The Las Vegas Aces are once again the champions of the WNBA after defeating the New York Liberty in four games. Becky Hammon has now won her second WNBA title in two seasons as the Aces head coach, and for the Liberty, it's another disappointing ending to the season.
After the game ended, the Liberty were nowhere to be found in the media sessions and press conferences. In fact, only two Liberty players and one coach were made available after the game, as Barbara Barker of Newsday reported:
In decades of covering sports, have never seen this happen. After being eliminated by Aces, Liberty bring 2 players & coach to media room. Refuse to make others available No Ionescu. No Betnijah Laney. No Jonquel Jones. Really? I write a shitty story, and I still answer my email.
— Barbara Barker (@meanbarb) October 19, 2023
And, of course, this situation did not go over well at all with the fans, especially after the impressive season the Liberty had.
Liberty blowing off the media post game was a bad look. Also shows there's a lack of toughness there. I don't think it helps to dodge things like that.
— niko (@nikochanr3) October 19, 2023
embarrassing. It’s time for you to grow up @wnba … no other major league would allow this. Get your travel right, your TV contract right, your expansion done, your refs improved, your franchises stable and get your losers ready for criticism cuz that comes with attention https://t.co/JNGWxXcJAu
— Matthew Coller (@MatthewColler) October 19, 2023
If the WNBA wants to be treated like the major professional league that it is, it’s gonna need to treat media access as such, too. You don’t go and hide after losing THE FINALS https://t.co/ekrjytHD3r
— Satchel Price (@SatchelPrice) October 19, 2023
No serious sports league in America operates like this. https://t.co/9NuXeO81VE
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) October 19, 2023
Pretty bush league when you clamor for mainstream coverage, get it – and then the players the media wants to speak to are … unavailable. https://t.co/NOOOsz6Mat
— Stephanie Myles (@StefMylesTennis) October 19, 2023
It's certainly a bad look, and the WNBA pioneering for more national coverage doesn't help after the Liberty dodged the postgame press conference. Sandy Brondello, the Liberty head coach, made sure to give credit to the Aces after the game, and it was even more difficult for her since Hammon and Brondello were teammates during their WNBA time (h/t Alexa Philippou of ESPN).
“Credit to Vegas — they were down and they found a way. We fought, but it wasn't our best game today. … We've got to learn from it and take it as a learning experience now and as we move forward, and remember how it feels and use it as motivation.”
But, all in all, the Liberty essentially avoiding the postgame press conference is not going over well, and Ben Baby is right, you don't see this in other sports leagues.
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