THE ACES AND LIBERTY HAVE A DATE WITH DESTINY

“I think you and I are destined to do this forever,” said The Joker to Batman in The Dark Knight. The iconic movie quote seems an apt way to describe the WNBA careers of A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart. We’ll let you decide who gets the padded cell.

The New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces have defined the WNBA in the 2020s – the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup, back-to-back WNBA Finals in 2023 and 2024 – and the two titans will face-off once again June 30th in the 2026 Commissioner's Cup Final.

Vegas has been the team of the decade as their three championships have been led by the game’s greatest player, A’ja Wilson. Wilson is the face of the WNBA and a player that has earned her place alongside the game’s immortals on and off the court. As the WNBA continues its ascent, Wilson leading the way will help keep the Aces near the top of the mountain and the league rising in popularity.

New York is a story of WNBA resilience. Following years of ownership neglect, the team has received new life under current ownership and have grown into one of the WNBA’s most successful franchises. Led by Breanna Stewart, the Liberty have been contending for WNBA championships since 2023 and broke through to win the big one in 2024. The Liberty have established themselves as major players in the New York basketball scene, and with Stewart leading the way, they’ll remain there going forward.

Although the game doesn’t count in the standings, the winning players receive $30,000 each as well as a major donation to the charity they’re playing for. Along with that, it also serves as a valuable lesson for the stretch run.

“It is not going to be easy,” Wilson said following the win against the Mercury. “It is going to be tough, but it also sets us up for August when we really have to buckle in.”

Rivals always push their opponents to be better and bring the best out of each other. This will mark the fourth time the Aces and Liberty have squared off with a title on the line — after splitting the 2023 and 2024 WNBA Finals, the two sides will run it back in the Commissioner’s Cup for the second time.

The Cup serves as an early high stakes test that can inform future Aces vs. Liberty meetings.

Entering this weekend’s action, both teams are 11-4 in the WNBA standings. The Liberty secured homecourt advantage in the Cup Finals after a Sabrina Ionescu game winner helped them survive a tough battle against the Chicago Sky on June 16. The Liberty are now riding an eight game winning streak and went undefeated in Cup play with a +69 point margin.

The Aces have won seven out of their last eight games and punched their ticket to the Cup Final after beating the Phoenix Mercury on the 16th. Vegas went 6-1 in Cup play with a +24 point margin.

With the Minnesota Lynx lurking, we’ll see how these old foes handle the competition.

Here’s what you need to know today:

⛈️ Across the BRM Network
The Seattle Storm are struggling.

🎧The Extra Possession:
Courtney Paris on coaching, and finding her way after the Sacramento Monarchs folded after her rookie season

🏀 Game of the weekend
The Atlanta Dream look to stay one step ahead of the Indiana Fever.

💰 Money moves
Gabby Williams makes a major move.

🗓 Upcoming games
What’s on deck to begin the week.

📰 What we’re reading
Some great writing that’s come across our desks.

THE SEATTLE STORM SHAKE THINGS UP

The Seattle Storm are almost there. But remember, Always Doesn’t Count.

The Storm went into Wednesday night’s game against the Portland Fire riding an eight game losing streak. The team almost pulled off an improbable comeback against the Golden State Valkyries the game prior and had a chance to end the losing streak here. Unfortunately, the Storm allowed the Fire to go on a 10-0 run to end the game. The losing streak is at nine, and frustration is starting to build.

“The mood sucks right now,” Natisha Hiedeman said in postgame. “We just lost five minutes ago, so yeah it just sucks. But like Dominique Malonga said, it’s the same thing: rebounding, fouling too much. I think those things are controllable so if we just lock in and hone on it more, I think overall we’ll be a better team. But right now, yeah the games are kind of running together.”

They’re also staring down some unfortunate history. As Roberta F. Rodrigues notes, the team is currently riding the second-longest losing streak in franchise history.

They’re facing a Phoenix Mercury team that is going through struggles of their own, so maybe they can avoid some bad history. Erica L. Ayala and Roberta broke down what’s been going wrong with the Storm on the latest edition of Tempestade Talk.

Can this team and coaching staff have the tough conversations needed to perform to their full potential?

The Seattle Storm have let winnable games slip through their grasp, and frustration is building.

The challenge for a young group like this is to stay connected even when things are falling apart. It will be useful now and in a hopefully brighter future.

AN A-TOWN SHOWDOWN

Can the Atlanta Dream make it back-to-back?

The Dream’s magical 2025 season ended at the hands of the Indiana Fever last September. Since then, the Dream have improved the roster and have been working to break into that top tier.

The Dream and Fever were the only game on the WNBA docket on June 18, and Indy almost pulled off a miracle. The Fever were down ten points early in the fourth quarter before they rallied to tie the game at 95 in the late stages. However, unlike last year, the Dream delivered down the stretch of a close game.

Atlanta went on a 15-8 run to end the game and get a small measure of payback from last season’s playoff loss. The Dream have far bigger goals than that and this game taught them some valuable lessons.

“We talked about it before the game about valuing possessions and also managing emotions,” Angel Reese said in postgame. “I think we did a good job of that in fighting through each quarter. I think it was just back-and-forth, back-and-forth and we finally got the last punch. Being able to maintain the composure, all of us, even when the game isn’t going our way and even when we had great stretches…

Being able to contain ourselves and continue to push pace, I think we did a great job of that tonight.”

Rematches are a great time to fine tune things. You take note of what worked and look to clean up your errors. The Dream and Fever will be battling for playoff positioning all season long, and this national TV matchup will go a long way in determining how things go.

GABBY WILLIAMS HEADS SOUTH

Gabby Williams is Unrivaled!

On June 18, Unrivaled announced that Williams will be joining the 3×3 league this winter on a three year contract beginning in 2027.

It’s a tremendous opportunity for one of the best players on the globe to stay in the United States during the winter and showcase more of her game.

“The opportunity to compete alongside some of the best players in the world, continue growing my game, and be a part of something that is pushing women's basketball forward is truly special,” Williams said.

Williams joins various stars such as Breanna Stewart, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, and plenty more in Unrivaled. Gabby often plays overseas during the WNBA off-season, so her joining Unrivaled is a huge vote of confidence for the young league.

As Unrivaled prepares for Year 3, they hope they can continue to build on their early success. The league’s profile continues to grow and thus will draw more players to them. Williams’ addition will go a long way in making them an attraction to players in the USA and around the world.

Here’s the schedule for the next few days

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:

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