MINNEAPOLIS – Well, well, look what happens when homeowners spend a little money.
The 2024 The WNBA Finals set up a decisive Game 5 Sunday in New York, after the backs-to-the-wall Minnesota Lynx held on for a chaotic 82-80 victory Friday night at Target Center. This is the first time since 2019 that the final will take place over five full matches.
It’s fitting that in a series where three out of four games were decided by a single possession — Game 2 was the only exception, with the Liberty winning by 14 — we would get the full Finals experience this season.
It also seems fitting, given the year the WNBA has had, with record ratings, attendance and merchandise sales, that the top two teams would put on this type of spectacle.
This is what happens when you invest in women.
The Liberty is a superteam created by free agency; a roster so deep that when New York signed multiple MVPs in Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones, Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said that because they had assembled all the talent, the Lynx needed to do things differently. So Minnesota built a roster full of afterthoughts and role players, centered around an underrated star in Napheesa Collier. Reeve trained them hard, and now here we are.
In many ways, these teams couldn’t be more different. But what the four-time champion Lynx and the untitled New York Liberty have in common is pretty obvious: They’re run by people willing to spend money.
For years, the WNBA was treated more like a tax deduction than a business, with owners refusing to spend money to make money. Teams folded, players were forced to train and play in pathetically maintained buildings in the middle of nowhere, fans struggled to find their favorite players’ jerseys – the list goes on.
But then coaches and players started demanding better and (some) owners stepped up to the plate. Reeve told USA TODAY Sports earlier this week, “we dragged this organization into the space it’s in now.” We train them.” More than once, Reeve said she was called ‘difficult’ by people within the Minnesota organization who didn’t like the way she demanded more.
But they listened and she delivered – four of them, with another potentially on the way.
The 2024 season was Reeve’s first as Lynx president of basketball operations, following five years as general manager. Working closely with current general manager Clare Duwelius and with the support of owner Glen Taylor, the Lynx put together a team they believed could contend for titles.
In New York, Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai purchased the Liberty in 2019, moving them out of Purgatory (AKA Westchester County) and into Brooklyn. From day one, they promised to invest in their WNBA team like their NBA team — the couple also owns the Brooklyn Nets — and they more than delivered. The Tsais were so determined to treat the Liberty like a professional sports franchise that they willingly agreed to a $500,000 fine for leasing the team in 2022 before it was licensed league-wide.
And when they decided to rebuild No. 1 overall pick Sabrina Ionescu heading into 2020 and use free agency to go after some of the best talent in the world, players paid attention.
The result is two extremely competent teams putting together one of the best Finals series in WNBA history.
As Sandy Brondello said after a record crowd showed up for the first game, the real winner in these finals is women’s basketball. Reeve agreed with that Friday, saying “all the investments” have led to this point.
Lucky for us.
Email Lindsay Schnell at [email protected] and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell
This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Lynx and Liberty owners rewarded for investing in women
