Jovana Popovic is one of the most talented and promising young players in Europe.

Despite being just 17 years old, Popovic averaged 10.3 points (59 percent from the field), 3.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.8 steals per game in the First Women’s Basketball League of Serbia. She can play as a point guard, shooting guard or wing, as she did this season for ZKK Mega MIS Beograd, which lost only one game in the regular season and won its first league championship this year.

When and how did you get into basketball, and how did you land in Mega MIS?

I started practicing basketball when I was nine. After swimming practice, I went to see one basketball practice and I liked it a lot, so I started practicing basketball. I came to Mega last year, when coach Milan Vidosavljevic called me. I wanted to take a step forward and to transfer to Mega.

Ten points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals per game. Those are great averages, let alone by a player who was just 16 years old. Were you always confident in that you would become the starter and have the season that you’ve had?

When I first came to Mega, I was aware that I needed to prove myself every day in order to gain the trust of my coaches and teammates.

What aspects of your game were you able to improve during your first year at Mega MIS? How did your game change throughout the season?

Practicing with the senior team and players that are older than me helped me a lot in my development. Thanks to them, I significantly improved my game in every aspect, both on individual and team level.

And what about your development outside of basketball? You’re the playmaker, playing with more experienced players, but you need to gain their trust if you want them to be okay with putting the ball in your hands. How were you able to built that trust and was there a moment during the season when you felt that the team had your back?

For trust, time is key. Hard work, relationships with teammates both on and off the court, respect, all these things are important in building trust. Team chemistry was great, all of my teammates were there to help me and give me helpful advice when I needed it.

I’m asking about the development because your team not only won the championship, but you were the Finals MVP! What can you tell us about the series, your mindset, your teammates and the emotion of raising that cup?

As I mentioned earlier, that trust we had, was key to my development, allowed me to grow and, of course, with their help I won the MVP award. As the MVP award is in some way individual, at the end of the day, it’s just result of great teamwork. That’s why I must say that I am very thankful that I had a chance to play with such great players and great people, because they made a transfer to a new club much, much easier. So I want to thank them all for that. The feeling when you lift the trophy is unmatched, with many feelings combined. You feel both joy, pride, responsibility and gratitude.

What are your plans for the Summer? Apart from the Olympics (fingers crossed), will you relax, catch up on some school stuff or work on your game?

My time off I will use to finish my school obligations. Then, I go to U18 Serbian camp, as we have European championships at the beginning of the August.

A special thank you to Goran Šanjević of BeoBasket for arranging the interview.

Voting for the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game concludes Saturday, June 29, and with their star-studded starting lineup, the Seattle Storm are sure to have several representatives at the annual exhibition.

Last week, the WNBA released an early return of All-Star fan votes that featured three Storm players: Nneka Ogwumike at No. 13 overall, Jewell Loyd at No. 21 and Skylar Diggins-Smith at No. 28. That’s not a guarantee that every one of those players will be named an All-Star—the fan vote counts for 50 percent of the overall vote, with player and media votes accounting for 25 percent apiece—but we know that Loyd, as a member of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team, will already be participating, and it would be a surprise if at least one of Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith didn’t make it as well.

With that in mind, as we wait for the final results to be tallied, let’s take a brief look at each of the Storm’s best players and their cases for WNBA All-Star consideration.

Nneka Ogwumike

Of Seattle’s big-name players, Ogwumike probably has the best case to be named an All-Star. She’s been the team’s most consistent player, averaging 17.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while scoring at her usual high efficiency (60 percent true shooting; No. 13 in the WNBA), and she’s also leading the Storm in steals at two per game. Ogwumike has made a Hall of Fame career of efficient, fundamentally sound play, and she’s been as valuable as ever in her first season in Seattle, with her steadiness keeping the Storm afloat during a rough early-season patch. At 33 years old, Ogwumike is still one of the WNBA’s top frontcourt players, and she’s well-deserving of a ninth career All-Star appearance.

Jewell Loyd

Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images

Back in 2021, the WNBA introduced the USA Basketball Women’s National Team to its All-Star festivities as a way of keeping the annual event going during an Olympic year. The league will take a similar approach for 2024: Team USA’s 5×5 team will be competing against a 12-player roster of WNBA All-Stars, meaning that everyone who is on the Olympic team, which was announced on June 11, automatically qualifies to be a part of the All-Star Game.

That includes Loyd, who will be making her sixth-career All-Star appearance. The WNBA’s leading scorer in 2023, Loyd has not been quite as consistent thus far in 2024, but still ranks No. 6 in the league in scoring (19.3 points per game) and is averaging a career-high 5.5 rebounds per game. Loyd is the Storm’s primary perimeter scorer, and she’s among the best in the league at creating her own shot, resulting in plenty of highlight-reel buckets that make her a must-watch player in any type of game—especially an All-Star game.

Skylar Diggins-Smith

Photo by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images

Diggins-Smith was introduced alongside Ogwumike as Seattle’s two major offseason additions, and though she missed all of last season after giving birth to her second child, she’s making up for lost time in her first season with the Storm. It took Diggins-Smith a few games to get back into game shape and to adjust to her new teammates, but she’s still averaging 14.4 points and 6.2 assists per game, the latter of which ranks No. 5 in the WNBA. If the fan vote ends up being similar to how it looked in last week’s reveal, Diggins-Smith will need to rely on respect from her peers and WNBA media to make the All-Star Game, as she currently ranks sixth among non-Olympian guards in fan votes.

Ezi Magbegor

Photo by David Becker/NBAE via Getty Images

Magbegor’s name wasn’t on the list of the top 30 fan vote-getters in the recent reveal, but that doesn’t reflect just how indispensable she’s been for Seattle. The young center is averaging 13.5 points and a career-high 9.1 rebounds per game, and she’s also been one of the league’s top defensive playmakers, posting averages of 1.6 steals and 2.4 blocks. Perhaps most importantly, Magbegor has been the centerpiece of a Seattle defense that currently ranks third in the WNBA in defensive rating (94.4 points allowed per 100 possessions); that may not be enough to convince fan voters, but players and media may see things differently, and it would be hard to argue with them if they do.

It’s a make-or-make league, especially for the Phoenix Mercury.

When they host the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday night (10 p.m. ET, ION), it will be almost a week since the last time the Mercury took the court. Last Saturday, the team had their poorest performance since Brittney Griner returned to the lineup on June 7, falling to the Minnesota Lynx, 73-60. Phoenix did little to compensate for a subpar shooting night—just over 31 percent from the field and around 20 percent from 3—in not only failing to stop Napheesa Collier from submitting another stellar performance, but also by allowing the undersized Lynx to establish an advantage on the glass, preventing the Mercury from turning their many missed shots into second-chance opportunities.

The dynamics of the defeat emphasize the extent to which shooting variance will determine the Mercury’s season-long success. In a WNBA that increasingly has embraced 3-point shooting, this is true of all teams, but particularly so of Phoenix, as they have leaned more heavily into an offensive identity founded on 3-point shooting. Additionally, because the Mercury often are not winning on the margins—forcing turnovers, generating fastbreak points, securing offensive rebounds, etc.—their dependence on strong shooting is heightened.

For instance, the Mercury sit below league average in three of the four Four Factors, the four statistics that capture the four outcomes of an offensive possession as identified by basketball strategist Dean Oliver: effective field goal percentage, free throw attempt rate, turnover percentage and offensive rebounding percentage. Phoenix ranks sixth in the league with an effective field goal percentage of 49 percent. Beyond that, they rank eighth in free throw attempt rate, ninth in turnover percentage and 10th in offensive rebounding percentage. That means the Mercury are not getting to the free throw line enough, turning the ball over too often and coming up short on the offensive glass, a combination that makes it difficult for the team to establish a solid offensive floor. So when the shots aren’t falling, things can go sideways.

Illustratively, Phoenix has four games where they registered an offensive rating better than the New York Liberty’s league-leading season-long mark of 108.9. Phoenix won three of those games, falling only to the Las Vegas Aces and Jackie Young’s seven 3-pointer and 34-point performance. On June 18, the Mercury and Liberty, the only team that takes more 3s per game than Phoenix, engaged in a high-level shooting affair, with Phoenix shooting 55.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3 to edge New York, 99-93. Rebecca Allen led the way with a 5-for-7 effort from deep, while Diana Taurasi finished 4-for-7 from behind the arc.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Mercury have had three games where their offense has been non-existent, exemplified by the historically horrible shooting night they suffered against the Connecticut Sun in late May, which resulted in an anemic offensive rating of 58.8. Last Saturday’s loss to Minnesota was the team second-worst offensive performance of the season, with an offensive rating of 72.3. For the season, Phoenix’s offensive rating is 98.3, good for ninth in the league.

The Mercury’s variance on the offensive end of the floor, combined with their league average defense, suggests the team will continue to experience ups and downs. On nights when the likes of Taurasi, Allen, Kahleah Copper and Sophie Cunningham are draining 3s, Phoenix will look like one of the best team’s in the league, capable of beating any and all comers. Conversely, when the shots aren’t falling, the offense can become aimless, with the team resorting to overly relying on Griner to battle through a crowd for tough buckets.

That should mete out at an overall record around .500 or slightly better, resulting in Phoenix likely maintaining their sixth spot in the overall standings. Because of their boom-or-bust offensive variance, however, the Mercury loom as a dangerous playoff team, especially in a short series. If the 3-point gods smile on Phoenix, they could make quick work of a higher-seeded opponent. That Taurasi and Copper both are proven playoff risers only adds to the Mercury’s status as not only a postseason threat, but also as a darkhorse Finals contender. But if the shotmaking falls short at the wrong time, any postseason hopes quickly could dry up in the Valley.

June will be a month the Dallas Wings will look forward to leaving. They ended May with a 3-3 record, and in June, they lost 11-straight games before finally ending the losing streak by beating the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday afternoon, 94-88.

With the streak over, the Wings have four wins, tying them with the Mystics and Sparks for the worst record in the WNBA. So, what now? Can they still have a productive season? Or, will this be the first time Dallas misses the playoffs since 2020?

Will Odyssey Sims save the Wings?

The biggest change between the 11-straight losses and Thursday’s win was the implementation of Odyssey Sims. She was signed on Wednesday, and by Thursday, she was leading the charge, scoring 18 points and helping the team win.

Sims only averaged two points per game in the 28 games she played for the Wings in 2023, but she was a double-digit scorer earlier in her career. She rewound the clock on Thursday and showed she still has much left to give to the game.

It’s unlikely she will play this well again, but this team needs to find production wherever it can. If Sims can be a spark off the bench, then you need to use her more and see if she can contribute to some more wins.

Health is wealth

Head coach Latricia Trammell can only make so many adjustments when the team has so many key players out due to injury.

Arike Ogunbowale did play in the win, scoring 23 points and dishing nine assists, but an Achilles injury is always scary. Add in other key players struggling with injuries, like Natasha Howard, Kalani Brown and Satou Sabally, who still has yet to make her season debut, and you can understand why this team has fallen short of its potential.

For the Wings, July will be about treading water until the Olympic break. Can they beat teams like the Dream, Sparks and Fever, and maybe surprise the Storm or Mercury to have a .500 month?

If Dallas can do that and get Sabally back in August, they can still fight for a playoff spot and make some noise in 2024. It may not seem like it now, but the Wings have a nice trio with Sabally, Ogunbowale and Howard. They just need to stay good enough for it to matter when the three finally can play together.