Kahleah Copper

In their search to survive one another’s haymakers during a fourth-quarter rollercoaster ride, the Phoenix Mercury and Atlanta Dream couldn’t have helped noticing the quickness with which advantages seemed to disappear. First came Phoenix’s 10-point edge with eight minutes left; then came the Dream’s subsequent, shocking seven-point lead with three minutes remaining. As Atlanta would ultimately discover, though, there was one thing moving even faster than any comeback the night would offer: Kahleah Copper with her mind set on scoring. Positioned to pair her historically-great offensive masterpiece with a victory, the three-time All-Star moves with purpose, speeding through a stack pick-and-roll on her way to the game-clinching layup. Deemed by league-wide GMs as both the WNBA’s second-most athletic player and one of 2024’s most likely breakout candidates, Copper got active in proving both to be true on May 18, 2024. With buckets of every kind, Copper used a 26-point second half to springboard a 38-point eruption — becoming just WNBA history’s second-ever player with back-to-back 35+ point games just three nights later — alongside six boards, three 3-pointers, and tireless defense against Atlanta’s perimeter talents.