If you watched the movie “Friday Night Lights” without reading the book or knowing the history of the team before entering the theater, it was easy to be instantly captivated by the stories of this one-year-old football team. high school in a small town in Texas and to invest heavily. in his success.
What a great story, what a great team.
So when the 1988 Permian Panthers nearly won the state title game in the film, a feeling of shock and incompleteness came over the viewer.
“What? This isn’t right. This wasn’t supposed to end like this.
It wasn’t until long after the movie was over—sometimes only after the second or third viewing—that you were able to reflect and realize, “Yeah, the ending sucked, but it was a really great movie.” »
The 2024 Minnesota Lynx have achieved a rare feat in professional sports. They captured the imagination of a state and did it in the purest way possible, through selfless, uncompromising basketball focused solely on team success.
A group of veterans who, as Lynx guard Kayla McBride noted, all came together at the perfect time in their careers to create magic through membership and scoring. From the first days of training camp, the players and coaches knew they had discovered something special together. And from there, throughout Game 5 of the WNBA Finals, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve noted that the team never changed.
“Not a single player has contracted the ‘Me’ disease – not a single one. Those who were maybe in the rotation fell out of the rotation, some never got to play, no one ever put themselves first. Nobody,” Reeve said. “It’s incredibly hard to find these days, so I’m really, really proud.”
Because of their efforts – their ball movement and help on defense – Minnesota took on the titans, those high-level teams filled with superstars, and often won.
The Lynx entered the season ranked 9th in ESPN’s preseason power rankings. They were rated 50-1 by bookmakers to win the WNBA title.
And they went all the way.
“Outsider story. Nobody thought we would be as good as we were,” Lynx guard Bridget Carleton said. “It’s just a group of veterans who have all gone their own way and come together to really succeed in such a short amount of time. I think it’s really special.
What a great story, what a great team.
“It’s kind of like the basketball fairy tale. It’s like the sweet story of all these people who work really hard, who want to win together, who don’t care about roles or anything, they’re not interested in the ego of things. There’s no complaints or anything,” Lynx forward Alanna Smith said. “And then you have success at the end of the day. It’s so rare to have a team with this culture and mindset, and to have success to boot. It’s like the fairy tale of the basketball world, and it’s such a sweet story.
But it had a bitter ending. The end of Game 5 will not soon be forgotten.
The controversial foul called – and confirmed upon review – that sent Breanna Stewart to the free throw line at the end of regulation to force overtime will live in infamy in this part of the country.
As for overtime, well, you know the rest.
Watching it unfold on Sunday, you couldn’t help but think, “What? It’s not good. It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
“For it to end this way, where it just seems very unfair, I just don’t think it’s something I’ll ever be able to overcome,” Lynx forward Napheesa Collier said. “It’s different if you feel like you’re losing a game.
In Minnesota’s eyes, Game 5 — as Reeve puts it — was “stolen.”
It was not a fairy tale conclusion.
Still, Collier said it was “easy” to appreciate this team, and not just what they did on the field, but also how well the bonds between the players grew from it. It was magic.
The Lynx were back in Minnesota on Monday and had to fulfill all of their end-of-season medical obligations. From there, at the end of a long season, you are free to do whatever you want. The Lynx chose to go out for one last dinner together.
Of course they did.
“It was very organic,” Lynx guard Kayla McBride said of the team’s chemistry. “I just loved coming to work every day.”
Collier said it was her favorite team she had ever been a part of, noting that the relationships formed this season would last a lifetime.
“This team was really close, and I’m so proud of everything we did this year, and we were so close to achieving our goals, so yeah, it’s a really tough ending,” Collier said. “It’s hard, because this last match really tarnished him, didn’t it?”
It may look like this at this point as the Lynx exit the theater. That probably won’t be the case when this season is remembered fondly in years to come.
“Yeah, the ending sucked, but it was a really great movie.”
As Smith so eloquently said: “Even though we didn’t get the end result we wanted, I think it’s almost inspiring to have a team like that doing what we we did. »
At the end of Friday Night Lights, the on-screen text to conclude the film reveals a pleasant surprise: the Panthers won the state title the very next season.
And hey, all five Lynx starters are under contract for the 2025 campaign. The beauty, in the Lynx’s case, is that the rest will be broadcast live for all to watch and enjoy.
