The WNBA was put in a sticky situation this week as the Finals series between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Vakyries was left without a home arena to play in since the Atlanta Hawks had a scheduled game the night of Thursday, Oct. 29 when Game 6 would be played. The league ended up choosing arguably the worst option by announcing that Game 6 of the WNBA Finals would be moved up to 12:30 p.m. ET on Thursday at State Farm Arena, so that the game is over in time for the Hawks game at night.
There's many problems with this decision, but one of the biggest concerns raised was regarding the championship celebrations. One team could win the title on Thursday, but since they are on a time crunch to get out of State Farm Arena, the celebrations may be cut short. ESPN's Ramona Shelburne spoke on "NBA Today" on Monday and shared what she's been hearing across the league regarding the possible on-court celebrations.
Basically, the celebrations may be moved elsewhere if a team wins the title on Thursday. "That celebration may not actually be on that court. I've heard there are discussions about whether there's enough time to turn the arena over in time for the fans to celebrate on the court.
It could be moved to like a practice court," Shelburne said. Tell people to wrap up your celebrations so we can get the Hawks game started. It's not a great option, but it's the option they've chosen, and none of the options were good." Moving the WNBA title celebrations over to a practice court nearby would be absurd.
Would fans even get to trickle over to the other location to join in on the celebrations? There's so many questions circulating regarding Thursday's game. It sounds like the whole situation will be a cluster regardless of what happens.
Hopefully the league learns from this moving forward so there isn't another similar conflicting situation in the future. The series is currently tied between the Valkyries and the Dream with each winning two games apiece. The fifth game of the series is scheduled to start at 8 p.m.
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