Welcome to The Next: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff, dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.
Subscribe to make sure this vital work, creating a pipeline of young, diverse media professionals to write, edit and photograph the great game, continues and grows. Paid subscriptions include some exclusive content, but the reason for subscriptions is a simple one: making sure our writers and editors creating 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage get paid to do it.
The WNBA released the design for the first-ever Commissioner’s Cup trophy on Tuesday. The trophy will be awarded to the first-ever WNBA Commissioner’s Cup champion at the conclusion of the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup championship game, taking place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Thursday, Aug. 12. The game features the Connecticut Sun against the Seattle Storm, the two teams atop the Commissioner’s Cup standings in each conference.
The prize is a gold-plated cup that features an 11-inch broad crown, a halved 9-inch wide basketball, engraved basketball seams, and a pedestal that features a recessed WNBA logo that sits upon a trapezoid shaped base. The net-inspired crown atop the basketball is designed with elements of both a net and traditional crown to tie back to the game of basketball, and symbolize the crowing of a champion after the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup title game.
Members of the winning team can also earn $30,000 per player, while those on the runner-up team will have an opportunity to earn $10,000 per player. An additional $5,000 will be awarded to the MVP of the Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game.
Six players from each team competing in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship played in the 2021 WNBA AT&T All-Star Game. Connecticut players DeWanna Bonner, Brionna Jones and Jonquel Jones led Team WNBA to victory over the U.S. Women’s National Team. Storm players Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd were also WNBA All-Stars and are all key members of the U.S. team currently competing for gold in Tokyo.
