Sami Whitcomb ended the Phoenix Mercury’s second day of training camp on April 28 by hitting a short-corner 3 during a five-on-five drill.
The Mercury’s top returning scorer, Kahleah Copper, initiated the offense and passed the ball to newcomer Alexis Prince on the left wing. The ball was delivered to one of their top offseason signees, Satou Sabally, who dribbled then skipped the ball to the perimeter’s opposite side as the defense shifted away from Whitcomb, who was lying in wait to drain the walk-off trey.
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That play might hint at what’s to come this season in the Mercury’s offense, led by their top three players Sabally, Copper and Alyssa Thomas.
As scoring threats, they will draw defenders and enable spacing to open up the veteran shooting guard Whitcomb’s shots from deep.
“They’re such high IQ basketball players,” Whitcomb said after practice on April 28. “I think I am as well, just from my experience in the league. So I’m really trying to just read off of them, see what they’re doing to figure out their tendencies and just make the right play.”
Whitcomb is in her ninth season out of Washington, holding career averages of 6.9 points, 1.9 assists, 0.8 steals, and .394/.361/.867 shooting splits. In 2023, Whitcomb finished fourth in the WNBA’s Sixth Player of the Year voting.
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After the departures of Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner this offseason, Whitcomb and Copper are the only players on the Mercury with championship rings. Copper helped lead her former team, the Chicago Sky, to the 2021 title over Phoenix. Whitcomb has won two WNBA titles with the Seattle Storm in 2018 and 2020, when she was a backcourt reserve to perennial All-Star Jewell Loyd and Hall of Famer Sue Bird.
Whitcomb signed a one-year deal with the Mercury in free agency on Feb. 2, the same day Sabally joined Phoenix in a three-team trade from the Dallas Wings. As the Mercury’s oldest player at 36 and with a championship pedigree, she believes her role is to help lead the team into the post-Taurasi era.
“I’ve been in locker rooms that haven’t been great and locker rooms that have had championship pedigree, we’ve won,” Whitcomb said. “So I feel I do know what it takes. I know what it looks like. I know what it doesn’t look like, and I’m in a position to bring that accountability here, which is what I intend to do.”
Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts explained how she’ll impact her younger teammates with the team’s new Big 3 of Copper, Thomas and Sabally.
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“She is gonna be huge for our culture,” Tibbetts said. “All of us were excited when we signed her. We’ve got this NOAH (shooting) system that tracks all the shots that they shoot. She’s been here for four days and she’s taken the most shots by far, and that’s part of being the culture builder and the worker. It’s good for our young players to see.”
While Copper, Thomas and Sabally spent the WNBA offseason playing at Unrivaled’s inaugural year in Miami, Whitcomb dominated Australia’s WNBL women’s pro league. She won the league’s MVP award and led the Bendigo Spirit to the title.
New Phoenix Mercury guard Sami Whitcomb, an eight-year WNBA veteran, appeared in all 40 games with three starts for the Seattle Storm, averaging 5.0 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 15.3 minutes per game.
Whitcomb is a Southern California native but became an Australian citizen in 2018. She scored 33 points and shot 61.1% the night before she signed with Phoenix, but she doesn’t think that outing was the reason why the Mercury wanted her.
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Regardless, it was great timing as the Mercury began rebuilding their roster.
“I don’t think that had anything to do with it,” Whitcomb said. “I’m always trying to win. I’m always trying to play well. It’s nice that coincided. Hopefully Phoenix fans were excited about me coming and signing here. I was just overseas competing, trying to win a championship. Overseas is a really important time for me to improve and get better and really prepare for the WNBA season.”
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Mercury’s Sami Whitcomb adds championship pedigree to team
