The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league based in the United States and is composed of 12 teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA). League play began in 1997. The regular season runs from May to September, with each team playing 40 games. The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs, culminating in the WNBA Finals, which is played in October. The All-Star Game occurs midway through the season in July. The league hosts an annual mid-season competition, The Commissioner's Cup, which dates vary from year to year.
The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned by Herb Simon, the founder of Simon Property Group, who also owns the Fever's NBA counterpart, the Indiana Pacers.
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 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 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 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 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 15, 2013 at the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut at 8:00 pm EDT. The first round was shown on ESPN2 (HD), with the second and third rounds shown on ESPNU.
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 2013 WNBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on July 27, 2013, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, the current home of the Connecticut Sun. This was the 11th edition of the WNBA All-Star Game, and was played during the 2013 WNBA season. This was the third time the event had been held in Connecticut, the others being the 2005 and 2009 games.
The 2015 WNBA season was the 19th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The regular season started on June 5 and concluded on September 13 and playoffs started on September 17 and concluded on October 14.
The 2016 WNBA season was the 20th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Its regular season began on May 14 when the Indiana Fever hosted the Dallas Wings and concluded on September 18, with a Seattle Storm defeat of the Chicago Sky.
The 2017 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2017 WNBA season. On March 30, the WNBA announced that the draft would take place on April 13 in New York at Samsung 837.
The 2019 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2019 WNBA season. On March 19, the league announced the draft would be held on April 10 at Nike New York headquarters. The first round was televised on ESPN2, and the second and third rounds were televised on ESPNU.
The 2020 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2020 WNBA season. A draft lottery was held on September 17, 2019 and the New York Liberty were awarded the first overall pick in the draft. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the draft was held virtually without players, guests, and the media on-site. The draft was televised as planned; it was the most-watched WNBA draft in 16 years and the second most-watched in ESPN's history.
The 2020 WNBA season was the 24th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Washington Mystics were the defending champions. Planned changes to the league's schedule included an increase from 34 to 36 regular season games for each team, the introduction of a mid-season Commissioner's Cup tournament, and more games broadcast on ESPN and ABC. This was the first season under a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the WNBA Players Association. However, on April 3, the season was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under a plan approved on June 15, the league began a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, without fans present on July 25. A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces was named the league MVP. The Seattle Storm won the 2020 WNBA Finals over the Aces, and Breanna Stewart was named the Finals MVP.
The 2021 WNBA draft was the WNBA's draft for the 2021 WNBA season. A draft lottery was held on December 4, 2020, and the New York Liberty were awarded the first overall pick once again in the draft. The draft was held on April 15, and televised on ESPN in the United States and on TSN2 in Canada at 7:00 p.m. EDT.
The 2022 WNBA Draft, the WNBA's draft for the 2022 WNBA season, was held on April 11, 2022 in New York City and aired live on ESPN in the United States and on TSN1/4 in Canada at 7:00 p.m. EDT. The draft was the 27th in WNBA history.
The 2023 WNBA Draft, the WNBA's draft for the 2023 WNBA season and 28th draft in WNBA history, was held following the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 2023 draft took place at Spring Studios New York on April 10, 2023. It was exclusively televised on ESPN in the United States and on TSN3/5 in Canada at 7:00 p.m. EDT.
The 2023 WNBA season was the 27th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The defending champions, the Las Vegas Aces, repeated as champions after defeating the New York Liberty 3 games to 1 in the Finals.
Chiney Ogwumike