A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The WNBA's regular season ended last night. That means the playoff brackets are set, with the Minnesota Lynx having the top spot. Here with a preview of the playoffs is Annie Costabile. She covers women's basketball at The Athletic. Annie, so what are some of the biggest highlights of the regular season for you?
ANNIE COSTABILE: Gosh, there were so many, but I think we got to start with the fact that this has been the most-viewed season in WNBA history, with the league averaging - or, excuse me, reaching over 88.5 million unique viewers. Forty-seven WNBA games have averaged more than a million viewers. And beyond that, the attendance in each arena has set new marks as well - over 3 million total attendees to date.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow.
COSTABILE: So I think just the history in terms of the way that the league continues to grow has been really astounding.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And it's a simple formula for any sport. If you increase the scoring, people are going to want to watch. People love watching scoring.
COSTABILE: Exactly. And that's something that as well, has improved. And coming into the season, there was a significant effort put into the officiating, improving the officiating. And one of the improvements was allowing the freedom of movement, which we've seen allow for a greater offensive output. Over 16% of the games have been decided by 3 points or fewer this season, which is currently the highest percentage in the league, and the games this season are averaging a combined 10.4 lead changes and ties per game, which is also, you know, again, a mark of, you know, parity and close matchups, which people love to see.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So scoring brings people to the seats, but defense wins championships. That's the old sports phrase. So let's look at the playoffs. The Lynx.
COSTABILE: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: They have the first seed, and they had an amazing season from Olivia Miles, who's probably going to be the rookie of the year and maybe the MVP.
COSTABILE: Yeah. Olivia Miles is doing something that no rookie has done since Candace Parker in terms of really putting herself in the MVP conversation. Candace Parker was the only rookie and MVP in WNBA history, and Olivia Miles has come onto the scene and really captured - beyond just her performance on the court, she's been a magnet for attention in the WNBA because she's just so authentic. Like, anybody that is able to obviously watch her can see that, but also just in the way that she carries herself off the court as well. There's just this gravitas...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
COSTABILE: ...Towards her that is really unmatched. And what she did without Nafisa Collier - that's why she's earned the mark, the spectacle, both because of her play, but also, to your point, because of where she had the Minnesota Lynx. And she did it without their top player, the MVP runner-up last year, which many people doubted the Lynx would - questioned whether the Lynx would be a playoff team. So for them to be in the No. 1 spot, it's largely because of what Olivia Miles has done and how she sped up her own timeline as far as being a rookie but playing beyond her years.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And really quick, Las Vegas Aces won three of the last four championships. A'ja Wilson's maybe the greatest women's basketball player of all time. What do you think their chances are?
COSTABILE: Yeah. The parity in the league is really unmatched this year, and so as good as A'ja Wilson is, it's not going to be a cakewalk for them to repeat as champions again. So it's going to be an interesting postseason.
MARTÍNEZ: Annie Costabile of The Athletic, thank you very much.
COSTABILE: Thanks, guys.
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