The Lynx and Sparks are superteams. That’s why the WNBA Finals are a must-watch.

The WNBA Finals are, by any measure, a matchup of the best two teams. No, literally, pick nearly any metric. Let me prove it.

During the regular season, the Minnesota Lynx had the best offensive rating, and the Los Angeles Sparks had the second best. The Lynx and the Sparks also had the best and second best defensive rating, respectively. Minnesota had the best assist-to-turnover ratio. The best field goal percentage? The Sparks first and the Lynx second. Minnesota had the second-best three-point percentage and number of assists. Los Angeles boasted the second-best steal rate. Most importantly, the Lynx’s 14.2 net rating trumped the entire league, while Los Angeles’ 10.2 was far and away the second best.

You can play this same exercise for the players: Four of the WNBA’s last five MVPs are on the Lynx and the Sparks. They are, by every definition, superteams.

This is, in part, how basketball works. We know the NBA has worked like this — in the 2000s, the Lakers and the Spurs won more than half of the championships; in the ‘90s, it was Jordan’s Bulls; in the ‘80s, the Los Angeles and Boston rivalry reached historic levels thanks to the two teams sharing eight of the decade’s 10 titles.

In college, UConn (and a few other select schools) has dominated women’s basketball, while there are a few men’s basketball powerhouses led by coaches who become synonymous with the programs themselves. Of course the WNBA works awfully similarly — the now-defunct Houston Comets won four straight in the late ‘90s, which preceded consecutive championships from the Sparks, and that was followed by three titles in six years for the Detroit Shock. (The Shock relocated to Tulsa and then Dallas, where they’re now the Wings.)

Basketball has fewer players and more scoring, which reduces variability. As such, the sport rewards dynasties, powerhouses, and superteams. It’s no surprise that the league’s two best teams are duking it out again in September.

For the Sparks, the defending champions looking to remain atop the league, it started when they drafted Candace Parker first overall in 2008. She’s already one of the greatest women’s basketball players of all time, winning MVP as a rookie and — after three seasons filled with injury-related absences — again in 2013. Los Angeles wasn’t winning with Parker alone, however; it wasn’t until Nneka Ogwumike was selected first overall in the 2012 draft that the team’s tides turned.

The Sparks had all the pieces together. In 2016, it clicked — with Parker dominating, Ogwumike winning MVP, and veteran Kristi Toliver filling in beautifully as a third option. Ogwumike evolving from All-Star to MVP was the crucial missing piece of the puzzle, and the team avoided injuries. They won 26 games each of the past two seasons.

The Lynx have sat atop the league even longer, winning the 2011, 2013, and 2015 titles. It has happened with a steady cast of contributors, including Maya Moore (drafted in 2011 and instantly a key player), Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus, and Rebekkah Brunson.

Still, the team wouldn’t have won in 2015 and couldn’t have continued dominating the league without adding Sylvia Fowles, who was named MVP last week. Fowles held out of her Chicago Sky contract and ended up in Minnesota as part of a three-team deal. She had already been a two-time defensive player of the year, and her addition brought the team together perfectly.

Yes, the Lynx want a fourth title in seven years, and the Sparks have their hopes set on a second consecutive championship. But we watch basketball to enjoy it, and last year’s five-game Finals tilt was as thrilling as they come.

Particularly, the end of Game 5 was as good an ending you’ve ever seen in any professional sports finale.

The Lynx and the Sparks have history and a budding rivalry. They are, by far, their own greatest opponents. Yes, they’re superteams, and everything that implies. That’s exactly why we should be so excited for this series to start on Sunday.