September 25, 2016
With the 2016 regular season complete, it is time to take a look at how players have moved up the career totals list and which records may be in danger in 2017.
Looking at the 5 major counting statistics, it is the perfect time to reflect on the all-around impacts of Tamika Catchings, DeLisha Milton-Jones, and Swin Cash as they retire. The 3 of them join Lisa Leslie and Taj McWilliams Franklin as the only players to rank in the top 30 of all 5 categories. Catchings does so in impressive fashion, finishing no lower than 12th in any category, with her performance in blocks standing out even more when comparing her height to some of the other players on the list. Her next lowest placement was 6th as she finishes 1st in both rebounds and steals with a 2nd place finish in points. Milton-Jones was able to hold on to all of her rankings after not appearing in any games in the season before she announced her retirement. Cash used her last season to get the steals that she needed to make the list on her last category.
Players highlighted were active in the WNBA in 2016
Points:
We did not have a new all time scoring leader this season, but look for that to change next year. Tamika Catchings finishes her career in 2nd place, but Diana Taurasi seems poised to surpass her and also climb above Tina Thompson to take over the lead. Cappie Pondexter is likely to reach 4th while Sue Bird should be able to crack the top 10. Another milestone to look forward to is 5,000 points for Angel McCoughtry as the top 30 players have now all surpassed 4,000 career points.
Assists:
Another record to keep an eye on in 2017 is Ticha Penicheiro’s all time assists mark. Sue Bird is within striking distance, but will need another excellent season to get there as she has only surpassed the 188 dimes needed to tie the record in 4 seasons of her career. Diana Taurasi will be looking to move into 4th place as Cappie Pondexter could jump into 6th place. Courtney Vandersloot is most likely to be the next member of the 1,000 assists club as she could move well into the top 20.
Rebounds:
We could have another record holder soon in this category, although it seems 2018 would be a more realistic timeline than 2017. Rebekkah Brunson should still move into the top 3 with another season. 5 active players are among the players from 11th to 16th and all will mount challenges on top 10 spots with 2 more solid seasons of play.
Blocks:
We are not likely to see a new career blocks leader anytime soon as active players have only just reached the halfway mark on the chase towards Margo Dydek’s total. Brittney Griner has had an impressive start to her career in this category, but still appears to be a minimum of 4 years away from reaching the top. We can still look forward to some milestones in 2017 as she and Sylvia Fowles look set to reach 500.
Steals:
This is another category where the record is safe for now. Tamika Catchings finishes her career with a 310 steal lead on her nearest competitor and the nearest active player is 477 behind her, a number that only 19 players have even reached in their entire careers. We are likely to see a quite a few more additions to the 600 steal club in 2017, possibly giving us some new membership in the top 5.
All stats from wnba.com