Update 4/14/20: The Washington Mystics announced that the championship parade has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We continue to be inspired by the support of our tremendous community of fans, and we look forward to celebrating together in the District of Champions,” the team wrote in a statement.

Original:

A full seven months after the Washington Mystics beat the Connecticut Sun in a dramatic Game 5 to win their first-ever WNBA title, the team will host a parade worthy of champions in downtown D.C.

On May 11 starting at 11 a.m., the championship parade will start at the National Museum of Women in the Arts on New York Avenue NW and end at Capital One Arena, the Mystics announced Sunday.

Ahead of the Mystics’ first game of the 2020 season—against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Entertainment and Sports Arena on May 16—the team will have a pregame block party outside the Congress Heights arena, and will raise the championship banner before tip off.

“This is the beginning of a new tradition in the District of Champions: kicking off a new season with parades and banners,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement. “We will start our Mystics celebration with a parade, then a block party and a banner raising, and then we all know what we need to do—run it back!”

After the Mystics’ 89-78 title-winning game, the team put off hosting a parade as many players had to head overseas for their off-season jobs. In lieu of a parade, the team hosted a smaller rally at the Entertainment and Sports Arena before the roster split up across teams in China, Australia, and Russia, where they tend to receive better compensation. That’s pretty common across the WNBA, in which players’ salaries average $50,000 to $70,000. (The NBA’s minimum salary, by comparison, averages around $900,000).

After much negotiating and involvement from Mystics players—including finals MVP Elena Delle Donne and Natasha Cloud—the WNBA and the player’s association reached a new collective bargaining agreement in January. The agreement creates higher salary caps for teams to better compensate their players, guarantees paid maternity leave, and offers travel accommodations more on par with the NBA’s.

The details of how exactly the agreement will play out for teams is yet to be seen—for instance, some critics have raised concerns that the Mystics will have to trade away some newer talent to pay and retain its top players.

In the meantime, the team has continued to speak out about issues facing women, not just in sports. Natasha Cloud, a guard who has drawn attention to gun violence in the District—organizing a media blackout after a series of shootings riddled a Southeast elementary school—spoke on an International Women’s Day panel before the Wizards game on Sunday. “If all I do is bring a championship to DC in my career, then I’ve failed,” she told the audience. “My success is what I am doing in my community.”

Previously:
The WNBA Has A New Collective Bargaining Agreement. Here’s What It Means For The Mystics
Photos: Washington Mystics Make History As WNBA Champs