There were a lot of takeaways from the Sky’s 92-81 preseason loss to the Lynx on Friday night.
The most significant, however, had nothing to do with the Sky’s actual play because no one was able to watch it. Well, most people anyway.
The game, originally slated for Saturday in Minneapolis, was moved to accommodate the possibility of a Game 7 between the Timberwolves and Suns. But that had nothing to do with the nonexistent broadcast or streaming options.
Last year, the WNBA featured two preseason games: the Sky-Lynx Canada game and No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston’s debut with the Fever, also featuring the Sky. This year, the league has four exhibition games on WNBA League Pass, but it made an error when its app indicated that all the games would be on League Pass.
One fan in attendance at the Target Center provided an alternative by live-streaming the game from her seat. The stream reached 200,000 views at one point and had 1.8 million views Saturday morning.
Another fan live-streamed the game on Instagram, drawing such viewers as Kamilla Cardoso’s former coach Dawn Staley and Angel Reese’s LSU teammate Flau’jae Johnson.
“So many eyes are upon us right now,” Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said. “We would love for us to be on and everybody take a look, especially with this [Sky] team.”
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve took to X before the game to share her thoughts on it being unavailable on League Pass. She mentioned that the league is more than one player, in reference to the Fever-Wings game featuring Caitlin Clark being available.
The moment brought a lot of attention to the lack of streaming options provided by the WNBA. Franchises, however, can partner with local networks to broadcast games. The Bulls, for example, had all five of their preseason games available through NBC Sports Chicago.
“The growth is happening so fast,” Reeve said after the game. “It’s so accelerated. Business as usual isn’t going to work anymore; you’re going to get left behind. This is an example.
“We have to capitalize on those things.”
The exhibition was Weatherspoon’s first opportunity to get a look at her inexperienced team’s chemistry.
She opted to start guards Dana Evans, Marina Mabrey and Diamond DeShields with Reese and Elizabeth Williams in the frontcourt. But that group won’t necessarily be Weatherspoon’s starting five on opening night against the Wings on May 15.
At this stage, she’s still trying to establish who works well together.
“We know we could play better,” Weatherspoon said. “There are the little things we have to get better at with our execution offensively. Minnesota came out, and they were aggressive. We have to understand where we must be offensively to run our offensive sets.”
The Sky got off to a slow start, scoring only two points in the first five minutes. They went on a 13-5 run to close the first quarter and trailed the Lynx by five.
Reese had 13 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes. Cardoso had six points, four rebounds and two blocks in only 13 minutes.
One video on social media showed her hitting the floor hard, so she was taken out of the game. Weatherspoon said Cardoso asked not to be taken out, but the team was focused on “protecting” her. Weatherspoon added that Cardoso will be fine.
Beyond the Sky’s rookies, an interesting point-guard battle could be developing. Weatherspoon has expressed full confidence in Evans, indicating that she could be the starter this year.
But Lindsay Allen was a plus-seven with 17 points, three assists and four rebounds. Evans was a minus-22 and had 13 points, two steals and two rebounds.
Forwards Isabelle Harrison and Brianna Turner were out with knee injuries.
“We’re trying to make sure we take care of the athlete,” Weatherspoon said.
