Even as someone who has followed The WNBA since 2021, I think 2024 will go down as one of its most memorable seasons to date. It wasn’t just the fact that The New York Liberty broke a 28 year drought of winning The Finals. It was there in the rivalries found among the up and coming rookies. It was there in A’ja Wilson making history as a three-time MVP that scored 1,000 points in a single season (before becoming the second unanimous MVP winner to not make The Finals). With rising attendance and percentage of household names receiving major endorsements, this felt like the year that people have been wanting to see for a long time now.
I still recall in 2021 listening to interviews about the disparity between men and women’s sports. It is true that The NBA has more of a cultural presence, but it doesn’t excuse some significant debates regarding things ranging from salaries to gym equipment and travel arrangements. While there’s still a significant hill to climb, 2024 was a year where it felt like those issues were finally being addressed in a meaningful way. With teams like The Las Vegas Aces selling out their home games, even having to change venues due to demand, it felt like a tide was turning. As the popular shirt worn by every media personality imaginable said: Everyone Watches Women’s Sports. The Finals between The Liberty and The Minnesota Timberwolves featured the highest ratings in 25 years. After years of people laughing about The WNBA’s inferiority, they were earning the public’s respect that was always deserved.
The biggest reason it took off was that this was the perfect culmination of narratives. Before the season began, there was anticipation that hadn’t been there in previous years, or at least so nakedly. At the top of the board was the potential birth of a new dynasty with The Aces. Having won back-to-back Finals, they were seeking a third that would put them in a coveted group of teams who dominated the league. Nipping at their heels was The Liberty with Sabrina Ionescu coming off of a season where she set records for three point shooting. Could the team that notoriously always came in second in The Finals beat the big boys once and for all? Other developing stories featured an interest in The Connecticut Sun seeking revenge after barely missing The Finals in one of the most brutal post-season match-ups with New York that I have seen. Out in the ether, you have smaller stories like The Lynx coming out of nowhere to potentially earn their fifth Finals championship, which would make them the winningest team in history. There were others, but these were the biggest ones to follow not too long after the season kicked off.
Simultaneously, there was a come-up of new talent that was introducing audiences to the future of the league. I still remember trying to buy preseason tickets for The Los Angeles Sparks playing The Indiana Fever. The first time we looked, there were still seats available. By the next day, The Fever had the number one draft pick which many assumed would be Caitlin Clark. Because of this, The Fever game was taken out of packages and would become one of the most notoriously scalped tickets with a ridiculous uptick in pricing. Clark was the rookie coming from The Iowa Hawkeyes and made watching NCAA women’s basketball thrilling. The additional media rivalry with LSU Tigers’ Angel Reese (who went to The Chicago Sky) caused people to hypothesize a potential Larry Bird-Magic Johnson story.
While it seems premature given that Clark’s profile has been more recognized than Reese’s, this can only serve to help The WNBA. Part of sports is getting invested in a team’s trajectory, and that includes narratives around star players and rivals over many years. There is a need to believe that every victory means something greater. Every team I have mentioned has brought their own compelling chapter to this season, and I think Clark’s has been the most compelling for a reason. The Caitlin Clark Effect™ has brought in a lot of new fans that will hopefully be around for years to come, watching her grow in stature. For as much as I look at her breaking ridiculous records now, I’m curious to see where she ends up in five years.
That can largely be found in the story of The Liberty, who have had one of the most enviable seasons in the franchise’s legacy. The rise of Clark is not dissimilar from Ionescu. With exception to the latter experiencing some early career setbacks, both came out of college with anticipation of being the next big thing. After years of flopping, Clark took The Fever to The Playoffs in her rookie year. That is a commendable achievement. Meanwhile, Ionescu struggled at first to get The Liberty into The Playoffs until a few seasons in. Following an early exit in 2022, they came back strong in 2023 with a Finals appearance that I’d argue was much more earned than the blowout games that The Aces played in the post-season. Anyone with the smallest bit of competitiveness would’ve bet on The Liberty going even further in 2024.
That could simply be because the staff recognized the value of Ionescu very quickly. Following their first Playoff appearance, the team would acquire The Seattle Storm’s Breanna Stewart and The Sun’s Jonquel Jones. They quickly became a super-team that would be unstoppable. Unless they met the same fate as the former Big Three from NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, they were destined for greatness. They had one of the liveliest cultures. Their record attendance was some of the best in the league. Ionescu was everywhere in Carmax advertisements and they were about to experience an Olympics run that earned each of them a gold medal. Even their mascot Ellie became an icon thanks to her flamboyant dance moves and flashy style. If nothing else, The Liberty felt like a club that you wanted to be part of. There was some draw about going to a game to see the magic unfold and, as someone who has been to four games now, I will say they very much have that spirit and kinetic energy.
As important as the action on the court was, I’ve found interest in how the bench entertains themselves during the two hours of gameplay. It goes without saying that The Liberty have maybe the most fun that I’ve seen. In a Post-Olympics game against The Sparks, I got to watch them cheer on their teammates in a game where they won by 37 points. Jones was dancing while Ionescu was imitating the casual gunman meme. Even when players fell, they ran to help them up. I won’t suggest that other teams were less cohesive, but they seemed to be smaller, less erratic conversations.
At the same time, I was surprised to learn that The Lynx were coming for that Finals glory. After dismissing them for years, I got to witness Naphessa Collier in person. I’m not going to kid you. She was amazing. I felt like The Lynx were one of the tightest teams I saw of the five last season. Even someone as accomplished and beloved as The Aces felt a bit “easygoing” compared to the bullish Lynx who were out to prove something. While my eyes would’ve been on The Sun being the alternative Finals candidate, I left the game believing that something was brewing in Minnesota. In fact, my only criticism with the team is that I wish rookie Alissa Pili fit more into the line-up because I enjoyed her college career. It was sad to not see her play a minute in The Finals.
As a Sparks fan, I was grateful to have seen Cameron Brink play three times before her unfortunate injury. She showed a lot of potential as a young player who was incredible at rebounding. The one downside was that she often fouled out, though I believed she would hone her skills over time. I also think that Rickea Jackson is deserving of the love she’s received because she has proven herself on a team that’s in a transition period. Part of that is losing star player Nneka Ogwumike to The Storm and having Dearica Hamby take over a lead role that never felt recognized in the gift shop. It was a rough season, but I do love the community that comes to games and roots them on no matter what. I saw Demar DeRozan and Trae Young there at different points. The future of Los Angeles basketball seems good as even local legend Juju Watkins received a roaring applause when she appeared on the jumbotron. Alas, this is a season that ended poorly and resulted in the coach being fired. One can hope the rebuild is a lot stronger next year.
Some have hypothesized this is because of a desire to receive favored ranking in The Draft. I think the irony of thinking this is that I am willing to bet that The Golden State Valkyries will receive preference simply for being the rookie team. While the team has yet to debut an official line-up, the rollout for the future of The WNBA can be seen at the games. After an initial announcement of The Valkyries, I have seen staff members wearing merchandise with more available online. The registration for tickets has been very optimistic as it sets the bar high for whatever their debut will deliver. Similarly, The WNBA has announced new teams that will come to Portland and Toronto in a few years.
Along with Clark bringing in record ratings, the conclusion of the season was looking to be one for the books. Tides were turning and, for me, the top four teams each had a greatness that made them interchangeable. While the first round was predictable to the point of unanimous sweeps, the second round found the narratives getting really exciting as there was a hypothetical where each team’s 25% stock would put them over the top and make them the champion.
Key among them was The Aces against The Liberty. Many assumed that they would match-up in The Finals again, and the unfortunate side effect of The Aces ranking fourth was that they were second round foes. One of the two giants would fall and, for me, this was only matched by The Lynx against The Sun for nail-biting uncertainty. Whereas Minnesota had the shot records, The Sun were physically dominant and in 2023 pushed The Liberty to their limits. In Game 7 of that series, Ionescu was pushed so far that she was vomiting into a bucket. The commitment to push forward was commendable and proved that they weren’t going anywhere.
To my personal disappointment, The Aces could easily be rated at the worst of the four. Despite having two Finals trophies and A’ja Wilson coming off of a storied season, the team never gelled in the way they needed it to. Part of me is convinced that everybody was taking notes and found ways to exploit their weak spots. Another part just assumes that The Aces were slowing down and getting lazy. Not to the extent that it would sabotage their legacy, but they were no longer the tightest team in the league. Instead The Liberty assaulted them with some of the most ego-deflating basketball of the year. As a rivalry, it’s easy to read into this being an act of revenge for their 2023 loss. They were hungry. Even if their team had been to The Finals five times before, their consistent losing streak was something to take personally.
Something that thrills me about seeing The Liberty as Finals champions is that it has broken a narrative. Even as a super-team, they were underdogs of the league. Not to the extent that The Fever remains, but The Liberty have always been losers. They would always be close to victory only to fade away. The story is similar for The Sun, whose match-up against The Lynx was a lot more enjoyable to watch and more unpredictable. However, The Liberty had the narrative of Ionescu being the face of the league’s future. She was helping to restore respect from larger media outlets. It’s how they afforded Stewart, Jones, and many others. After several years of building around her, 2024 was the year when everything fell into place.
They beat The Aces, stopping the rare three-peat victory that would’ve established them as a modern dynasty. A victory over The Lynx would stop Minnesota from earning their fifth trophy. By taking them down, they showed their strength in ways that even beating The Sun wouldn’t have. With their first win, they captured a status of being good enough to beat the best. That’s more than enough to make up for the weird bandwagoning of Spike Lee at home games. It was a moment where New York finally got a basketball victory that they celebrated with banners sporting “Yerrr-nescu” pictures across the city. It’s hard not to get caught up in the frenzy.
It feels premature to simply mention that The Liberty won because that would discredit the actual seven game series that not only had historic ratings, but also featured the first Finals series with two overtime games. To watch everything play out was to see the height of what basketball could be. Even without Ionescu having a reliable 30+ point game (including one where she didn’t score a three-pointer at all), there was something intense about tuning in and realizing that nothing was going to stop either team. Even when The Lynx fell to an 18-point deficit, they came back to win the game. Was it frustrating? YES. There were a lot of controversial calls made. However, as someone who wants basketball to be unpredictable and full of surprises, I couldn’t ask for a better series.
Both teams knew how to attack their opponent. The constant shake-ups meant that the second halves were often where the games were hard to pull eyes away from. The Lynx may have been more consistent with the shooting, but The Liberty’s ability to do turnovers and block shots meant that the margin wasn’t terribly high. With a lot of heartbreaking misses along the way, The Finals were an art form in making the final minutes some of the most heated minutes of any sport this year. Viewers hypothesize how games would play out had Stewart not missed those free throws, or if The Lynx weren’t fouled and they got an overtime play. So many small moments had the biggest impact, and I can’t say enough how often I doubted each team’s ability to come back in five seconds and would see the outcome play out differently. Was Game 5 sort of a mess? Yes. But by then, I’d argue any team would be playing on fumes and raw energy.
It goes without saying that the highlight of the entire series came in the buzzer beater moment from Ionescu that gave The Liberty a victory. From the logo, she shot a three point shot that turned the game from a two point deficit to a one point lead. Much like Steph Curry before, there was something brilliant about its unexpectedness. It’s what she was great at, but nobody is ever ready for the miracles to actually go through. It’s why people watch sports in general, and I think this will be on her highlight reel forevermore. Even in an age where people have reappropriated fancy three point shooting as a “Caitlin Clark,” Ionescu proves why she deserves some respect.
What makes me love this series is that it wasn’t outright predictable. Whereas I could argue that The Aces vs. The Liberty last year benefited from New York being tired out from tough post-season opponents, the distribution here was so even that any team stood to win. Not only that, but the ebbs and flows never showed one team going down in flame. The overall margin of loss was always under five, meaning a two point possession would’ve made the difference. Many series envy this, and it’s telling that even as Ionescu, Jones, and Stewart each had bad shooting nights, their bench was there to fill in the gaps. Credit must be given to Leonie Fiebich who came out of nowhere to put up a serious threat when things looked bleak.
Like the end of most seasons, there’s a mix of emotions that come with this news. If you’re a Minnesota fan, there’s a good chance of frustration. For Liberty, it’s sweet relief that the team has finally pulled through. It could even be seen in the veteran players who showed up for this historic night that were crying alongside the young squad on the court. There is a community there that is endearing and makes you believe in hard work. For all the years of highs and lows, it’s worth it to finally excel.
And it’s what I feel for people disappointed that Clark didn’t go further. I think of how Ionescu took some time to find her groove. While The Fever are much further ahead than I would’ve predicted, they still are a ways away from being where The Liberty are. It’s exciting to see the narratives culminate in ways that show the future and legacy of the league existing alongside each other. If the fans stick around, they’ll hopefully see something as beautiful as this season.
The other strong emotion is anticipation for next year. Will The Valkyrie do something even more unprecedented than The Fever in their debut season? It’s hard to say even now, but I want to believe the expansions will only help to build interest in the league. Even more, will this be the fuel for The Lynx, The Sun, or The Aces to come back stronger than ever? Will The Sparks get a new coach that fulfills their potential, or The Fever gets a surprise trade that elevates them to the next level. The potential is there, and I’m excited to see where it goes. There’s still a lot of conversations to be had with the league’s greater standing, but for now it looks like things are slowly improving. They’re much better than they were in 2021 and I do sense the foundation for more change is now there. All it takes is anticipation everything that made this season so great will continue to be there for years and years to come.
Comments
Post a Comment