WNBA Playoffs Preview: Liberty’s Path to Upset, Sun Seeks 1st Championship, Storm’s Quest to Repeat

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2021

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The WNBA playoffs tip off tonight, with a pair of win-or-go-home games. The New York Liberty and Sabrina Ionescu, who squeaked into the playoffs as the eighth seed, are looking to shock the world by knocking off Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury. The Dallas Wings and Chicago Sky also have a first round date, which if they advance...could see them face last year’s champs, the Seattle Storm, in the second round. But with Breanna Stewart, the MVP from the 2020 finals nursing an ankle injury, the Storm are no longer favorites to repeat. Instead, the Las Vegas Aces and the Connecticut Sun have claimed the top seeds and are guaranteed semifinal berths. LaChina Robinson brings us her insights on the playoff field, and shares where she hopes the league will go in its next 25 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Utter and complete domination.
0:05.0	In a year we will never forget, the Seattle Storm of the team we will always remember.
0:14.0	They are your 2020 WMBA champion.
0:20.0	That was one year ago, when the Seattle Storm claimed their fourth WNBA title, capping a season that was shortened, then played in a bubble without fans.
0:31.6	But this year, as the WNBA celebrates its 25th season, the fans are back.
0:38.4	And the playoffs, with its winner go home opening rounds, tip off tonight.
0:43.5	So today, ESPN's LeChina Robinson breaks down one of the most loaded WNBA playoff fields ever
0:50.1	and shines a light on where the league can go in its next 25 years.
0:55.7	I'm Emily Kaplan, in for Pablo Torre.
0:58.7	It's Thursday, September 23rd.
1:01.3	This is ESPN Daily.
1:05.0	LeChina, thank you for joining us, and today's a big day.
1:08.1	It's the start of the WNBA playoffs. And this is a landmark year because
1:12.1	it's the 25th anniversary of the WNBA. So before we get started, let's just remind our listeners
1:18.5	what the format for the playoffs is. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me and I am
1:23.3	absolutely pumped for the playoffs. Now, this is where the fun starts. The China Robinson has covered the WNBA for more than a decade.
1:30.7	The first two rounds of the WNBA playoffs are single elimination games. So it's win or go home,
1:37.1	all of the pressure that you could ask for in a playoff round. The top two seeds get buys
1:43.1	automatically to the semifinals. Some people see that as unfair,
1:47.2	but you do your work in the regular season and you end up in a favorable position. The three and
1:51.9	four seeded teams get buys past the first round. So they do get out of one single elimination game,
1:57.2	but they do have to face a win-to-go-home situation before they can make it to the
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from ESPN, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of ESPN and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.