On June 9, the New York Liberty concluded Commissioner’s Cup play with a perfect 5-0 record, beating the Washington Mystics. That win guaranteed the Liberty homecourt advantage for the Cup against the Minnesota Lynx on June 25. That’s when things got complicated. What we have here is a failure of communication.
As it turns out, the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft will be held at Barclays Center on June 26, and the league needs two nights to set up. So the powers that be, WNBA division, have decided that it’s simply too tight of a turnaround for Barclays to host the Cup Final on Tuesday, then have the arena ready for the draft on Wednesday and Thursday.
As a result, the Commissioner’s Cup will be now held at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, just on the other side of the Long Island-Queens border, the home of the NHL’s New York Islanders.
— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) June 17, 2024COMMISSIONER’S CUP CHAMPIONSHIP LOADING
The reigning champs will face the Lynx on June 25th at @ubsarena! Liberty Loyal presale starts at 10am ET tomorrow and available to the general public at 3pm ET.
We can’t wait to see you there! #LIGHTITUPNYL pic.twitter.com/3XCiSBd00s
“We are excited for the opportunity to defend our Commissioner’s Cup title in New York, and we appreciate our fans’ unwavering support of our team,” said Liberty CEO Keia Clarke. “While we wish we could have brought this game to our fans in our home arena, we are grateful to UBS Arena for accommodating us and providing a world-class venue in New York.”
According to a source close to the situation, the Liberty informed Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the league office in December 2023 about the possible schedule conflict back. That’s six months ago. But according to the source, they were met with apathy. None of it shouldn’t have been a surprise. The official NBA announcement setting dates for the Draft in January, a month after the WNBA set the date for the Commissioner’s Cup.
All of that should have given the WNBA league office plenty of time to think of a proper contingency plan or any contingency plan for that matter. Now, the after winning the Cup in Las Vegas vs the hometown Aces last year, the Libs will be back on the road, so to speak, defending their title on their true home court.
One solution that was floated by New York was to simply turn their scheduled July 2 matchup with the Lynx at the Barclays Center into the Commissioner’s Cup Final. However, it was Minnesota, not the league, who nixed this idea. The decision is fully within Commissioner Engelbert’s purview, but she left it in the hands of the Lynx organization. Amazingly, the league even floated the idea of the Liberty playing the game on the road, even with the Liberty having the best record in Cup play. Obviously, the Liberty declined that offer.
For fans looking to make it to the arena, public transportation might be the best bet.
— Ace Pedraza (Peh-drah-zuh) (@candace_pedraza) June 17, 2024for anyone considering making the trek to UBS Arena for the Commissioner's Cup - it's a quick LIRR trip from either Grand Central-Madison or Penn Station straight to the Elmont-UBS Arena Station.
price of fare is based on it being a Zone 4, peak trip - so $13
When the Liberty play games in Connecticut vs. the Sun, they bring fans via bus to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville. There ‘s been no word yet whether something similar is planned, but we’ll keep an eye out for it.
This year has been magnificent for the Liberty. The team has been amazing on the court and the fans have given Barclays Center the W’s best homecourt advantage. Holding the Commissioner’s Cup Final at Barclays would have been a well deserved reward for the team’s great play as well as for the fans. However, due to poor planning and a lack of consideration on the part of the WNBA league office, the team, players, and fans have been robbed of something they earned.
The league is growing and getting better by the day. The league office needs to keep up and meet the moment so things like this never happen again.
