WNBA championship may be decided on a Thursday morning because an NBA game took priority

The WNBA scheduled its potential championship-clinching game for 12:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, the league announced, settling a logistical nightmare that appeared to have few satisfactory solutions.

The Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream’s Game 6 had always been set for Thursday night in Georgia with its location and exact tipoff time listed as TBD due to an unfortunate series of scheduling conflicts.

The Dream’s playoff home, State Farm Arena, has an Atlanta Hawks game scheduled for Thursday night.

“We thank the NBA, Dream, Valkyries, Hawks, State Farm Arena and USA Network for the collaboration and flexibility that made this move possible,” retiring WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement on Monday afternoon.

The Dream played most of its 2026 season at the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena at College Park, the league’s smallest building. But the team had been able to move major regular seasons games and all playoff contests to State Farm Arena, the 17,000-seat home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.

But with Game 6 set for Thursday, the same day as a 7 p.m. Cleveland Cavaliers-Hawks game at State Farm, that big venue was not available for a prime time women’s game.

If the Valkyries win Monday’s Game 5 in San Francisco, that means their West Coast fans would have to get to a TV by 9:30 a.m. PT on Thursday and possibly pop champagne bottles before noon should Golden State wrap it up in Atlanta.

In the WNBA’s prepared statement, Engellbert did not address the odd start time, but instead chose to focus on the league playing in front a larger crowd.

“The sellout crowds and extraordinary atmosphere of State Farm Arena for Games 3 and 4 were a tremendous success and we’re excited to give thousands more fans the opportunity to experience Game 6 with a championship on the line,” Engellbert said.

NBC News Top Stories wp:paragraph