NEW YORK (AP) — Making the Commissioner's Cup championship game has been a prelude to bigger things for the New York Liberty the past two times they've done it.
New York has reached the WNBA Finals in each of those seasons, winning once and losing once. The Liberty players didn't want to think that far ahead after clinching their spot Sunday in the mid-season tournament title game. Still it's hard to ignore the success considering New York has won seven straight games and finally had their entire roster healthy for the victory over Washington.
The Commissioner's Cup first started being played in 2021 and one or both teams have gone to play for the WNBA championship three times — in 2022-24. New York beat Las Vegas in 2023 before losing to Minnesota the next season in the Commissioner's Cup finale. The Liberty avenged that loss by beating the Lynx for their first WNBA championship later that season.
“It’s a pretty high number of teams that go to the Commissioner’s Cup championship that play in the (WNBA) finals,” Liberty center Jonquel Jones said.
New York is still waiting to see who and where it will play. Las Vegas was routed by Dallas on Monday night and is tied with Minnesota atop the Western Conference. The Aces have the tiebreaker with the Lynx after beating them the other day. Las Vegas plays Phoenix on Wednesday and Minnesota vists Los Angeles.
The first tiebreaker for determining who would host the championship game is regular-season winning percentage through Wednesday night. The second one is point-differential in Commissioner Cup games.
ESPN will show a four-part series on the Toronto Tempo and how the first WNBA team outside of the United States was built from the ground up.
“With the incredible growth of the WNBA and women’s basketball, this is the perfect time to showcase the launch of Canada’s first WNBA franchise,” said Lindsay Rovegno, Vice President & Executive Producer, ESPN Originals. “Setting the Tempo presents a rare opportunity for fans to see what it truly takes to build a successful organization, shining a spotlight on the female executives whose decisions and vision are laying the foundation for the future.”
Las Vegas takes over the top spot after edging Minnesota 100-97 on Saturday night. The Aces were followed by the Lynx, New York, Atlanta and Dallas. Golden State, Indiana and Los Angeles were next. Expansion teams Portland and Toronto were ninth and 10th. Washington, Chicago and Phoenix followed the Tempo. Seattle and Connecticut rounded out the poll.
A'ja Wilson of Las Vegas was the AP player of the week. She averaged 30 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks to help the Aces win all three of their games last week. Other players receiving votes included Kelsey Plum of Los Angeles, Breanna Stewart of New York and Caitlin Clark of Indiana.
The Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty will play each other on Sunday for the official 30th anniversary rematch of the WNBA's first-ever game in 1997. Penny Toler scored the first points in league history, making a baseline jumper 59 seconds into the game.
Atlanta vs Indiana, Thursday and Saturday. The Dream and Fever play a home-and-home matchup this week with third-year stars Angel Reese and Clark facing off for the second and third time in a two week stretch. Indiana won the first matchup on June 4.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Toronto Tempo guard Kiki Rice (1) drives to the basket against New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones during the second half of a WNBA basketball game, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Toronto Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello hugs New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones after a WNBA basketball game, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa on Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of the Soweto uprising when over 200 young people protesting against the apartheid education system were shot and killed by the police.
The events of June 16, 1976 — now commemorated annually as Youth Day — are considered a turning point in South Africa's liberation struggle against white minority rule.
They ignited more demonstrations in various parts of the country, fueled more resistance against the apartheid and brought international attention to the racial oppression faced by Black people in South Africa.
Fifty years after the uprising, however, there are still concerns about the plight of young people in the country.
Survivors of the violent protests, experts and young South Africans have lamented the challenges facing the country's youth including inequality, high unemployment, poverty and social problems such as drug and alcohol abuse.
Soweto, one of the oldest townships in South Africa, bears symbols of the historic day which are frequently visited by local and international tourists.
These include a memorial named after Hector Pieterson, the 13-year-old whose lifeless body appears being carried away by another student in an iconic photograph that came to symbolize the 1976 uprising after it was published around the world.
Murals and billboards depicting protesting students can be found throughout the township, which is also home to the June 16 Memorial commemorating the uprising.
But for those who survived the protests, the symbols are a painful remembrance of the day that changed their lives forever.
Seth Mazibuko, a survivor of the deadly protests, remembers vividly how students fought back against the police, who were using tear gas to try and disperse the defiant demonstrators.
“They struggled with the tear gas because when they threw it our way, the wind would blow the gas back to them, so it was also affecting them,” said Mazibuko. “They then started sending the police dogs to us, we used stones to chase the dogs back to them.”
Mazibuko was detained for 18 months after his arrest and later imprisoned in Robben Island, where he served 7 years alongside other political prisoners.
Fifty years after the uprising, South Africa has undergone significant changes but inequality, unemployment and poverty are among the most pressing challenges facing its “born free” generation — those born after the end of apartheid.
“I would say the issues of poverty and crime are the most pressing ones,” said Sima Poto, a 19-year-old visiting the June 16 Memorial. “It is poverty that is leading many of them into crime.”
Zola Mguli, a 29-year-old who works with the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance, an organization campaigning against alcohol and substance abuse, said he is grateful to belong to a generation that has grown up in freedom, even as significant challenges remain. "Things are not going as well as our forefathers hoped, there is still racism, alcoholism and other things we are battling with,” he said. “But if we, the youth, rise up, we can do better.”
Historian Noor Nieftagodien said the 1976 student protest movement was a traumatic and transformative moment that reshaped the anti-apartheid struggle, placing young people at the forefront of liberation politics.
“This was a generation that was young, gifted, and Black,” he said. “They wanted education.”
“The idea of Black power resonated with this new generation of young people,” Nieftagodien said. “Black consciousness was kind of electrifying; it inspired university students and then increasingly also students in high schools.”
He said that since June 16 was declared a public holiday after the end of apartheid, the significance of the historic event has diminished, overshadowed by celebratory events that, in his view, water down its political meaning.
“It has lost its meaning,” he said. “What has happened is that we’ve had the day marked with concerts, etc. I’m all for concerts. But, in fact, in so doing, the kind of celebrations that have been organized have been disinvested from politics, from a critical understanding of what happened.”
Sarafina cast members performs during rehearsal at Jabulani Amphitheatre, in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A man walks past a June 16 mural, in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Seth Mazibuko, a former student leader involved in the 1976 Soweto student movement, takes a question during a media briefing at the June 16 Memorial Acre, in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A man looks at June 16 iconic image taken by the late Sam Nzima displayed at The Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum, in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Youth visit the June 16 Memorial Acre, in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
