NEWCASTLE (Paul Nilsen’s Women’s Basketball Worldwide) - It's tough to know where to even start when reflecting on such a dramatic, exciting and memorable 2016 WNBA Finals.

It was gripping, intense and after the dust had settled, the coveted silverware was won by a single point thanks to a clutch shot from Nnemkadi Ogwumike as head coach Brian Agler led the Los Angeles Sparks to a first title in 14 years. It has rightly been labelled as one of the best in history and nobody can argue, as well as it being a great conclusion to the WNBA's 20th year.

There were compelling stories all over the place and obviously, Candace Parker took centre stage as MVP - and deservedly so. It hasn’t all been plain sailing for the forward and this will have no doubt made it worthwhile as she won even more hearts with her emotional words about the late Pat Summit who coached her at Tennessee.

It looked and felt like a defining moment for Parker, who having just turned 30 years-old and having been overlooked for Rio and a third Olympic gold, punched back with a knockout blow to land her first WNBA ring.

The quote of the entire proceedings come from Coach Agler. When referring to Parker, he declared: "I've never been around somebody that has been critiqued so hard." That did hit the nail on the head. Looking back, Parker was probably held to an unreasonably high standard by EuroLeague Women observers too. Now she finally has titles on both sides of The Pond sat proudly on her resume.

What struck me most about the Sparks' success from an international perspective, was looking at the fact Parker, Ogwumike and Jantel Lavender never played for the USA in Rio and that is frightening. Yes, seriously frightening for the rest of the women’s game who are still so far behind at the biggest tournaments.

I was thrilled for Ogwumike. As I have mentioned previously, the way she sat chatting at the end of a presser when donning a CCC Polkowice vest at EuroLeague Women Final Eight in a snowy Ekaterinburg a few years ago, has left a lasting impression.

Continuing with a European theme, there was a nice touch in that Bellona Agu of Turkey will head into the EuroCup Women season this week with not just one, indeed not even two, but three WNBA Champions on their roster in Ann Wauters, Jelena Dubljevic and Chelsea Gray. The latter was particularly influential, with 11 points in a row at one point, which contributed to leaving almost 20,000 fans in Minnesota completely stunned.

A third European angle was that while she didn't feature during season crunch time, it was a magnificent achievement for Ana Dabovic who became only the second Serbian player to ever win a WNBA title. I mention this because the last three or four years has been simply remarkable for Serbian women’s basketball and this is yet another highlight.

But the 2016 WNBA Championship is all about Sparks and not the above individuals. Especially when you consider that Agler was the sixth play-caller in seven years and that not so long ago, the entire existence of the franchise was under serious threat.

Yes, whether it's from feast to famine - or famine to feast in the case of the Sparks, the peaks and troughs of professional sport never ceases to amaze. And while it may have been long overdue, it was such a fitting way to rise back to the top and [almost] worth waiting that long for.

Congratulations to those involved – and especially to everyone who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes.

Paul Nilsen

FIBA

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