Former Lakers Guard Responds to Satou Sabally's Complaints About Scheduling

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Reign Amurao | Last updated Aug 23, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Phoenix Mercury star Satou Sabally complained on Thursday about how the WNBA fixes its schedule. The concern from the All-Star forward stemmed from having to play in Las Vegas to face the Aces on that day. On Friday, they had to be back at PHX Arena to face the Golden State Valkyries.

Their 83-61 defeat from the Aces could've potentially played a role in how she felt about the scheduling. However, that wasn't the first time she had called out the league regarding her concerns about the scheduling. Earlier in the season, Sabally even called out Commissioner Cathy Engelbert about her complaints.

Her recent rant about back-to-backs isn't something new.

“Terrible,” Sabally said following Thursday's loss. “It’s like they don’t care about player safety, it’s like they don’t care about scheduling or whatever."

The Mercury are on a back to back between playing Vegas and Golden State on Friday.

I asked Satou Sabally how she would describe the league’s scheduling.

“Terrible. It’s like they don’t care about player safety… We’ll play tomorrow. We’re professional. We’ll do it.” pic.twitter.com/mF59Aq9dXO
— Hayden Cilley (@HaydenCilley) August 22, 2025

Her words about the scheduling even reached former Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Beverley.

Beverley Urges Sabally And the League to Play Back-to-Back Games

Beverley understands that the WNBA players want to get compensated properly by the league. However, he urges the players not to complain about it and to push through in playing back-to-back games, since it's part of the game.

“I’m rooting,” Beverley said. “These ladies deserve more money. But, come on, man. You gotta play back-to-backs. It’s part of [the game]. When the lockout [season] came, (expletive) were playing back-to-back-to-back. Three times, you got to play three games in a row.

It comes with the territory! pic.twitter.com/QViXVDt5yI
— Pat Bev Pod (@PatBevPod) August 22, 2025

“I’m all with it, but don’t lose me there, now.”

Despite Sabally's complaints, however, the Mercury were still able to have a bounce-back win, thanks to Alyssa Thomas' triple-double. Fortunately for Phoenix, they've played their final back-to-back games of the season.

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

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