At the end of the 2023 season, the Dallas Wings were one of the top four teams in the WNBA.

The team had increased its regular season win total and the length of its playoff runs over the last several years, including a trip to the 2023 semifinals, where they lost to the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces.

“The expectation was that 2024 was going to be another step forward,” Wings president and CEO Greg Bibb said in an interview this week.

Instead, the Wings took a step backward, missing the playoffs and finishing 9-31, their worst win percentage since 2019 after a spate of injuries. They also found themselves on the losing end of 14 games decided by 10 points or less. Had these games gone their way, 23-17 would have made the playoffs.

For the Wings to achieve their goal of reaching the WNBA Finals — in which the Minnesota Lynx hold a 1-0 lead over the New York Liberty going into Sunday’s Game 2 — Bibb said a few things need to happen, but players staying healthy tops the list.

“Disappointing is the best word to use to describe the ‘24 season,” said Bibb, the organization’s president and CEO since 2017, though he doesn’t want to make excuses.

“In our business, you are what your record says you are,” Bibb said. “But that said, we did experience a significant number of injuries.”

The biggest star to catch the Wings’ injury bug was forward Satou Sabally, the No. 2 overall draft pick in the 2020 WNBA draft, who was sidelined with a shoulder injury for the first 25 games of the season. The league’s Most Improved Player in 2023 had averaged a career-high 18.6 points and 8.1 rebounds and was named to the All-WNBA First Team.

Other key players struck by injuries included forwards Natasha Howard and Maddy Siegrist, the third overall pick in the 2023 WNBA draft.

That left guard Arike Ogunbowale to carry much of the load. The veteran averaged 22.2 points per game, became the franchise’s all-time leading scorer and was named to the All-WNBA Second Team in 2024, but her performance couldn’t overcome the team’s personnel issues.

“Our lineups kept changing because of injuries and we didn’t really get into a groove,” said Siegrist, who suffered a finger injury this year. “We were dropping a lot of close games early and then we had a couple more injuries and we couldn’t really as a team get over that hump.”

As the Detroit Shock and the Tulsa Shock, the organization won WNBA titles in 2003, 2006 and 2008. Last season’s semifinal appearance was the organization’s best finish since since moving to Dallas-Fort Worth in 2016 and rebranding as the Wings.

“We were really bad defensively this year, so I think we need an organizational recommitment to the defensive side of the ball,” Bibb said. “From a specific roster perspective, some additional veteran leadership and some experience at the point guard position, this early in our offseason evaluation, are probably the two items that are at the top of our priority list.”

Siegrist said a finals appearance would also depend on how well the team is working together come playoffs.

“You’ve got to be gelling at the right time,” she said. “You need all the pieces. You need seven, eight deep of real strong players because of different lineups, stuff like that. You want to be able to feel comfortable every time with the group you’re putting out.”

The Wings are already looking ahead to 2025 by collecting information from the previous season, which ended with a 98-84 loss to the Aces, and strategizing.

“There are some complexities to go forward,” Bibb said, “not only for us, but for every team around the league as we head toward next year and beyond, because you’ll have an expansion draft.”

The WNBA is adding a 13th franchise, the Golden State Valkyries, in 2025. They’ll start to assemble an inaugural roster with a Dec. 6 expansion draft that Golden State the ability to choose from a pool of available players as designated by each of the WNBA’s current 12 teams.

Portland and Toronto will also participate in an expansion draft when they add WNBA teams in 2026.

“There are some other things on the horizon that just make the next couple years a little bit different and more difficult than a typical cycle of years,” Bibb said.

Big changes are coming for the Wings, too. In April, the Dallas City Council approved a 15-year, $19 million use agreement for the Wings to play in Memorial Arena, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center downtown, starting in 2026. The Wings’ home court has been at UT Arlington’s College Park Center.

Bibb said upcoming projects, including the construction of a practice facility, will create “more opportunity to generate revenue, more ability to impact the community and first and foremost, services to help our athletes be the best they can be, which ultimately leads to championships.”

The upcoming expansion drafts and the Wings’ pending move to Dallas are emblematic of the women’s basketball boom. In 2023, the Wings saw record attendance. The organization sold out season ticket memberships for the first time in its history, with individual ticket sales up more than 1,100%.

“I just knew it was a matter of time until the right set of circumstances aligned and the league really started to take off,” said Bibb, who’s been involved with the WNBA since 2007. “And that’s what’s happened the last few years.”

MIAMI – A man who worked at his family’s South Florida car dealership could face more than a decade in federal prison after a jury convicted him of carjacking a customer, officials with the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

Prosecutors said the whole thing stemmed from an autopay issue that caused the victim to miss a loan payment on a 2020 Honda Accord.

The Miami federal jury convicted Erik Hadad, 58, of Aventura, on Tuesday, a DOJ news release states. Hadad worked at Guru Auto Sales, which was located at 2690 S. State Road 7 in Miramar. The business is listed on Google as “permanently closed.”

Authorities said the victim, a 24-year-old Haitian immigrant, bought the car from Guru in October 2023 and was not given a copy of the sales paperwork he signed.

“In making the purchase, the victim understood that he was paying a finance company,” the news release. “What the victim was not aware of was that there was an agreement between the finance company and Guru, and if the victim was late on a payment within the first two months of the loan, then the finance company could demand the approximately $13,800 it paid for the loan back from the dealership.”

Prosecutors continued, “That part of the agreement mattered because the victim’s first payment bounced after he set up autopay, with the victim paying the first installment late and with a late fee in late November 2023.”

Authorities said because of that, the finance company sent Guru a letter on Dec. 14, 2023, saying that the dealership needed to buy the loan back and owed about $13,000.

Prosecutors said the carjacking occurred five days later, even though the victim “was current on his account that day” and the dealership “was expressly told they couldn’t repossess the car.”

Nevertheless, authorities said Hadad followed the victim in a BMW near Miami International Airport.

Prosecutors said when the victim reached a red light at Le Jeune Road and Northwest 31st Street, “Hadad, whom the victim had never met before, got out of the black BMW in the middle of the intersection and approached the victim’s Honda, ripping off the paper temporary tag and aggressively yelling at the victim to get out of the car.”

“The victim was able to get away when the light turned green, but Hadad eventually caught up to the victim” at the MIA Tri-Rail station, authorities said, and Hadad “continued aggressively screaming for the victim to get out of the car.”

“Hadad lifted his shirt to reveal that he had a gun holstered in his waistband, which led the victim to surrender his keys,” the news release states.

The victim, “in shock,” called Miami-Dade police, who arrested Hadad, initially on state charges, and located the gun. The case later became federal as the Honda was, according to a federal indictment, “transported, shipped and received in interstate and foreign commerce.”

Hadad, an Israeli national, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 9, prosecutors said.

According to the federal carjacking statute, Hadad could spend up to 15 years behind bars.

Dumpling Factory
Sometimes, when a craving for Asian dumplings strikes, downtown traffic can make Buford Highway seem so far away. But the famed Northern China Eatery in Doraville has brought its signature recipes, plus steamer baskets aplenty, to an offshoot on the Westside.

Dumpling Factory is located in the food-and-drink enclave at the Westside Paper development, joining El Santo Gallo, Pancake Social, and King of Pops, among others. Fans of Northern China Eatery might consider this a place to savor the restaurant’s greatest hits, without the sometimes-long waits. Enter from the courtyard and you’re smack-dab in front of the order counter, with a clear view to the bustling kitchen. There, cooks crank out handmade dumplings, filled buns, “juicy” soup buns, and pot stickers, plus stir-fried rice, hot and cold noodle dishes, soups, and more.

Takeout business is brisk, but a scallion pancake doesn’t always travel well, so opt for the casual dining room if time allows. The space is bright, with sky-blue walls, tall windows, comfy booths, wooden banquettes, and high-top tables. The dangling red lanterns, potted orchids, and charming dumpling illustrations add a cheery touch, but your attention will likely be drawn to what’s in front of you: spicy Sichuan dan dan noodles; hefty steamed pork buns; pork and chive dumplings; crab roe soup dumplings; beef and carrot dumplings; tiger salad (green pepper, cilantro, and cucumber); shrimp fried rice; wonton soup; pan-fried lamb and zucchini dumplings; or chicken and corn pot stickers, to name a few of the many ways to load your table and share with friends (or not).

If you love dumplings and buns, you can’t order too many here. They come steamed, pan-fried, or boiled, with black vinegar and chili oil sauces on the side. It’s like dim sum till you drop. The restaurant does not serve alcohol, but Elsewhere Brewing’s Greenhouse Taproom is next door, and diners are welcome to bring their drafts in with them. Westside

La Glorieta
On the corner of a sleepy strip mall in Tucker sits a tropical gem serving comforting, soulful Honduran food that translates easily. Manager Isis Cornejo runs the restaurant owned by her Honduran husband, Nelson Flores, and his brother, Edgardo Flores. Their friendly, all-Honduran crew cooks street food (“La Glorieta” means “little kiosk,” explains Isis) that is typical of the Central American country—a place with both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines and cuisine influenced by African, Caribbean, European, and Indigenous cultures. Popular choices include baleadas (tortillas filled with a smear of refried red beans, queso duro, and crema, plus add-ons such as avocado, egg, chicken, or steak); pollo chuco, a dish of fried green bananas with fried chicken, cabbage, chismol (vegetable salsa with lime juice), pickled red onion, and dressing; and tacos dorados (made with chicken or steak). Aguas frescas in such flavors as pineapple and jamaica (hibiscus) are a perfect refresher. Big bottles of Jutiquile Sabor Olanchano, an aged hot sauce from Honduras, top each table. Tucker, (770) 864-1011

Nàdair
You need not know a whit about Scottish cuisine to appreciate Kevin Gillespie’s seasonal menu, memento-filled bar, and tartan-accented dining room—all honoring not only the chef’s family heritage but his Southern sensibilities as well. Nàdair (the Scots Gaelic word for “the way of nature”) now reigns in the former Floataway Cafe space. As you approach, the only signage is a mounted brass-and-bronze crest of a lion near the front door. Once you’re inside, a Celtic-huntsman’s vibe prevails in a bar with framed family tartans, grouse and pheasant illustrations, and mounted deer antlers. (Gillespie has even taken to wearing a kilt when cooking nightly at the restaurant.) Winning signature cocktails (the basil gimlet is divine) are a nice prelude to ordering a la carte at the bar. Making reservations is a must, however, for the full prix fixe dinner experience. Must-tries: wood oven–roasted Georgia mushrooms, wood-grilled Wagyu beef coulotte, grilled scallop and peach-glazed pork belly, and Grandma Coylene’s banoffee pie (salted graham crumble, toffee sauce, fried banana, and white chocolate cream). Scene-stealer: the Aberdeen Buttery, a stunning knotted dinner roll from sous-chef Olivia McCoy. North Druid Hills

This article appears in our October 2024 issue.

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