Sheryl Swoopes Rooted for Both Teams to Lose WNBA Finals
While the 2024 WNBA Finals ended in controversy, no fans can deny that it was a thrilling five games that might go down as the most competitive and captivating championship series in the league's history.
Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese was one of many fans who were torn about who to root for because both teams boast beloved players that the women's basketball community wanted to see win a championship.
However, there was at least one person who wanted neither team to win.
WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes was on Monday's episode of the "Gil's Arena" podcast with former NBA player Gilbert Arenas.
When Swoopes was asked how she felt about the Liberty winning the title on Sunday, she said, "Uhh... Like, I'm happy for them. But I never want New York to win anything. That's the competitor in me. When I played, it was like [Houston] Comets and New York. So I never wanted them to win.
"But the other side is I'm glad they did because I also didn't want Minnesota to be the first team to win five [championships]," Swoopes continued. "Because we had four, right? I don't need them to get five."
She is a hater like no other 🤣 Sheryl didn’t want either team to win 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/xaqoz4EeC2
— Priceless 💎✨ (@YeahItsAhNo) October 22, 2024
Swoopes is referring to how her Houston Comets teams won four consecutive WNBA Championships in the league's first four seasons, from 1997-2000. Their arch rivals during that time were the New York Liberty. And if the Minnesota Lynx would have won the 2024 WNBA title, that would have been their franchise's 5th championship.
Some may call this competitiveness while others may call it plain hating.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.