2025 WNBA: It's been a while...
A day away from a much-anticipated 2025 WNBA season, several players are poised to return after a long time away.
July 17, 2019.
Cathy Engelbert steps in to her role as WNBA Commissioner, a notable and highly-publicized move in the league’s history, stepping up from a history of leaders under the title of “WNBA President” into a new era with the league’s first “Commissioner.”
Engelbert was named WNBA Commissioner two months prior, little more than a week before the 2019 season tipped off, given two months lead time before officially taking over for interim Commissioner Mark Tatum.
Also July 17, 2019.
Haley Peters is waived by the Atlanta Dream. The Nicki Collen-coached team is approaching a season without face-of-the-franchise Angel McCoughtry, injured in last year’s Semifinals and — no one knows it just yet — set to play just one more celebratory game with the franchise she helped build before moving on. Peters was brought in to training camp early and appeared in four games to start the season, but this is the end of the road for Peters and the Dream.
She’d clear waivers a couple days later, and many probably thought that was it for her WNBA career.
Undrafted out of Duke in 2014, Peters took a couple years to find a spot with the 2016 San Antonio Stars, and after bouncing around in 2017 she was out of the league a couple more before landing in Atlanta in early 2019.
Now six years to the day since Engelbert was named the WNBA's first Commissioner, Peters is back in the WNBA, having signed with the rebuilding Connecticut Sun in late February, and as announced today, part of the team’s opening night roster. Having entered the league under WNBA President Laurel Richie, she first played during Lisa Borders’ tenure and last played while Tatum was in charge.
She has yet to play under Engelbert but looks poised to change that as soon as this weekend, fittingly against the first team she played for, the Washington Mystics.
If she makes an appearance for the Sun this Sunday, it will have been 2,164 between games for Peters, what would be the fourth-largest gap between games for a WNBA player.
Player | Game N | Game N+1 | Days Between |
|---|---|---|---|
August 28, 1997 | July 24, 2008 | 3,983 | |
August 28, 2010 | May 13, 2017 | 2,450 | |
June 16, 2013 | June 6, 2019 | 2,181 | |
June 15, 2019 | May 18, 2025 (projected) | 2,164 |
When Peters ended her tenure with the Stars in 2017, she played with Sequoia Holmes, who interestingly enough at the time was making her triumphant return to the WNBA after 2,450 days away, the second-longest gap between games.
And Peters isn't the only player attempting to make a big return in 2025. Though Maria Kliundikova (previously Vadeeva) was waived today and may not get to return to the WNBA after 2,062 days away, several players are on opening night rosters after 1,000+ day absences:
Alexis Prince last played in an official WNBA game on September 15, 2020, when the Chicago Sky were eliminated by the Connecticut Sun in the "Wubble" season. 1,703 days since, she was announced today as part of the Phoenix Mercury's 2025 roster.
Crystal Bradford already has a top-10 days-between-games entry, having gone from September 11, 2015 to May 14, 2021 before re-entering the league with the Atlanta Dream. Though she's been signed a couple times, she has yet to appear in a game since, now part of the Las Vegas Aces roster with 1,360 days since her last game.
Bria Hartley last appeared in a WNBA game while playing for the Connecticut Sun on July 24, 2022. After being cut by the Aces before the start of last season, she's back with the Sun and poised to make her return after 1,026 days away.
Top 300 days-between-games gaps in WNBA history (including top active player gaps) available here: Longest Gaps Between WNBA Game Appearances.
On the Move
In case you missed it, Across the Timeline is now on Bluesky at @acrossthetimeline.com. All coverage this season will be on Bluesky and at times via this newsletter. If you are willing and able to provide financial support for ongoing development and coverage, see the donation links below.
Welcome back to the WNBA, for some after a very long hiatus!
Every donation helps!
Can you spare a dollar a month? Even a one-time donation goes a long way!
The support for Across the Timeline has been incredible and so appreciated. If you want to help keep acrossthetimeline.com and this newsletter free, every one-time and monthly donation helps. Click/tap here to support.
And of course, please share with anyone who may be interested and/or able to help.
