Cathy Engelbert goes viral for New York dress at WNBA Finals Game 5
10/21/2024 10:23 AM
The 2024 WNBA Finals was a classic clash that punctuated a watershed campaign, but it is at risk of being marred by controversy and bad optics. After disputable officiating late in the decisive Game 5, which allowed the New York Liberty to tie the score in regulation and defeat the Minnesota Lynx in overtime, 67-62, the league’s commissioner came under severe scrutiny.
Cathy Engelbert presented the Liberty with the championship trophy, the franchise’s first since the WNBA debuted in 1997, while wearing a dress that sported the New York skyline. Needless to say, many people took issue with the bold fashion choice.
“Often times the whole ‘the league wants Market X to win’ {narrative} is just a paranoid take from fans,” Jon Krawczynski, The Athletic’s Timberwolves and Vikings reporter, posted on X. “But for the commissioner of the league to literally wear the NY skyline on her dress at Game 5, that’s not a great look.”
Perhaps Engelbert believes she was permitted to wear a New York-themed dress because of the Barclays Center venue, but the failure to recognize the perceived bias such a move exudes is quite baffling to be frank. Regardless of intent, it further encourages people to accuse the WNBA of handing the crown to the Liberty.
Officiating overshadows ending of Liberty-Lynx Finals face-0ff
The team checks most, if not all the boxes for an ideal title winner. They reside in the state with arguably the most passionate sports fans in the country and boast two of the league’s biggest stars in Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu. Most importantly, though, New York is a potentially marketable representative for the 2024 season and this new era of women’s professional basketball.
There are many franchises with the same characteristics that never win a championship, though. But what makes the chatter surrounding the Liberty different is the context attached to their coronation.
In addition to Cathy Engelbert’s striking outfit, the officials called Lynx’s Alana Smith for a foul on Stewart with five seconds left in the fourth quarter when it appeared that contact might have been incidental. Minnesota challenged the ruling, but it was upheld. Before the entire sequence, New York’s star forward was permitted to take a couple of steps without dribbling after receiving the inbound pass.
Stewart, who had missed crucial free throws just 30 seconds earlier, and in Game 1 of the Finals, sunk the two that mattered most and rendered any gripes from the Lynx or their fans irrelevant. At least in terms of the scoreboard. Of course, there is always another side to an argument, which the Liberty and their supporters will have at the ready when confronted with accusations of championship theft.
How will the 2024 WNBA Finals be remembered?
Although New York jarringly had 17 more attempts on the charity stripe than its opponent in Game 5, Minnesota owned a plus-11 advantage in free throw attempts in its 82-80 Game 4 victory. The whistle befuddled supporters of both teams throughout this memorable series.
Though, it is the Lynx who will be tending to their wounds and trying their best to temper their obvious frustrations after enduring controversy. The sting probably only intensified upon seeing the NY skyline proudly displayed on the commish’s dress.
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