The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). One of eight original franchises, it was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began.
The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded in 1997 and is one of the eight original franchises of the league. The team is owned by Joe Tsai, the majority owner of the Brooklyn Nets. The team's home games are played at Barclays Center.
The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Cleveland, that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which started in 1997. The owner was Gordon Gund, who at the time also owned the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. In October 2003, Gund announced that his Gund Arena Company would no longer operate the Rockers. The team folded after the 2003 season as the league was not able to find new ownership for the team.
The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; then moved to San Antonio before the 2003 season and became the San Antonio Silver Stars, then simply the San Antonio Stars in 2014. The team was owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which also owned the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. The team was sold to MGM Resorts International in 2017 and became the Las Vegas Aces for the 2018 season.
The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned by Herb Simon, who also owns the Fever's NBA counterpart, the Indiana Pacers, and Simon Malls.
Diana Lorena Taurasi is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and is considered to be one of the greatest players in WNBA history. She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2004), three WNBA championships, a historic five Olympic gold medals, one WNBA Most Valuable Player Award (2009), two WNBA Finals MVP Awards, five scoring titles, and three FIBA World Cups. She has also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams and fourteen All-WNBA teams. In 2011, she was voted by fans as one of the WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time, and was named by the league to its 20th and 25th anniversary teams, respectively the WNBA Top 20@20 in 2016 and The W25 in 2021. Also in 2021, she was selected by fans as the league's greatest player of all time. On June 18, 2017, Taurasi became the WNBA all-time leading scorer and on June 27, 2021, became the first player to surpass 9,000 points. On August 3, 2023, Taurasi became the first player to score 10,000 career points. Her penchant for scoring in crucial situations has earned her the nickname "White Mamba", coined by Kobe Bryant. Taurasi is one of 11 women to win an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a FIBA World Cup, and a WNBA Championship.
Sandra Anne Brondello is an Australian women's basketball coach, and the current head coach of the New York Liberty of the WNBA. Brondello played in Australia, Germany and the WNBA before retiring to become a coach. The 5 ft 7 in Brondello is one of Australia's all-time best shooting guards. She played on Australia's "Opals" national team at four Summer Olympics, and won three medals. She attended the Australian Institute of Sport in 1986–1987, and was inducted to the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
The 2008 WNBA season was the 12th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. It was the first WNBA season with a franchise in Atlanta as the Dream were announced in late 2007.
The Western Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is made up of six teams.
The 2007 WNBA Finals was the championship series of the 2007 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Phoenix Mercury, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, defeated the Detroit Shock, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, three games to two in a best-of-five series. This was Phoenix's first ever professional basketball title.
The 2013 WNBA season was the 17th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on May 24, and playoffs concluded on October 10. The Minnesota Lynx won their second league championship, defeating the Atlanta Dream three games to none in the 2013 WNBA Finals. The year represented a positive turning point for the long-struggling league. Both attendance and television viewership were up, driven by an influx of talented rookies, multiple teams reported that they were near a break-even point, and at least one franchise announced that it was profitable.
The 2014 WNBA Finals was the playoff series for the 2014 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Phoenix Mercury, champions of the Western Conference, faced the Chicago Sky, champions of the Eastern Conference.
Jewell Loyd is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first overall in the 2015 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm. She played college basketball at Notre Dame.
The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team plays their home games at Michelob Ultra Arena in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, and is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada. The Aces won the 2022 WNBA Commissioner's Cup and WNBA Championship.
The 2018 WNBA season was the 22nd season for the Phoenix Mercury franchise of the WNBA. The season tipped off on May 14.
The 2018 WNBA Playoffs were the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2018 season. The Seattle Storm won the team's third WNBA title, sweeping the Washington Mystics 3–0 in the best-of-five WNBA Finals.
The 2020 WNBA season was the 23rd season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on July 25, 2020, versus the Los Angeles Sparks.
The 2021 WNBA season was the 24th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on May 14, 2021, at the Minnesota Lynx.
The 2021 WNBA Finals, officially the WNBA Finals 2021 presented by YouTube TV for sponsorship reasons, was the best-of-five championship series for the 2021 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The finals featured the fifth-seeded Phoenix Mercury facing off against the sixth-seeded Chicago Sky, a rematch of the 2014 Finals. The Sky defeated the Mercury in 4 games, winning their first WNBA Championship, as well as Chicago's first professional basketball championship since 1998.
The 2022 WNBA season was the 25th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began on May 6, 2022, against the Las Vegas Aces and ended in the 1st round of the WNBA Playoffs against the same team. The season was marred by a number of issues, including injuries and the absence of Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia on drug charges.
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