( ENSPIRE Entertainment ) The Minnesota Lynx Beat The NY Liberty For the Commissioner’s Cup Championship
ENSPIRE Contributor: Isaac Grad
Coinbase presented the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship game on Tuesday, June 25, which was streamed on Prime Video. This exciting basketball game between the defending Champions, the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx was held at the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York. The game featured charitable contributions to Non-profit organizations.
The Liberty’s higher winning percentage of 0.846 in all regular season games played through June 13 earned them the right to host the Lynx in the Championship game. The two teams competed for the $500,000 cash prize. Coinbase has also given another $120,000 in cryptocurrency, guaranteeing $5,000 for each player who participated in the game.
They also feature a platform through which the WNBA makes charitable contributions to various non-profits that the players believe in and align with their social justice work. Each Cup game from June 1-13 raised money for the team’s chosen local organization. The winning teams earned $3,000 for their donation, while the losing teams earned $1,000. The Championship game winner can choose where to donate an additional $10,000, and the second-place winner can choose where to donate an extra $5,000.
The Liberty played to raise money for Women Creating Change, a non-profit organization that empowers women and gender-expansive people to create change in their communities and beyond.
The Lynx played to raise money for Gender Justice. This organization fights to create change toward gender equity by reducing the legal, political, and structural barriers that prevent positive change.
The players were excited to be involved in such an exciting championship. Alanna Smith, a player on the Lynx said, “I’m excited; I know the whole team’s excited. Competing for the Commissioner’s Cup with the Lynx is cool; I think it just shows how at the start of the season with the media and where they were ranking us in the preseason, and by us doing what we’ve done to begin the season and going into the Commissioner’s Cup is just a testament to how hard we’ve worked and put the league on notice.” The Lynx are a very strong team thanks to the hard work of all the players and the coaches.
Courtney Williams said, “It’s natural. We have a game plan, we have the plays, and we have amazing players. So, anytime we can get the ball moving, I think we have such a selfless team. It doesn’t matter who’s taking the shot because it’s the best shot out there, which we pride ourselves on. I think just us in our group just want to go out there and play good basketball and take the best shot available.”
Alanna Smith said, “I think team chemistry is super important to how you play on the court, and I’ve said this many times and to my other teammates, but it’s a joy to be on the floor together and off the court as well. We just enjoy being together. It’s fun, it flows well, and we’re just loving the experience.”
Smith also discussed the talent of herself and her teammates, “I think it’s just experience and playing games together. We’re all talented players, each with our own shots, so it is learning to work together, the action of just moving the ball before you second-guess it, and having the mindset that the ball needs to move.”
You can continue to support the WNBA as well as find more information about the game at WNBA.com. The game is available to watch on Amazon Prime.
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