The 2024 WNBA season shattered league records for attendance and viewership. It culminated with an instant classic WNBA Finals series between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx that produced five amazing games of high-level basketball.
The Liberty took home an overtime win in the decisive Game 5 on Sunday night to claim their first championship in franchise history. The Liberty were the best team all season, which should make them feel like a fitting champion. There’s only problem: the final game had so many controversial calls go New York’s way in crunch-time that no one felt satisfied with the ending.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve (who also coached Team USA to a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics) absolutely obliterated the refs after the game, saying the game was “stolen” from her team by the officials. There were several unquestionable calls down the stretch, starting with a late foul call on Minnesota against Breanna Stewart that allowed New York to tie the game (the foul was soft and it also looked like Stewart traveled). There were multiple instances of Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier getting hit without a foul being called. The refs also chose not to call a clear path foul on the Liberty in overtime after a review. The Liberty ended the game with a 25-8 free throw advantage.
It’s lame to complain about the refs after such a classic series. Minnesota led by 12 points earlier in the game, and shouldn’t have needed a dramatic finish to beat the Liberty. At the same time, the end of that game and this season just didn’t feel right. That sentiment went into overdrive when WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert came out to present the championship trophy to the 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 a tweet showing Engelbert’s dress that everyone was criticizing in the quotes. Here’s a look at the commish’s dress:
And here’s some of the criticism, only adding to the idea that the league wanted New York to win the championship:
Often times the whole “the league wants Market X to win” is just a paranoid take from fans. But for the commissioner of the league to literally wear the NY skyline on her dress at Game 5, that’s not a great look. https://t.co/AjgXQ5QsQW
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) October 21, 2024
why did cathy engelbert wear that dress
— Claire Watkins (@ScoutRipley) October 21, 2024
Imagine Roger Goodell showed up to a Vikings vs Jets Super Bowl with something like an NYPD hat on.. football fans across America would go nuts!
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert should be embarrassed! People would be calling for Roger to resign and apologize for the bias. pic.twitter.com/ov76XRx3Ce
— Shea Butter (@ButtaSports) October 21, 2024
WNBA player Sydney Colson of the Las Vegas Aces even found the dress and tried it on as the controversy was brewing Monday.
The WNBAPA opted out of the CBA on Monday afternoon following the end of the season. Solidarity with the players.
This is likely going to be a messy labor affair. Interest in women’s basketball is through the roof. Two years ago, under 400K people watched the WNBA Finals. This year, that number was at 1.7 million. It’s only going to keep going up because the product is fantastic. The league still feels like it’s run like a minor league in many ways, with so much low-hanging fruit to clean up on the business and marketing side. Engelbert doesn’t feel fit to lead the league into the future if she’s going to make a mistake as silly as wearing that New York dress.
The WNBA is in a great place, and still has so much room to grow. Did the league really rig the championship finale for New York? We’ll never know, but everyone already has their mind made up.
