Kahleah “Freaking” Copper just hit her 2,000th point in a Mercury uniform, blasting past Diana Taurasi as the fastest Phoenix player ever to reach that milestone. She dropped a sizzling 35 points on Thursday night, just a night before her 32nd birthday. Incredible stuff, right? But here’s the kicker: it was in a loss to the Washington Mystics, their fourth straight. That’s the fourth time this season one of her gun-slinging 30-plus point games has ended with an L.
KFC’s Wild Ride: From Inefficient to Untouchable
Remember early in the season when Copper looked like the problem? Yeah, me too. She was shooting incredibly inefficiently back then. It took until her 14th game of the season, a career-high 41-point outburst in a bucket-getting duel with now-teammate Kelsey Plum, for her to finally shoot over 50 percent from the field. Before that, she only creeped over 40 percent from the field once in 13 games. Only her uncanny ability to draw fouls and get to the line kept her scoring afloat. But that 41-point explosion? That was the turning point. Since then, she’s shot under 40 percent just four times. Her pre-All-Star numbers of 20.5 points on 42.8 percent shooting and a 27.5 percent clip from deep have transformed into 23.4 points per game on 48.6 percent shooting, with 36.2 percent from beyond the arc. No wonder her All-Star selection, which felt a little questionable at the time, now looks like a no-brainer for the 5x All-Star. That’s the Kah we know and love!
The Conundrum: Individual Brilliance Versus Team Bust
This is the KFC conundrum in a nutshell: Copper is production and prolific as ever, capable of pouring in points from all over the floor. She’s got six 30-pieces this season! Two games before she lit up Washington for 35, she scorched the Atlanta Dream for 38 points, hitting nearly 62 percent of her shots. What an absolute menace on offense! And yet, the Mercury are arguably the WNBA’s most disappointing team this year, going from a trip to the 2025 WNBA Finals to an early elimination from playoff contention this season. Her reemergence as one of the most lethal scorers in the league has done almost nothing to pull Phoenix out of their season-long malaise. It’s a painful reminder that individual offensive excellence just can’t compensate for poor roster construction.
The Mercury are done for the playoffs, but you gotta tune in to see if Copper can keep cooking. She’s putting up a show every night, even if the team result isn’t always there. It’s a tough watch for Phoenix fans, but you can’t deny the greatness on display from Copper.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Swish Appeal.
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