Lynx have championship stolen

Liberty 67*

Lynx 62

To the victor go the spoils. And no amount of after the fact complaining is going to change anything. 

But the WNBA crowned an illegitimate champion on Sunday night. The records will forever show that the New York Liberty were the 2024 champions. 

Bullshit. Everybody watching the finale of this ultra tense and competitive series saw what happened. The Lynx won. And the refs blatantly stole it from them.

Is it even worth recapping the game? I mean, the Lynx came out focused and determined. Unlike games 1 and 2, New York did not jump out to big early leads. It was the Lynx who built a double-digit lead at points in the half, leading by as much as 12. It finished with the Lynx up 7. It was a physical, defensive game that fit what the Lynx want to do. And the refs were letting the teams play. 

But that all went away after halftime. Here came a flurry of whistles. All of them going in favor of the Liberty. In real time, it got as bad at one point that the Lynx had like 3 times as many fouls as New York did. But while the Lynx were being forbidden from physical play anymore, New York got to hack and push and bully all they wanted. Jonquel Jones almost knocked Alanna Smith from the game. And by the end of the 3rd, that Lynx lead was gone, and now they trailed by 3.

It honestly sapped most of the entertainment value out of this game, knowing that the fix was in.

But the Lynx, gritty til the very end, would not go away. They kept Stewart and Ionescu from going off, and never let the Liberty get on any of those runs. And they were able to briefly grab the lead back midway into the 4th. New York took it back themselves, but couldn't put the Lynx away. McBride hit a couple of big shots.

Then Collier hit a pair of layups to give the Lynx the lead with under a minute left. Stewart missed a couple of free throws, and as the clock went under 10 seconds, Phee drove for a layup that might have clinched a championship. But she missed. That's the miss that will haunt, but the true horror was coming.

The Lynx were 6 seconds, one defensive stop, from a championship. The ball went to Stewart, who blatantly traveled, and then was cleanly blocked by Alanna Smith. But the refs blew the whistle. As if officiating physical play out for the Lynx wasn't enough, now they miss the travel and call a phantom foul. Cheryl Reeve challenged it, but the call stood, because the agenda was not to get the call right but to help the Liberty win.

Stewart hit the free throws to tie it. The Lynx did get a last shot in regulation, a decent look for McBride, but it missed, and we were off to overtime.

The Lynx should have been celebrating at center court. And you know they knew it, what had just been done to them. At this point, maybe they even knew the deck was irrevocably stacked against them. You shouldn't be required to win the same game twice.

Overtime was miserable. The Lynx's spirit had been taken from them. They didn't make a field goal in OT, and had a few dreadful turnovers. To add salt in the wound, Collier fouled out before the finish. Phee was hacked all series with nothing called. She didn't get a single free throw in game 5. The team disparity of free throw attempts was 25-8. And no, it wasn't because the Lynx were genuinely committing more fouls.

Reeve went scorched earth on the refs after the game, and justifiably so. The game was decided deliberately by the refs in favor of New York. It's not just Lynx fans who saw it. Social media was exploding with people calling this out.

The Minnesota Lynx won the 2024 WNBA Championship and had it stolen right out from under them.

I will never recognize this supposed New York title. If this iteration of the Lynx ever win a title, I will consider it their 2nd.

And it is sickening that this incredible Lynx season was ended in this way. What a ride, the best since 2017 easily. Collier's official ascendancy into superstardom. The rise of Bridget Carleton. The golden offseason that brought Williams, Smith, and Heideman. 

You could tell during the playoffs that there is still work to be done on the roster. They need their new version of Sylvia Fowles, so they don't get beat on the boards so much. The bench needs to get deeper (I don't know what caused Diamond Miller to become planted on the bench). 

As long as you have one of the absolute best players in the sport, you have a chance. Phee has prime years left. The only solace after this robbery is that the Lynx SHOULD have more cracks at this. But you never know for sure. Expansion is coming over the next couple of years, which will spread out talent. Injuries can happen. Players fall off. Other teams (like perhaps the Fever) will rise. Nothing is guaranteed, so while the future looks very bright, you don't know for sure. I will never get over this if this was this era's only chance.

So let the media-slurped, ref-assisted super team enjoy their asterisk title. The true 2024 champions were the Minnesota Lynx. I hope Glen Taylor has rings made for all of them anyway. They ARE champions.