New Rumors About WNBA Finals Scheduling Conflicts For Angel Reese’s Dream, Valkyries With Warriors, Hawks

Once again, the WNBA faces major uncertainty over where an Atlanta home game will be played, with a Game 6 now guaranteed in the city.

According to Alexa Philippou and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, “No one knows where or even when the game will be played despite a series of furious negotiations that took place Sunday between the WNBA, the NBA, the Valkyries, Dream and the Atlanta Hawks.”

The Dream hosted Games 3 and 4 at State Farm Arena after negotiations with the Hawks and compromises made by both sides, with their own arena, Gateway Center Arena, only having a capacity of 3,500.

But according to the ESPN report, “With the Hawks hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers at State Farm on Game 6 night, as well as other scheduling complications, the situation is more complex than the leagues dealt with earlier in the series and could have a multimillion-dollar impact on both leagues.”

At this point, the Dreams seem resigned to the possibility of playing in front of just 3,500 fans.

“We are awaiting word from the league if any changes can be made to allow us to play at State Farm Arena,” the team said in a statement. “Otherwise, the game will be played at Gateway Center Arena.”

Games 3 and 4 were able to be played at State Farm Arena after the WNBA moved Game 3 back a day, while the Hawks agreed to host a doubleheader with the Dream on Saturday for Game 4.

Game 6 appears to be more complicated, with the Hawks and Cavs in back-to-back rematches that night, although the NBA is exploring its options.

According to the ESPN report, the league “worked with the Hawks and Cavaliers to determine whether Thursday’s game could be moved to another date, or even to Cleveland. While some stakeholders believe it is the NBA’s responsibility to move its regular-season game so the WNBA Finals can be prioritized, others have countered that the domino effects of moving that game are too complicated.”

Another option would be to delay Game 6 to Friday, October 30 and Game 7 to Tuesday, November 3, according to ESPN, although both teams would have to approve such an option. The Valkyries reportedly have some concerns about adding three days between Games 5 and 6 and again between Games 6 and 7, but said in a statement that they “will fully support what is best for the league and support whatever it decides.”

November 3 is Election Day, a date the NBA has recently avoided scheduling, but the Golden State Warriors already have home games scheduled for November 1 and 2.

Long story short, there are a lot of moving pieces that need to be properly sorted before the Game 6 puzzle can be solved.