2024 WNBA The season broke league records for attendance and viewership. It culminated in the instant classic WNBA Finals series between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx, producing five incredible games of high-level basketball.
Liberty clinched the first championship in franchise history with an overtime victory in a decisive Game 5 on Sunday night. Liberty has been the best team all season, so they should feel like they deserve to be champions. The only problem is that the final game had so many controversial calls made in such tense conditions in New York that no one was happy with the ending.
After the game, Lynx coach Sheryl Reeve (who also led Team USA to a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris) completely obliterated the referee, calling the game “stolen” from her team by officials. ” he said. It started with a late foul call against Minnesota vs. Brianna Stewart that allowed New York to tie the game (the foul was soft, It also looked like Stewart had traveled.). There were multiple instances in which Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier was hit without being called for a foul. After review, the referees also chose not to call Liberty's clear pass in overtime a foul. Liberty finished the game with a 25-8 free throw advantage.
It's lame to complain about the refereeing after a classic series like this. Minnesota led by 12 points early in the game and didn't need a dramatic finish to beat Liberty. At the same time, that game and the end of this season just didn't feel right. That emotion was further heightened when WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert appeared to present the championship trophy to Liberty.
Engelbert showed up to the game wearing a dress with the New York City skyline on it. That's a terrible look for someone who is supposed to be objective heading into a decisive Game 5. The WNBA even deleted the tweet that showed Engelbert's outfit, which everyone criticized in the quote. The Commish's attire is as follows:
And here are some of the criticisms that only reinforce the idea that the league wanted New York to win.
In many cases, “the league wants Market X to win” is just a paranoid view from fans. But it's not a great look for the league's commissioner to literally wear the New York skyline on his dress for Game 5. https://t.co/AjgXQ5QsQW
— John Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) October 21, 2024
Why did Cathy Engelbart wear that dress?
— Claire Watkins (@ScoutRipley) October 21, 2024
If Roger Goodell showed up to the Vikings vs. Jets Super Bowl wearing what looked like an NYPD hat…football fans across the country would go wild!
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert should be embarrassed! People will demand that Roger resign and apologize for his bias. pic.twitter.com/ov76XRx3Ce
— Shea Butter (@ButtaSports) October 21, 2024
WNBA player Sidney Colson of the Las Vegas Aces also spotted the dress and tried it on during Monday's controversy.
WNBAPA I opted out of the CBA on Monday afternoon. After the season ends. A sense of solidarity with the players.
It looks like the labor-management relationship will be quite complicated. Interest in women's basketball is increasing by an order of magnitude. 2 years ago Less than 400,000 people watched the WNBA Finals. This year, that number was 1.7 million.. Prices will continue to rise because the product is great. The league still feels like it's run like a minor league in many ways, with a lot of low hanging fruit to iron out on the business and marketing side. Engelbert doesn't seem fit to lead the league in the future if he makes stupid mistakes like wearing the New York dress.
The WNBA is in a great position and still has a lot of room to grow. Did the league really rig the championship finals in New York? We'll never know, but everyone has already made up their minds.
