Liberty fined $25K for breaking media access rules after championship loss

The WNBA fined the New York Liberty $25,000 after some of their players declined media interview following the team’s loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the clinching game of the league finals.

Liberty players Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and Betnijah Laney also were fined $2,000 each by the WNBA for turning down media requests for interviews.

According to WNBA rules, each team’s coach and two players must attend the postgame news conference and additional players requested by the media are required to be available in a different location.

The Aces were not fined for violating league policy. Several players crashed the postgame news conference’ as finals MVP A’ja Wilson was answering a question. After briefly joining in on a song, Wilson asked for silence and resumed with her answer.

Las Vegas defeated the Liberty 70-69 in Game 4 in New York to clinch its second championship in a row. The Liberty’s Courtney Vandersloot missed a shot as time expired that would have extended the series to a winner-take-all Game 5 in Las Vegas.

Aces win 2nd straight WNBA title with late rally in Game 4

The Las Vegas Aces became the first team in 21 years to win back-to-back WNBA championships, getting 24 points and 16 rebounds from A’ja Wilson and a defensive stop in the closing seconds to beat the New York Liberty 70-69 in Game 4 of the Finals on Wednesday night.

The Aces joined the Los Angeles Sparks (2001-02) and the Houston Comets (1997-2000) as the only teams in league history to win consecutive titles.

Las Vegas did it without starters Chelsea Gray and Kiah Stokes, who were both sidelined with foot injuries suffered in Game 3. Gray, the 2022 WNBA Finals MVP, was constantly in the ear of her teammates during timeouts and shouting encouragement from the sideline. Las Vegas was also still missing veteran Candace Parker, who had foot surgery in late July.

“We’ve been facing adversity all season, playing without different players. … We have some professional fighters,” said Alysha Clark, who was pressed into the starting lineup Wednesday. “To weather the storm of everything we went through, to show up every single day. To be in this moment right now and do it together, it speaks volumes about us, our chemistry.”

Wilson won Finals MVP honors this year after finishing in third in the regular-season MVP balloting.

With the game tied at 64, Jackie Young scored four straight points to give the Aces a 68-64 advantage with 2:04 left.

New York’s Breanna Stewart got an open look at 3 but the shot rimmed out. Wilson then hit a tough turnaround shot with 1:26 left to give the Aces a 70-64 advantage.

Courtney Vandersloot hit a 3-pointer on New York’s next possession, then stole the ball from Kelsey Plum, which led to Sabrina Ionescu’s foul-line jumper to get the Liberty within one with 41.7 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, Las Vegas worked the shot clock down before coach Becky Hammon called timeout with 3 seconds left on the shot clock. The Aces got the ball to Wilson on a lob, but Stewart blocked the shot, giving New York one last chance.

After a timeout with 8.8 seconds left, the Liberty got the ball to Stewart, who was double-teamed. The ball swung over to Vandersloot in the corner, but her shot missed badly, setting off a wild celebration by the Aces at midcourt.

Vandersloot finished with 19 points and Betnijah Laney added 15 for New York.

Hammon said before the game she would be “throwing the kitchen sink at (the Liberty), see what sticks, see what works.”

The Aces rotated defenses, which stymied New York after the Liberty scored 23 points in the first quarter. Hammon started WNBA sixth woman of the year Clark and Cayla George in place of Gray and Stokes. Clark did a stellar job on her former Seattle Storm teammate Stewart, holding her to 10 points on 3-of-17 shooting. George had 11 points.

“Just knowing what she likes to do. And just locking in and making sure that I don’t give that to her,” Clark said of guarding Stewart. “I’m so proud of this team.”

This was the first close game of the season between these teams. The four regular-season matchups were all blowouts with the closest contest being a nine-point win by New York on Aug. 28. The first three games of the WNBA Finals were also routs, with New York winning Game 3 87-73 to stave off elimination.

Game 4 was so tense that Ionescu was seen vomiting into a trash can during a timeout midway through the fourth quarter, shortly after she hit a 3-pointer to get the Liberty within 60-58. Ionescu returned to the court after the timeout.

Jones helps Liberty avoid sweep, take Game 3 of WNBA Finals

Jonquel Jones scored 27 points and Breanna Stewart added 20 to help the New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-73 on Sunday in the WNBA Finals and force a Game 4.

New York struggled in the first two games against the Aces in Las Vegas, but the Liberty found their shooting touch in Game 3 behind Jones, who hit four of the team’s 13 3-pointers.

“She was huge for us,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said of Jones, who came to the Liberty in a trade in the offseason. “Those 3’s changed the moment of the game a bit. The ball went in. Other games the ball weren’t going in for us. We got back to our identity. Proud of the effort and commitment and connection we had. Now we’ve got to do it again.”

This was the Liberty’s first win in the WNBA Finals since Teresa Weatherspoon’s half-court shot in Game 2 against Houston in 1999. The Aces are up 2-1 in the best-of-five series and Game 4 is Wednesday night in New York.

The Liberty led by three at halftime before scoring the first eight points of the third quarter to take a double-digit lead, bringing the crowd of 17,143 to its feet. They led 61-50 after three quarters.

Behind A’ja Wilson, the Aces got to within six before Stewart hit a turnaround jumper and Betnijah Laney stole the ball from Jackie Young at half court and made a layup to extend the lead back to 10.

Las Vegas didn’t challenge the rest of the way and star guard Chelsea Gray went back to the locker room midway through the fourth quarter after inuring her foot.

“I can’t give you an update, I’ll let you know when we know,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said.

Kelsey Plum scored 29 points and Wilson added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Aces, who are looking to become the first team to win consecutive titles since the 2001-02 Los Angeles Sparks. That came on the heels of the Houston Comets winning the WNBA’s first four championships.

“This is a good team we’re talking about, obviously a different feeling in their place,” Wilson said of the Liberty. “We still have a chance to take care of business.”

The Aces had won their first seven games in this postseason by an average of 17.3 points. They were looking to become the first team to go 8-0 in a WNBA postseason and the first to not lose a game since Seattle in 2020.

The first two games of the series, as well as the four regular-season meetings, were all blowouts, with the closest game being a nine-point win by New York on Aug. 28. That was the last loss the Aces had until Sunday.

New York had stretches of playing well in the first half, buoyed by the sellout crowd that included NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as well as basketball greats Dawn Staley, Sue Bird and Tony Parker. The Liberty extended their lead to 41-34 on Jones’ layup with 2:27 left in the half before the Aces got within 43-40 at the break. Jones had 16 points in the first half while Plum scored 15.

BIG APPLE BASKETBALL IS BACK

This was the first WNBA Finals game in New York since 2002, when the Liberty were swept by the Sparks. Hammon was playing on that New York squad and remembers how excited the city was amid the team’s success. No New York basketball team in either the NBA or WNBA has made it that far since.

“This is New York City, this is a basketball mecca. It’s good when all the sports teams do good. The Nets, the Knicks, the Liberty,” Hammon said. “It’s a basketball town. Fans here, they want and expect good basketball. When you don’t put it on the floor, they’ll let you know about it, too.”

Liberty greats Vickie Johnson, Crystal Robinson, Sue Wicks and Weatherspoon, who played with Hammon on New York’s previous Finals teams, were all in attendance and received a loud ovation from the crowd when they were introduced in the third quarter. New York’s coach at that time, Richie Adubato, was also in the crowd.

STAR-STUDDED CROWD

The Finals brought out celebrities from all walks of life, including musician Joan Jett, actors Jason Sudeikis and Michael Shannon and journalist Robin Roberts. Lil’ Kim performed at halftime.

Aces pound Liberty to take 2-0 series lead in WNBA Finals

A’ja Wilson scored 26 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and the Las Vegas Aces routed the New York Liberty 104-76 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 series lead in the WNBA Finals.

Wilson finished 10 of 16 from the field on her way to recording her 26th double-double this season – including her fourth of the playoffs. She’s the third player in WNBA Finals history to have at least 25 points and 15 rebounds in a game.

“We know what’s on the line and we had to make sure we came out and took care of home court,” Wilson said.

The defending champion Aces are now one win away from becoming the first team since the 2001-02 Los Angeles Sparks to repeat as champions.

Game 3 is Sunday in New York. No team has ever rallied from a 0-2 deficit in the WNBA Finals.

Chelsea Gray also had a double-double with 14 points and 11 assists, throwing some beautiful no-look passes for easy baskets. Jackie Young finished with 24 points and Kelsey Plum had 23. It was the second straight game that the guard trio dominated the Liberty.

Jonquel Jones (22), Breanna Stewart (14), Betnijah Laney (12), and Sabrina Ionescu (10) accounted for 76.3% of New York’s points, as the Liberty got just 18 points from six others who played.

New York, which lost by 17 in Game 1, came into the game a perfect 9-0 after losses this year. The Aces made sure that streak ended with a dominant first and third quarter. They opened the game scoring 19 of the first 21 points, with 12 points coming from 3-point range. Las Vegas hit seven of its first nine shots – a blistering 77.8% clip – including four 3-pointers.

New York, meanwhile, missed nine of its first 10 attempts.

“It started with our defense,” Gray said. “We kept our pressure up, our physicality and we were able to play with our flow offensively.”

The Aces’ lead grew as high as 21 points in the opening period before taking a 38-19 lead into the second quarter. Las Vegas set a new record for most points in the first quarter of a WNBA Finals. It was also the most points the Aces scored in any quarter all season.

The Liberty came charging back from a 22-point second-quarter deficit behind a 12-0 run, and outscored the Aces 25-14 in the period to cut Las Vegas’ lead to eight, 52-44 at halftime. Jones scored 16 of her points in the second quarter.

New York couldn’t carry its momentum into the third, however, as the Aces used a 17-3 run to extend their lead to 69-47. The Aces outscored the Liberty 28-13 in the third quarter, with 20 points coming from Wilson and Young.

The Liberty couldn’t close the gap and now will try to avoid getting swept.

Sky name Teresa Weatherspoon head coach

The Chicago Sky named Teresa Weatherspoon their next head coach, the team announced Thursday.

Weatherspoon has spent the last four years as an assistant on the New Orleans Pelicans’ coaching staff. The 57-year-old was previously the bench boss for Louisiana Tech’s women’s team.

Weatherspoon was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2019 following a decorated 16-year professional career. She was a five-time All-Star, four-time All-WNBA second-team selection, and two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

“I’m excited to be a part of the Chicago Sky Family,” Weatherspoon said in a statement. “To be the leader, as head coach, of an organization in a city with so much history and culture is a dream come true.

“The things that we are about to do as a team, a business and in the community will be rooted in excitement, excellence and hard work. I am thankful to the entire Chicago organization for going through this process and selecting me. I can’t wait to get to work!”

Weatherspoon replaces interim head coach Emre Vatansever, who guided the club to an 11-13 mark after James Wade abruptly resigned.

The Las Vegas Aces swept the Sky in the opening round of the WNBA playoffs.

WNBA commissioner expects to add another expansion team soon

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert joked Sunday she’ll have to get new shoes now that the league has added one expansion team, with another most likely on the way soon.

Engelbert has a pair of high heels with all of the WNBA team logos on them. The shoes will become a collectors’ item in 2025 when the expansion team owned by the Golden State Warriors starts playing. Engelbert expects to add another franchise to give the league 14 teams that year.

“The goal is to add a second one, or 14th team, by 2025,” Engelbert said before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. “Not more for before ’25 but obviously longer term. I’ve said my goal is to get this league you know additional teams and additional cities that we think would be great. We have a lot of cities interested, which is why we didn’t announce the 14th team yet.”

Engelbert mentioned a few cities including Denver; Philadelphia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Portland, Oregon, which is considered a front-runner. Portland had a WNBA team from 2000-02, playing its games at the Rose Garden before the franchise folded. There has been a strong women’s basketball fan base in the state over the past few seasons with the success of Oregon and Oregon State on the college level.

The city also has a big women’s sports presence with the NWSL’s Thorns, who won the league’s title last year and three overall. Portland also has the Sports Bra — the first sports bar dedicated to women’s sports — where Engelbert was part of a panel discussion on the WNBA earlier this year.

Young scores playoff career-high 26 to help Aces take Game 1 of Finals

Whether it was Chelsea Gray on her 31st birthday orchestrating the offense, Jackie Young knocking down 3-pointers or Kelsey Plum driving to the basket, Las Vegas’ guards helped deliver an emphatic Game 1 victory Sunday in the WNBA Finals.

They combined to score 72 points to hand the New York Liberty a 99-82 defeat before a boisterous sellout crowd.

Young — who made five 3-pointers — and Plum each scored 26 points, and Gray had 20 points and nine assists.

“It’s kind of like Jackie and (Plum) are doing this really hard work, and then the ball goes into Chelsea and it’s just dicing everything,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “It was a really nice combination. Our trio of guards were pretty ridiculous.”

Add in A’ja Wilson 19 points, and the Aces got all but eight points from four players, but the Liberty were always going to have the superior depth over a Las Vegas team that is using a six-player rotation.

Five New York players scored in double figures. This season’s league MVP, Breanna Stewart, led the Liberty with 21 points, Jonquel Jones totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds and Marine Johannes came off the bench to score 14.

Johannes, however, was shut out in the second half when the Aces began sending double teams her way. Las Vegas also held Sabrina Ionescu, who entered averaging 16.3 points in the playoffs, to seven points for the game.

“Their defense was as good as I’ve ever seen it,” New York coach Sandy Brondello said. “We’ve got to play with better poise and we can exploit it the next time.”

Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Wednesday in Las Vegas, and the Liberty were in a similar situation after losing Game 1 of their semifinal series to the Connecticut Sun by 15 points. New York then won the next three games to advance to the championship round.

“We can obviously learn a lot from this and we can play better,” Brondello said. “That’s what we have to remember. We haven’t lost two in a row all season long, and we’re going to know that we responded the right way. I trust these players.”

In one of the most anticipated Finals in recent memory with three WNBA MVPs, this game instead played out like the regular-season meetings between the teams in which the closest outcome was nine points.

The Aces made sure of that by turning into another one-sided game going on an 11-2 run that turned a 67-63 advantage late in the third quarter into a 78-65 lead early in the fourth. Las Vegas led by as much as 94-72 with 3:32 remaining.

Those three guards were a major reason, getting it done on both ends of the floor. They combined to score 38 points and make four steals in the second half.

“I’m just grateful to be in this opportunity to play back in the Finals,” Plum said. “You think you’re going to get here every year as a player, and that’s not the case, so I understand the gravity of this moment and I understand it takes a full team effort for 40 minutes.”

No team this postseason has solved the Aces, who are 6-0. The Liberty proved they could beat Las Vegas in the regular season, but for a franchise still chasing its first championship, New York will have to come back with a considerably different response.

“I think in the second half, the ball stopped and got stuck a little bit,” Stewart said. “That made it easier for them to clog the paint on (Jones) and myself. We need to continue to keep moving and trust what got us here.”

STAR POWER

Seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback and newly approved Aces minority owner Tom Brady sat courtside next to Las Vegas majority owner Mark Davis.

“I looked at (Brady) and said, ‘It’s about effing time you showed up,’” Plum said, jokingly. “Just super excited for his investment in our franchise and understanding what that means in the growth of not just us but the league and putting eyeballs on it. I joke around, but it’s been awesome to have him and I know he cares.”

Brady was part of a celebrity turnout that also included Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, actor and Las Vegas resident Mark Walhberg and Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes.

Recording artist Ashanti performed at halftime.

WNBA awards expansion team to Golden State

The WNBA is expanding to the Bay Area with the Golden State Warriors organization announcing Thursday that a new franchise will join the league for the 2025 season.

The announcement brings the league up to 13 franchises and marks the first time a new team is joining the association since 2008.

“We are thrilled about expanding to the Bay Area and bringing the WNBA to a region with passionate basketball fans and a strong history of supporting women’s basketball,” said league commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

There have been discussions in recent years about the WNBA adding teams to the fold, and Engelbert said the league’s goal is to add one more squad to the fold by 2025.

The league is reportedly nearing the decision to add a franchise in Portland, sources told The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov, Marcus Thompson II, and Shams Charania. Should the franchise come to fruition, it would be the league’s second team to play in the city after the Portland Fire played from 2000 to 2002.

Speaking at the new franchise’s opening press conference on Thursday, Warriors owner Joe Lacob gave a similar promise he shelled out when he first bought the NBA club.

“We will win a WNBA championship in the first five years of this franchise,” proclaimed Lacob according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.

On the hardwood, the WNBA Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty will tip off on Sunday.

WNBA to announce Bay Area expansion team

For the first time since 2008, the WNBA is getting ready to expand.

USA TODAY‘s Lindsay Schnell and Jeff Zillgitt report the league plans to announce the awarding of an expansion team to the Bay Area at a Thursday press conference.

The proposed franchise will enter the league in time for the 2025 season. The league also remains in contact other potential ownership groups for expansion teams in other cities.

Toronto is believed to be among the cities interested in an expansion franchise with the Scotiabank Arena playing host to a sold-out preseason game between the Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky this past spring.

The expansion franchise will be the league’s 13th and first new team since the Atlanta Dream.

The WNBA is now in its 27th season. The 2023 WNBA Finals, between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces, is set to get underway with Game 1 scheduled for Sunday at the Michelob Ultra Arena.

Liberty fight off Sun to set up Finals showdown vs. Aces

Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones have New York back in the WNBA Finals for the first time in more than two decades.

Two of the Liberty’s big offseason acquisitions came up big for the Liberty to help them reach the championship round for the first time since 2002 with an 87-84 win over Connecticut on Sunday in Game 4 of the semifinals.

Jones scored 25 points, including five in the final minutes. The 6-foot-6 forward, who won an MVP in 2021 as a member of the Sun, added 15 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Liberty, who will face defending champion Las Vegas in a series that starts on Oct. 8. The two Finals teams were labelled as “super teams” coming into the season.

“I think that’s the narrative everyone wanted at the start,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “I didn’t particularly like the super team thing, but you know these players, they still played great. It was a process for us to get to this level now and I think it’s going to be a great series.”

Stewart, who came over from Seattle in the offseason and earned her second regular season MVP award, led New York with 27 points and Betnijah Laney added 21 in the clincher of the best-of-five series. The Liberty won three in a row from the Sun after dropping the series opener in New York.

“The fact that the Liberty hasn’t been to a Final since 2002 is wild,” Stewart said. “And to be able to have that and to know that we have the entire city behind us is something that is really, really special.”

MVP runner-up Alyssa Thomas had 17 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists for Connecticut. It was her first triple-double of the post-season after recording a record six during the regular season. Tiffany Hayes had 15 points and DiJonai Carrington added 14 for the Sun, who were trying to make it back to the Finals for a second consecutive season.

A 3-pointer from Stewart with 2 minutes left gave the Liberty a 77-75 lead. The New York fans chanted “MVP” as she sank two foul shots on her next trip down the court.

But DeWanna Bonner (12 points) brought the Sun to within a point with a long 3-pointer of her own.

The Sun then lost a challenge when Hayes was called for a foul with 56 seconds left. Jones sank two free throws to make it an 81-78 game. She made two more foul shots after stealing a Hayes pass and put the Liberty up five.

A 3-pointer from Tyasha Harris made it an 85-84 game with 7.6 seconds left. But Stewart sank two foul shots on the other end to seal the win as Connecticut couldn’t get a final shot off.

Laney had 15 of her points in the first half, Stewart had 14 and the Liberty led by a point at the break, after eight lead changes in the first half.

Laney’s first 3-pointer of the second half highlighted a 13-0 run that stretched back into the first half and gave the Liberty a 52-44 advantage.

A turnaround jumper from Stewart made it 62-51 and the Liberty led 66-58 after three periods.

Thomas and Jones tangled under the basket early in the fourth quarter and Thomas, who was bent over awkwardly on the floor, stayed down and was helped to the locker room. But she was back a few minutes later.

That play seemed to spark the Sun. A short jumper from Harris highlighted a 16-5 run that saw the Sun tie the game at 69 on a 3-pointer by Carrington.

A 3-pointer from Bonner gave the Sun the lead back at 72-71.

New York won the game at the foul line, where they were 21 of 25. The Sun made three free throws on Just eight attempts.

Sun coach, Stephanie White, called Thomas the most underrated superstar in the league and bemoaned that she was only able to take four free throws in what was a very physical game.

“I had a season that you’ve never seen in this league and probably won’t seen again unless I do it,” Thomas said. “Let’s be reasonable. Triple doubles, the most double-doubles in league history. We’re talking about league records. So for me, I have a lot to be proud of.”

New York split the four regular season meetings against the defending champion Aces, who advanced to the finals for the third time in four years, sweeping Dallas in the semifinals.

This will be New York’s fifth appearance in the Finals, but their first since 2002.

“Obviously, the goal was let’s bring in the talent and let’s make a run for this,” Brondello said. “We certainly did that.”