Graney: Aces-Liberty is a matchup for the ages in WNBA Finals
Becky Hammon wants her basketball team to be sharp and intentional and purposeful. It knows all about the New York Liberty, and they know all about the Aces. There are no surprises. No secrets.
This is what most everyone desired, the WNBA’s two best teams meeting in a best-of-five finals beginning Sunday at Michelob Ultra Arena. Fans have been talking about the possibility for months. Now, it’s finally here.
We don’t get this often in sports, two super teams fighting it out for a championship. Think of the Lakers and Celtics back in the day.
It’s not easy to win a title. It can be even tougher to repeat. The last back-to-back WNBA champion was Los Angeles in 2001 and 2002. The Liberty have never won it all.
Should be a terrific series. Should be electric atmospheres home and away.
The Aces sold out Games 1, 2 and 5 (the latter if necessary) in a blink.
A’ja vs. Breanna
“It’s going to be a dogfight,” Hammon said. “It’s about taking care of business in the moment. It’s just about playing basketball and executing. I can’t think of this high a quality of two teams and high offensive teams that have met in the finals.”
With such a matchup comes various storylines, a central one being the squaring off between Aces star A’ja Wilson and league MVP Breanna Stewart.
You remember the close voting for MVP, right? The one in which Stewart edged Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun and Wilson for the prize? The one in which one voter obviously slept through the season and gave Wilson a fourth-place vote?
But it can be a dangerous thing, focusing on one matchup. You don’t, if you’re Wilson, want such things to dominate your thoughts. You don’t want to compete as if your goal is to outplay one name instead of a team.
Sometimes, it can’t be helped. Larry vs. Magic. Russell vs. Chamberlain. Jordan vs. Drexler. LeBron vs. Durant. History has shown that the best of the best rise to an even greater level when everything is on the line. It’s a balance, fighting the urge to make it an individual showdown while remembering the ultimate goal.
“There’s going to be a lot of noise about (Stewart) and I,” Wilson said. “At the end of the day, I know what we have in our locker room. We’re just going to challenge ourselves and hold each other accountable and be as selfless as we can be. It’s cool to see such a successful script was written.”
There are so many leading characters amid the plot. Wilson and Stewart. Jonquel Jones as a potential X factor for the Liberty. Aces All-Stars Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray. Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot for New York.
It all makes for the finals fans want. Teams that split four regular-season meetings with the Liberty winning a fifth game in the Commissioner’s Cup final in Las Vegas. It all makes for something we don’t always witness in sports. Something special.
The best of the best, both from a team and individual sense. Not that anyone is taking a second of it for granted. Even the very best of players.
Still gets nervous
“I’m definitely not comfortable,” Wilson said. “I’m 100 percent nervous. I always am when it comes to these games. I love it. This is what I live for, what I dream about. We’re not satisfied. We’re not just happy to be here. Let’s just go out there and be us. It’s going to take all of us.”
It’s what most everyone wanted, two super teams battling in the end, stars on each side showing off their immense skill, the Aces and Liberty deciding this thing as it should be.
No surprises. No secrets.
Should be terrific from the opening tip.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.
