There was a new era coming into the WNBA by 2010. On October 20, 2009, the WNBA announced the Detroit Shock would relocate to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to become the Tulsa Shock. On November 20, 2009, the WNBA announced the Sacramento Monarchs had folded due to lack of support from its current owners, the Maloof family, who also owned the Sacramento Kings at the time. The league announced it would seek new owners to relocate the team to the San Francisco Bay Area; however, no ownership was found and a dispersal draft was held on December 14, 2009. The folding of the Monarchs left the WNBA with 12 teams, a number that remained unchanged for the next fifteen seasons. The 2010 season saw a tight race in the East, which held a .681 winning percentage over the West, its highest ever. However, it was a Western team, the Seattle Storm, who ultimately dominated the league. Led once again by the duo of Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson, the only players remaining from the 2004 championship team, the Storm finished 28–6 in the regular season and 7–0 in the playoffs. Although the Storm swept the Atlanta Dream, the 2010 Finals were a close affair, with Seattle winning the three games by a combined eight points. The Dream, who had finished their inaugural 2008 season 4–30, made a quick turnaround behind the 2009 first-overall pick Angel McCoughtry and advanced to the Finals in their third year. After the 2010 season, President Donna Orender announced she would be resigning from her position as of December 31. On April 21, 2011, NBA commissioner David Stern announced that former Girl Scouts of the USA Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Laurel J. Richie, would assume duties as president on May 16, 2011.
During their first 11 seasons in the league, the Minnesota Lynx saw little success, winning only one playoff game. Before the 2010 season, Cheryl Reeve took over as head coach, and the team added Rebekkah Brunson and Lindsay Whalen to support 2006 first-overall pick Seimone Augustus. The Lynx failed to make the playoffs again in Reeve's first season, but were able to select Maya Moore with the first pick in the 2011 draft. The core of Augustus, Brunson, Moore, and Whalen would go on to make six Finals appearances and win four championships over the next seven years. Their first title came immediately in 2011, with the Lynx dominating the regular season and dropping only one game throughout their playoff run. In the 2011 Finals, the Dream were swept for the second straight year despite efforts by McCoughtry, who set still-standing league records for most points in a playoff game (42) and in a Finals game (38) during the Dream's consecutive Finals appearances. The Lynx made it back to the 2012 Finals but fell in four games to the Indiana Fever, led by Tamika Catchings. In a challenging run, the Fever had to stave off elimination in both of the first two rounds and lost their second-leading scorer, Katie Douglas, to injury before ultimately capturing their first WNBA championship.
From 2013 to 2019, a new generation of players rose up who are Brittney Griner, Elena Delle Donne, and Skylar Diggins. The much-publicized 2013 WNBA draft produced Baylor Bears center Brittney Griner, Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens forward Elena Delle Donne, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Skylar Diggins as the top three picks. It was the first WNBA draft televised in prime time on ESPN after the league extended its TV deal with the network through 2022. Griner, Delle Donne, and Diggins were thus labeled "The Three To See."
The retirement of legends Ticha Penicheiro, Katie Smith, Sheryl Swoopes, and Tina Thompson coupled with the arrival of highly touted rookies and new rule changes effectively marked the end of an era for the WNBA and the ushering of another. The promotion of "The Three To See" helped boost television ratings for the league by 28%, and half of the teams ended the 2013 season profitable. The improved health of the league was on display after the season; when the Los Angeles Sparks' ownership group folded, it took the league only a few weeks to line up Guggenheim Partners to purchase the team, and the franchise also garnered interest from the ownership of the Golden State Warriors. On the court, the Minnesota Lynx won their second title in three years, sweeping the Atlanta Dream in the 2013 Finals. This narrative was reinforced by the 2014 Finals, which featured a matchup between the Phoenix Mercury (led by Griner and Diana Taurasi) and the Chicago Sky (led by Delle Donne and Sylvia Fowles) and became the most-watched series since 2003. The Mercury swept the first-time finalist Sky to cap a dominant season. They went 29–5 in the regular season, the best winning percentage since the 2001 Sparks.
However, the 2015 season began without several stars from the previous Finals. Taurasi was paid by her Russian club, where she played during the WNBA offseason, to sit out the season, while Fowles refused to play for Chicago before she was traded to the Lynx in July. This proved enough to swing the balance, as the Lynx returned to the top by defeating the Indiana Fever in five games in the 2015 Finals. Fowles was named Finals MVP, helping the Lynx avenge their 2012 defeat. After the 2015 season, the Tulsa Shock moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth region and were renamed the Dallas Wings. The league also saw another change in leadership, as president Laurel J. Richie left her position in November 2015 and was succeeded by Lisa Borders in February 2016.
Beginning in 2016, the league abolished conference-based playoff seeding: the top eight teams by record, regardless of conference, advanced to the postseason, with the top two regular-season teams receiving byes directly to the semifinals. Coincidentally, the next two seasons were marked by a clear separation between two Western teams, the Lynx and the Sparks, and the rest of the league, culminating in back-to-back five-game Finals matchups. In the 2016 Finals, the Sparks, led by Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike, won their first championship since 2002, taking Game Five in Minnesota on a game-winning Ogwumike basket with 3.1 seconds left. The Lynx earned their revenge in the 2017 Finals, defeating the Sparks in five games. It marked Minnesota's fourth title in seven years and the final chapter of the franchise's dynasty—since after an unsuccessful 2018 season, Brunson, Moore, and Whalen all effectively retired from the league.
Following the 2017 season, the San Antonio Stars moved to Nevada, becoming the Las Vegas Aces. In October 2018, Borders stepped down as president. Mark Tatum served as interim president until May 2019, when Cathy Engelbert was named WNBA commissioner, a role that replaced the league's president title. After their 2010 championship, the Seattle Storm posted one winning season in the next seven years. However, this put them in position to draft back-to-back No. 1 overall picks for the second time in franchise history: Jewell Loyd in 2015 and Breanna Stewart in 2016. Alongside Sue Bird, they returned the Storm to the top in 2018. Their toughest playoff test came in a five-game semifinal series against the Mercury. In the Finals, Seattle swept the first-time finalist Washington Mystics, led by Delle Donne, who had been traded to Washington a year earlier.
With Stewart and Bird missing the 2019 season due to injuries, the Mystics dominated the regular season behind Delle Donne's MVP campaign and the first 50-40-90 season in WNBA history. Led by Mike Thibault, the winningest coach in WNBA history, the Mystics ran the best offense in league history, and returned to the Finals for a second straight year. There, they faced the Connecticut Sun, who reached the Finals for the first time since 2005—coincidentally, then coached by Thibault. The Mystics prevailed in five games to win their first championship in franchise history, as well as the first for Delle Donne and Thibault.
During the 2018 season, the WNBA players' union opted out of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the league, which ended after the 2019 season. In January 2020, the league and union announced they had reached an agreement on a new CBA to take effect with the 2020 season and running through 2027, with an opt-out after 2025. The agreement increased player compensation by more than 50% and expanded benefits, including fully paid maternity leave. It also broadened free‑agency rights. In addition, the CBA introduced a "prioritization" clause that penalizes veteran players who report late to WNBA training camp after returning from overseas play.
Also in January 2020, the WNBA announced a new in-season tournament, the Commissioner's Cup, originally slated to debut in the 2020 season. On April 3, the WNBA announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the beginning of the 2020 season would be postponed. The 2020 entry draft took place as originally scheduled on April 17, although it was done remotely. In June, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced plans for a 22‑game regular season beginning in July, with a traditional playoff format, to be held exclusively at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The players were housed at the Bradenton complex, and all games and practices took place there. Several players opted out for medical or personal reasons. The reigning champion Mystics were particularly affected, with Delle Donne among those absent, and barely made the playoffs. The shortened regular season was largely dominated by the Seattle Storm and the Las Vegas Aces, who ultimately met in the Finals. It was the Aces franchise's first Finals appearance since 2008, and their first since relocating to Las Vegas. The Storm, back at full strength, swept their playoff run to win their second title in three years.
On March 15, 2021, it was announced that the WNBA would introduce a ceremonial logo, basketball, and uniforms as part of its 25th anniversary celebratory campaign called "Count It." Also for the campaign, the league unveiled The W25, a list of 25 players determined to be the league's greatest and most influential, as chosen by a panel of media and pioneering women's players. The 2021 season largely returned to normal conditions and featured a 32‑game regular season with a month‑long Olympic break for the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics. The Commissioner's Cup officially debuted that year. The inaugural Cup Final, held on August 12 as the first game after the Olympic break, was streamed via Amazon Prime Video, and the reigning WNBA champions, the Seattle Storm, won the first edition by defeating the Connecticut Sun. Neither team replicated its success in the playoffs, and in a season full of twists, the 2021 WNBA Finals produced a rematch of the 2014 Finals between the fifth-seeded Phoenix Mercury and the sixth-seeded Chicago Sky. Benefiting from expanded free‑agency rights under the new CBA, the Sky were able to sign Candace Parker before the season to bolster their established core. Chicago prevailed in four games to win their first championship in franchise history.
In February 2022, the league raised $75 million in capital, on terms valuing the league at $475 million. Under the deal, investors received 16% of the league's equity. In mid-2022, commissioner Cathy Engelbert confirmed that the league was actively considering expansion. Before the 2022 season, the Las Vegas Aces signed head coach Becky Hammon to a then‑unprecedented $1 million annual salary. The move was the latest in a series of ambitious investments by the team's new owner, Mark Davis, who purchased the franchise in February 2021, including the construction of a $40 million dedicated training facility, the first of its kind in the league. The Aces' core included consecutive first-overall picks from 2017 to 2019—Kelsey Plum, A'ja Wilson, and Jackie Young—along with Chelsea Gray, whom they signed in free agency in 2021. In 2022, with the regular season expanded to 36 games, Las Vegas finished with the best regular‑season record and won the Commissioner's Cup. That season, the playoff format reverted to a traditional bracket without byes for top seeds and with a best‑of‑three first round. The Aces advanced to the Finals and defeated the Connecticut Sun in four games to win their first championship in franchise history.
The 2023 season was widely framed as a battle between two "superteams": the Aces and the New York Liberty. The Aces added Candace Parker in free agency, while the Liberty signed free agents Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot and traded for Jonquel Jones, joining 2020 first-overall pick Sabrina Ionescu in New York. The two franchises were frequently cited as examples of increased owner investment, and both drew league scrutiny, resulting in investigations or penalties, for providing player benefits beyond those stipulated by the CBA. That year, the league expanded the regular‑season schedule to 40 games. The season largely matched expectations: the two teams met in the Commissioner's Cup Final, which the Liberty won, and then again in the WNBA Finals. Despite playing without Parker throughout the playoffs and losing two starters to injury during the Finals, the Aces defeated the Liberty in four games and became the first repeat champions since the 2001–02 Los Angeles Sparks. The regular season was the most-watched in 21 years, and the Finals were the most-watched since 2003.
On October 5, 2023, the WNBA announced an agreement with the owners of the NBA's Golden State Warriors to bring a team to San Francisco, with a reported $50 million expansion fee payable over 10 years. The Golden State Valkyries became the league's first expansion team since the Atlanta Dream in 2008 and joined as the 13th team in 2025. On May 23, 2024, the league announced that the Kilmer Group had acquired a franchise based in Toronto that would debut in 2026. On September 18, 2024, the league announced that the Bhathal family, owners of the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), had acquired a franchise based in Portland that would also debut in 2026.
Other than MAGA, the New Age movement is the most deceptive spiritual movement in human history. It is so slick and diverse, that many people have trouble defining what it is. Yet, there are many characteristics that define the New Age Movement. The irony of the New Age movement is that it is not new. It has existed from the ancient Mystery schools and pagan religions that existed thousands of years ago. In essence, the New Age movement is a spiritual movement that combines Western and Eastern occult/pagan philosophies into one format in claiming that it will cause "human enlightenment" and be liberated spiritually. Where have we heard this proclamation before? We all heard this lie from the Adversary long ago. Many New Agers claim that we are God or we have God within our souls, denying that God exists completely different from human beings. Back over 120 years ago, New Age views were very limited in American society. Occultists like Madame H.P. Blavastky, Anne Besant, and Aleister Crowley spread views about spirituality and the occult constantly. Their work helped to spread New Age views like trying to contact spirits, going to harbor hatred of monotheism, scapegoating all of Christianity, experimenting with drugs in a recreational fashion, and using crystals in claiming "healing powers." Since the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, the New Age Movement has expanded in unprecedented levels. For example, many people don't know that Elvis Presley followed New Age views, read New Age books, and read on stage words form H.P. Blavastky's The Voice book. Many rock musicians have praised or were influenced by Aleister Crowley (who was a hedonist, a drug abuser, and a notorious God-hater). Some of the Beatles followed Transcendental Mediation, and John Lennon in 1966 said that his group would be bigger than Jesus. Back in 1966, the country was more conservative, so John Lennon was heavily criticized for that statement, but now, blasphemy is so common in public that few bat an eye. Even now, many New Agers claim to disagree with the existence of one Creator God but believe that aliens created humans from hominids (which is completely ludicrous). The New Age movement is decentralized, and some believe that Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, etc. are spiritual avatars sent to help humanity. The New Thought and Theosophy of the 1800s created a foundation for the modern-day New Age Movement of the 20th and 21st centuries. There are 3 major lies of the New Age movement. The first lie is that human beings can be God or is a God in training. There is no scientific and spiritual evidence that a human being is God. Human beings are wonderful created and chosen for a great destiny if that destiny is fulfilled, but humans can never be omnipotent, except the God the Son. The 2nd great lie of the New Age movement is that occultism and paganism can led into enlightenment. We know too many stories from former New Agers that occultism and paganism relate to experimentation to drugs, hedonism, sick rituals, and other spiritual practices that led into chaos, confusion, and deception. The third lie of the New Age movement is that any monolithic religious tradition is collectively trying to form an authoritarian, dictatorial, patriarchal supremacist empire to destroy the essence of humanity. What is the truth? The truth is that spirituality and religion are not monolithic. There were many pagan civilizations filled with imperialism, abuse, colonialism, human sacrifice, incest, and other evils. The monotheistic religions that promoted peace and justice exist too back then that has inspired the world for real social change.
Improving the environment is a paramount duty among us as human beings. Without a strong environment, we can't have adequate health care, adequate housing, and other human rights that so many people take for granted. The environmental movement in the modern era has existed for long decades. Environmental issues are not monolithic. For example, we know about the importance of dealing with climate change. Over the course of one century, the average temperature of the globe has increased. That is why there was a massive July heatwave in Europe from Paris to London. Triple digit temperatures have existed in those cities and other locations where air conditioning was not common to this day. In America, air conditioning systems are more common, because of hot climates and culturally, we have it more in buildings and homes. The ozone layer being more fragile is representative of climate change. Many organizations have planted more trees, used alternative energy, and done many recycling projects to fight climate change. Since the Johnson administration, the establishment has discussed about human induced climate change. Climate change has accelerated extreme weather from storms, floods, drought, and extreme high plus low temperatures. Polar ice caps have melted too. This reality has to do with how we eat foods, how resources are allocated in the world, and how we plan flooding prevention infrastructure in the globe. Another important environmental issue deals with radiation. Radiation fallout has existed globally. Radioactive substances are high dangerous and can damage human beings at the cellular level. We deal with air pollution, plastic waste, water contamination (like what happened in Flint, Michigan years ago), food waste, soil degradation, cobalt mining, clean water issues, agricultural problems, ocean acidification (which can cause coral reef loss) and other issues. There is massive deforestation in Brazil and other places of the Earth. Also, biodiversity loss is totally ruining animal and plant species. It is no secret that Donald Trump is the most anti-environmental President in American history. The Trump administration has eliminated legitimate environmental regulations. Also, the Trump administration has legalized the killing of near extinct animals, formerly protected by the Endangered Species Act. This truth refutes the lie that Trump is the greatest President or he sincerely cares for the environment in a comprehensive fashion. Animals on the list that don't have this legal protection are the Florida manatee, Monarch buttery, alligator snapping turtle, the California spotted owl, the Florida Keys mole skink, etc. These issues can't be solved just locally or nationally. It takes international cooperation to legitimately address these legitimate environmental issues.
Beyonce has a massive cultural legacy. She is the greatest pop star and entertainer of the 21st century without question. She has defined music in the 2000s and the 2010s plus in the 2020s in many respects. For example, she used a Super Bowl performance to celebrate the Black Panther Party. When some country music establishment figures minimized the contributions of black people in country music, Beyonce released an album to celebrate black artists in country music. Beyonce's popularity has massively increased. Many of her albums, singles, music videos, and live performances are among the greatest of all time. She has helped to revolutionize the distribution, promotion, and consumption of music. She popularized surprise releases in albums. She has grown the visual album format mode. Her acting career has grown too. She was in the movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera in 2001. Later, she was in more films like The Pink Panther, Dreamgirls, Cadillac Records, Obsessed, Epic, Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce in 2019, and Mufasa: The Lion King in 2024. She was in many television shows like Smart Guy in 1998, Pacific Blue in 1999, The Wayne Brady Show in 2003, The X Factor in 2011, etc. We know that Beyonce has been in many commercials like Pepsi (including singing the song Grown Woman in one Pepsi ad), American Express, DirecTV, L'Oreal, Heat, etc. By 2024, Beyoncé introduced Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics on NBC Sports. It had the remixed single Ya Ya from her album Cowboy Carter. Beyonce followed a similar blueprint as Diana Ross. Both women existed growing up and being part of a legendary singing group, created their own solo career, being their own entrepreneur, worked in television and movies, and have a regal plus fashion style that people admire to this day. Beyonce Knowles Carter's legacy is that Black Excellence is not limited based upon generation and greatness can be multifaceted in its composition.
We live in many unique times. The Iranian war was the biggest foreign policy disaster of the Trump administration. Trump was deluded to assume that his 300-billion-dollar attempt bribe could cause a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Today, there is a stronger alliance among Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea. There are two wicked factions who are very powerful in the world today. One faction involves MAGA extremists who seek war, imperialism, the spread of Islamophobia (beyond just disagreement of Islam but the unfair, unwarranted scapegoating of all Muslims collectively for terrorism in the world) and Western domination of the world for the purpose of profit, greed, and xenophobia. There is video shown on MS NOW showing Republican Congressional leaders saying that they won't disagree with Trump on any issue. This is representative of a cult, not a true liberating political movement.
The other faction is slick. They hide behind the ethos of "anti-imperialism" and minimize oppression in Africa, Ukraine, and anti-Semitism (some even glorify Hamas killing thousands of innocent Jewish people in the October 7, attack. Some of them equate even condemning Hamas' murder and terrorism to the acquiesce to the war crimes committed by Netanyahu. That isn't true) in the world. In our time, we have a fusion of people like Tucker Carlson and many far-right people allying with Vladimir Putin when Putin promotes policies that violate human rights, executed an illegal war in Ukraine back in early 2022, and suppressed the rights of journalists in Russia who have criticized the policies of Putin. Tucker (he hosted the white racist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes on his show. He didn't check Fuentes's bigotry on his show) has flirted with the racist ideal of the Great Replacement Theory. The Roman Catholic Candace Owens (who claimed falsely that leftists created the October 2018 mail bombing attempts, she deleted her tweet without explanation) believes in Holocaust revisionism by denying that Nazi medical experiments were carried by Josef Mengele on concentration camp inmates. This nonsense is common on the far right and fake so-called "progressives" who care more for ideological purity than truth.
The United States Track and Field Championships has existed in New York City from July 23 to 26, 2026. It has taken placed at Ichan Stadium. This championship had para track and field championships for the United States too. This comes before the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship held in Budapest, Hungary. This is historic as it is the first championships in New York City since 1991. On July 21, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a lottery for 500 free tickets to the events. For the men's 100m race, Noah Lyles won gold with a time of 9.79 seconds, Ronnie Baker won silver with 9.88 seconds, and Kenny Bednarek won bronze with a time of 9.88 seconds. Noah Lyles said that he is not playing after his victory. For the women's 100m, Sha'Carri Richardson won gold with 10.77 seconds, Kyal White won silver with 10.90 seconds, and Tamari Davis won bronze with 11 seconds. For the women's 400m, Aaliyah Butler won gold, Alexis Holmes won silver, and Sanaria Butler won bronze. For the men's 400m, Chris Bialey won gold, Khaleb McRae won silver, and Demarius Smith won bronze. For the men's high jump, Tyus Wilson won gold, Scottie Vines won silver, and Shelby McEwen won bronze. For the women's pole vault, Sandi Morris won gold, Emily Grove won silver, and Tori Thomas won bronze. For the shot put, Chase Jackson won gold, Abria Smith won silver, and Adelaide Aquilla won bronze. For the men's long jump, Isaac Grimes won gold, Malcolm Clemons won silver, and Steffin Mccarter won bronze. For the men's decathlon, Garrett Scantling won gold, Kyle Garland won silver, and Hakim McMorris won bronze. For the women's 100m, Alia Armstrong won gold, Alayhsa Johnson won silver, and Tara Davis-Woodhall won bronze. For the women's 1500m, Nikki Hiltz won gold, Addy Wiley won silver, and Emily MacKay won bronze. For the women's 200m, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden won gold with 21.69 seconds (which is a season's best), Cambrea Sturgis with 22.22 seconds, and Camryn Dickson with 22.58 seconds. Vasthi Cunningham won gold in the women's high jump. For the women's long jump, Alyssa Jones won gold, Monae Nichols won silver, and Tara Davis-Woodhall won bronze. For the men's 800m, Cooper Lutkenhaus won gold, Wes Ferguson won silver, and Hobbs Kessler won silver. The men's discus gold medal winner was Texas Tanner, Reggie Jagers for silver, and Mitchell Weber was bronze. For the women's 400m hurdles, Ann Cockrell won gold, Deonca Bookman won silver, and Shamier Little won bronze. For the men's 200m, Garrett Kaalund won gold, Brandon Hicklin won silver, and Max Thomas won bronze.
By Timothy
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