While much of the current discussion on surprising news breakers involves anonymous Twitter/X accounts, that’s not what happened with WNBA player Celeste Taylor signing with the Connecticut Sun on Friday. Indeed, that signing was broken by a well-established account.
It wasn’t a typical reporter or insider who got the scoop here, though. Instead, it was the Sun PR account that had the first tweet on Taylor signing with the team at 9:30 a.m. ET Friday. And, as Richard Cohen tweeted, that account not only beat any comment on Taylor being available from her former team, the Phoenix Mercury but even beat the Mercury’s removal of her from their roster on their website.
😂 I think that may be the first time I’ve ever seen a player signed by Team Y before Team X have even had a chance to mention that she’d left. Still listed on the Mercury roster, and less than 12 hours since we watched her playing for them. #WNBA https://t.co/n9MZ0yXdAc
— Richard Cohen (@RichardCohen1) August 16, 2024
Taylor was still listed on the Mercury’s roster page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Friday, two hours after that Sun PR tweet announcing her signing:
There doesn’t appear to be anything improper going on here. As Cohen noted in a follow-up tweet, Taylor was on a seven-day contract with the Mercury. That contract expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday night, making her a free agent who could sign with the Sun. But, beyond the Mercury not removing Taylor from their roster or announcing her departure, an amusing part of this is that Taylor posted a career-high six points (on two of four shooting) for Phoenix in an 85-65 road win over the Chicago Sky Thursday night. And the Sun noted that in their release:
The Connecticut Sun has signed rookie guard, Celeste Taylor, to a seven-day contract the team announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Taylor, originally drafted 15th overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever, comes to Connecticut after most recently playing with the Phoenix Mercury on a seven-day contract. She appeared in four contests for the Mercury, including last night’s 85-65 win over the Chicago Sky where she notched a career-high six points, along with one rebound, two assists and one block. Prior to the Mercury, Taylor made her WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever, appearing in five contests before being waived on June 25.
Taylor’s performance Thursday was strong enough that Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts was asked about it post-game, and he had some praise for her:
Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts on Celeste Taylor’s progression and how competitive she is defensively: (@_celeste620)#WNBA #WNBATwitter #ValleyTogether #SkyTown pic.twitter.com/JdTyjh9SkV
— Desert Wave Media (@DesertWaveCo) August 16, 2024
“She’s really competitive defensively, which we love. I don’t know if she’s a point or a 2 yet, but I do know when she gets downhill she can make some really good reads. And then, for a young player, she’s really good defensively. To get on the floor with a veteran group, if you compete at the defensive end, they’ll believe in you and get behind you, and that’s what our group has done with her.”
Indeed. Taylor’s performance Thursday included two nice 3-pointers, and some of those had some questioning why she didn’t get more chances with the Fever (who drafted her 15th overall this year following her time in college with Texas, Duke, and Ohio State):
Celeste Taylor making an impact on the periphery for the Mercury
Notice the timing of her cut the get a reaction out of the Sky defense in Ice on rep 1
Then, notice the ball movement from the Mercury & how they get the defense rotating with it, into a Taylor corner 3 pic.twitter.com/elfeBHUtmX
— Stephen PridGeon ☯️🏁 (@StayTrueSDot3) August 16, 2024
Celeste Taylor knocking down 3’s vs the Sky
The Fever never gave her a chance 😔 https://t.co/8geBDpU42a pic.twitter.com/lf6E73BdY2
— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) August 16, 2024
I will never forgive Christie Sides and Lin Dunn for what they did pic.twitter.com/mVvdss0dcs
— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) August 16, 2024
It made me boil when I read that we are paying Celeste Taylor’s salary for the rest of the season while she hoops it up for Phoenix.
The whole debacle with Celeste Taylor is something Christie Sides may never live down. Sides aversion to good defensive players and dawgs is a…
— Roger Hardy 🌵🔋🏴☠️ (@Roger__Hardy) August 16, 2024
Well, Taylor won’t be hooping it up for Phoenix any longer.
But it’s interesting that that performance Thursday wasn’t enough for the Mercury to re-sign Taylor before she hit the market. (Of course, it’s possible that they tried and she turned them down.) Unfortunately, this means she won’t get a revenge game against the Fever, who Phoenix faces Friday night. But she may get to suit up for the Sun soon; they play in Dallas on Friday and Atlanta on Sunday. And, regardless of how her stint there turns out, the Sun PR staff get some unusual newsbreaker credit here.
[Richard Cohen on X/Twitter]
