Jonquel Jones and the New York Liberty went via a shootaround on Tuesday morning forward of the WNBA’s Commissioner’s Cup Championship Recreation.
However as an alternative of going via the pregame routine contained in the pleasant confines of the Barclays Heart, the Liberty warmed up at UBS Enviornment, the house of the New York Islanders.
Whereas the Liberty had been a number of miles from their conventional house court docket, there have been a number of indications all through the sector that the Liberty had been the designated house crew. However Jones was not happy that the league determined to host the deciding recreation of the in-season event away from the Liberty’s house turf.
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Jonquel Jones of the New York Liberty seems to be on through the recreation towards the Atlanta Dream within the first half on June 23, 2024, at Gateway Heart Enviornment at School Park in Atlanta. (Paras Griffin/Getty Pictures)
“To me, it looks like a highway recreation,” the Liberty star stated. “Having to pack my [outfit] in a suitcase and all that stuff, get on a bus.” The Barclays Heart was not accessible to host Tuesday’s recreation because of a scheduling battle. The world is the location of Wednesday’s NBA Draft.
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The Liberty elected to remain within the Elmont, New York, space within the hours main as much as Tuesday evening’s recreation as an alternative of commuting again to Brooklyn.
Jonquel Jones is interviewed after the New York Liberty received Recreation 3 of the WNBA Finals on Oct. 15, 2023, at Barclays Heart in Brooklyn, New York Metropolis. (Mike Lawrence/NBAE through Getty Pictures)
Jones shared her emotions in regards to the state of affairs forward of the shootaround, saying she was “irritated” earlier than including that she was “a bit bit pissed off, particularly as a result of the Commissioner’s Cup schedule was powerful.”
The Liberty earned “home-court benefit” after going 5-0 in video games that had been designated as Commissioner’s Cup matchups.
Jonquel Jones (David Dow/NBAE through Getty Pictures)
Jones stated the crew pushed to earn the correct to play house video games.
“We needed to cement that home-court benefit, and we understood that the sport towards [the Mystics] was large due to that,” Jones stated. She additionally famous that she was dissatisfied the league didn’t discover all avenues in an effort to maintain the sport at Barclays Heart.
Jones’ teammate and two-time WNBA MVP, Breanna Stewart, additionally voiced frustration with the circumstances surrounding the title recreation.
“I believe we labored actually laborious for home-court benefit, and it might be good if our house court docket was truly accessible earlier than we select the date that the occasion was going to be,” Stewart stated.
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Jones was named the MVP of the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup.
The Minnesota Lynx led the Liberty with simply over two minutes remaining within the championship recreation.
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