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Who's the best player in WNBA history?

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She pretty much owned the early years of the league.

BEST PLAYER IN WNBA HISTORY? CYNTHIA COOPER TAKES THIS ONE

[Ed's note: Not sure what All-World Power Rankings is? Please click here.]

In the new issue of ESPN The Magazine, the cover feature is on Candace Parker. Got us thinking: who are the best WNBA players ever? One thing we really want to say: we did this "Is anyone deserving of the 'next Jordan' title" post yesterday, and one of the reader comments was "These experts have lost all credibility." We're not experts. We've talked to one NBA GM in our lives. (Oddly, that conversation was about Shawn Respert.) These are fun lists to use as launching points for discourse with your friends. Got it? Cool! Here we go with the WNBA version.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (14)	CYNTHIA COOPER	You play team sports for championships, right? That's why we value dudes like Joe Montana, truth? Well, Cooper went out and grabbed four WNBA titles. If you're into the whole "individual" thing, she also has two WNBA MVP awards.
	2 (410)	CANDACE PARKER	Preposterous to put her this high? Maybe. Think about what she means to the game, though. Her debut was absolutely ridiculous, too.
	3 (21)	SHERYL SWOOPES	Four-time WNBA champion, three-time WNBA MVP. First player ever signed into the league. Has a compelling case for No. 1 here, we'd say. Here's some "vid" of her going for a triple-double.
	4 (127)	LISA LESLIE	This woman is a straight force, even into her mid-to-late 30s. Two WNBA titles, seven All-Star selections, and the first woman to ever slam one home in a league contest. Want to see it? Here you go, friend.
	5 (899)	DIANA TAURASI	This may be too high for her, but she does have three All-Star selections and two first-team All-WNBA picks. How can you not love her game? Bonus: three college titles in Storrs, although, yes, we're not ranking college performance here.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	18 (144)	YOLANDA GRIFFITH	She's got a ring, with Sacramento. Here are two cool things about her, because her game kinda speaks for itself: people call her "Yo-Yo" (we'd like a nickname of that nature) and in college, she helped pay da bills by hotwiring cars for an auto-repo firm. Ha. Hotwiring cars legally? That's incredible.
	28 (701)	KATIE SMITH	Has rings and made the WNBA's All-Decade team. Since this is the last spot to write a blurb, here's some other people we should have here: Sue Bird, Cheryl Ford, Tamika Catchings, and Lauren Jackson. If you have ideas, why don't you holler at us?

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		CHERYL FORD (If she fully recovers, she'll be bad-arse. Watch that video.)
		CHAMIQUE HOLDSCLAW (Her stats were great, but we're just sad she left. She could come back in '09, though!)

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