Cappie Pondexter will recover from eye surgery before she heads overseas to play basketball for Russia.

During the trophy presentation, Pondexter’s eye looked visibly swollen as if she had just gotten into a fist fight. Despite being injured, she scored 24 points during the final game and tossed in an incredible overall performance that helped the Mercury win yet another championship title.

According to ESPN.com, Pondexter’s surgery went well.  She’s taking a little down time before heading off to Russia to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg.

That’s it for the 2009 WNBA season. Bring on college basketball!

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

Cappie Pondexter Has Eye Surgery

“Lauren has been playing with back pain for a couple of weeks,” head coach Brian Agler said. “She will rest and work with our team physicians and trainers to rehabilitate her back.”

Lauren Jackson won't be able to help the Seattle Storm in the playoffs.

According to ESPN.com, Jackson had a bone scan done last Friday that revealed the stress fracture.

The Storm clinched a playoff spot after last Thursday’s win over the Connecticut Sun.  As the team’s leading scorer, Jackson will surely be missed in the playoffs. It’s up to the rest of the players to step up if they want to have a chance at winning the WNBA championship.

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Post from: EveryJoe

Lauren Jackson Out For The Season

Sure, Candace Parker is a household name, but Leslie was dunking basketballs well before Parker could even drive a car.

Leslie reached yet another milestone in her basketball career by reaching 6,000 points in a game against the Indiana Fever. The exclamation point of the achievement was made as Leslie hit an 11-foot jumper with only 11.9 seconds left before halftime.

Leslie is also an eight-time All-Star, leads the league in career rebounds with 3,203. She is only one of four remaining players from the league’s inaugural season in 1997.

Post from: EveryJoe

Lisa Leslie Reaches 6,000 Points

Yolanda Griffith announced her retirement Tuesday after suffering a career-ending tear of her left Achilles tendon back on June 9.

Yolanda Griffith is retiring from the WNBA after 11 seasons. She won a WNBA Championship with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005.

The 39-year-old Indiana Fever forward has quite the basketball resume. She is a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, and won a WNBA Champtionship back  in 2005 with the Sacramento Monarchs.

Griffith also holds the second spot for rebounding in league history with 2,444 boards. As the second overall pick in the 1999 WNBA draft, she averaged seven rebounds and 10.3 ppg.

As the WNBA moves further into the second decade of its existence, we are going to see more and more outstanding athletes retire from a league they helped create. (Lisa Leslie plans on calling it quits at the end of this season). And at the same time, more talented and incredible athletes are entering the league in order to help keep it afloat.

It’s s bitter sweet situation, no matter how you look at it.

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Post from: EveryJoe

Yolanda Griffith Decides To Retire

Bill Laimbeer added a certain amount of clout to the WNBA when he took over as Detroit’s head coach in 2002. He has led his team to three WNBA titles in three years and has made the Shock into a basketball powerhouse. He talked his bosses out of folding the team after the 2002 season before engineering a worst-to-first championship run the very next season. But after three games into the 2009 season, he called a press conference and called it quits.

The reason? Two words: the NBA.

Bill Laimbeer resigned from his position as head coach of the Detroit Shock.

“It’s time for me to be doing something else,”  Laimbeer said, according to ESPN.com. “I want to coach in the NBA, and I think it was not fair to the Shock to try to coach them while my focus and passion were somewhere else. I don’t have another job, but it is something I want to explore. Whether it is a head coaching job or something as an assistant, that’s what I want to do.”

Laimbeer was a member of the Pistons’ “Bad Boys” championship teams of 1989 and 1990 before retiring in 1993. “I never expected to be here for this long, and I never expected to have this level of success,” he said. “I wouldn’t give a second of it back.”

Post from: EveryJoe

Bill Laimbeer “Shockingly” Resigns

Lisa Leslie is hoping to win a WNBA championship this season. Candace Parker is the key.

Parker is a key component to the Los Angeles Sparks‘ success. She’s the reigning WNBA MVP and was voted rookie of the year last season.

“I think Candace is going to come in when she knows she’s effective and she can contribute,” Leslie said, according to ESPN.com. “I think the beautiful part of it is that she is young enough that she will be able to do it faster than any of us here that have been able to do it. I would say by the end of June she would be in practice.”

In addition to Parker, Leslie also has Tina Thompson, Betty Lennox and DeLisha Milton-Jones at her side. Her teammates want to send her out on a high note and a WNBA championship certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility for the WNBA veteran and most recognizable face of the Sparks.

Los Angeles opens the season at home on June 6 against Detroit, the defending champions.

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Post from: EveryJoe

Lisa Leslie Wants Another WNBA Championship

The team known as the “bad girls” of the league has prevailed despite injuries, odds and setbacks. The Detroit Shock swept the San Antonio Silver Stars in impressive fashion to win the 2008 WNBA Championship. This win makes it number three overall for the franchise.

Katie Smith won Finals MVP honors after averaging 21.7 points per game. She’s also a three-time gold medalist, two ABL crowns and now three WNBA Championships. Now that’s impressive.

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Post from: EveryJoe

Shock Sweeps Silver Stars