The FIBA World Cup is one of the most exciting events that takes place in international women's basketball. This year's tournament kicks off the dash toward the 2028 Olympic Games (which will be hosted in Los Angeles) and also offers a glimpse at what the future of Team USA will look like. The Americans have always asserted dominance at the World Cup and the Olympics, and this year's roster will look to do the same.
The World Cup also creates a bit of space in the regular season schedule, and means WNBA fans go roughly two weeks without any new games to watch. The World Cup will be broadcast on TNT and TruTV, and games will also stream on HBO Max. It's not as if fans can't still watch professional women's basketball — they just can't watch the WNBA.
That should be a pretty thrilling prospect. The World Cup takes a lot of your favorite WNBA teams and spreads the players out all over the world. In addition to Team USA, there are several teams that boast Americans on their roster. And outside of that, there are a lot of incredibly talented players from all over the world who will be on the court.
But that hasn't stopped some people from complaining online about the break, or even attributing it to an error made by WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. One person wrote on X, "WNBA not having a game from now until September 17th is ludicrous. League is so unorganized." They also noted that the break means the WNBA playoffs will begin when college football and the NBA are also rolling out their seasons.
The implication that Engelbert did anything wrong or made a mistake is ridiculous and not worth paying attention to. The suggestion that there's a large overlap between fans who actually watch WNBA games (and it's not entirely clear that some of the people complaining really do) and fans who are more committed to other sports and leagues is always one to treat with a big of skepticism. At the end of the day, fans who want to watch the WNBA playoffs are going to find a way to do exactly that, no matter what else it means they might miss.
The World Cup begins on Friday, September 4, and games are available on multiple platforms. TNT and TruTV will show every game that Team USA plays, and all 36 games will stream on HBO.
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