Many Braves fans may not be able to watch the games against the Dodgers this weekend, but a WNBA fan stepped up and helped out when women’s basketball fans were initially unable to see the pro debuts of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.
Reese and Cardoso played in their first preseason game for the Chicago Sky on Friday night in a 92-81 loss to the Minnesota Lynx. They were widely watched on a social media livestream from a fan who helped when the league’s app couldn’t broadcast the game.
The WNBA’s app had incorrectly listed the game as available to watch, leading to confusion from fans before the league clarified that only Caitlin Clark’s debut with the Indiana Fever was being broadcast.
Many Braves fans are unable to watch games this weekend because of a dispute between Bally Sports and Comcast.
But for the WNBA, @heyheyitsalli stepped in on X.
“Would y’all want me to try and stream the game on here??” the X user asked, “no promises on the quality but i can try.”
Viewership numbers on the livestream varied, but on Saturday the video showed about 434,000 total views. The X user previously posted a screenshot showing that the stream peaked at 173,381 live viewers.
“Y’all these are some of THE WILDEST numbers WOW,” the user tweeted.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was asked about the stream after the game. She said @heyheyitsalli deserves “three bucks” per viewer.
“Anybody that watched it should send three bucks to the person, I don't even know who it is,” Reeve said. "I think that what I would say is that the growth is happening so fast. It's so accelerated. And I've been saying this in our own organization — that business as usual isn't going to work anymore.
“You're gonna get left behind and this is an example.”
Reeve said she understands that Clark's game would be broadcast, and is “all for that.”
“People want to see that, but they also want to see, you know, it's not just about Caitlin,” Reeve said. “This isn't Caitlin's fault it any way. It's more, you know, the recognition that there's general excitement about the WNBA in ways that we haven't seen before. And so we have to capitalize to really ensure that this is a movement.”
Reese finished the game with 13 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes. Cardoso had six points and four rebounds in 13 minutes.
Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said she was pleased with the rookies' debuts.
“This is a learning process for all of us. ... And we’re going through that process in the right way,” she said. “We got our leaders leading them, pulling them along. Keeping them confident. That’s what matters. So we’re in a great place and they’re in a hell of a great place.”
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