MINNEAPOLIS — Last October, the Minnesota Lynx clinched their third title in five years and flooded into the locker room for the customary champagne celebration. But the party did not stop there.

No, those Lynx were treated to a celebration that could only come when a team brings a championship to Minneapolis: a Prince concert.

The three-hour performance at Paisley Park — Prince’s estate about five miles from Minnesota’s home arena — is still fresh on the team’s mind as it makes its fifth WNBA Finals appearance in six seasons a year later.

General manager Roger Griffith arriving in the locker room with the announcement that Prince, one of the franchise-record 18,933 fans who attended the winner-take-all Game 5, was requesting their presence. Piling into a limousine after a postgame dinner. Starting the concert with “Purple Rain.” Dancing on stage. And, finally, Prince bowing and walking off stage at 3:57 a.m.

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Six months later came the devastating news that he had passed away at his Paisley Park recording studio and home. The Lynx and Timberwolves issued a joint statement mourning the loss. The teams turned their websites purple in his honor. When the Lynx tipped off the 2016 season less than a month later, they planned a similar purple sneaker takeover.

But the tribute wasn’t quite ready — several players had yet to acquire the right color shoes. “So we thought we’d save it for the playoffs,” said guard Lindsay Whalen, perhaps the team’s leading Prince fan.

They debuted the shoes on September 28 for Game 1 of their semifinals series against the Phoenix Mercury and wore them throughout their three-game sweep.

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Some players, like 6-foot-6 center Sylvia Fowles — a size-13 — have one pair for games and another for practice. “It was amazing to me,” Fowles said of last year’s championship concert. “That was my first time ever being in his presence. For him to do that for us, it was amazing.

“This is the least we can do just to pay respect to someone who genuinely cared for us. He represented us well and we’re just trying to do the same.”

As the self-proclaimed “biggest artist of the group,” backup center Janel McCarville decorated the sneakers with titles of Prince songs. “Everybody’s got their certain favorite songs, but I don’t know who’s the biggest [Prince fan]. We ain’t fightin’ over that.”

“He was a big part of what we did last year. He blessed us beyond belief,” said veteran forward Rebekkah Brunson. “We just wanted to show love to him for everything he did.”