Golden State Valkyries win first WNBA Championship

It's a good day live now. I know we've been talking about the Seahawks versus, of course, the Chicago Bears. But what I was doing on that flight, not chatting with Bears fans, was watching a historic game. It was a Game 7 of the WNBA Championship. It was a one-two watch. I wanted to talk about it. badly today and so I'm really grateful that award-winning journalist Rob Knox is here to talk about this with me. So I'm going to bring him in right now on the East Coast too. So he's doing this towards the end of his day. I really appreciate it. Hey Rob, how are you doing? Hey, how are you? How's everybody? I am good. I think they're all good out here. We here in Seattle are gearing up and getting ready for the Seahawks versus Chicago Bears. But I wanted to talk about this historical Game 7 WNBA championship that took place at Barcalona. I changed the name on Saturday. It was an incredible game. So I know you've watched the entire series and are a fan of WNBA. What were your thoughts on this game? It's funny that they went to Barcalona because Gabby Wells was quiet as a ghost in the first half. With two points, but my gosh, she, I mean, she was a story. I mean, it's just as simple. She was a story. They, they fell behind by nine points in the third quarter that she just went, she just went MJ on them. And I mean, she just could not be stopped. She was hitting threes, jumpers, layups, everything, you name it. She, she did it. And even with all that, the dream was still right there. And I felt down the stretch the last two to three minutes, unfortunately. Unfortunately, The dream, you know, had some balls go in and out the basket, and then they missed some shots. But, I mean, I think overall, I mean, that game was a really high level. I mean, it was a tough series. You know, you wasn't going to see a lot of offensive beauty or offensive ballerina during this series. You know, both teams were knuckles in the mud in defense, and that's what you saw. But, I mean, you saw great players make great plays, and obviously Jordan Canada, for a good portion of that game was the story with the way she played, especially that second quarter. But it was just, I mean, game seven was phenomenal, the crowd was awesome, and you know, hats off to Golden State. I mean, you know, they just have so many wonderful stories on that team, and just how they, you know, three years ago, they didn't even have a team, right? And now they're the WNBA champions. You know, I want to talk about that. I was going to bring that up just a little bit later, but we can talk about it right now. Elle Duncan gets on the microphone post-game and says, hey, you said you wanted it in five years. Now we gave it to you in two. Does that mean now she gets a raise? And I laughed. I was like, what if that's the first time or one of the first times or the only time that someone has been called out to get a raise right on air? Because what can you say? You just mentioned it, too. This is only their second season, and they are champions in only their second season. It's phenomenal in a lot of ways because I remember at the start of this year, during the draft, they drafted Flage Johnson from LSU and they traded her draft night and the person they traded her for... And we were lucky to get her here in Seattle. I don't know. Flage is awesome, right? And the player they traded her for, they waived, and everybody was like, well, what are y'all doing? Why would y'all do this, that, and the other? But honestly, it turned out they knew what they were doing and they've been consistent all season. I mean, I know Minnesota got off to a wonderful start, and Minnesota struggled down the stretch, but I felt that Golden State was just consistent throughout the season. And even last year, you know, with them making the playoffs and just how they run their franchise, I was fortunate to cover one of their games last year in D.C., and, you know, I had a chance to talk to Natalie post-game, and she's hilarious. So... You know, just the opportunity to talk to Veronica Burton and Tiffany Hayes last year in D.C. So, you know, I I'm not going to sit here and say I saw Golden State winning this year, but it necessarily doesn't surprise me either just with how they played. But, you know, this is a society. We want everything yesterday. Right. So now that Golden State got the championship in two years. Yeah. Toronto. So I guess Toronto is one o'clock for next year. And then, Oh yeah, I know. I think that'd be, that'd be, that'd be ridiculous. Let's talk about some of this, this scoring race, particularly in the fourth quarter, I'm on the plane trying to hold in all of my energy and cause I'm like, cause it's, it's point we're going points for point for point for point for point. I want to talk about the challenges, right? So Atlanta threw that, that challenge out, lost, lost their challenge. I don't think it was necessarily the defining moment. But in the moment when they did use the challenge, I thought it was a good opportunity for Atlanta because the momentum and the crowd had been like such in a frenzy. So obviously you try to challenge, you try to calm them down. And when they lose that, it just gets the crowd even amped up more and more. And to Atlanta's credit, they still battled and battled. And it was still tied with about three minutes to go until Gabby hits the three. And then, unfortunately, after they called a timeout, You run a really beautiful play for Alicia Gray, who unfortunately missed the layup. So now instead of down one, you're still down three. And now Golden State has the ball. They extended the lead there, and it kind of went from there. But I think that in that moment, I would have done the same thing. I would have challenged them in that moment there because, again, you do need to do something to slow that crowd and slow that momentum down. You know, I want to talk about this, too. I have that as one of my notes is that that three-pointer that Gabby hit really changed the mood of the game. It changed the mood. You could even tell in the stands with the fans there. It changed the momentum of that, and I feel like that's really where the game is kind of locked in there, too. I want to talk about Gabby is obviously our MVP. I don't think it was a surprise to anybody that she was named MVP at all. Her teammates seemed to expect it and to celebrate her there, too. Thank She held back a lot. You know, you made a joke earlier that she was almost a ghost in the first half. And she talked about that in her post-game interview in that, you know, Coach Nat told her, hey, just hold back and wait. you It's almost like a slingshot effect. And once she just was allowed to let go, very she was everywhere offensively and defensively. What was that like to watch the game in the first half? Because I missed it because the way I found the plane was not right. much. I was stressed, but I did see the most important part of the game, which was the fourth quarter. But watching that, you know, where you kind of were. Like, when is Gabby going to show up? When is she going to kind of appear in this? A lot of people were wanting, I think, nine points in the first half, and then I don't even know how many points in the second half. Let's talk about that and holding Gabby back for that explosion at the end. Yeah, well, you know what they say, and you've probably heard this before. You know, they say that in order to win a championship, your best players have to be your best players at some point. And I thought in the first half, I didn't think Gabby was as aggressive as she normally is. I thought she was really passive and kind of let the game come to her. And I felt that kind of hurt Golden State a little bit because Atlanta was really aggressive, especially during Canada. And they had trouble containing her. But I think it kicked in for Gabby when they fell behind by nine points. They fell behind by nine in the third period with about six, seven minutes left in the third quarter. And I think something there triggered in Gabby because she came down hit a three, boom, boom, and just hit three in a row and then hit a basket. So she had scored like 11 straight points in the eye blink. And next thing you know, the goal stick was right there. Atlanta was still wobbly hanging on to the lead. but you felt in that moment that It was a Gabby takeover coming. And I think just watching it in that moment, you're just like, wow. For her to do this on the biggest stage and the biggest game of her life, it's just amazing. You remember last year, she had a really awesome gold medal game at the Olympics. And a lot of people online were like, well, why did she sign? Why did she see this at the other? I love it. You know, because of the WNBA's rules about prioritization and so on and so forth like that, she had to choose either her country or WNBA, and in the moment she chose her country, then she came back, and, you know, obviously she's in Seattle for a couple of years, and so just her just having that fresh start this year going to state and just being able to shine the way she did, it's just great to see, because, again, I know I joked earlier about You know, wanting things yesterday, right? And that's kind of, this is the gratification society that we live in sometimes. But there's also value and there's also a superpower to be impatient as well. We have a little bit of time left. I want to talk about the Atlanta Dream, specifically Angel Reese. And this is a comment I made to friends. I said, she walked off that court with her head held extremely high and handled it like, still like a champion. I wonder now, is that going to light a fire under her? We've seen this happen in college where it doesn't get the outcome that maybe she wants, and it almost lights a fire under her, too. So I don't think that we should count the Atlanta Dream out for next year, too, because now they know what it is like to get to a finals run and what it's like to get so close. There's never been a Game 7 in WNBA history. History was made with that. Neither of these teams have ever won a championship. History was made with that, too. Again, she walked off. With her head held high, but I do think that we are going to see this loss impact the way that she plays and how she approaches the game and how she is as a competitor, because sometimes that L lights a fire under people like no other when it happens. I agree 100%. 100%. I think that Angel, she shined during this playoff run, throughout the playoffs. I mean, I think that, you know, people saw. Just how much she impacts a game. You know, obviously, again, you know, the people on social media, the ones that hate her or the haters, they want to say X, Y, Z. But at the end of the day, this young lady impacts winning. She's emotional. She plays hard. She's oh, my God. She she's just phenomenal. She's a handful. And, you know, you know, obviously for all the Angel Reese fans, it was, you know, it was sad to see that ending. But at the end of the day, at the same time, I think that, you know, she didn't prove anything to anybody in the WNBA because they all know what type of player she is and she knows what type of player she is. So it's not like about proving anything to anybody. But I will say that I'll share this quick story. Two years ago, I covered the, I was at Game 5 when Liberty beat the Lynx in the WNBA Championship at Barclays Center and Angel was there. And it just so happens that, you know, me getting near the court to just kind of video everything, you know, she was standing right there. And I just turned to her. I said, hey, I was like, this is going to be you in the near future. She just looked at me and just shook her head like. Yeah. So she was on the post. Yeah. I was ready to share it on social media on Saturday night. But, but no, I think Angel is, I think she's special. And I just, you know, really enjoyed watching her doing this playoff run. I think this was a win for, for WNBA, for women, for women's sports. I want to ask you this question. I just need a quick, very yes or no, because I got a quick, I'm short on time here. Do you feel like all of the. Conversation about where they were going to play when it was time to be in Atlanta, moving them around for the Hawks, putting the Hawks on their congratulations tweet about the Atlanta Dream going to the finals. Do you think any of that impacted any of the atmosphere for the Atlanta team or was a distraction at all? I don't think it was a distraction. I wish that was the first question, because that's a whole other discussion. I know, that's why I told you. No, okay. Okay. Listen, Rob Knox, just because it's the last question doesn't mean it's the last question forever. If you're available, I'd love to have you back again to talk about this. I had to talk about this game. I had to talk about this game today. I was like, ooh. It's around. I appreciate you coming in and joining us in the final hour to talk about this incredible game, this historic game, this wonderful moment, not just in women's sports history, but just in sports history, period. Seattle's a city that loves sports and especially loves women's sports. You know, we have our storm. So I'm hoping that we have this conversation a year from now, but we are talking about our Seattle storm. From my mouth to God's ears, I guess. I appreciate you. Thank you so much, Rob Knox, for us. On the East Coast, where are you at on the East Coast now? I'm in Maryland. In Maryland. All right. Shout-outs to those in the DMV. I appreciate you, Rob. Appreciate you. Thanks for having me. Anytime. All right. Well, listen, we have some more news and a little bit more weather on the other side of the break. You are watching A Good Day Live.