2008 WNBA season | |
---|---|
League | Women's National Basketball Association |
Sport | Basketball |
Duration | May 17 – September 15, 2008 |
Number of games | 34 |
Number of teams | 14 |
Total attendance | 1,887,706 |
Average attendance | 7,932 |
TV partner(s) | ABC, ESPN, NBA TV |
2008 WNBA Draft | |
Top draft pick | Candace Parker |
Picked by | Los Angeles Sparks |
Regular season | |
Season MVP | Candace Parker (Los Angeles) |
Playoffs | |
Eastern champions | Detroit Shock |
Eastern runners-up | New York Liberty |
Western champions | San Antonio Silver Stars |
Western runners-up | Los Angeles Sparks |
Finals | |
Champions | Detroit Shock |
Runners-up | San Antonio Silver Stars |
Finals MVP | Katie Smith (Detroit) |
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.
No WNBA All-Star Game was held due to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The regular season began with a televised (ABC) meeting between the defending champion Phoenix Mercury and the Los Angeles Sparks in Phoenix, Arizona, on May 17.
Atlanta held their expansion draft on February 6, 2008, when they selected one player from each of the thirteen teams in the league.
Some of the players chosen were:
The Dream were then free to make trades with other teams in the league.
On October 23, 2007, the WNBA draft lottery was held. The Los Angeles Sparks received the first pick. The Chicago Sky was awarded the number two pick, followed by the Minnesota Lynx at number three, the Atlanta Dream at number four, the Houston Comets at number five and the Washington Mystics at number six.
The 2008 WNBA draft was held on April 9 in Tampa, Florida. Coverage of the first round was shown on ESPN2. Second and third round coverage was shown on NBA TV.
The top draft picks were as follows:
Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit Shock x | 22 | 12 | .647 | – | 14–3 | 8–9 | 16–4 |
Connecticut Sun x | 21 | 13 | .618 | 1.0 | 13–4 | 8–9 | 13–7 |
New York Liberty x | 19 | 15 | .559 | 3.0 | 11–6 | 8–9 | 11–9 |
Indiana Fever x | 17 | 17 | .500 | 5.0 | 11–6 | 6–11 | 12–8 |
Chicago Sky o | 12 | 22 | .353 | 10.0 | 8–9 | 4–13 | 10–10 |
Washington Mystics o | 10 | 24 | .294 | 12.0 | 6–11 | 4–13 | 6–14 |
Atlanta Dream o | 4 | 30 | .118 | 18.0 | 1–16 | 3–14 | 2–18 |
Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Antonio Silver Stars x | 24 | 10 | .706 | – | 15–2 | 9–8 | 10–10 |
Seattle Storm x | 22 | 12 | .647 | 2.0 | 16–1 | 6–11 | 13–7 |
Los Angeles Sparks x | 20 | 14 | .588 | 4.0 | 12–5 | 8–9 | 12–8 |
Sacramento Monarchs x | 18 | 16 | .529 | 6.0 | 5–12 | 13–4 | 9–11 |
Houston Comets o | 17 | 17 | .500 | 7.0 | 13–4 | 4–13 | 10–10 |
Minnesota Lynx o | 16 | 18 | .471 | 8.0 | 10–7 | 6–11 | 8–12 |
Phoenix Mercury o | 16 | 18 | .471 | 8.0 | 9–8 | 7–10 | 8–12 |
There was no WNBA All-Star Game due to the break July 28 through August 27 for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This marks the first time since the game was started in the 1999 season that there was no All-Star contest.
Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
---|---|---|---|
Points per game | Diana Taurasi | Phoenix Mercury | 24.1 |
Rebounds per game | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks | 9.5 |
Assists per game | Lindsay Whalen | Connecticut Sun | 5.4 |
Steals per game | Alexis Hornbuckle | Detroit Shock | 2.3 |
Blocks per game | Lisa Leslie | Los Angeles Sparks | 2.9 |
Field goal percentage | Sancho Lyttle | Houston Comets | .582 |
Three-point FG percentage | Edwige Lawson-Wade Lisa Willis | San Antonio Silver Stars New York Liberty | .468 |
Free throw percentage | Becky Hammon | San Antonio Silver Stars | .937 |
Points per game | Team stat | Phoenix Mercury | 88.53 |
Fewest points allowed | Team stat | Seattle Storm | 70.77 |
Field goal percentage | Team stat | San Antonio Silver Stars | .433 |
This was the outlook for the 2008 WNBA playoffs. Teams in italics had home court advantage. Teams in bold advanced to the next round. Numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's original playoffs seeding in their respective conferences. Numbers to the right of each team indicate the number of games the team won in that round.
First round | Conference Finals | WNBA Finals | ||||||||||||
1 | Detroit | 2 | ||||||||||||
4 | Indiana | 1 | ||||||||||||
1 | Detroit | 2 | ||||||||||||
Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
3 | New York | 1 | ||||||||||||
2 | Connecticut | 1 | ||||||||||||
3 | New York | 2 | ||||||||||||
1 | Detroit | 3 | ||||||||||||
1 | San Antonio | 0 | ||||||||||||
1 | San Antonio | 2 | ||||||||||||
4 | Sacramento | 1 | ||||||||||||
1 | San Antonio | 2 | ||||||||||||
Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
3 | Los Angeles | 1 | ||||||||||||
2 | Seattle | 1 | ||||||||||||
3 | Los Angeles | 2 |
The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began. Like some other WNBA teams, the Sparks have the distinction of not being affiliated with an NBA counterpart, even though the market is shared with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2006 season. The Sky experienced a period of success from 2013 to 2016, making four playoff appearances and playing in the 2014 WNBA Finals. They experienced a second period of success from 2019 to 2022 and won their first championship in the 2021 WNBA Finals.
The 1998 WNBA season was the Women's National Basketball Association's second season. The 1998 season saw two expansion teams join the league, the Detroit Shock and Washington Mystics. The expansion teams allowed the defending champions Houston Comets to move to the Western Conference. The regular season was extended from 28 games to 30 games. The season ended with the Comets winning their second WNBA championship. During the season, Kelly Boucher became the first Canadian to play in the league, suiting up for the Charlotte Sting.
The 2000 WNBA Season was the Women's National Basketball Association's fourth season. The 2000 season saw four expansion teams join the league, the Indiana Fever, Miami Sol, Portland Fire, and Seattle Storm. The season ended with the Houston Comets winning their fourth WNBA championship.
The 2007 WNBA Season was the Women's National Basketball Association's 11th season. On January 3, 2007 The Charlotte Sting folded. Three months later on April 4, the WNBA held their annual draft in Cleveland, Ohio. Lindsey Harding of Duke University was selected number one by the Phoenix Mercury. The Duke point guard was traded later to the Minnesota Lynx for Tangela Smith. The San Antonio Silver Stars selected Ohio State University center, Jessica Davenport. Davenport was traded to the New York Liberty for Becky Hammon. The season kicked off on May 19, with a rematch of the 2006 WNBA Finals between the Sacramento Monarchs and the Detroit Shock. The Shock defeated the Monarchs 75-68. On July 15 The All Star Game was played at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. The Eastern All Stars defeated the Western All Stars 103-99. Detroit Shock center, Cheryl Ford won the MVP of the game. Playing 27 minutes contributing 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists for the Eastern All Stars victory. The 2007 WNBA regular season ended on August 19. Lauren Jackson of the Seattle Storm was named league MVP. Dan Hughes of the San Antonio Silver Stars was named Coach of the Year. Armintie Price of the Chicago Sky was named Rookie of The Year. The 2007 WNBA season officially ended on September 16 when the Phoenix Mercury won the season WNBA Championship. The Mercury defeated the Detroit Shock 3 games to 2. Mercury guard Cappie Pondexter was named Finals MVP.
The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real estate investors Larry Gottesdiener, Suzanne Abair, and former Dream player Renee Montgomery. Although the Dream share the Atlanta market with the National Basketball Association's Hawks, the Dream is not affiliated with its NBA counterpart. The Dream play at the Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia.
The WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which Women's National Basketball Association teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The 2008 draft was held on April 9.
The 2008 WNBA season was the 11th for the Detroit Shock, an American women's professional basketball team. The Shock returned to the WNBA Finals for the third consecutive year, winning their second WNBA Championship in three seasons, and their third in six years.
The 2008 Los Angeles Sparks season was the 12th season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks returned to the postseason for the first time since 2006.
Marynell Meadors is an American women's basketball coach at the college and professional level. She most recently served as head coach and general manager of the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association and was one of the original eight head coaches when the WNBA started in 1997.
The 2009 WNBA Season was the 13th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. It is the first WNBA season without a Houston franchise, the Comets having folded in December 2008. The season ended with the Phoenix Mercury winning their second championship in three years.
The 2009 WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 9, 2009. The first round was shown on ESPN2 at 3:00pm ET, while the second and third rounds were shown on ESPNU and NBA TV at 4:00pm.
The 2009 Los Angeles Sparks season is the 13th season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. Lisa Leslie announced that the 2009 season would be her last. On June 5, the Sparks and Farmers Insurance Group of Companies announced a multi-year marketing partnership that includes a branded jersey sponsorship. The Farmers Insurance branded jersey will be worn by the players for the first time on June 6. As part of this alliance, the Farmers Insurance name and logo will appear on the front of the Sparks jerseys and will have considerable visibility in the Staples Center during home games. Los Angeles became only the second WNBA team to finalize such an agreement. The Sparks attempted to reach the playoffs and were successful.
The Tulsa Shock were a professional basketball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Detroit, Michigan before the 1998 WNBA season began; the team moved to Tulsa before the 2010 season. The team was owned by Tulsa Pro Hoops LLC, which is led by Bill Cameron and David Box. On July 20, 2015, Cameron announced that the franchise would move to Arlington, Texas for the 2016 WNBA season, rebranding as the Dallas Wings.
The 2010 WNBA season was the 14th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began with a televised (ESPN2) meeting between the defending champion Phoenix Mercury and the Los Angeles Sparks in Phoenix, Arizona on May 15. The Connecticut Sun hosted the 10th Annual All-Star Game which was broadcast live on ESPN on July 10. This year, it was a contest between Geno Auriemma's USA Basketball team and a single team of WNBA All-Stars. The Finals was a series between the Seattle Storm and the Atlanta Dream which Seattle won 3–0.
The 2010 WNBA Finals was the championship series of the 2010 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The champions of the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Dream, faced the champions of the Western Conference, the Seattle Storm.
The 2011 WNBA season was the 15th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on June 3 with the Los Angeles Sparks hosting the Minnesota Lynx, featuring 2011 WNBA draft top pick Maya Moore, in a game televised on NBA TV. Four games followed the next day, with the marquee matchup, televised on ABC, featuring the defending champion Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury in Seattle.
The 2012 WNBA season was the 16th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on May 18 and concluded on September 23 and playoffs started on September 27 and concluded on October 21.
The 2013 WNBA season was the 17th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on May 24 and conclued on September 15, and playoffs started on September 19 and 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 Dallas Wings are an American professional basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg Bibb is president and CEO. Brad Hilsabeck joined the Dallas Wings ownership group in March 2019 with the acquisition of Mark Yancey’s interest in the Wings.
This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines.(February 2016) |