WNBA Championship Game

3.1 seconds left Minnesota Lynx are down by one, can they score? The buzzers sound and the LA Sparks are storming the court. Minnesota walks away defeated in their own home arena, and LA are the champions who stopped Minnesota’s winning streak. The final score 76-77. The energy in my house was incredible. My mom and I embraced as we realized Candace Parker finally had her Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Championship win. The name Candace Parker might not be familiar. She plays for the WNBA team, LA Sparks and she has received many accolades during her career. Candace has been the league MVP, won Olympic gold medals, and she was the first pick in the 2008 WNBA draft. At the age of 30, she finally received her biggest prize, a WNBA Championship victory. With a crazy play at the end, the game goes down in history as one of the best WNBA Championship games ever.

The game was played in Minnesota Lynx’s Target Center. In front of a sold out home crowd, the Minnesota Lynx were prevented from continuing their winning streak by the LA Sparks. With only 3.1 seconds left, the LA Sparks won the game with a crazy hustle play by Nneka Ogwumike, the WNBA 2016 MVP of the league. LA Sparks could have lost the game on Thursday if the officials would have reviewed a controversial play. According to USA Today, “The WNBA acknowledged on Friday that officials missed a shot clock violation with less than 80 seconds to go in Thursday’s WNBA championship game.” The Lynx’s coach Cheryl Reeve was upset by the referees not reviewing the shot based on the instant replay rules.

At the end of the game, the LA Sparks ran on to the court. Everyone was screaming and crying. Candace was completely emotionally because her mission was finally accomplished. She won the WNBA Championship game. Candace hugged her daughter, but her most emotional hug was with Magic Johnson. (He played for the LA Lakers when the NBA had some of the best players in the league.) She kept on thanking him because he helped her remain focused. My favorite moment of the night was hearing Candace say, “This is for Pat.” She was referring to her late coach, Pat Summit who was a big inspiration. She deserved to win. After being kept off the USA Olympic Basketball team and losing her coach, a WNBA Championship brought her spirits up. She even won the Finals MVP award to go along with the championship trophy.

Sources:

http://candaceparker.com/bio/