ESPN launched its first-ever fantasywomen's basketball game ahead of the 2022WNBA season.- Insider consulted ESPN fantasy basketball expert Dr. André Snellings on everything you need to know.
For the first time ever, fans can play in a
ESPN launched the first season-long fantasy women's basketball game on its platform ahead of the WNBA's 2022 campaign, which tips off on Friday. Now, WNBA enthusiasts can round up some friends, draft their favorite players, and act as general managers of their very own fantasy teams comprised of the top women's basketball players on the planet.
But just because you have a command of the WNBA landscape doesn't mean you're ready to dive right into WNBA fantasy. Likewise, having a handle on other ESPN fantasy offerings offers no guarantee that you'll thrive in the women's basketball realm.
So Insider consulted an expert. Dr. André Snellings is an ESPN senior writer and authority on all things fantasy basketball. In our interview, he explains the differences between WNBA fantasy and other
This interview has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
If I'm someone who is jumping right into a league without much background knowledge, what are the key things to know ahead of a WNBA Fantasy season?
You need to know the scoring, especially if this is your first experience in the fantasy
The numbers that the players on your team produce will be how your fantasy team gets their points and the scoring system for ESPN's WNBA fantasy game. For points, rebounds, and assists, you get one point per item. So if someone gets 20 points and 10 rebounds, that would be 30 fantasy points. For steals and blocks, you get two points for each one you contribute. And then for three pointers, it's technically one point per three pointer, but if a player hits a three pointer, they also get three regular points. So the players that hit threes get a bonus point for each shot they make.
Heading into a draft, what type of player should fantasy managers look to take in the first few rounds?
To start the draft, especially in this format, you definitely go with the best player available. In some fantasy formats, you have to pay a little bit more attention to position because there can be position scarcity sometimes, but to start the draft, my personal philosophy is always best player available, regardless of position. Position might just be a tie-breaker, but in the WNBA ESPN game, there are only three positions listed: center, forward, and guard. So there's a little bit less position scarcity than in a sport like fantasy baseball.
To start the draft, you're looking for superstars. I'm a nerd, and how I approach fantasy sports analysis is through nerdism. One of the first things that I did was generate a spreadsheet, so I've got a spreadsheet with all of the WNBA players' stats from last season. And I can sort based on category, so I can sort based on points, sort based on rebounds, assists, steals, whatever. And I also have a column where I calculate how many fantasy points per game each player scored based on their stats from last season.
If I'm looking at my spreadsheet, an obvious correlation jumps out. The top 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 fantasy scorers per game last season were almost all 20-point, 10-rebounds players. They didn't have those exact numbers, but Tina Charles was number 1 with 23 points, 9.6 rebounds, Jonquel Jones 19 and 11, [Breanna Stewart] was at 20 and almost 10. Brittney Griner had 21 and almost 10.
That jumps out at me because, as you look through this list, there aren't any points-assist double-double people at the top. No steals and blocks necessarily at the top. It's almost all points-rebounds folks. And so what that tells me as I look through it is that the WNBA star players almost overwhelmingly, at least as far as production goes, are bigs: forwards and centers. They're dominating in the paint and they're putting up 20 and 10.
What is your strategy when it comes to selecting a guard? Do you go with a prolific scorer or opt for assists or steals specialists?
You definitely want to get a scorer because scoring and rebounds are all one-to-one points to fantasy points. The volume scorers have more opportunity to put up consistent points. But in the backcourt, you want to look for all-around producers, not just points and assists, but rebounds, too.
The top guards [last season] were actually Courtney Williams and Skylar Diggins-Smith, because, for Courtney Williams, she was putting up almost seven boards a game in addition to her points. Skylar was over five assists with more than three boards as well. So for the back court, all-around game is a little bit more valuable than specialists.
All of that said, this season in the backcourt, I'm really looking at Sabrina Ionescu. In her first few games in the WNBA a couple years ago, her numbers were crazy before she injured her ankle. And last season, I think she was still dealing with that for most of the season. She's one that has all-around numbers, but I could see her as one that could have high assist numbers, but also the excellent all-around game to maybe get her up closer to the, the big forwards as far as her fantasy production.
How much stock should you put into a player's statistics from last season if they find themselves in a different team situation this year? For example, Courtney Williams led the Atlanta Dream in every major statistical category last year but is now joining a very deep squad in the Connecticut Sun.
It almost has to be on a case-by-case basis. One difference that I'm seeing in preparing for fantasy women's basketball versus fantasy men's basketball is that there's much more turnover among the elite players in fantasy women's basketball as far as going to new team situations. A lot of the best players are playing overseas, so as I was going through and doing team previews, I had to make note of this player is going to be late getting to camp because her season in France is continuing into the [WNBA] season.
There are just a lot of variables. Even the number of games — last season it was 32 games, this season is 36. Mix that with the player turnover, it is a little more difficult to project individual player numbers in fantasy women's basketball than it traditionally has been in fantasy men's.
How do you approach drafting players who may not be available for the duration of the season, whether they're playing overseas or dealing with injuries?
That actually comes down to a specific manager's strategy. The question is risk versus reward. Do you swing for the fences? Maybe you start off with Elena Delle Donne and [Breanna Stewart], if you can get 'em. If they're healthy, then you probably just won your league. But if they're not healthy, then you're gonna be scrambling trying to catch up. And so that becomes how much of a risk-taker you are. Maybe it also matters where you're drafting.
So if you've got the No. 1 overall pick, or a top two or three pick, maybe you can be a little more conservative. You can go with Jonquel Jones as your No. 1 overall, and feel good that you've got a stable foundation piece. But if you're picking six and of a six-team league and you've got those two consecutive picks [No. 6 and No. 7], maybe you take the chance and say, "Okay, if I take [Stewart] and Elena, I could arguably have a better producer than the team to pick No. 1 overall that doesn't pick again until 12."
That becomes part of the strategy and the risk-reward. And if you take more chances early, then maybe you have to be a bit more conservative with your later picks and grab a bunch of players that you know will be available who can then limit your floor, so to speak. Whereas maybe the reverse is true. If you start off and your first two picks are rock solid, then you can swing for the fences in the third and fourth rounds, knowing that those can be clears that put you over the top but won't necessarily sink your season if they do have injuries.
What's your philosophy on drafting rookies?
You have to look at the type of player. Are they a player that's gonna produce box score stats or a player that's going to be valuable to a team without necessarily putting up heavy stats? And then you also have to look at what their opportunity level looks like. Are they gonna come in and be a heavy volume player right off the bat? Whereas a rookie coming in on [a deeper team] may have to be the seventh player off the bench. This season, as far as rookies, I'm looking at [Rhyne] Howard and Shakira Austin.
What else should fantasy managers keep in mind?
The draft is often one of the most fun events of the year, and it's also one of the bigger events, as far as importance to your team, but it doesn't end there. The teams that are most successful often are the teams whose managers pay the most attention. They keep up with who's playing well and who's not. They will go to the free agency wire and pick up the hot player before everyone else. With WNBA fantasy being such a new league, I think that those who are willing to just really dig in will be the people that win these first few leagues.
But I think the most important thing is to have fun with it. Use this as a tool. I grew up watching NBA basketball, so it was always part of my life, but I also grew up watching women's basketball. The same way I remember watching Dr. J dunk when I was a kid, I remember Cheryl Miller giving folks the business at USC.
I got into fantasy men's basketball around the turn of the century 20 years ago. And even though I'd always been an NBA fan, once I got into fantasy, I started looking at the game in a whole different way because I was spending so much time watching it and analyzing it, trying to get my fantasy team right. And so I am really excited to go through a similar process with the WNBA and fantasy women's basketball. The people that are able to just get into it that way are going to be the ones whose teams win and hopefully the ones that get the most out of this experience.
Do you suspect that ESPN fantasy women's basketball has the potential to help draw new fans to the WNBA?
I hope it's hugely important because one thing we know about fans across sports is that people who play fantasy sports are more likely to watch games. They're going to watch more games, and not just their home teams, they're gonna watch all the games because every game has an impact on their fantasy teams. Even if the game's a blowout, somebody is gonna be putting up numbers that are gonna affect fantasy rosters.
I'm hoping that people who were already into the WNBA will enjoy it in a different way and the people that may not pay as much attention to WNBA but like fantasy sports use this as a vehicle to really dig in and start loving and enjoying all the stories. I guess time will tell how it works out, but I feel like it can't be anything but a positive.