PHOENIX – As the scorching Arizona summer continues to heat up, so does Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas. The 11-year veteran contributes in every way imaginable on the floor.
The Mercury have steamrolled through much of their competition, holding the league’s second best record of 12-5. That matches Phoenix’s best 17-game start to a year since 2014, a season in which the Mercury capped off a 29-5 regular season with their franchise’s third WNBA championship.
At the heart of Phoenix’s success is the experience, energy, efficiency and IQ that Thomas provides. After missing five games early in the season due to a calf injury, the three-time All-WNBA selection has made her presence felt since returning to play.
“There’s a lot of greatness to AT’s game. She plays both ends,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. “She takes a lot of pride in winning. … She competes every night.”
With her extensive experience and IQ, the star forward has cemented herself as the puppet master of the Mercury offense. Not only does she lead the league in assists, but Thomas’ average of 9.3 a game in 2025 is on track to be the second highest single-season mark in WNBA history. The star forward has also tied Phoenix’s single game assist record of 15 twice already this season, a feat achieved by Cappie Pondexter in 2009.
Thomas leaves her fingerprints on almost every Mercury bucket, as she assists on 56.6% of all her teammates’s made field goals while on the floor. Tibbetts’ constant use of flare screens and pindowns on the perimeter allows Thomas to perfectly set up shooters for open looks. Smart offensive sets, plus an all-time great passer, results in Phoenix hitting a league-leading 10.4 3 pointers a night.
“It helps having veteran leaders that see things … just attention to detail,” Tibbetts said.
Thomas, who logs the fourth-highest field goal percentage in the WNBA, also opens up the court with her ability to get downhill and score. When help defenders collapse on her, rogue shooters and cutters often find themselves wide open and ready for a Thomas pass to come their way.
“It’s just about the mismatches … ust trying to take advantage of it and create opportunities for my teammates,” Thomas said.
Thomas’ ability to space the floor as a screener is another area of her game that often gets overlooked. When she’s not initiating the offense with the ball, Thomas stays busy contributing without it. Whether she’s setting a brick wall or back screen to open up a driving lane or resetting the possession in a dribble handoff, Thomas is never not active.
“All eyes are on AT all the time, so any action that she’s a part of is going to help our offense,” Mercury forward Kathryn Westbeld said. “With the defense always being purely focused on her, it just opens up everything for our whole offense.”
In addition to making the right read or finding the open teammate, Thomas’ skill dictates the speed at which Phoenix plays. Last season, the Mercury played with the fifth-slowest pace in the league. Now, with Thomas at the helm, Phoenix plays faster than any other team in the WNBA except for New York.
However, early offense doesn’t work without even better defense. The Mercury force the most turnovers in the league and score the fourth most points off of those turnovers.
“Some of our best offense is in that first 10 seconds, so we want to be aggressive. When you get stops, you can get out and go,” Tibbetts said.
Transition buckets come by pretty easily for Phoenix, as its lead decision maker also holds six All-Defense selections. The Mercury often find themselves turning defense into offense because of Thomas’ efforts alone.
The former Maryland Terrapin consistently showcases her defensive versatility, as she’s capable of denying post entries to bigs, fighting for rebounds, standing her ground against interior scorers and locking down perimeter threats.
Under Tibbetts’ defensive scheme, Thomas has the opportunity to play ultra aggressive and occasionally gamble because the Mercury have plenty of pieces to make up for potential mistakes. As perimeter defenders pick up the ball at half court, rim protectors roam the baseline and players switch frequently on screens, Thomas has adapted to play any defensive role Phoenix asks of her.
“You need to have leaders that are first off willing to step up, and when they do step up are people willing to listen? We’ve got that,” Tibbetts said.
Even with their success in the first of half the year, Phoenix has been riddled with untimely injuries and altered rotations. As the season progresses, Thomas will look to integrate further into her new team’s system and build chemistry with the Mercury’s young core.
“We have a lot of rookies. This is a great test, a learning process,” Thomas said. “We’re still feeling each other out, learning our rotations, as well. We definitely can learn from these games.”
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