Last week, the Dallas Wings had a chance to score a victory over the Minnesota Lynx, only to fall short and absorb a 90-86 defeat. Following this loss, Wings head coach Jose Fernandez publicly slammed his players, claiming that there was “selfishness” in the Wings locker room.

Not long after, four-time WNBA champion Cynthia Cooper (who now works as an analyst for Prime) questioned the validity of Fernandez’s criticism by pointing out that the Wings had 11 assists in the first quarter of the Lynx game. In the post-game media session following the Wings’ 92-69 victory over the Washington Mystics Monday night, Fernandez fired back at Cooper.

“Some people in the media wanna talk to me in another language…They’re welcome to come to Dallas and watch us practice.”

On the one hand, Fernandez does have a unique vantage point from which to judge the Wings’ efficiency on offense. On the other hand, the numbers perspective (which Cooper was coming from) does show a different picture. Four games into the 2026 season, the Wings are no. 2 in assists; among all players in the league, Paige Bueckers and Jessica Shepard are tied for no. 9 in this category.

The Wings have the second-best offense in the WNBA, but in terms of defensive rating, only three teams have fared worse than them. In any case, Fernandez has his reasons to be far from satisfied as the Wings continue to find a consistent winning formula in the early goings of this season.

Arike Ogunbowale Comments on Loaded Wings Roster: “This Is One of the Deepest”

Meanwhile, Wings star Arike Ogunbowale has made it clear that she’s happy with the depth of her team’s roster this year.

“This is one of the deepest [rosters I’ve been on]…It’s a lot of people who want to be here…[Jessica Shepard] could have signed to a lot of different places and she chose to be here.
Lan [Smith] could have gone to a lot of different places and she chose to be here.”

Ogunbowale went on to joke that Azzi Fudd, who was drafted by the Wings first overall, did not have a choice in her landing spot. Still, the Wings veteran observed that Fudd is “happy” to be with the team.