ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Here's a fun fact. The New York Liberty have been to the WNBA championship five times since the Women's Professional Basketball League started in 1997. They have never won the title. Well, tonight, the Liberty return to the WNBA finals with the No. 1 overall seed and home-court advantage. Standing in the way are the Minnesota Lynx, who are 3 and 1 against New York this year. Let's preview this series with David Dennis Jr., a senior writer at ESPN's Andscape. Hi there.
DAVID DENNIS JR: How's it going?
SHAPIRO: I'm good. So New York's got best record in the league, three of the best players in the league. Is this finally their year?
DENNIS: I think so. Like, I don't want to make a prediction, but it feels like the New York Liberty are the team of destiny. They slayed sort of the big giant, which was the Las Vegas Aces, which is the team that beat them in the championship last year, and A'ja Wilson, who had dominated that matchup last year. They finally got rid of the Aces. And it feels like if you're the Liberty, this is your chance to finally, you know, get over that hump, which is something that they have been desperately trying to do for last few years.
SHAPIRO: Talk us through some of the star power on the team, because they've got a lot of it.
DENNIS: Yeah. So, I mean, there are two sort of big stars - Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu. Breanna Stewart was the MVP. Last year Sabrina Ionescu was sort of, you know, the Caitlin Clark before Caitlin Clark, just this phenom, this three-point shooter. You know, she's reached, like, her final form, it seems like, this playoff. She has been extremely dominant. She has showed up against that Aces squad and really was the one to put them to bed. And I think that, like, this is really her emergence as the Sabrina Ionescu that we've been waiting for, that we thought. She's always been a great player, but she has taken it up another notch in the playoffs. And so add these two stars; add the fact they're in Brooklyn, in Barclays; add the star power in the arenas. Like, they will have a tremendous home-court advantage.
SHAPIRO: All of that said, the Lynx have beat the Liberty three times already this year. So what have they got going for them?
DENNIS: Napheesa Collier is who they have going for them. I mean, she was runner-up to MVP this year, and she has been as great as I said Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu have been so far in the playoffs. She's been the best player in the playoff. I mean, what she did against the Sun to get rid of them, 25 and 10 in three straight games had never happened in WNBA history. She put the team on her back to beat them in five games and was dominant in the elimination game. If Minnesota's going to win, she is going to have to be the best player on the court for all the games that they play.
SHAPIRO: The biggest story in women's basketball this year has been the size of the audience, driven by the emergence of college star, now WNBA star, Caitlin Clark. Her team, the Indiana Fever, lost out on the first round of the playoffs. So has the enthusiasm stuck around?
DENNIS: Yeah, it has because, I mean, what we've learned is that the WNBA is a great sport. I mean, it's not something I learned, but a lot of people are learning that. So when you watch somebody like Caitlin Clark, and you stick around because there's so much other great players out there. And also, the WBNA was already on a trajectory of breaking records every year. Last year when they had the finals, it was the most-watched finals they ever had. Then you have this season. The Aces and the Liberty was the most watched playoff series that we've had in this century, essentially. And so people are watching now.
The ratings are not as high as if Caitlin Clark is playing. I think everybody understands that and, you know, understands why and the magnetism that she has. But we are in for another series that is, you know, a highly watched series. I mean, I think the country is just now sort of getting around to the Lynx because the Liberty and Aces have been so dominant. But once they see Collier and that team, I think they'll fall in love with them, too.
SHAPIRO: So Caitlin Clark may have gotten people in the door, but folks stuck around even after she left the party.
DENNIS: Yeah. I mean, some people stopped watching, again, of course, 'cause Caitlin Clark is that big of a star, but, I mean, to love Caitlin Clark and love WNBA is love what they do. Like, what she does, like Sabrina Ionescu has the same type of skill set as a Caitlin Clark - the threes, the passing, all that stuff, the competitiveness. Like, if you watched WNBA for Caitlin Clark, you are going to stick around because the sport is, you know, extremely competitive, and it's a beautiful game of basketball.
SHAPIRO: OK. So tonight is the first of five games. I know you said you don't want to make a prediction, but do you think it's going to be close? A blowout? What are you anticipating?
DENNIS: So I think that we are going to be in for a competitive, like, full-elimination series. I think this is going to go back and forth. These teams are evenly matched. The star power is there. I'm looking for close games. I'm looking for a couple of overtime games in this series. I'm looking for an instant classic.
SHAPIRO: Squeeze every drop of juice out of that.
DENNIS: Absolutely.
SHAPIRO: Give me the overtime. Give me five games. Give me every moment of basketball.
DENNIS: Absolutely.
SHAPIRO: David Dennis Jr. is a senior writer at ESPN's Andscape. Thanks a lot.
DENNIS: Thank you.
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