Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of stories ranking the top 30 players in the WNBA as part of Quickbooks’ “WNBA Hoopers Hierarchy.” Check out the rest of the rankings here.
During its rich 28-year history, the WNBA has typically fielded strong talent league wide at point guard. Though the preferred style of play at the position has evolved considerably, names like Ticha Penicheiro, Teresa Weatherspoon, Dawn Staley and Sue Bird will invoke plenty of memories among WNBA fans—not just because of those players’ all-world talents, but also for the marks each of them left on their respective eras of professional women’s basketball.
If one was to choose an era-defining point guard for today’s WNBA—someone who is often named as the best player at her position and who will be remembered long after her retirement as an unforgettable talent—Chelsea Gray would be a good pick. Known just as much for her scoring in the clutch as she is for her pinpoint, no-look passes, Gray plays and leads with a flair unlike anyone the league has seen. She comes in at No. 6 in the WNBA Hoopers Hierarchy, Swish Appeal’s list of the top 30 players in the league in 2024.
Gray’s playoff performances are the stuff of basketball legend
Star players tend to be defined by their greatest performances, and if you asked a group of WNBA fans about Gray’s signature moment, many would point to her historic run in the 2022 postseason.
At the time, the Las Vegas Aces were a budding championship contender, but had yet to truly establish themselves as the perennial powerhouse we know them as today. They had finished with the best record in the WNBA at 26-10, but would their regular-season success translate to the playoffs?
Of course it would. And for as star-studded as the Las Vegas roster was, none of its players elevated their respective games when it mattered most like Gray. She was the best player on the court during that 10-game stretch, and none of the Aces’ opponents had an answer for her: first the Phoenix Mercury, then the Seattle Storm and finally the Connecticut Sun. Gray’s pull-up midrange jumpshot found the net with jaw-dropping accuracy; she averaged a team-high 21.7 points per game during the Aces’ run, and the 72.9 true shooting percentage she posted in those 10 games remains a WNBA postseason record (Across the Timeline).
As incredible as Gray’s performance in the 2022 postseason was, it was nothing new for her. She had become known as one of the WNBA’s most clutch players during her time with the Los Angeles Sparks, mostly for the same reason that made her famous in Las Vegas: There’s no shot she can’t make, and she seeks those shots when her team needs them the most. Gray’s knack for making big plays was a key component of the Sparks’ rivalry with the Minnesota Lynx during the mid-2010s, particularly when Los Angeles prevailed in the 2016 WNBA Finals.
Gray’s blend of size and skill makes her a rare player
Gray’s high-risk, ceiling-raising style of play makes her a walking highlight reel—she’s good for several no-look and flashy behind-the-back passes every game—but she’s just as adept at the intangibles that a point guard needs to be successful, and it’s earned her the respect of her peers. “She has the greatest feel for what a team needs,” said Aces guard Kelsey Plum, who has played with Gray since 2021.
Gray’s coach at Duke, Joanne P. McCallie, agrees. Although Gray’s collegiate career was marred by knee injuries, McCallie recognized how valuable her voice and input were to her teammates and ensured that Gray would stay involved even as she rehabbed. “She sees things developing way ahead of everyone else. And she’s got this ability to elevate everyone around her.”
It’s what makes Gray such a special player, especially for her position. At 5-foot-11, she’s taller than the vast majority of WNBA guards, and she can get her signature midrange jumpshot off against anyone who defends her, even under duress. Gray’s size benefits her on the defensive end of the court, too; as WNBA.com’s Nekias Duncan explains, she often operates as a wing or even a post on defense, rather than a guard.
Combine that size and defensive versatility with a mind-boggling playmaking ability—Aces head coach Becky Hammon calls Gray’s brain her greatest asset and says she “has a doctorate in the pick-and-roll and reading defenses”—and you have the recipe for a one-of-a-kind player. It’s rare enough to find a guard with Gray’s size and shooting, but once her vision and skill with the basketball are factored in, she becomes a player beyond comparison—someone who will go down in WNBA history as one of the greatest of her era.
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