Valkyries beat Dream 67-62 at State Farm Arena to tie WNBA finals 2-2
The Golden State Valkyries defeated the Atlanta Dream 67-62 at State Farm Arena on Saturday afternoon to level the WNBA finals series 2-2 after four games. The teams briefly left the court during the national anthem before returning to resume shootarounds.
Tyler Perry leading lady Crystal Renee sang the national anthem as a capacity crowd stood while photographers, game officials and event security took their places around her. The brief pause drew little attention in the arena but reignited a wider anthem debate that, seven years earlier, Jay-Z said had “moved past kneeling,” a line that the article says helped cement his partnership with the NFL as the league moved to crack down on anthem protests and other major US sports followed suit.
Rightwing outlets and commentators amplified the episode, with OutKick highlighted as restarting the controversy by making a story of teams leaving the court during the anthem and drawing links to reports of LeBron James appearing to practice a golf swing during the anthem at a Philadelphia 76ers game that week. Donald Trump commented on the situation, saying, “You know the NFL did that for a while and they stopped because people stopped watching games. I think you should do the same thing with women’s basketball,” and in a Truth Social post called James a “disgrace” and demanded he “apologize to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag, and all that our Country stands for!”
James dismissed Trump’s diss as a sign of a “slow news day at the office,” and the WNBA declined to engage beyond noting that players have not been on court for the anthem for years. Both Atlanta and Golden State have, the reporting says, remained focused on capturing their first championship; Golden State center Kiah Stokes said: “For me, it’s staying off social media. It’s just going inward with our teammates and staff,” and she was credited with driving her team’s victory through stout defense of Atlanta star Angel Reese.
Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom sought special security arrangements to watch Game 3 from a courtside seat, the Dream offered a fully stocked suite courtesy of the team and State Farm, and Kanter Freedom refused the offer and left with his camera crew. Jennifer Sey attended the finals in anti-trans athletic gear in an apparent bid to provoke a reaction, but the article reports her efforts largely went unnoticed.
The piece also connects political currents to the WNBA’s profile, noting the Dream’s past role in supporting Raphael Warnock’s election to the US Senate and recounting an episode on Atlanta television where Georgia Gang panelist Phil Kent said, “Go Sophie Cunningham, she my’s girl not Angel Reese,” and later added, “I question that” when others praised Reese’s selection as defensive player of the year; one Twitter user responded, “These white men are so broken.”
The Valkyries enter Game 5 with momentum on their side; coach Natalie Nakase’s stated recipe for victory was to “Block out the noise and understand the gameplan.” Questions posed in the reporting include whether Stokes will continue to contain Reese, whether the Dream will return to their rinky-dink home arena for Game 6, and whether the series will go the distance and break more ratings records.