Glad to see it: Fran's inclusion is a pleasant (and hopefully prescient?) surprise.
In an era of increasingly positionless basketball, I feel like "center" is what you designate to anyone who takes almost no three pointers and who patrols the paint on offense rather than starts from entry passes at the key, notwithstanding height differentials. Since Brink does both, it's a category error and sells her repertoire short to call her a center, even though she's 3 inches taller than Fran. Fran, by contrast, has a more selective menu of offensive plays. Not to mention: dunks. I find these distinctions silly and outdated, but if you're forced to pick, I think the Naismith folks got it right.
In an era of increasingly positionless basketball, I feel like "center" is what you designate to anyone who takes almost no three pointers and who patrols the paint on offense rather than starts from entry passes at the key, notwithstanding height differentials. Since Brink does both, it's a category error and sells her repertoire short to call her a center, even though she's 3 inches taller than Fran. Fran, by contrast, has a more selective menu of offensive plays. Not to mention: dunks. I find these distinctions silly and outdated, but if you're forced to pick, I think the Naismith folks got it right.