There is no such thing as a perfect ranking when it comes to determining the top players in any sport, but it is always an interesting exercise to try. That's what we did in selecting the WNBA's top 30 players as the league is winding down its 30th season.

Among the pitfalls of such rankings are so-called recency bias and the opposite of that, where perhaps current players don't get as much credit as historical stars. But our voting panel was made up of observers with different perspectives on the WNBA, which hopefully balanced the process.

Still, inevitably there will be questions about where players were ranked and who didn't make the list, as voted on by a panel of 23 ESPN reporters and staffers. Let's look at some of the biggest questions.

Who are the biggest snubs among retired players?

Let's start with three-time WNBA champion Penny Taylor. She is the only player on ESPN's all-time Top 25 list for the league's 25th anniversary in 2021 (she was No. 25 then) who did not make the top-30 ranking.

Taylor's stats are good enough (13 seasons, 13.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.0 APG), and the 6-foot-1 forward was a big factor in all three WNBA Finals the Phoenix Mercury won.

(By contrast, two players who were retired by 2021 but didn't make our Top 25 made the cut this time: forward Swin Cash and guard Deanna Nolan. Like Taylor, each won three league titles.)

Voters also strongly considered guard Ticha Penicheiro and forward Chamique Holdsclaw, who each appeared on six ballots.

Which current veterans were the hardest to leave off?

There are six active players in our top 30: Centers A'ja Wilson, Brittney Griner and Jonquel Jones, forwards Breanna Stewart and Alyssa Thomas, and guard Chelsea Gray. That doesn't count forward Nneka Ogwumike, who just retired from the WNBA at the end of this season.

Guard/forward DeWanna Bonner, who is playing with the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA Finals and finishing her 17th WNBA season, is the active player who came closest to making the list but just missed.

Other active players who got strong consideration from voters were guards Courtney Vandersloot of the Chicago Sky and Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier.

Which young players seem most likely to make a future list?

Guard Caitlin Clark and forward Angel Reese -- who is currently playing in the WNBA Finals, where she has led the Atlanta Dream to a 2-1 lead -- were the Nos. 1 and 7 picks in the 2024 WNBA draft and already have proved to be the top players in their draft class. Clark has averaged 20.2 points and 8.4 assists in her career, and Reese has averaged 15.0 points and 12.6 rebounds.

Both have played just three seasons, with Clark limited to 13 games during her second year in the league because of injuries. They will need more time to build their credentials, but from what we've seen so far, both project to be among the league's all-time best. Both received votes; Clark appeared on five of 23 ballots and Reese on four.

Guards Paige Bueckers and Olivia Miles, who followed Clark the past two seasons as respective Rookies of the Year, seem likely to be in this discussion someday as well.

Which players perhaps should have been higher?

With a group of players who are already in the Naismith Hall of Fame or will be in the future, the order of the top 10 is particularly difficult. Still, seeing Candace Parker at No. 9 will be jarring to some, considering the two-time MVP is undoubtedly one of the most talented players in WNBA history. Many might view Parker as a top-five player, and there is a good case for that.

However, five of the players ranked ahead of her also have won multiple MVPs. And the three single-MVP winners ahead of her have strong cases, too: Diana Taurasi is the league's career scoring leader; Maya Moore played in the WNBA Finals six times in her eight-season career (winning four); and Tamika Catchings is a five-time Defensive Player of the Year.