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    • WNBA goes off script, the result is extremely entertaining
    Tennessee

    WNBA goes off script, the result is extremely entertaining

    Eira Gwyneth Posted on

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    No one will ever claim that the WNBA has a script.

    While other leagues are a petri dish for conspiracy theories, the NFL is manipulating things for the Kansas City Chiefs! LeBron rules the NBA! – This year’s finals are proof that there is no one in control at the W. Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson are lying on their couches at home. The super teams Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty competed in the semifinals.

    However, the battle between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty does not kill the plot, but rather shows the depth of the league and shows that entertainment can be found practically everywhere.

    The Lynx stole Game 1 with an improbable comeback that saw Courtney Williams and Napheesa Collier turn what seemed like a yawn into an instant classic. Breanna Stewart was a one-woman wrecking crew in Game 2, quelling another Lynx rally and closing out the best-of-five series in front of a record crowd.

    “The winner,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said after Game 2 on Sunday, “is women’s basketball. The WNBA.”

    This was a groundbreaking season for the W. After steady growth in recent seasons, Clark’s arrival increased interest in the league. Ratings on ESPN’s regular season platforms increased 170%, and the 27 games to date with a million or more viewers are nearly double the previous best. Attendance increased 48% and the 154 sold-out events represented a 242% increase over the previous year. Sponsors are claiming a piece of the action.

    It wasn’t just Clark, however. Wilson had one of the most dominant seasons ever in basketball, becoming the W’s first 1,000-point player and setting the single-season rebounding record on her way to winning her third MVP award.

    But what stood out most is the strength of the entire league.

    When the Liberty put together a superteam last season, signing Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot in response to the juggernaut Wilson and the Aces, most assumed the rest of the league would have trouble keeping up. The fact that the Aces and Liberty ended up in the finals last year only reinforced that notion.

    This season and these finales have turned that idea on its head.

    There’s been a lot of emphasis on the league’s physicality this year, but that’s been the W’s calling card from the start. Because women’s basketball isn’t played above the rim, the fundamentals are the priority. Especially the defense.

    It’s great to have players who score. Even better is having players who can stop them.

    Almost no one, perhaps not even the Lynx themselves, expected them to be here at the start of the season. But they had the W’s second-best defense and Collier upset Wilson for Defensive Player of the Year honors. The Minnesota comeback in Game 1?

    The offensive brilliance of Williams and Collier was only possible because of the Lynx defense. Trailing by 15 points, Minnesota held the Liberty to just three points with just 5:20 left in regulation. During that stretch, Collier had two blocks and a steal, Natisha Hiedeman had another steal and the Lynx pressured the Liberty into a shot clock violation.

    It was Exhibit A of what Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon meant when she said after the semifinals that her Aces were a good team with great talent while the Lynx were a great team with good talent. The game is now at such a high level that any team can be a threat if built correctly.

    And any team can confuse the expected narratives.

    “There’s more than one way to do this,” Cheryl Reeve, who is both the Lynx’s coach and president of basketball operations, said after the semifinals. “We’re not a super team, but we’re a damn good basketball team.”

    Now Minnesota, a team that was most expected to finish in the middle of the pack before the season began, returns home with a chance to win its first title since 2017.

    You can’t write it better.

    Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armor on social media @nrarmour.

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    Eira Gwyneth
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