WNBA fines Liberty for breaking media access rules following championship loss to the Aces

Associated Press | Thursday, October 19, 2023 4:46 p.m.

New York Liberty’s Jonquel Jones (35), Courtney Vandersloot (22) and Breanna Stewart (30) defend a shot by Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson (22) during the second half in Game 4 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series Wednesday, Oct. 18, in New York. The Aces won, 70-69.

The WNBA fined the New York Liberty $25,000 after some of their players declined media interviews following the team’s loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the clinching game of the league finals.

Liberty players Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and Betnijah Laney were also fined $2,000 each by the WNBA for turning down media requests for interviews.

According to WNBA rules, each team’s coach and two players must attend the postgame news conference and additional players requested by the media are required to be available in a different location.

The Aces were not fined for violating league policy. Several players crashed the postgame news conference’ as finals MVP A’ja Wilson was answering a question. After briefly joining in on a song, Wilson asked for silence and resumed with her answer.

Las Vegas defeated the Liberty 70-69 in Game 4 in New York to clinch its second championship in a row. The Liberty’s Courtney Vandersloot missed a shot as time expired that would have extended the series to a winner-take-all Game 5 in Las Vegas