Liberty to play Commissioner's Cup final at UBS Arena in Long Island. Barclays out due to NBA draft
The New York Liberty will play the Commissioner’s Cup championship game on June 25 against the Minnesota Lynx at UBS Arena since setup for the NBA draft made Barclays Center unavailable
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Liberty will play the Commissioner's Cup championship game on June 25 against the Minnesota Lynx at UBS Arena in Long Island because the NBA draft makes the Barclays Center unavailable, the league announced Monday.
The draft is the next night and there wouldn't be enough time to change over the arena. The Liberty have back-to-back games on June 22 and June 23, so moving the game up a day wouldn’t work.
“With the scheduling of the NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 26, the NBA created an unavoidable conflict for use of the building,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. “We are working closely with the New York Liberty on this one-game relocation to UBS Arena and to provide the best possible experience for attendees and participants at the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship. We apologize for any inconvenience to the Liberty’s season ticket holders and loyal fans.”
Liberty officials knew this could be a potential conflict in December and told the league. When the team clinched home court earlier this month, the Liberty offered to play their regular-season game against the Lynx on July 2 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn as the Commissioner's Cup championship, according to a person familiar with the situation.
