NEW YORK – WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was smiling broadly as she approached the podium before Game 1 of the league Finals at Barclays Center on Thursday night. Here's why:

The league's playoff format will change dramatically. The WNBA Finals will move from a best-of-five format to best-of-seven, with a 2-2-1-1-1 format.

The semifinals will retain a best-of-five format. The first round will still be best-of-three but will follow a 1-1-1 format, ensuring both teams get at least one home game. The current format has the higher-seeded team playing host to the first two games — last month, the Lynx swept their series with the Mercury without ever having to play in Phoenix.

Also, the regular season will increase from 40 to 44 games.

But that won't come without challenges.

"Next year there is no international competition, no FIBA, no Olympics," Engelbert said. "It's hard to [start the season] earlier, with the college season, our draft. We already go well into October. We'll probably go later into October."

Engelbert also tackled the issue of racism and bullying many players have faced, in person and online.

"We have to continue to be a voice on this and a voice condemning it," she said. "We're going to attack it multidimensionally."

That means more security, perhaps, on site, and more diligence monitoring matters online. Engelbert said the league has already consulted with tech companies to see what can be done in this area. The league will move forward on the issue working with the WNBA Players Association.

In other news:

• With the Golden State Valkyries coming as an expansion team next season, and with Toronto and Portland coming in 2026, Engbert said a 16th franchise will be awarded in time for the 2027 season.

• The draft lottery will be Nov. 17 and televised on ESPN. Also, the Valkyries will draft fifth in each round of the 2025 draft.

Communication skills

Before the team's work on the floor of the Barclays Center on Wednesday, Lynx star Napheesa Collier caught up with an old friend.

It was in sign language.

Collier took American Sign Language while in college at Connecticut. Her teaching assistant there was Franklin Jones Jr., who is now a lecturer of deaf studies at Boston University's Wheelock College of Education and Human Development.

It was a nice reunion, even if Collier is a little rusty. "I haven't practiced in how many years?" Collier said. "But I could hold a conversation with him."

Coaching vs. playing

Rebekkah Brunson is the only player to win five WNBA titles. She was the rebounding and defending heart of all four Lynx title teams and won her first with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005.

Since 2020,. she has been an assistant with the Lynx, now in her first Finals as a coach.

The hardest part?

"I don't have any control on the floor," she said with a laugh. "That makes it tough."

But getting into the details of coaching can be as satisfying.

"All the work is new, but it's still rewarding," she said. "I can see why coaches have the emotions, when they put all the work into the designing of the schemes and the plays and the scouts and it pays off."

Keeping up with Jones

Lynx guard Natisha Hiedeman grew up in Green Bay, Wis., so you can imagine who her favorite NFL team was.

Her favorite Packers player was running back Aaron Jones, who signed with the Vikings as a free agent this season. Jones is friends with both Hiedeman and her cousin. He and Hiedeman text regularly, and he was at the Lynx's Game 5 victory over Connecticut in the semifinals on Tuesday.

She's such a Jones fan that she is considering getting a Vikings jersey with his name on it.

"But just to get it signed, though," Hiedeman said. "Not to put it on. I can't put it on. I would, but I can't."