WPBA pro development league kicks off season in Oakland, Jun 13-14
Can they become the WNBA's G-League?
Table of Contents
The founder and CEO of the WPBA, Faatimah A, kindly agreed to speak with me for an exclusive interview, which I’ve transcribed right at the end of this FAQ.
What is the WPBA?
The Women’s Premier Basketball League (WPBA) is a professional women’s basketball league operating right in the East Bay, with 8 teams of 12 players each. The WPBA is the only U.S. women’s pro basketball league sanctioned by FIBA other than the WNBA itself.
How successful has WPBA been at launching pro careers?
The WPBA has helped launch more than 100 professional careers in four seasons, with all the players so far playing in overseas leagues. Several WPBA players have earned spots in WNBA training camps, but, to my knowledge, the final leap has not been made to a regular WNBA contract.
This shouldn’t be a complete surprise. Valkyries’ fans are very familiar with the fact that even first and second round draft picks and fan favorites get waived from the WNBA, even after the addition of the player development spots. It is still incredibly hard to get a regular contract in the WNBA.
So, is WPBA like the WNBA’s G-League?
Spiritually yes, in the sense that it’s a development league supporting the professional growth of both younger players coming out of successful college careers and also more experienced players who play professionally overseas.
However, there’s no official relationship between WPBA and WNBA. And, as mentioned above, there hasn’t yet been a player to leap from the WPBA to a regular contract in the WNBA.
However, a number of players have been invited to WNBA training camp, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see a breakthrough in the next few seasons.
How high is the level of play?
It’s hard to say objectively, but here are some data points.
First, about 25% of the players end up playing professionally overseas.
Second, this March the WPBA ran a combine which recruited the top 100 graduating seniors with about 44 working out and about 20 being selected for the league. So the level of talent seems to continue to rise.
Third, when I interviewed dozens of WPBA players last Saturday, it was striking how many of them traveled across the country to play in the league. This is not a local pro league.
Fourth and perhaps most importantly, in the last FIBA club championship of the Americas, the WPBA sent its first representative, the Bay Area Phoenix, who proceeded to storm all the way to the Finals where they lost to Indeportes Antioquia, the defending champions and representative of the host country Columbia.
How can we attend the games?
Matches take place locally in Oakland (now through Jun 28) and San Leandro (starting Jul 11). The season runs on weekends, June 13 through August 16. The All-Star game is in July, with the Tournament of Champions Finals held on August 16.
Go ahead and buy tickets! The season schedule and ticket purchases are now available online. The venues are small so every seat will be really close to the action.
And Valkyries fans should heed the challenge laid down by Faatimah A:
We are in the number one sports market for women’s sports with us being here in the Bay Area. If you guys love women’s sports as you say, you need to be here. You need to be out here supporting these amazingly talented women and showing them that you love what they’re doing, but also you wanna be a part of their journey. We need you guys to be able to support us because that allows us to be able to continue to create opportunities for players.
Are there any Opening Weekend deals?
I’m told by WPBA officials that there are two special promotions on Opening Weekend:
Season Ticket Giveaway - For everyone who purchases a ticket to opening weekend, we are entering them into a drawing for 4 season passes. To enter, all they need to do is have a ticket for the weekend.
Kids U12 Free - This one is for your parent readers. Kids under 12 will be allowed free entry this weekend with a paid parent ticket.
Can we watch games on an online stream?
I believe the games are all streamed online (links will be at the league schedule)
The WPBA broadcast team is led by none other than the voice of Valkyries radio (and TV voice of the Santa Cruz Warriors), Kevin Danna. Last year, Valkyries broadcaster Zena Keita also broadcast WPBA games.
True to form, the WPBA even has a broadcast mentorship program. where 8 interns get experience under his mentorship. Kevin Danna says:
“This isn’t a shadowing program. Interns are actually calling games. The league is expanding to a 70-game regular season, and about half of those games are opportunities for interns. Everybody gets reps doing both play-by-play and color commentary. Ideally, each intern gets the chance to work around eight games throughout the season. And beyond the broadcasts themselves, I sit down with each intern twice during the year, once after their first broadcast and once after their final broadcast. We go through what worked, where they improved, and where they can continue growing.”
Where is that interview you promised me?
Right here!
2026-06-06 Faatimah A at WPBA Media Day
Faatimah A: My name is Faatimah A. I am the founder and CEO of the Women’s Premier Basketball Association, also an eight-year pro, and a member of the Jamaica national team.
Eric Apricot: A lot of the players said that they got connected to the league through the combine, and they said it was great. Do you wanna talk about how you designed that ?
Faatimah A: it started out as a vision last year. I was speaking with Bridget Pettis, because she has her jersey retired on the rafters over at the Phoenix Mercury, and told her, “Hey, I wanna do this combine,” especially since it was gonna be at the NCAA Final Four in Phoenix where she’s at. So started building it out, putting it together, was intentional about the type of players that we had brought into the combine.
Cerebro Sports played a pretty big role in helping us recruit with their data analytics and player analytics company. So it allowed us to cultivate a list of the top 100 players in the senior graduating class this year, and at that point, reach out and see who would be willing to come.
But also letting them know by them investing in themselves, that this would be able to open up some new doors. So ended up inviting the top 100, had 44 come out. We had some WNBA agents or scouts come out as well. We had international agents and domestic agents here, and it helped us to further our footprint in the NCAA space, which was great, but overall, it was high level.
We had some amazing coaches there from all different backgrounds, whether it’s high level pro to national team. But it’s always about sharing that educational component at the end, ‘cause there’s a lot that goes into what you do on the court as a player, but how much you present yourself off the court that’s incredibly important.
So that was a great opportunity for us to look at some of the talent and bring players and get them familiar with the WPBA.
Eric Apricot: Top 100- how did you rank them?
Faatimah A: The system ranked them. So it based them on efficiency, as well as productivity, within a certain timeframe.
They had certain metrics that were able to score them, putting them into different tiers, whether it was a bronze, silver, or gold tier. So we were able to get some of those gold tier, silver tier, and bronze tier players to our event, and one of the players from our event, Sasha Washington, ended up [on a training camp contract with] the Atlanta Dream.
So I think for what it was, it was a pretty successful event, but that was one of those key things that allowed us to bring out some great talent.
Eric Apricot: How many of those players ended up in the [WPBA] right now?
Faatimah A: I wanna say about 20 of them.
Eric Apricot: So it seems like you already had some pretty strong players. Do you feel like it’s a new level this season?
Faatimah A: The goal is always for us to up-level everything every single season. We wanna continue to elevate, we wanna continue to put on for the Bay Area and show the people here, but as well as show the world that we’ve got some amazing athletes that come here and represent the Bay.
So this year again, we’ve got more players with WNBA experience, more players with national team experience that are playing here. And again, some of the top 100 from the senior graduating class this year, so anybody that’s here to compete and get better, we’re welcoming them, but also we want them to understand how much of a great opportunity this is, especially with us looking at the game from a holistic approach, but really sharing that we see the game from a global lens.
Eric Apricot: What are some of the ways that you’re developing this league as being a pipeline to overseas and WNBA play?
Faatimah A: It’s all about relationships. I pride myself on understanding the value in being one to two to three degrees of separation away from someone, and I try my best to make sure I’m in proximity or in those right circles with folks so that I’m able to build on the relationships.
But let them know we have something of true value and impact here happening in the Bay Area, and I think it’s a testament to what we’ve been able to do the last four seasons. Last year, and for those that don’t know, we have eight teams. We play at one single location during the season, so that gives us 96 players total.
Out of our 96 last year, 25 of them went overseas [as pros]. So people are now seeing this as a key destination to play at because, one, players get out, but two, agents, coaches, GMs, they know that they’re picking up players of true value and that can change the game. So, definitely wanna make sure we’re continuing to build on that.
And also with us being recognized by FIBA, that helps a lot as well so that further solidifies our footprint in the global landscape for basketball.
Eric Apricot: Can you talk more about the recognition from FIBA? You’re the only league besides the W that’s recognized.
Faatimah A: In the US. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that’s a big honor. That shows that we’re doing the work, and we are being consistent at holding up that standard that FIBA has for basketball globally. But again, that allows us to be able to attract better players because everybody wants to be able to have the right footprint within this landscape so that it helps them to build true longevity within their careers.
After our postseason, we’re the only US league that gets to participate in FIBA WBLA, which is the premier club tournament for women’s basketball happening in FIBA right now. So, if the players don’t get signed contracts immediately right after our season finishes, they have another opportunity to represent the US and the Women’s Premier Basketball Association on some of the biggest stages in the world.
Eric Apricot: How do you see the changes in the WNBA CBA affecting what you do? Like the new development spots.
Faatimah A: I think what’s happened with the CBA is phenomenal. It’s helping to push the needle forward, it’s helping to grow the game and it’s allowing others to be able to take notice of what’s going on. But for us, it further provides more opportunity for players in the WPBA, since we’re the leading development league for women’s basketball, to be able to get more jobs overseas because now with these players wanting to, they’re getting paid more, so they’ll probably stay here.
So that opens up the market a little bit more for players to find a pathway back into the WNBA or further their careers overseas.
Eric Apricot: I’m hearing a lot of people saying, “Why doesn’t the WNBA have a G League?”
Faatimah A: I know that they have a lot of other things that they’re looking at right now. The CBA just got signed, they’re worried about expansion. And that’s amazing because we need to make sure the foundation, the top of the pyramid, everything is good to go.
But I think as being an athlete, whenever we step into these spaces, we always wanna leave it in better shape than how we found it. So I think even though they don’t have one yet, I think it’s great that the opportunity is open ‘cause it allows the Women’s Premier Basketball Association to fill that gap, and show that we are providing true opportunity, value. We’re creating real impact in the women’s ecosystem for basketball.
Eric Apricot: Can you imagine WPBA somehow evolving into some part of a G League, or is this something you’d rather keep separate?
Faatimah A: No, I’m all about opportunities. The way that I’ve structured this league, I wanted to continue to be strategically aligned with the growth of the WNBA.
So that is the goal. At some point maybe whenever that conversation happens, it’ll be amazing. But if not, we’re still gonna be here doing the work, creating opportunities for players and setting the standard for the next generation of athletes.
Eric Apricot: I should ask you, when’s opening day?
Faatimah A: June 13th. Be here. My goal this season, I wanna sell out every single game. I believe it is possible. We are in the number one sports market for women’s sports with us being here in the Bay Area. If you guys love women’s sports as you say, you need to be here. You need to be out here supporting these amazingly talented women and showing them that you love what they’re doing, but also you wanna be a part of their journey. We need you guys to be able to support us because that allows us to be able to continue to create opportunities for players.
But for the next generation out there, if you can see it, you can be it. These young ladies out here need to be able to see women like the women in the WPBA playing so that they can continue to reach for their goals.
Eric Apricot: Thank you so much for giving me your time.
Faatimah A: Of course. Thank you. I appreciate you.
Great write-up, Eric!
Our professional broadcasters this year will be Daniel Barrera (pxp), Kamilah Jackson (color, former WPBA player and 10-year overseas pro) and Terry Nguyen (former WPBA broadcast intern).
And shout out to the interns who will be broadcasting for us this year: Anousha Negad, Colin Dalvand, Rain Freeman-Moore, Tatiola Sobomehim, Isaac Dubey, Felicia Coleman, Sicaly Sorrell and Shay Ijiwoye.
If anyone has any comments you'd like me to pass along to our broadcast crew as the season goes on, feel free to reach out! Eric knows how to get a hold of me haha.
Great league overview & interview 👏 I’m only a few minutes away from Fremont High so will definitely try to make it out to some games soon!