Star-studded Las Vegas Aces play for second consecutive Commissioner’s Cup championship, as they host the Eastern Conference-leading New York Liberty
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Emmy winners Michael Grady and Sarah Kustok will again serve as play-by-play announcer and lead analyst of the Cup Championship; former NBA All-Star Baron Davis will also contribute as an analyst
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Veteran basketball reporter Zora Stephenson returns as sideline reporter for the contest
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NEW YORK—August 8, 2023—Today, Prime Video and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced their on-air announce team and plans for the third annual WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game presented by Coinbase. The matchup features the Las Vegas Aces, going for their second consecutive Commissioner’s Cup title amidst their historic season, hosting the New York Liberty, exclusively on Prime Video on Tuesday, August 15 at 9:00 p.m. EDT. Prime members enjoy matchups like these, along with savings, convenience, and entertainment, all in a single membership.
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Emmy winners Michael Grady and Sarah Kustok once again will serve as play-by-play announcer and lead analyst for the contest, with former NBA All-Star Baron Davis also contributing as an analyst. Additionally, Zora Stephenson will handle sideline responsibilities for the Championship contest.
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The WNBA’s Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase is an in-season competition that designates a portion of games in the first half of the season—10 per team—as Cup play. The teams with the top record from each conference in Cup play then compete in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game presented by Coinbase for a half-a-million-dollar prize pool. Players on the winning team will have the opportunity to earn more than $30,000 each; players on the runner-up team will have the opportunity to earn as much as $10,000 each; and all participating players will receive $5,000 in cryptocurrency from Coinbase.
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As part of the WNBA/WNBPA Social Justice Council’s dedication of the 2023 season to women’s health advocacy, with a focus on Black, Brown and LGBTQ+ communities, the WNBA will continue to raise awareness around women’s health equity issues through the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game presented by Coinbase. For every Commissioner’s Cup regular-season game, each WNBA team selected a local women’s health organization to play for, with $2,000 donated to the winning team’s chosen organization and $500 to the losing team’s chosen organization. The Aces will be playing for NAMI Southern Nevada, which increases awareness and reduces stigma around mental health conditions, while the Liberty will be playing for Callen Lorde Health Center, which provides health care to New York’s LGBTQ+ community. The Aces and Liberty will raise additional funding for these organizations through the Championship Game, with the winning team’s preferred organization receiving $10,000 and the runner-up’s preferred organization receiving $5,000. nn Grady, who will call the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game presented by Coinbase, just finished his first season as play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Bally Sports North. Prior to that, Grady worked for the YES Network, where he was a sideline reporter and fill-in play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn Nets. Additionally, Grady handled similar responsibilities with the New York Liberty during his five-year stretch with YES. He also calls various college football, basketball and WNBA games for CBS Sports Network.
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YES Network’s Kustok, a Chicago native and basketball broadcast veteran, has been the primary game analyst for the Brooklyn Nets since 2017 and holds the distinction of becoming the first female solo analyst for an NBA team. Kustok is also the first woman to have won a New York Emmy as a sports analyst, doing so in back-to-back years. In addition to YES, Kustok is a host on We Need to Talk on CBS, iHeart Media’s NBA Pulse with Sarah Kustok podcast, Sirius XM NBA Radio, and serves as a college basketball analyst with Fox Sports. In 2020, Kustok was named to Cynopsis Media’s “Top Women in Sports” list, which recognizes top women in media and was inducted into the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
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Davis, a two-time NBA All-Star, is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and creator of thought-provoking content and digital platforms. He founded Baron Davis Enterprises in 2012, which has launched Sports, Lifestyle in Culture (SLiC), Business Inside the Game (BIG), UWish, and The Black Santa Company. He has also invested in the WNBA, along with serving as a producer for several acclaimed documentaries. Through his business ventures, Davis continues his mission of combining creative talent with original publication and production to provide educational and empowering stories that appeal to global audiences of all ages.
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Stephenson, who served as the sideline reporter for the Milwaukee Bucks on Bally Sports Wisconsin for four seasons, will be the sideline reporter for the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game presented by Coinbase. Stephenson is a play-by-play announcer for the New York Liberty and works with NBC Sports as a reporter, host, and broadcaster. The six-time Emmy award-winning journalist made history in 2021 when she became the first woman to do play-by-play for the Bucks when she filled in for Jim Paschke during the team’s game against the Charlotte Hornets at Fiserv Forum on April 9. Stephenson also filled in multiple times as the Bucks’ play-by-play announcer during the last two seasons.
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Additionally, for Prime Video customers in Brazil, the streamer will offer a broadcast in Portuguese. Rômulo Mendonça serves as play-by-play announcer, with Alana Ambrosio as analyst.nn This season, Prime Video has exclusive global streaming rights (excluding China, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Finland, and Germany) to its schedule of 21 WNBA games, in addition to its continued live coverage of the Seattle Storm, available exclusively to Prime members in Washington state.
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Prime Video will stream five more games after the Commissioner’s Cup this season, including a rematch between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces, with the remaining schedule below.
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Thursday, August 17 New York Liberty @ Las Vegas Aces – 10:00 p.m. EDTn Thursday, August 24 New York Liberty @ Connecticut Sun – 7:00 p.m. EDTn Thursday, August 31 Phoenix Mercury @ Connecticut Sun – 7:00 p.m. EDTn Thursday, August 31 Washington Mystics @ Las Vegas Aces – 10:00 p.m. EDTn Thursday, September 7 Los Angeles Sparks @ New York Liberty – 7:00 p.m. EDT
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As part of a Prime membership, the WNBA on Prime Video will be available across hundreds of compatible devices worldwide, streaming from the web, or using the Prime Video app on smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, game consoles, and connected TVs. Prime Video games may also be distributed in the participating teams’ markets through the teams’ local distribution partners. For a complete list of compatible devices, visit amazon.com/howtostream.
