Kayte Christensen had all her Mercury friends over for must-see TV on Thursday.

Mercury Enjoy Friends Finale Together

By Josh Greene, PhoenixMercury.com
Posted: May 7, 2004

Ross got Rachel, Monica and Chandler got twins, and Joey got... well, he’s got his own spin-off this fall.

Over 51 million households tuned in to the Friends series finale Thursday night, but only one of those households staged an unofficial Phoenix Mercury team meeting/“End of Friends” party. The team, coaches and staff were all invited to forward Kayte Christensen’s house to watch the end of the sitcom’s run and, just like the TV show’s characters have done for the past 10 seasons, bond.

“It was a good chance to be around the team,” guard Anna DeForge said. “I’m not really a big Friends watcher myself. But it was nice to be around the team, hang out and form some camaraderie with everyone.”

“It was good to just to be able to eat and laugh and not worry about basketball,” guard Erika Valek added, “Not worry about competing or getting elbows, or playing defense... It was just relaxing and that’s what was needed.”

There was really only one prerequisite for attending the party. Bring something! While the preference was for home cooking, everybody did their best.

“I brought beverages, because I’m not a cook,” DeForge said. “So, I brought the drinks. I took everyone’s orders and I delivered.”

Christensen comments on those who did show off their culinary talents, “Erika made this really good potato casserole. It was a Columbian dish. Tamara (Moore) made some seasoned meat. Nikki (McCray) made fried corn. Penny (Taylor)’s mom made us chicken fried rice. Plenette (Pierson) brought a big vegetable tray that she obviously put a lot of work into (laughs). Costco’s a long way from her apartment.”

Throw in Shereka Wright’s garlic bread and Christensen’s lasagna, and pretty much every major food group was covered. Aside from the food, everyone used the event to get to know each other… when they weren’t glued to the TV set, that is.

“I’m not a big Friends person,” Wright admitted. “I just went over because I thought it was a good idea to be around the team and socialize and have fun laughing. Even though I don’t watch the show, it was fun to watch the end. I caught myself really getting into it. I enjoyed last night. It was great to get a good meal in and be around everybody and just talk.”

While everyone was told to arrive by 6:30, some partygoers arrived a bit behind schedule, making them fair game for some light-hearted mocking.

“We were late," Wrights said. “The pre-show started at 7 and we got there around 7:05. They said, `You were supposed to be here at 6:30. We didn’t wait on anybody since we were so hungry.’ Adrian Williams showed up when everybody was done eating. We turned the corner and here she comes, waving. `Adrian, you were supposed to be here two hours ago (laughs).’"

Guard Edwina Brown, who’s lost for the season due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, was also at the party. Since her recent WNBA offseason was spent playing ball in Israel, she had a pretty good excuse for not being up on all the storylines. But like any good host, Christensen made sure all her guests were up to speed.

“Some people have been overseas and haven’t seen it,” the forward said, “so you have to catch them up on the show. Wink was like, 'Okay, now Ross and Monica are together?”' I said, 'Oh, no, no. Ross and Monica are brother and sister.' It’s not that type of show (laughs).”

As for the whole "Ross and Rachel: will they or won’t they hook up?" debate, there was a huge sigh of relief by the Mercury and the majority of the TV-viewing public when the two characters finally had their happy ending.

“I was going to be so mad if they did not end up together,” Christensen said. “I knew they were going to be together. Either he was going to go (to Paris), too, or she was going to stay. When she left and got on the plane anyway, I was like, `I don’t like the show. I’m mad.’ I didn’t know that she would be able to get off the plane. They recorded so many endings, I’m sure the actors didn’t even know how it was going to end.”

Taylor disagrees, saying everyone knew what would happen. “You knew they were going to get together, so it was predictable. But it was fantastic at the same time.”

“Fantastic” could also be one word to describe the party itself. Christensen can take pride in her hosting skills. Whether the girls were there for the food, the camaraderie or the show, everyone had a great time.

And it was all thanks to food, friends and Friends.