In the last week, I’ve seen a couple of interesting pictures on social media in the world of women’s sports.
On one social media post, the picture shows the starting lineup for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun — but with five red X’s on them. All five players that were starters for last year’s Sun side — DeWanna Bonner, DiJonai Carrington, Brionna Jones, Alyssa Thomas, and Ty Harris — are no longer on the team.
On another post, a picture shows the starting lineup for the 2023 New York/New Jersey Gotham of the NWSL. There were red X’s on seven of the 11 players, some of whom accepted transfer offers to Europe, others who were traded, and still others who used their free agency status to move to other clubs.
In all, a dozen members of that 2023 Gotham roster have moved on to teams all over the globe.
What’s going on here? Why are teams finding it necessary to jettison large sections of their rosters — and successful ones at that — instead of building on a core group?
Sure, it’s something that has been prevalent in men’s pro sports at times. But usually, teams looking to make moves will wait until mid-season (see: the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks last week), which sometimes labels teams as either “buyers” or “sellers” in terms of heading towards a certain goal.
But I can’t figure out exactly what Gotham FC and the Sun are looking to do. The players being let go are some of the best in their craft, and it isn’t as though either team is grooming world-beating talent (with the possible exception of Midge Purce, who was signed in the last day or so to a contract extension with Gotham).
I guess we’ll know more in the next few weeks as rosters form and develop. But it’s a little strange to see two championship-level lineups in American pro women’s sports dissolve virtually overnight.