Mystics celebrate first-ever championship with party at DC Entertainment & Sports Arena

Photo Credit: Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images

When a professional sports franchise closes out the season with a championship, said championship is usually celebrated with a parade in their city’s downtown.

That was the case in 2017 when the Minnesota Lynx won a fourth championship in its franchise’s history as well as last season for the Seattle Storm.

Ala the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016, the Mystics opted to go the smaller route with a championship celebration in DC’s Congress Heights neighborhood at the DC Entertainment and Sports Arena as opposed to an elaborate parade.

The reasoning for the shorter, smaller celebration as opposed to the lengthy parade was that many Mystics players are about to begin their overseas commitments and a rally the day after Game 5 of the Finals as opposed to a parade that would take days to plan was a more feasible option for Mystics players.

This of course goes into a larger question that will be hotly contested as the league and the WNBPA hope to manufacture terms of a new collective bargaining agreement – make WNBA salaries such so that players would not have to go overseas and that teams and cities could have a better chance of arranging more worthwhile celebrations.

Then, it was announced over Twitter that there will be a Mystics parade – next Spring when Washington’s players return to the States from overseas.

Nonetheless, even though it was a smaller event than what the previous two champions experienced, it had no shortage of celebration and joy for Mystics fans who have long awaited the team’s first championship.