There are rarely any certainties in sport but one thing is for sure this WNBA Finals: An Australian will lift the trophy.
With the series tied 1-1, both New York Liberty and Australian Opals head coach Sandy Brondello and Minnesota Lynx and Opals star Alanna Smith's hopes of glory remain alive.
Whether the Liberty win a first trophy or the Lynx salute for the first time since 2017, an Australian will be part of the WNBA championship team for the 16th time.
While legendary trailblazer Michele Timms played in the inaugural WNBA season in 1997, it was another seven years before an Australian was part of a championship team.
From then on, a plethora of Aussie players were part of their franchises' first-ever title.
Fittingly, it was our country's greatest ever basketballer Lauren Jackson who, in 2004, was the first Australian to win a WNBA title.
Jackson and future Beijing Olympic teammate Tully Bevilaqua etched their way into the history books as members of Seattle Storm's inaugural championship.
Three years later at Phoenix Mercury, it would be another pair of Opals, Penny Taylor and Belinda Snell, who helped deliver the franchise's first title.
Taylor became a two-time champion in 2009 beginning an incredible run for Aussie stars who won titles in five of six seasons between 2009 and 2014.
Jackson was at the peak of her powers and an international force to be reckoned with in 2010 when she won the big three - WNBA MVP and Finals MVP in a second championship.
She shared the title with fellow Australians Abby Bishop and Alison Lacey.
Erin Phillips' decision in 2012 to commit to a full WNBA season, and in doing so be ruled out of selection for the London Olympics, was vindicated as her Indiana Fever accounted for Minnesota, 3-1, to be crowned champions for the first time.
The Lynx bounced back the following year with then 21-year-old Rachael Jarry, already an Olympian as the Opals' youngest player in London, a member of the 2013 team.
In her first season at the helm of the Mercury, Brondello guided the Phoenix to the title with Taylor crowned a WNBA champion for the third time.
It would be four years before an Aussie would triumph once again and this time it was Californian-born guard Sami Whitcomb who, after going undrafted in 2010, would capture the attention of WNBA scouts while playing in Australia's WNBL.
Her journey to 2018 WNBA champion, naturalised Australian and medal-winning Olympian is the stuff of sporting fairytales.
The 2020 season was one like no other, played in a bubble at the IMG Academy in Florida, during the Covid pandemic.
Teen sensation Ezi Magbegor, selected with pick 19 in the 2019 draft, would enjoy a dream debut with a Storm championship in her first year.
Whitcomb was a key part of the Storm team but with her partner Kate expecting their first child, she flew home to Australia and watched the Finals from hotel quarantine, amid an Aussie lockdown, before being able to join her family back in WA.
The most recent WNBA title was a prime example of grasping an opportunity with both hands.
Following a bronze-medal winning campaign for Australia at the 2022 FIBA World Cup in Sydney then a stunning WNBL MVP season in 2022-23, Cayla George was picked up by reigning WNBA champions Las Vegas Aces as a free agent
The veteran forward, who had previous played at Phoenix and most recently Dallas Wings in 2018, was starved of opportunities during the regular season with a star-studded line-up leading the Aces back into the Finals.
But when big Kiah Stokes went down with injury, George stepped into the line-up and produced her biggest output (11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) and minutes (30) of the season in the biggest game of all, game 5.
George's cameo was critical in the series decider which saw the Aces claim back-to-back titles.