Rebecca Lobo on WNBA Rivalries, Expansion, ESPN Group Chat

Rebecca Lobo, one of the greatest women’s basketball players of all time, will be on the ABC call alongside Ryan Ruocco and Holly Rowe on Saturday afternoon when the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky kick off their WNBA seasons.

Lobo spoke to Front Office Sports about the unique rivalry between the two teams, the tight-knit ESPN/ABC broadcast crew that works together all year round, and potential impacts of expansion teams and the new CBA on the WNBA. 

Front Office Sports: The Fever-Sky games have taken on a life of their own, in large part because of the rivalry Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have had dating back to college. Do you think we might see some more physical combat again this year? Or will it be more of a basketball game?

Rebecca Lobo: [Laughing] It’s funny the way you phrase that, physical combat. I think we’re going to see really good basketball.

We had the one game with the Chennedy Carter push. That was, to me, the only part of the games those two teams played that was a little bit out of line. I think you’re going to see great basketball.

That certainly has become an interesting and fun rivalry, Chicago and Indiana, that started a year ago. I think people are, of course, going to be tuning in to watch Caitlin and Angel, but I think they’re also going to be tuning in to say, “Okay, what does the Indiana Fever look like this year with the pieces they acquired in free agency?” The same thing with Chicago. “What are they going to look like with a new coaching staff, and veteran pieces, especially on the perimeter that are surrounding their talented young bigs inside?”

The curiosity a year ago when the two teams played was mostly focused on Caitlin and Angel. This year, I think the focus for people tuning into the game Saturday is going to be broader. 

FOS: What’s your breakdown on the revamped Fever roster?

RL: When they made these additions in free agency, I thought they were now a roster that could contend for a championship. 

They certainly addressed all of the needs that were evident after their early exit in the playoffs a year ago. They shored up their front line. They certainly addressed their lack of playoff experience. Going into the playoffs last season, they had 19 total games of playoff experience—now they’re up over 200.

A lot of those were DeWanna Bonner alone, but also Natasha Howard and Sydney Colson. 

I’m really excited and eager to see what Indiana looks like. You also have to acknowledge that they had an incredibly difficult start to their season a year ago in terms of their scheduling—11 games in 20 days. That was a historically hard start—and historically hard stretch—of any team’s season. This year, it’s a much more favorable schedule.

I think they have enough pieces to contend for a championship. The question is going to be, how do they come together? The Indiana Fever front office did an extraordinary job in terms of roster construction, free agency, trades—everything—as they build for this season.

FOS: When you played at UConn, the rivalry with Tennessee was enormous in terms of the level of national interest. Now, almost 30 years later, we’re starting to see that in the professional ranks. What has it been like, as somebody who’s been involved with women’s hoops the whole time, seeing the WNBA finally blossom like this from an interest perspective?

RL: I’ll start from the rivalry perspective because I think that part is curious and interesting.

We had some great rivalry stretches in the WNBA, whether it was Phoenix and Minnesota in the Western Conference—and there were great battles between those teams—and Minnesota and the LA Sparks.  We had a great rivalry develop recently between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces. 

What’s unique to me about this current rivalry between Chicago and Indiana is rivalries are usually born from two teams that are playing against each other continuously when the stakes are the highest. With UConn and Tennessee, both of the teams were ranked in the top 2 or 3, or were meeting regularly in the Final Four for a national championship. That’s kind of what you saw in those WNBA rivalries that I mentioned—teams competing in the Western Conference Finals or the WNBA Finals.

What’s unique about the Chicago and Indiana rivalry—I’m doing air quotes—Chicago didn’t even make the playoffs last year! When these teams have met, it’s not like there’s been a lot on the line in terms of trying to win a championship. It was born from a player rivalry, of course, where the stakes were very high—with Angel and Caitlin meeting for a championship and in the Elite Eight the following year, but that’s what kind of makes it an interesting and unique rivalry, in the history of the word, especially in the WNBA, is it’s been born from something that started in college.

Another piece of this that’s pretty cool to me, and I remember thinking this a year ago, is what is this going to look like when both Indiana and Chicago are really good, and meeting in a heated playoff series? How will that take it to even another level?

But certainly it’s a game we’re excited to start with in the opening weekend. 

FOS: You, Ryan Ruocco, and Holly Rowe have a special continuity being the top announce team for women’s college hoops and the WNBA. What are some fun aspects of the group chat that viewers might not know about?

RL: I mean, first, there is one. But yeah, we’re kind of in constant communication with anything that’s happening, whether it’s a player on the injured list or where someone’s going in the portal or free agency signings.

We talk a lot about basketball in our group chat. The nice thing is, we do the draft together, and then we had a couple weeks off where we didn’t really see each other, and then we do a preseason game and we jump back right into the same chemistry and flow.

And then we had another couple weeks off before the game this weekend, and we’ll just pick up seamlessly when we’re calling the games.

FOS: There are a number of expansion teams coming into the WNBA this year and in the near future. Do you think the women’s basketball talent level coming into the league is going to be enough to sustain all this franchise growth?

RL: I’m actually curious about this. I wish I could immediately answer that question with a “yes.” But I don’t know what that’s going to look like. We’re going to have to experience it. 

I think the upcoming CBA is going to have a huge impact on how quickly expansion teams can be really competitive. This is something Ryan Ruocco talks about: If the new CBA is structured in a way where you have one player who doesn’t count against your salary cap, that’s going to help an expansion team get an elite-level player in Year 1 or 2. 

Do I think, for not just expansion teams but for all teams, that there will be a sharp drop from players 1-6 to 7-12? That might be the case. There are a lot of good and talented players who don’t make WNBA rosters. The question is, as you add new teams with Golden State, Toronto, and Portland—and who knows how many teams after 2026—I think it’s a question. What will be the talent discrepancies between the top couple teams in the league versus the bottom two expansion teams? Again, I do think the new CBA will play a big role in the answer to that question.