Fixtures

DateRHjemme vs Borte-
05/14 23:00 1 WAS Mystics vs NY Liberty View
05/15 00:00 1 CON Sun vs IND Fever View
05/15 02:00 1 SEA Storm vs MIN Lynx View
05/15 02:00 1 LV Aces vs PHX Mercury View
05/16 00:00 1 DAL Wings vs CHI Sky View
05/16 02:00 1 LA Sparks vs ATL Dream View
05/16 23:00 1 IND Fever vs NY Liberty View
05/17 23:30 1 CON Sun vs WAS Mystics View
05/18 01:30 1 MIN Lynx vs SEA Storm View
05/18 17:00 1 NY Liberty vs IND Fever View
05/18 19:00 1 LV Aces vs LA Sparks View
05/19 00:00 1 DAL Wings vs CHI Sky View

Results

Date R Hjemme vs Borte -
10/19 00:00 1 [1] LV Aces vs NY Liberty [2] 70-69
10/15 19:00 1 [1] LV Aces vs NY Liberty [2] 73-87
10/12 01:00 1 [2] NY Liberty vs LV Aces [1] 76-104
10/08 19:00 1 [2] NY Liberty vs LV Aces [1] 82-99
10/01 19:00 1 [2] NY Liberty vs CON Sun [3] 87-84
09/30 01:30 1 [1] LV Aces vs DAL Wings [4] 64-61
09/29 23:30 1 [2] NY Liberty vs CON Sun [3] 92-81
09/27 02:00 1 [4] DAL Wings vs LV Aces [1] 84-91
09/27 00:00 1 [3] CON Sun vs NY Liberty [2] 77-84
09/24 21:00 1 [4] DAL Wings vs LV Aces [1] 83-97
09/24 17:00 1 [3] CON Sun vs NY Liberty [2] 78-63
09/21 00:00 1 [3] CON Sun vs MIN Lynx [6] 90-75

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league composed of 12 teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA), and league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from May to September, with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July (except in Olympic years) and the WNBA Finals at the end of September until the beginning of October.

Five WNBA teams have direct NBA counterparts and normally play in the same arena: Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, and Phoenix Mercury. The Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Seattle Storm, and Washington Mystics do not share an arena with a direct NBA counterpart, although four of the seven (the Dream, the Sky, the Wings, and the Mystics) share a market with an NBA counterpart, two (Mystics and Dream) play in NBA G League arenas, while the Storm shared an arena and market with an NBA team, the SuperSonics, at the time of its founding. The Dream, Sky, Sun, Wings, Aces, Sparks, and Storm are all independently owned.

History

League founded and play begins (1996–97)

The creation of the WNBA was officially approved by the NBA Board of Governors on April 24, 1996, and announced at a press conference with Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie, and Sheryl Swoopes in attendance. The new WNBA had to compete with the recently formed American Basketball League, another professional women's basketball league that began play in the fall of 1996 but would cease operation during its 1998–99 season.

The WNBA began with eight teams: the Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, and New York Liberty in the Eastern Conference; and the Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs, and Utah Starzz in the Western Conference.

While not the first major women's professional basketball league in the United States (a distinction held by the defunct WBL), the WNBA is the only league to receive full backing of the NBA. The WNBA logo, "Logo Woman", paralleled the NBA logo and was selected out of 50 different designs.

On the heels of a much-publicized gold medal run by the 1996 USA Basketball Women's National Team at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, the WNBA began its first season on June 21, 1997. The first WNBA game featured the New York Liberty facing the Los Angeles Sparks in Los Angeles. The game was televised nationally in the United States on the NBC television network. At the start of the 1997 season, the WNBA had television deals in place with NBC (NBA rights holder), and the Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation joint venture channels, ESPN and Lifetime Television Network. Penny Toler scored the league's first point.

Houston domination and league expansion (1997–2000)

The WNBA centered its marketing campaign, dubbed "We Got Next", around stars Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie, and Sheryl Swoopes. In the league's first season, Leslie's Los Angeles Sparks underperformed, and Swoopes sat out much of the season due to her pregnancy. The WNBA's true star in 1997 was WNBA MVP Cynthia Cooper, Swoopes' teammate on the Houston Comets. The Comets defeated Lobo's New York Liberty in the first WNBA Championship game. The initial "We Got Next" advertisement ran before each WNBA season until it was replaced with the "We Got Game" campaign.

Sheryl Swoopes, the first player signed (shown in 2008)

Two teams were added in 1998 (Detroit and Washington), and two more were added in 1999 (Orlando and Minnesota), bringing the number of teams in the league up to twelve. The 1999 season began with a collective bargaining agreement between players and the league, marking the first collective bargaining agreement to be signed in the history of women's professional sports. The WNBA also announced in 1999 that it would add four more teams for the 2000 season (the Indiana Fever, the Seattle Storm, the Miami Sol, and the Portland Fire), bringing the league up to 16 teams, with WNBA President Val Ackerman discussing expansion: "This won't be the end of it. We expect to keep growing the league."

In 1999, the league's chief competition, the American Basketball League, folded. Many of the ABL's star players, including several Olympic gold medalists (such as Nikki McCray and Dawn Staley) and a number of standout college performers (including Kate Starbird and Jennifer Rizzotti), then joined the rosters of WNBA teams and, in so doing, enhanced the overall quality of play in the league. When a lockout resulted in an abbreviated NBA season, the WNBA saw faltering TV viewership.

On May 23, 2000, the Houston Comets became the first WNBA team to be invited to the White House Rose Garden. Before this invitation, only men's sports teams had traveled to the White House.

At the end of the 2000 season, the Houston Comets won their fourth championship, capturing every title since the league's inception. Led by the "Big Three" of Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, and four-time Finals MVP Cynthia Cooper, the Comets dominated every team in the league. Under head coach Van Chancellor, the team posted a 98–24 record through their first four seasons (16–3 in the Playoffs). After 2000, Cooper retired from the league, and the Comets' dynasty came to an end.

The L.A. Sparks; new league ownership and contraction (2001–2002)

Lisa Leslie of the Sparks

The top contender in the 2001 season was the Los Angeles Sparks. Led by Lisa Leslie, the Sparks posted a regular-season record of 28–4. They advanced to their first ever WNBA Finals and swept the Charlotte Sting.

Looking to repeat in 2002, the Sparks again made a strong run toward the postseason, going 25–7 in the regular season under head coach Michael Cooper, formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers. Again, Leslie dominated opponents throughout the Playoffs, leading the Sparks to a perfect 6–0 record through all three rounds, beating the New York Liberty in the 2002 Finals.

Teams and the league were collectively owned by the NBA until the end of 2002, when the NBA sold WNBA teams either to their NBA counterparts in the same city or to a third party as a result of the dot-com bubble. This led to two teams moving: Utah moved to San Antonio, and Orlando moved to Connecticut and became the first WNBA team to be owned by a third party instead of an NBA franchise. This sale of teams also led to two teams folding, the Miami Sol and Portland Fire, because new owners could not be found.

Bill Laimbeer leaves his mark (2003–2006)

The Women's National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) threatened to strike in 2003 if a new deal was not worked out between players and the league. The result was a delay in the start of the 2003 preseason. The 2003 WNBA draft was also delayed, and negative publicity was gained from this strike.

After taking over a struggling franchise in 2002, former Detroit Pistons forward Bill Laimbeer had high hopes for the Detroit Shock in 2003. The team was just 9–23 in 2002. The Shock had three all-stars in the 2003 All-Star Game (Swin Cash, Cheryl Ford, and Deanna Nolan). Laimbeer orchestrated a worst-to-first turnaround and the Shock finished the season 25–9 in first place in the Eastern Conference. Winning the first two rounds of the Playoffs, the Shock faced two-time champion Los Angeles Sparks and Lisa Leslie in the 2003 Finals. The Shock beat the Sparks, winning game three on a three-pointer by Deanna Nolan.

Bill Laimbeer

After the 2003 season, the Cleveland Rockers, one of the league's original eight teams, folded because the owners were unwilling to continue operating the franchise.

Val Ackerman, the first WNBA president, resigned effective February 1, 2005, citing the desire to spend more time with her family. Ackerman later became president of USA Basketball. On February 15, 2005, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that Donna Orender, who had been serving as the Senior Vice President of the PGA Tour and who had played for several teams in the now-defunct Women's Pro Basketball League, would be Ackerman's successor as of April 2005.

The WNBA awarded an expansion team to Chicago (later named the Sky) in February 2006. In the off-season, a set of rule changes was approved that made the WNBA more like the NBA.

In 2006, the league became the first team-oriented women's professional sports league to exist for ten consecutive seasons. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary, the WNBA released its All-Decade Team, comprising the ten WNBA players to have contributed, through on-court play and off-court activities, the most to women's basketball during the league's existence.

After missing out on the Finals in 2004 and 2005, the Shock bounced back in 2006 behind newly acquired Katie Smith, along with six remaining members from their 2003 Finals run (Cash, Ford, Holland-Corn, Nolan, Powell, and Riley). The Shock finished second in the Eastern Conference and knocked off first-seeded Connecticut in the second round of the Playoffs. The Shock faced reigning champion Sacramento Monarchs in a five-game series. The Shock won game five on their home floor.

Bringing "Paul Ball" to the WNBA (2007–2009)

Diana Taurasi of the Mercury

In December 2006, the Charlotte Bobcats organization announced it would no longer operate the Charlotte Sting. Soon after, the WNBA announced that the Sting would not operate for 2007. A dispersal draft was held on January 8, 2007. Teams selected in inverse order of their 2006 records; Chicago received the first pick.

Former Los Angeles Lakers championship coach Paul Westhead was named head coach of the Phoenix Mercury on October 11, 2005, bringing his up-tempo style of play to the WNBA. This fast-paced offense was perfect for his team, especially after the league shortened the shot clock from 30 seconds to 24 seconds in 2006. Much like the early Houston Comets championship teams, the Phoenix Mercury had risen to prominence led by their own "Big Three" of Cappie Pondexter, Diana Taurasi, and Penny Taylor.

The Mercury was well-suited for the fast offense behind these three players. Phoenix averaged a league-record 88.97 points per game in 2007; teams could not keep up with the new style of play, and the Mercury were propelled into first place in the Western Conference. Facing the reigning champion Detroit Shock, the Mercury imposed their high-scoring offense with hopes of capturing their first title in franchise history. Averaging 93.2 points per game in the Finals series, the Mercury beat Detroit on their home floor in front of 22,076 fans in game five to claim their first-ever WNBA title.

In October 2007 the WNBA awarded another expansion franchise to Atlanta. Atlanta businessman Ron Terwilliger was the original owner of the new team. Citizens of Atlanta were able to vote for their choices for the new team's nickname and colors. The Dream, as they were named, played their first regular-season game on May 17, which was a 67–100 loss to the Connecticut Sun.

Paul Westhead resigned from the Mercury after capturing the 2007 title and Penny Taylor opted to stay home to prepare for the 2008 Summer Olympics, causing the Mercury to falter in 2008. The team posted a 16–18 record and became the first team in WNBA history to miss the Playoffs after winning the championship in the previous season. In their place, the Detroit Shock won their third championship under coach Bill Laimbeer, solidifying their place in WNBA history before Laimbeer resigned early in 2009, effectively ending the Shock dynasty.

During the 2008 regular season, the first-ever outdoor professional basketball game in North America was played at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City. The Indiana Fever defeated the New York Liberty 71–55 in front of over 19,000 fans.

Late in 2008, the WNBA took over ownership of one of the league's original franchises, the Houston Comets. The Comets ceased operations on December 1, 2008, after no owners for the franchise could be found. A dispersal draft took place on December 8, 2008, and with the first pick, Sancho Lyttle was taken by the Atlanta Dream.

After an unsatisfying conclusion in 2008, the Mercury looked to bounce back to championship caliber. New head coach Corey Gaines implemented Paul Westhead's style of play, and the Mercury averaged 92.82 points per game throughout the 2009 season. Helped by the return of Penny Taylor, the Mercury once again locked up first place in the Western Conference and advanced to the 2009 Finals. The championship series was a battle of contrasting styles as the Mercury (number one league offense, 92.82 points per game) had to face the Indiana Fever (number three league defense, 73.55 points per game). The series went five games, including arguably one of the most thrilling games in WNBA history in game one of the series (Phoenix won in overtime, 120–116. The Mercury beat the Fever in game five, this time on their home court, to capture their second WNBA championship.

Not only did Paul Westhead's system influence his Mercury team, but it created a domino effect throughout the league. Young athletic players were capable of scoring more and playing at a faster pace. As a league, the 2010 average of 80.35 points per game was the best, far surpassing the 69.2 average in the league's inaugural season.

Changing of the guard (2010–2012)

Sylvia Fowles of the Sky

On October 20, 2009, the WNBA announced that the Detroit Shock would relocate to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to become the Tulsa Shock. On November 20, 2009, the WNBA announced that the Sacramento Monarchs had folded due to lack of support from its current owners, the Maloof family, who were also the owners of the Sacramento Kings at the time. The league announced it would seek new owners to relocate the team to the San Francisco Bay area; however, no ownership was found and a dispersal draft was held on December 14, 2009.

The 2010 season saw a tight race in the East, with three teams being tied for first place on the final day of the regular season. Five of the six teams in the East were in first place at some point during the season. The East held a .681 winning percentage over the West, its highest ever. In the 2010 Finals, two new teams represented each conference: the Seattle Storm and the Atlanta Dream. Seattle made their first finals appearance since winning it all in 2004, and Atlanta, coming into the playoffs as a four seed, impressively swept its opponents in the first two rounds to advance to the Finals in only the third year of the team's existence.

After the 2010 season, President Orender announced she would be resigning from her position as of December 31. On April 21, 2011, NBA commissioner David Stern announced that former Girl Scouts of the USA Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Laurel J. Richie would assume duties as president on May 16, 2011.

The 2011 season began with strong publicity helped by the rising young stars of the league and the NBA lockout. The 2011 NBA lockout began on July 1, 2011. Unlike the previous lockout, which affected the WNBA, president Laurel J. Richie confirmed that this lockout would not affect the WNBA. If the NBA season was shortened or canceled, the 2012 WNBA season (including the WNBA teams still owned by NBA owners) would run as planned. The lockout ended on November 26, and NBA teams would play a 66-game regular season following the lockout.

Many news outlets began covering the league more frequently. NBA TV, the television home of the NBA scheduled over 70 regular-season games to be televised (along with a dozen more on ESPN2 and ABC). The new influx of young talent into the league gave many teams something to be excited about. Players like Candace Parker of the Sparks, Maya Moore of the Lynx, DeWanna Bonner of the Mercury, Angel McCoughtry of the Dream, Sylvia Fowles of the Sky, Tina Charles of the Sun, and Liz Cambage of the Shock brought a new level of excitement to the game, adding talent to the teams of young veterans such as Diana Taurasi, Seimone Augustus and Cappie Pondexter. The level of play seemed to be evidenced by higher scoring, better defense, and higher shooting percentages. By the end of the 2011 regular season, nine of the twelve teams in the league had increased attendance over their 2010 averages.

Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles set a league record for double-doubles in a season with 23. Also, Sylvia Fowles of the Chicago Sky became only the second player in WNBA history to finish a season averaging at least 20 points (20.0ppg) and 10 rebounds (10.2rpg) per game. The San Antonio Silver Stars experienced boosts from their young players as well; rookie Danielle Adams scored 32 points off the bench in June and fellow rookie Danielle Robinson had a 36-point game in September. Atlanta Dream forward Angel McCoughtry was the first player in league history to average over 20 points per game (21.6ppg) while playing under 30 minutes per game (27.9mpg).

McCoughtry led her team to the Finals for the second straight year, but despite breaking her own Finals scoring record, the Dream was swept for the second straight year, this time by the Minnesota Lynx, which won its first title behind a fully healthy Seimone Augustus.

2012 featured a long Olympic break. The Indiana Fever won that year's WNBA championship.

The Three to See (2013)

The much-publicized 2013 WNBA draft produced Baylor University star Brittney Griner, Delaware's Elena Delle Donne, and Notre Dame All American Skylar Diggins (now Diggins-Smith) as the top three picks, the draft was the first to be televised in primetime on ESPN. Griner, Delle Donne, and Diggins have thus been labeled "The Three To See", but with the draft also came standouts such as Tayler Hill, Layshia Clarendon and Alex Bentley. The retirement of legends Katie Smith, Tina Thompson, Ticha Penicheiro, and Sheryl Swoopes coupled with the arrival of highly touted rookies and new rule changes effectively marked the end of an era for the WNBA and the ushering of another.[]

On the court, the Minnesota Lynx won their second title in three years, defeating the Atlanta Dream in the Finals and becoming the first team to sweep the playoff since the Seattle Storm.

The promotion of Griner, Delle Donne, and Diggins helped boost television ratings for the league by 28 percent, and half of the teams ended the season profitable. The improved health of the league was on display after the season, when the Los Angeles Sparks' ownership group folded; it took the league only a few weeks to line up Guggenheim Partners to purchase the team, and the franchise also garnered interest from the ownership of the Golden State Warriors.

Two more franchise relocations happened in the following years, as the Tulsa Shock moved in 2016 to the Dallas–Fort Worth region in Texas, being renamed Dallas Wings, and in 2018 the San Antonio Stars went to Nevada, becoming the Las Vegas Aces.

New CBA and Commissioner's Cup plans (2020)

During the 2018 season, the WNBA players' union opted out of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the league, which then ended after the 2019 season. In January 2020, the league and union announced that they had reached an agreement on a new CBA to take effect with the 2020 season and running through 2027. Among the features of the new agreement were:

  • Total player compensation increased by slightly over 50%. While most of this increase went to star players, all players benefited to some degree, and both sides were interested mainly in limiting, if not eliminating, overseas play by the league's top players.
  • Players are able to reach unrestricted free agency a year earlier than before. The previous CBA allowed a team to designate a player as "core"—similar to the NFL's franchise tag—four times. This dropped to three in 2020 and will drop further to two in 2022.
  • All player air travel to regular-season games is, at a minimum, premium economy class. Also, each player has her own hotel room for road games.
  • Players receive their full salary while on maternity leave. Additionally, an annual childcare stipend of $5,000 per player is provided; teams must make apartments of at least two bedrooms available to players with children, and add facilities for nursing mothers; and the league offers family planning benefits that allow up to a $60,000 reimbursement for veteran players for expenses related to adoption, surrogacy, embryo preservation, or infertility treatment.
  • The CBA is transitioning toward severely penalizing veteran players for late arrival at WNBA training camps. By the sixth year of the CBA, players with more than 2 years of service who miss the start of training camp will be suspended for the season. Exceptions include serious injury, national team commitments for non-US players, college graduations, and other significant life events.
  • The CBA also addressed the issue of players serving on NBA coaching staffs during the traditional basketball season. This came to a head during the 2019 offseason when the Washington Wizards, owned by the same company that owns the WNBA's Mystics, hired Mystics player Kristi Toliver as an assistant. Under the previous CBA, teams were allowed only $50,000 per year to allocate to players as an enticement to not play overseas. Because of the Mystics' and Wizards' shared ownership, the Wizards could only pay Toliver from the Mystics' $50,000 allocation—most of which had already been committed to Elena Delle Donne, a player who normally does not go overseas. With the new CBA, veteran players can work as coaches in the NBA without a salary limit, regardless of the team's ownership structure.

Also in January 2020, the WNBA announced a new in-season tournament, the Commissioner's Cup, which would begin with the 2020 season. Each team was scheduled to play 10 Cup games during the season: specifically, the first home and road games against each team in its conference. The final Cup games were to be played in July, with the top team in the Cup standings from each conference advancing to a one-off Cup final in August.

The 2020 WNBA schedule originally included a month-long break in July and August to allow players to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 2020 games were postponed until 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rendering the break unnecessary. On April 3, 2020, the WNBA announced that the beginning of its own schedule would be postponed. The 2020 entry draft took place as originally scheduled on April 17, although it was done remotely. No details of the revised schedule were announced as of the time of the draft, and the Commissioner's Cup was ultimately not held in 2020.

2020 season at IMG Academy

In June 2020, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced plans for the league to have a 22-game regular season, and a traditional playoff format, to be held exclusively at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The players were housed at the Bradenton complex, and all games and practices took place there. Players had until June 25 to let their teams know whether they planned to participate.

'Count It' campaign celebrating 25th anniversary (2021)

On March 15, 2021, an announcement was made that the WNBA would introduce a ceremonial logo, basketball, and uniforms as part of its 25th anniversary celebratory campaign called 'Count It'. Also as part of the campaign, the league unveiled The W25, consisting of 25 players determined to be the league's greatest and most influential, as chosen by a panel made up of media and pioneering women's players.

The delayed launch of the Commissioner's Cup was officially announced on May 12, 2021, two days before the start of the regular season. The originally planned schedule, with the first home game and first road game of each team against each of its fellow conference members doubling as Cup games, was maintained. All Cup games within each conference were played before the league took its Olympic break after July 11. The Cup final, officially termed the Commissioner's Cup Championship Game, involves the conference leaders in the Cup standings; its first edition was held on August 12 as the league's first game after the Olympic break, and was streamed via Amazon Prime Video. A prize pool of $500,000 is provided for the Cup, with players on the winning team guaranteed a minimum bonus of $30,000 and those of the losing team guaranteed $10,000, and the championship game MVP receiving an extra $5,000.

In February 2022, $75 million in capital was raised by the league, with the increase valuing the league at $475 million. 16 percent in equity in the league was given to investors as part of the deal. In mid-2022, Engelbert said that the WNBA hoped to identify one or two cities for expansion either by the start of that year's playoffs or by the end of the year, with the teams starting play as early as the 2024 season. The WNBA narrowed its list of potential cities from 100 to 10 to 12. The league would evaluate each city through 25 metrics in the categories of viewership, fan data, psychographics, sports benchmarks, and demographics. There were constant demands for expansion as Englebert was commissioner with lottery picks cut during their first season and long-time veterans cut during training camp due to the limited number of roster spots in the league.

On September 26, 2023, The Athletic reported that the co-owners of the Golden State Warriors of the NBA, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, were finalizing an agreement to start an expansion team in San Francisco. On October 5, 2023, the agreement was formally announced. The team, which will play at Chase Center and be headquartered in Oakland, will begin playing in the 2025 season, and are the league's first expansion team since the Atlanta Dream in 2008. There will be an expansion draft in December 2024. It was reported that the expansion fee for the team was $50 million over ten years. On the same date, WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert said that she expected a 14th team to be added to the WNBA by 2025, and mentioned that there were groups expressing serious interest in a franchise in Toronto, Philadelphia, Denver, Portland, and Sacramento. The Next reported that discussions reached the Board of Governors level about bringing a franchise back to Portland. The bid is by billionaire Kirk Brown, who co-founded DiscoverOrg.