The New York Liberty brought home their first championship — despite not deserving to do so. In all fairness, the game shouldn’t have even gone to overtime. This WNBA Finals was a classic: a five-game series that went the distance, two overtime periods and iconic shots from both teams that will go down in WNBA history.
But it will be the final call in regulation in Game 5 that will go down in infamy.
The Lynx were up two points with 5.2 seconds left in regulation. The Liberty’s Breanna Stewart missed a pair of free throws that would’ve tied the game on the previous possession. Stewart got the inbound pass and immediately traveled because she didn’t dribble before moving toward the basket. She then forced up a terrible shot, and the refs called foul on Alanna Smith, who had minimal, if any, contact against Stewart’s shot, and the replay confirmed what most thought: the referees made a mistake. The Lynx challenged the phantom call, but it was unsuccessful. Stewart knocked down free throws to send the game into OT.
The Lynx were five seconds away from a championship, and the refs did everyone a disservice by taking the game into their own hands. It sent social media into a frenzy — and even caught the ire of LeBron James. Head coach of the Minnesota Lynx, Cheryl Reeve, was infuriated postgame, and rightfully so.
“All the headlines will be, ‘Reeve cries foul.’ Bring it on,” Reeve said in a press conference. “Bring it on. Because this s— was stolen from us. Bring it on.”
She’s right. The game was stolen from her team. The refs bailed out the Liberty, which bailed out Sabrina Ionescu and Stewart. The Liberty’s dynamic duo was anything but that in last night’s Game 5. They both struggled with their shot, shooting a combined five for 34. Ionescu was horrendously bad, going 1-19. They folded in the most important game of their careers in New York. And instead of us rightfully critiquing and shaming them, we are forced to watch them celebrate a championship they didn’t deserve.
Yes, overtime is a new period, so the Lynx still had a shot. But you could see quickly that their heart was not in it. They were devastated by what the referees had done and could not get their heads back in the game. They were shot emotionally, and the Liberty took full advantage.
The only good part — or better said, fair part — of the Liberty championship was that they correctly picked the WNBA Finals MVP. After scoring 17 points and six rebounds, Jonquel Jones was named the Finals MVP. It was a fitting honor; she was their most consistent player in the finals. Stewart and Ionescu got all the hype and accolades all season long, but when it truly mattered, it was the often-forgotten Jones who stood taller than both teammates.
Two things can be can be true at once. The New York Liberty are the WNBA champions, but not without the help of the referees. Ionescu is finally a champion, but not because of her performance. And Stewart is one of the greatest winners the WNBA has ever seen, but she is unclutch and untrustworthy when it’s winning time. This WNBA season was unforgettable for many reasons, so it’s fitting to end with an unforgettable call that determined the champions.
