Ben Pickman

No coach in CBB has had a last 2 weeks like Joye Lee-McNelis. Her dad died. She underwent chemo. Her @SouthernMissWBB team had a historic win. My profile of @CoachMcNelis. On an obituary she wrote, the resilience she shows, and the gratitude she feels theathletic.com/5118689/2023/1…

🚨 SOME PERSONAL NEWS 🚨 This is my last week at The Athletic... More to come soon!

Excited to announce that I’ll be doing some bracketology for The Athletic this season! Here’s the first edition. Let me know what you think (unless you don’t like it, keep that to yourself 😉) nytimes.com/athletic/69564…

New No Offseason Ep! @itszenakeita, Sabreena Merchant and I share the latest re: the WNBA CBA talks. Then, we dive into the four power conferences in WCBB with a big question on each as we try and sort out recent chaos: youtube.com/watch?v=CCVoMa…

NEWS: Despite the Jan. 9 deadline approaching, neither the WNBA nor the WNBPA have offered an extension of the CBA to the other party as of Thursday morning, sources tell @TheAthletic. The latest on where things stand with another deadline looming: nytimes.com/athletic/69543…

Just want to issue a point of correction on the above... that the entire day of 4 games — night AND afternoon — combined to average 107K viewers...not just the afternoon slate.

NEWS: Some Unrivaled viewership #s, per sources: Unrivaled Opening Day on Monday averaged 175K viewers during its primetime window of games Afternoon window averaged 107K viewers All that is down from 208K average viewership during regular season games in Unrivaled Y1.

Unrivaled's 2025 Opening Night averaged 313K viewers. Last year, the top performing game was the 1 on 1 tournament, which averaged 377K viewers.

New No Offseason Ep! @itszenakeita, Sabreena Merchant and I discuss the late December CBB chaos. Then, a deep-dive on Unrivaled S2. We discuss both the league's basketball — and business — and how it fits into the WBB landscape: youtube.com/watch?v=ZUm1vD…

Today is the day! Unrivaled is back, and @benpickman has the latest on what you need to know, such as: ◽️ Year 2 growth and changes ◽️ How were rosters created? ◽️ Who isn’t participating? Who’s new? ◽️ How does Unrivaled’s play compare to the WNBA? And much more.

@primetimeMitch Congrats!!!!

Happy to announce I’ve signed on with USA Today. I’ll be covering women’s college basketball, helping with coverage of the upcoming men’s World Cup, and doing some other fun things too. Super excited to get started with the team there.

NEWS: Napheesa Collier will miss the upcoming Unrivaled season as she is set to undergo surgery on both of her ankles next week Her recovery might also impact her start of the WNBA season nytimes.com/athletic/69327…

Our final No Offseason Ep of the Year!! Our Year in WBB, awards wrap-up. Sabreena Merchant, @itszenakeita and I name our top games, performances, quotes, reporting stories and more... Wherever you listen/watch your pods youtube.com/watch?v=c_qyid…

OXFORD, Mississippi — A man in a Santa outfit smoked a cigar. Next to him, a "Geux to Hell, Heaux" sign hung on the side of his tent. It was a day of subtext, Lane Kiffin-themed. And the home team won big in the end. washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/12…

New No Offseason Ep! Sabreena Merchant and I react to the WNBPA's latest CBA move, what else we've learned, and what's next Then, @DallasWings coach Jose Fernandez joins us. We discuss his 8 (!) rescue dogs, the state of CBB, coaching Paige and more youtube.com/watch?v=1LFsik…

When she found out she was 5 1/2 months pregnant, @UNLVLadyRebels guard Sydni Summers thought she would never play again. Instead, she found her village, gave birth to her daughter and is returning to the court three months after giving birth. nytimes.com/athletic/68995…

The WNBPA's vote to authorize its executive committee to call for a strike when necessary occured earlier this week. Results were received Thursday. More on the timeline, league's latest proposal and what's next. With Sabreena Merchant: nytimes.com/athletic/69005…

The WNBA has released the following statement re: the WNBPA's strike authorization vote. "While we acknowledge the players’ right to authorize a future work stoppage, we strongly disagree with the WNBPA’s characterization of the current state of negotiations"

The league was not surprised by the WNBPA's decision to authorize its executive committee to call for a strike when necessary, sources told The Athletic. The two sides have been meeting throughout the week, and have continued exchanging proposals since their last extension