The New York Liberty Banner Night is Set! So, who will (or should) get Championship rings?

UCLA remains on top, Notre Dame plummet in latest AP Poll

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Black Rosie & Brian Fleurantin
December 02, 2024

Mark Your Calendars!

Founders Note:

The WNBA has released the 2025 season schedule and teams got pretty creative with their home schedule reveals.

Whether it was a family photo shoot for Phoenix (shoutout to a friend of BRM, Kate Frese) or a neighborhood cookout in Atlanta, the content teams served looks and plenty of petty.

Here is a thread of all the team announcements over on Twitter. Which team did it best?

We see teams are creative on social media, and on Friday, we get to see how creative the Valkyries get in the Expansion Draft! Who will Golden State pick from each team?

We have all that and more from around women’s basketball in this week’s newsletter.

On tap in this edition of the WBB Roundup:

  • The 2025 WNBA Opening Weekend slate is here!

  • 💍 Who deserves a championship ring?

  • 🍀 Notre Dame drops SEVEN spots

  • 📝 Stories worth your time

2025 WNBA Schedule

The league has released the full schedule. The WNBA Champion New York Liberty opens the season at Barclays Center on May 17, where they will host the Las Vegas Aces.

Ellie the Elephant revealed the details of the 2025 schedule in a fun video the team released on Monday. The first home game does appear to be the night the franchise will present the 2024 team with their rings and raise the championship banner.

You can purchase your tickets here.

The Seattle Storm will open the 2025 campaign on the road when they face the Phoenix Mercury on May 17. The Storm will also play Phoenix for their first home game on May 23. Fans can purchase tickets for Storm games at Climate Pledge Arena here.

The 2025 WNBA season will open on Friday, May 16th, with the Washington Mystics hosting the Atlanta Dream. The Dallas Wings will host the Minnesota Lynx, and the Golden State Valkyries will host the Los Angeles Sparks.

Saturday begins with the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and new head coach Stephanie White hosting on White’s old team, the Connecticut Sun, who have yet to name their head coach.

The Liberty will raise their banner for the Saturday afternoon game, and the Seattle Storm will hit the road to face the Phoenix Mercury at 10:00 PM ET.

But before we tip off in the 29th WNBA season, here are some key dates to know:

  • Dec. 6: WNBA Expansion Draft

  • Jan. 21: Free agency negotiations begin

  • Feb. 1: Free agents can sign contracts

  • April 14: WNBA Draft

  • May 16: Opening day

  • June 1-17: Commissioner’s Cup window

  • July 1: Commissioner’s Cup title game

  • July 17-21: All-Star break

  • July 19: All-Star Game in Indianapolis

  • Sept. 11: Last day of the regular season

Let’s Discuss: Should the New York Liberty give T-Spoon a championship ring?

For the first time in their 28-year history, the New York Liberty are WNBA Champions!

Nike wasted no time teasing what a championship ring could look like in their ‘New York has a nice ring to it’ ad. The shirt and corresponding video ad show a close-up of the ring finger of one of the most iconic women in New York—well, like so many, she resides in New Jersey now.

The shirt and corresponding video ad show a close-up of the ring finger of one of the most iconic women in New York—although, like so many, she now resides in New Jersey.

Hey fam, Erica L. Ayala here with a hot take!

Since the championship, the Gotta Get Up! Podcast has hosted a few live streams to discuss the win and the championship parade and recently hosted a Game 1 (re) watch-along. Naturally, fans in the chat talked about the first Liberty title and players like Teresa Weatherspoon.

One topic always came up: Will or should New York Liberty alumna receive championship rings alongside the current roster and staff? The answer is simple.

No.

Now, hear me out! I am among the New Yorkers who grew up watching the Liberty play at Madison Square Garden. I waited by the loading docks to catch a glimpse of the players, Spoon included. I am among the people over the moon to see Weatherspoon, Sue Wicks, and Kym Hampton receive their flowers. Those three alums have shown up most consistently through the years. I loved seeing them celebrate at the parade.

However, I don’t think that means they should get a 2024 Championship ring. Spoon is especially controversial, and I hate that it’s the case. Unlike Wicks or Hampton, Weatherspoon was an active coach for a WNBA team last season. She was the head coach for the Chicago Sky.

Although she was terminated (you will pay for your crimes, Chicago) by the time New York won it all on October 20, it still doesn’t sit right with me to award her a ring. During our livestream, one of our loyal followers disagreed and wanted Weatherspoon and others to receive a ring.

I sincerely hope the Liberty continues to include players from the franchise's formative years as they celebrate the 2024 WNBA title. It’s been a long time coming, and these players mean so much to Liberty fans and the current players.

At the same time, championship rings are unique and commemorate a shared bond between a current roster and staff. That is sacred and should be protected. I like it when teams also include support staff in their ring ceremony. It takes a lot to get a team ready to compete and to keep them physically, mentally, and emotionally in a state of mind to win.

The ownership team, front office, broadcasters, and coaching and training staffers should be included. I’m even cool with replica rings for fans.

And yes, let’s celebrate the women who paved the way for the active roster. Weatherspoon should always be a cornerstone of the New York Liberty franchise. As for a ring wearer, I say not this time.

However, there doesn’t seem to be a rule about these sorts of things, and if the Liberty ownership decides to give Spoon and others the same ring as Finals MVP Jonquel Jones, I don’t think there will be a public outcry.

The once-Chicago Cubs public enemy #1 was gifted a World Series ring in 2017—photo by Chicago Cubs.

I mean, the Chicago Cubs gave Steve Bartman a World Series ring!

Let us know what you think! Reply to our survey and share your thoughts in the comments.

Now that the New York Liberty are WNBA champions, should members of past New York Liberty teams receive rings?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Fun fact: The New York Giants are reported to be the first team to receive World Series rings after their win over the New York Yankees in Stories about championship rings throughout sports history:

Minnesota Make Coaching Moves

Hey BRM fam, Brian Fleurantin here.

On Monday, the Minnesota Lynx introduced new assistant coaches Eric Thibault and Lindsay Whalen.

Thibault served as Head Coach of the Washington Mystics in 2023 and 2024. Whalen is a Lynx legend, Basketball Hall of Famer, multiple-time champion, and plenty more. They join a Lynx team that gave the Liberty all they could handle in a classic Finals matchup in 2024.

“It’s fun to reach back into the past of the dynasty teams because I thought this team had so many qualities that were similar to those teams,” Reeve said about bringing Whalen on to the staff.

Whalen most recently coached at the University of Minnesota from 2018-2023. She rejoins the pro ranks at a time when college coaches have made the leap from the NCAA to the WNBA.

During the Finals, coach Reeve spoke with reporters about the challenges college coaches face in the changing NCAA landscape and some WNBA history from her time with the Detroit Shock.

Four years ago, Reeve mentioned her goal of having an all-woman coaching staff. She was asked to reflect on that within the context of hiring Thibault as an assistant, and here’s what she had to say:

“I had some lightly qualified males along the way that would get the first chance. And so I think at that time, that's what was the right thing to do.”

“There was a tremendous pool of candidates out there, with seven teams making changes. So you do what's right for the time. I am still very committed to women and women of color being on staff, and that priority hasn't changed. This opportunity presented itself, and I thought it's what was best for the players, and that's the route that we chose.”

Cheryl Reeve on why she committed to an all-woman coaching staff in 2020 and hired Eric Thiabult this offseason

Watch the entire press conference with Reeve, Whalen, and Thibault.

Help Wanted - WNBA teams without a Bench Boss

With the schedule released today and the Expansion Draft taking place on Friday, there are still a decent amount of head coaching vacancies in the league. Here are the teams that still need to hire before Free Agency:

  • Connecticut

  • Dallas

  • Washington

  • Toronto

As the WNBA grows and expands, we will examine how coaching staffs are selected and assembled.

NCAA Associated Press Poll

The UCLA Bruins hit the top of the NCAA Women’s Basketball AP poll last week, rising four spots from the previous week. Notre Dame also jumped from six to three. However, where will the Fighting Irish land after dropping games to Utah and TCU this week?

Better yet, will TCU get some love after taking down ND and winning big over South Florida?

Below are the Top 25 NCAA Women’s Basketball teams in Week 5.

AP Rankings (as of December 2):

1 UCLA

2 UConn

3 South Carolina (↑ 1)

4 Texas (↑1)

5 LSU (↑2)

6 USC

7 Maryland (↑3)

8 Duke (↑5)

9 TCU (↑8)

10 Notre Dame (↓7)

11 Oklahoma (↓3)

12 Ohio State (↓1)

13 Kansas State (↓4)

14 Kentucky

15 West Virginia (↓3)

16 North Carolina

17 Iowa (↑5)

18 Ole Miss

19 Alabama (↑4)

20 Iowa State (↓5)

21 Illinois (↓2)

22 Louisville (↑2)

23 Michigan

24 Michigan State

25 Nebraska

What We’re Reading:

At Black Rosie Media, we love to give flowers to other writers and creators in women’s basketball. Here’s what we’re reading, starting with Erica L. Ayala’s reporting on the lack of women coaches in the WNBA in 2020.

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