How New York won its first WNBA title

TThe WNBA’s dream season produced a dream WNBA Finals – a nail-biting five-game thriller that saw the championship contested in a decisive Sunday night contest before a sellout crowd in New York City. And the dream story came true: The New York Liberty, one of the league’s first franchises, captured their first title in the team’s 28-year history with an intense, comprehensive and somewhat controversial 67-62 overtime victory over Minnesota -Lynx.

A franchise that not long ago toiled in front of a few thousand spectators at best in the New York City suburbs, but has capitalized on the rise in WNBA popularity to achieve superteam status and assemble some of the most talented players in the world Planet, is now the 2024 WNBA champion.

The Liberty’s home stadium in Brooklyn rocked Sunday night in a way that the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, the other team playing at Barclays Center, could only dream of. Celebrities like Common, Jennifer Hudson, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird and Liberty superfan Jason Sudeikis lined the court in their premium seats. Fat Joe performed at halftime. The Liberty represents the new, electric WNBA. A WNBA that seems here to stay.

That New York title ended both a 51-year drought of professional basketball titles for a city that romanticizes basketball – it’s home to countless playground legends and dreamers – and a 13-year streak without championships for the city in the big four Sports. This is the longest drought in a century. Such an overwhelming result to cap off a WNBA season that set a number of attendance and viewership records bodes well for the league, which now carries positive momentum into the offseason.

With the Liberty up 67-62 late in overtime and the Lynx desperate for a miracle, New York’s Leonie Fiebich – who hit a crucial three-pointer early in overtime, just the Liberty’s second of the game – stole an inbounds Throw from Minnesota and secured the victory. Breanna Stewart dribbled as the clock expired, and after the buzzer sounded, she hugged teammate Jonquel Jones, the WNBA Finals MVP. It was a fitting pair: The two former league MVPs joined the Liberty in 2023, Jones via trade and Stewart via a free agent signing, to put the Liberty at the top.

“When I hugged Stewie, I was literally sobbing into her hair,” said Jones, who had lost in her two previous finals appearances as a member of the Sun. “I just cried the whole time.”

Jones finished with 17 points and six rebounds in the game in which Stewart and New York sharpshooter Sabrina Ionescu struggled with their shooting, shooting a combined 5-for-34 from the field. Stewart, who played all 45 minutes of the game, still grabbed 15 rebounds, contributed 4 assists and blocked 3 shots, not to mention her outstanding plays that do not appear in this list: in overtime, for example, she helped on defense to skillfully fend off a Lynx layup that didn’t fall. These are championship games.

“I came into the game with a game plan that was: It doesn’t matter,” Stewart said. “I want to play defense, I want to recover, I want to do the little things and I’m going to continue to be aggressive and hit my shots. But if they don’t fall, they don’t fall, and I won’t let that affect the way I do things.”

Ionescu’s line was less attractive. She shot 1-19 from the field, including 1-10 from downtown. Like every Liberty player on Sunday night, she played strong defense and also contributed seven rebounds and eight assists, no small feats. Had the Liberty lost, however, Ionescu’s shooting problems would inevitably have been compared to those of John Starks, the former New York Knicks guard who shot 2-for-18 in another crucial championship matchup, Game 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals against the Liberty in Houston Rockets.

Starks never survived that night. Ionescu didn’t have to worry, in part because the 3-pointer she hit was a big one: Her 28-footer gave the Liberty a 56-52 cushion with just over 3 minutes left in the period regular time, sending the Barclays Center into a state of euphoria.

“When you’re just locked in, you don’t really think about how many you’ve missed,” Ionescu said. “We all achieved great success when it mattered most.”

However, the Liberty gave up the lead thanks in part to three late baskets from Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier, who shined all season, including in the fifth game. In 44 minutes, Collier finished the game with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots, showcasing her enviable footwork, speed and dribbling skills. The Lynx were 6.1 seconds away from a fifth championship as Minnesota led 60-58 while the Liberty took the lead. New York passed the ball to Stewart, who drove to the basket and fired a shot past Minnesota’s Alanna Smith. Any contact appeared to be minimal and did not appear to affect Stewart’s attempt to lose balance. But the referees called a foul. The Lynx challenged and the call was not overturned after a retest. Stewart, who had missed two crucial free throws moments earlier, sank both to tie the game and ultimately send it to overtime.

“I was like, no, I can’t do that again,” Stewart said. She had spoken to Liberty assistant coach Olaf Lange about adopting a reptilian mentality. “Where it’s like that, you know when to strike,” Stewart said. “At that moment all I thought about was being a python.”

“Well done,” said Liberty coach Sandy Brondello, who sat next to Stewart at the postgame press conference. They both drank champagne.

A few minutes earlier, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve sang a different tune. She criticized the Stewart call. “If we had turned in that clip, they would have told us it was rim contact, no foul, guaranteed, guaranteed,” Reeve said. (She’s probably right). She called out the office in general. “I saw a very aggressive and physical New York team,” Reeve said. “Sometimes you can get away with things by being physical and aggressive. And they certainly did. It’s a shame that the direction played such a role in a series like this.” Collier didn’t go to the foul line once. Stewart and Jones combined to shoot 15 free throws (they made 12). As a team, the Liberty took a 21-25 lead from the free throw line. The Lynx shot 7-8. The discrepancy is striking.

“I know all the headlines are going to be, ‘Reeve has a bad cry,’” Reeve said in her press conference. “Bring it on. Bring it on. Because this shit was stolen from us.”

Brondello laughed when told of Reeve’s stance before heading out. She had similar complaints about the officials after New York’s Game 4 loss at Minnesota on Friday. “I have so much respect for Cheryl and I have so much respect for this Minnesota Lynx team,” Brondello said. “Because man, that was ugly. But we found a way to win.”

When the game finally went into overtime at 60-60, the Liberty left little doubt that they would win. Fiebich hit a three-pointer on the first possession of overtime – the Liberty would finish 2:23 (yikes) from three-point range. Fiebich’s three-pointers gave New York a boost, and when Nyara Sabally, who played only a few minutes in the playoffs but scored 13 points in 17 minutes in Game 5, stole the ball and converted a layup, New York never looked back.

During the on-field trophy ceremony, fans serenaded Sabally for her impressive performance: “Sab-a-lly, Sab-a-lly.” As Brondello and her teammates praised Sabally after the game, tears welled up in her eyes (during she was holding champagne in her hand at the same time).

Before the New York Yankees open the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, the Liberty will be the kickoff for the Big Apple. The city promises a ticker tape parade. “I can’t wait to continue celebrating with the city because I know it’s going to be crazy.” Furthermore, the Liberty are prepared to continue winning titles. And in this emerging moment for women’s basketball — and women’s sports — in America, more and more eyes are prepared to watch it all unfold.