🏛 MEET THE INDUCTEES FOR THIS YEAR’S WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME

On June 14, a new class of inductees was enshrined into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. This year’s class includes:

• Alana Beard

• Sue Bird

• Mark Campbell

• Danielle Donehew

• Sylvia Fowles

• Lucille Kyvallos

• Cappie Pondexter

Prior to the induction, Sylvia Fowles spoke about her career, what she hopes WNBA players get in the upcoming CBA negotiations, and plenty more with Cassandra Negley of Yahoo Sports

She also joined Ashley Nicole Moss of CBS Sports as well.

At the ceremony on June 14, there was a sense of joy, happiness, and excitement for the future:

At the Women’s Basketball Roundup, we’ve talked about the push for greater benefits and supports for players past and present. As players continue to reach new heights and create new possibilities for women’s sports here in the United States and abroad, it’s worth stopping to think about all the hard work and sacrifice the greats of the game made leading up to this moment. Their efforts have helped shape the league and serve as inspiration for future generations as well. Salute to a wonderful journey.

🏆 THE COMMISSIONER’S CUP FINAL IS SET

On July 1, the Minnesota Lynx will look to defend their 2024 Commissioner’s Cup championship after beating the Las Vegas Aces 76-62 on June 17th. The team lost superstar forward and early MVP favorite Napheesa Collier to a lower back injury, and hopefully MVPhee is back on the court as soon as possible.

Joining them in the Cathy Commissioner’s Cup Final will be the Indiana Fever! The Fever needed a win against the Connecticut Sun to clinch their first ever Cup Final appearance, and they were able to do so with an 88-71 victory. As is often the case with the Fever, everything turned hectic due to a series of altercations throughout the game, starting with longtime Big 10 rivals Jacy Sheldon and Caitlin Clark

Things escalated from there as Sheldon, Lindsay Allen, and Sophie Cunningham were ejected from the game in the final seconds. Despite all the antics from the game, the league won’t be handing out suspensions. Afterwards, the discussion focused on the fouls, but it was quickly refocused back to the main thing.

“You guys came for basketball, let’s talk about basketball, come on now,” Clark said in the postgame. “We’re heading to the Commissioner’s Cup, that’s pretty exciting.”

Indeed it is!

The Cup Final will be on Tuesday July 1 and will be broadcast on Amazon Prime. For the Fever, the game will be another great test against a top-tier WNBA championship contender. They’ve gone 1-1 against the New York Liberty and will look to see how they measure up against another amazing team. With Clark back, the Fever are whole and have a chance to establish themselves as a championship contender.

The Lynx are amazing and do everything well on the court. As of this writing, Minnesota is second in offensive and defensive efficiency, second in three point percentage, and first in assists. Even beyond Collier, the team is led by Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams, Alanna Smith, and a great and diverse bench.

The winner of the Cup gets a $500,000 reward. Should be some great basketball in Minneapolis!

📰 WHAT WE’RE READING

At Black Rosie Media, we love to give flowers to other writers and creators in the women’s basketball community.

Here’s what we’re reading:

• AUDIO: All-Star Voting Breakdown, Atlanta Un-Lished, and the impact of EuroBasket with Nekias Duncan by Khristina Williams for In Case You Missed It with Khristina Williams

• Sabrina Ionescu vs Caitlin Clark: The Rivalry WNBA Didn't Know It Needed by Kenny Saint-Vil for Sports Illustrated

• Kawakami: Joe Lacob on the Valkyries’ booming start and accelerating future plans by Tim Kawakami for The San Francisco Standard

• How to properly celebrate Juneteenth in the age of commercialization by Destinee Adams for NPR

• It’s Sabrina Ionescu’s world, and she’s leaving her mark by Ben Pickman for The Athletic

• Aari McDonald opens up about life on a WNBA hardship contract amid Indiana Fever release: 'You never know when you’ll get the call' by Cassandra Negley for Yahoo Sports

• The WNBA’s bubble season reverberates five years later by Michelle Smith for The Next

⛹🏽‍♀️ UPCOMING GAMES

Here’s the schedule for the next few days (Eastern Standard Time)

💰 MONEY MOVES

OWNERSHIP CHANGES IN LOS ANGELES

On June 18, the basketball world was shaken up in a spectacular way. It was announced that Jeanie Buss will be selling the majority share of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter of TWG Global for $10 billion. The Buss family have been an institution in Los Angeles since they first purchased the team in 1979 and it will take plenty of time to get used to them not running the Lakers anymore. The new ownership group has its hands in plenty of areas, including being the owners of the Los Angeles Sparks. This news got me to thinking.

In recent years, we’ve seen more and more integration between WNBA and NBA teams. A lot of teams have shared ownership and we’ve seen the fruits of that success in New York, Minnesota, and Indiana. In Washington DC, ownership has faced criticism for being overly focused on the Wizards at the expense of the Mystics. From 1997 to 2006, the Buss family owned the Sparks before selling at the end of 2006.

The TWG Global group own the Sparks, and what they do to restore the team to their previous glory is on the mind of every fan across the WNBA. The Sparks have fallen behind compared to their peers in the league, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed:

The players and coaching staff are working hard to build a good future while having a promising present. For the ownership, they have to provide more support so the team can get back to the playoffs and return to title contention.

As the WNBA continues to grow and expand, great ownership takes on even more importance. You have to invest in the team on the court, in the community, in its infrastructure, etc. If you don’t, you shortchange the fans and create an environment that players will not want to join and be a part of. As the TWG Global group assumes ownership of one of the biggest franchises in sports, we’ll be watching to see how they run the Sparks. Will we see more integration between the Sparks and Lakers? Will they get the team a practice facility of their own anytime soon? We’ll be watching.

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