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WNBA Team Releases NBA Player’s Sister on Thursday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Chris Phelps | Last updated May 16, 2025 12:43 AM ET

After two weeks of preseason action, the 2025 WNBA regular season is right around the corner.

Every team is cutting their roster down to the maximum of 12 players before their opening game. The Phoenix Mercury were no exception, releasing three players on Thursday to finalize their roster.

The three that were cut by the Mercury include second-year guard Celeste Taylor and undrafted rookies Temira Poindexter (Kansas State) and Megan McConnell (Duquesne).

In fact, Megan McConnell is the sister of Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell, who recently helped his team make it back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second-straight year.

However, Megan McConnell's release prevented the siblings from making history for now. Had she made Phoenix's final roster, T.J. and Megan would have been the first undrafted siblings in the NBA and WNBA, per Forbes' Tony East.

"The Phoenix Mercury waived Megan McConnell earlier today in their final round of cuts before the WNBA season," East wrote on X. "That's T.J. McConnell's sister, and they would have been the first undrafted sibilings to be in NBA/WNBA. Still possible in the future, of course."

The Phoenix Mercury waived Megan McConnell earlier today in their final round of cuts before the WNBA season. That's T.J. McConnell's sister, and they would have been the first undrafted sibilings to be in NBA/WNBA. Still possible in the future, of course.
— Tony East (@TonyREast) May 16, 2025

Megan McConnell played five seasons with Duquesne from 2020 to 2025. The Dukes secured three straight winning records in her final three seasons, but failed to make the NCAA Tournament each time. Megan McConnell averaged 18.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists during her senior year.

In the preseason, Megan McConnell played in both games for Phoenix. Averaging 10 minutes per contest, she tallied 3.0 points, 0.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game.

Outside of the preseason cuts, the Mercury made some huge changes following the 2024 season, seeing future Hall of Famer Diana Taurasi retire after 20 years with the team.

In light of her retirement, center Brittney Griner elected to leave in free agency, joining the Atlanta Dream. But Phoenix made up for it a bit by acquiring Alyssa Thomas from the Connecticut Sun.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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