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Alexa PhilippouESPN
The Chicago Sky have clinched the second and final spot in next month’s WNBA Commissioner’s Cup, where they will take on the WNBA-best Las Vegas Aces.
The Sky (8-0 in Commissioner’s Cup play) secured their berth as the Eastern Conference representative with the Connecticut Sun’s loss to the Washington Mystics Sunday afternoon. Vegas (8-0) earned its spot out of the Western Conference thanks to a 92-84 win over Dallas Wednesday.
In its second year, the Commissioner’s Cup is an in-season competition featuring 60 regular-season games: the first home game and first road contest each team plays against its conference rivals. The teams with the best winning percentage in each conference face off in the championship, which this year will be held on July 26 at the home arena of the squad with the highest win clip in Cup play.
In the cup’s inaugural iteration last season, the Seattle Storm defeated the Connecticut Sun 79-57 at a neutral site, Phoenix. The championship game offers a $500,000 prize pool for players, with the winning team able to earn at least $30,000 per player and the runners-up able to take home $10,000 each.
This year, the competition also features a charitable component in which the league will donate at least $165,000 to local nonprofits in all 12 team markets.
