Kahleah Copper is leaning into leadership for Phoenix Mercury — and offering advice for Philly’s WNBA franchise
Copper, a North Philly native, has played in only seven games for the Mercury this season because of knee and hamstring injuries.
PHOENIX — Kahleah Copper sprinted across the Mercury’s two practice courts Tuesday afternoon, while a teammate’s encouraging yell of “Yeah, Kah!” rang in the background.
The extra conditioning was a reminder that Copper is still working her way back from multiple injuries, first a left knee surgery that kept her sidelined for about a month and then a recent hamstring setback. Yet while navigating a season that Copper, a North Philly native, acknowledged has personally been “kind of a lot for me,” she has leaned into her leadership role for a Mercury team that entered Friday’s game at the New York Liberty with the WNBA’s third-best record at 15-8.
“How can I still make an impact on my teammates, on the organization, and what we’ve built as a culture?” Copper told The Inquirer on Tuesday. “Just understanding that it’s not about me.”
Copper had the arthroscopic procedure in May and posted a photo from her hospital bed on Instagram with Bible verses Proverbs 3:5-6, which reads, “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.”
So Copper focused on becoming even more vocal with teammates. She observed tendencies and playing styles of a new-look roster from the bench. She was “on the coaching staff, pretty much,” down to receiving stat sheets during timeouts and quickly studying her team’s areas of success and struggle.
“I love Kah,” said All-Star teammate Satou Sabally, who is in her first season with Phoenix. “I wasn’t that familiar with her before, but her leadership is just tremendous. Her aura, too.”
Consider that a new layer to this chapter of Copper’s terrific WNBA career. Her second season in Phoenix follows seven with the Chicago Sky, where she blossomed into an All-Star staple, a 2021 WNBA champion, and a Finals MVP. She put together another All-Star campaign in her first season in Phoenix and was third in the league in scoring with 21.1 points per game.
She then became one of few constants as the Mercury officially transitioned from an era anchored by franchise legends Diana Taurasi (who retired after the 2024 season) and Brittney Griner (who signed with the Atlanta Dream in the offseason), to one spearheaded by Copper and new All-Stars Sabally and Alyssa Thomas. Copper said she “advocated” for the organization when it executed the four-team trade to acquire Sabally and Thomas.
“It was important that I uphold my part of the bargain,” Copper said, “what I said our culture would be, and how I said I would be as a player and as a leader for us.”
Copper now accepts the “very annoying” reality that she’s “got to lift” weights more rigorously to better prevent injuries as she plays into her 30s — a tip first emphasized to her by former teammate and WNBA superstar Candace Parker. Copper can easily recount her progress in her return from knee surgery, from feeling “all over the place” in her first game back at the Las Vegas Aces on June 15 to feeling like herself in a 33-point outburst at the Dallas Wings on July 3.
Then the hamstring flared up, sidelining her for the four games before the All-Star break as part of a cautious treatment approach. Coach Nate Tibbetts knows through conversations with Copper that “she’s a rhythm player,” and that being out for stretches can be frustrating and challenging. Sabally, though, has already seen glimpses of how Copper’s relentless attacking can help this iteration of the Mercury during the second half of the regular season. Copper has averaged 15.7 points on 41.7% shooting, 3.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.1 steals in seven games.
“She’s just so determined to make the right play and can really go downhill,” Sabally said of Copper. “She just really puts a lot of pressure on the inside. I think that’s her biggest strength. But besides that, I’m just really inspired by her leadership … and the more she gets comfortable, the better she’ll be, too.”
Added Tibbetts: “We know what Kahleah’s about and how she can play. It’s just about building up her minutes. I think collectively, as an organization and our health and performance staff, we need to be smart here.”
Some rust from Copper was still apparent Wednesday night, when she finished with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting in the Mercury’s uncharacteristically clunky 90-79 home loss to Atlanta. In less than two minutes of third-quarter game action, Copper got clogged in the paint on a driving layup attempt, could not secure a feed from Thomas that went out of bounds, and had a pass from the lane intercepted. Copper hit a three-pointer about midway through the period, then began the fourth with a driving layup and a corner trey on consecutive possessions.
But Copper did not finish the game, a possibility Tibbetts alluded to before tipoff.
“She probably wants to play more minutes than we’re going to allow her to play tonight,” the coach said during his pregame news conference. “But that’s just part of the deal. That’s part of getting back into the rotation and getting into a rhythm. But she’s a big part of what we want to do moving forward.”
That includes this grueling five-game road trip, beginning with an East Coast swing at the Liberty and Washington Mystics on Sunday. For now, that is the closest Copper will play to her hometown. But she is excited about the WNBA’s recent announcement that Philly has been awarded an expansion team to begin play in 2030. A team existing in her city as a young girl would have been “amazing” and “could have changed a lot of things for me,” she said. She believes the team will inspire the next generation, via the “if you can see her, you can be her” mantra.
Copper also has advice for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which will own the WNBA franchise: “Copy and paste what we’re doing here [in Phoenix], honestly.”
“If ya’ll going to do it, do it right,” she said. “… [Owner Mat Ishbia], every time he mentions the Suns, he mentions the Mercury. It’s no let off. It’s just what it is. I think we deserve all the things that we have here, and they really pour into us. And it’s important that we utilize these things, and then we pour into the organization.
“They make sure that we have all the things that we need in order to have success, and then we go out there and we do what we’re supposed to do.”
Such as leaning into her leadership, even as she reacclimates herself on the court.
“I’m just super grateful to be able to just be back out there,” Copper said. “Just having the injury, it kind of changes your perspective. I never didn’t appreciate it, but I would never take anything ever for granted. No moments.”