ tour
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she → play → tour
That’s right: Lieberman was so good that she was a standout in the men’s and women’s game.
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she → ’ → game
More recently, though, when former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague criticized Lieberman’s friend and mentee Clark, Lieberman came to the Fever star’s defense, telling Teague, “Jeff, I love you, but, you weren’t a great player.”
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you → criticize → you
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
