2025 WNBA season

Last updated
2025 WNBA season
League Women's National Basketball Association
Sport Basketball
DurationMay 16 – October 2025
Number of games44 per team
Number of teams13
TV partner(s) ABC/ESPN/ESPN2
Ion
CBS/CBSSN
Amazon Prime Video
NBA TV
Draft
WNBA seasons
2026 →

The 2025 WNBA season will be the 29th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), a professional women's basketball league based in the United States.

Contents

The regular season runs from May 16 to September 11 with each of the 13 teams playing 44 games—four games against five teams from the same conference and two teams from the other conference, and three games against the remaining four teams. [1] Five regular season games will be played against teams in the same conference to determine qualification for the WNBA Commissioner's Cup, an in-season tournament first played in 2021; the final will be hosted by the team with the better win–loss record in qualifying games. [2] The 2025 season will feature a week long break for the annual WNBA All-Star Game in July 2025. [3] [4]

The eight teams with the best regular season records, regardless of conference, qualify for the WNBA Playoffs to determine the league's champion in the 2025 WNBA Finals. Since 2022, the playoffs have used a best-of-three series in the first round, where teams are seeded based on regular season performance, and a best-of-five format for the semifinals and new this season, a best-of-7 WNBA finals. [5] [6] The defending champions for 2024 are the New York Liberty. [7]

2025 WNBA draft

The 2025 WNBA draft will be held in April 2025.

Transactions

Retirement

Free agency

The free agency negotiation period began on January 21, 2025, and teams were able to officially sign players starting on February 1, 2025. [11]

Coaching changes

Off-season
Team 2024 season 2025 seasonRef.
Atlanta Dream Flag of the United States.svg Tanisha Wright Flag of the United States.svg Karl Smesko [12]
Chicago Sky Flag of the United States.svg Teresa Weatherspoon Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Marsh [13]
Connecticut Sun Flag of the United States.svg Stephanie White Flag of France.svg Rachid Meziane [14]
Dallas Wings Flag of the United States.svg Latricia Trammell Flag of the United States.svg Chris Koclanes [15]
Golden State Valkyries Did not exist Flag of the United States.svg Natalie Nakase [16]
Indiana Fever Flag of the United States.svg Christie Sides Flag of the United States.svg Stephanie White [17]
Los Angeles Sparks Flag of the United States.svg Curt Miller Flag of the United States.svg Lynne Roberts [18]
Washington Mystics Flag of the United States.svg Eric Thibault Flag of the United States.svg Sydney Johnson [19]

Regular season

All-Star Game

July 19, 2025
8:30 p.m. ET

Standings

#Team W L PCT GB Conf. Home Road Cup
1 Atlanta Dream 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
2 Chicago Sky 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
3 Connecticut Sun 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
4 Dallas Wings 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
5 Golden State Valkyries 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
6 Indiana Fever 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
7 Las Vegas Aces 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
8 Los Angeles Sparks 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
9 Minnesota Lynx 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
10 New York Liberty 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
11 Phoenix Mercury 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
12 Seattle Storm 00.000—0–00–00–00–0
13 Washington Mystics 00.000—0–00–00–00–0

Notes

(#) – League Standing
x – Clinched playoff berth
e – Eliminated from playoff contention
Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings

Statistical leaders

The following shows the leaders in each statistical category during the 2025 regular season. [20] [21] [22]

CategoryPlayerTeamStatisticRef.
Points per game
Rebounds per game
Assists per game
Steals per game
Blocks per game
Field goal percentage
Three point FG percentage
Free throw percentage
Points per game (team)
Field goal percentage (team)

Season award winners

Player of the Week Award

Date AwardedEastern ConferenceWestern ConferenceRef.
PlayerTeamPlayerTeam

Player of the Month Award

MonthEastern ConferenceWestern ConferenceRef.
PlayerTeamPlayerTeam

Rookie of the Month Award

MonthPlayerTeamRef.

Coach of the Month Award

MonthPlayerTeamRef.

Postseason awards

AwardWinnerPositionTeamVotes/StatisticRef.
Most Valuable Player Award
Finals MVP Award
Rookie of the Year Award
Most Improved Player Award
Defensive Player of the Year Award
Sixth Player of the Year Award
Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award
Peak Performer: Points
Peak Performer: Rebounds
Peak Performer: Assists
Coach of the Year Award
Basketball Executive of the Year Award
TeamMembersRef.
All-WNBA First Team
All-WNBA Second Team
All-Defensive First Team
All-Defensive Second Team
All-Rookie Team

Coaches

Eastern Conference

TeamHead coachPrevious jobYears with teamRecord with teamPlayoff AppearancesFinals AppearancesWNBA Championships
Atlanta Dream Karl Smesko Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 00–0000
Chicago Sky Tyler Marsh Las Vegas Aces
(assistant coach)		00–0000
Connecticut Sun Rachid Meziane Villeneuve-d'Ascq 00–0000
Indiana Fever Stephanie White Connecticut Sun 2
(second stint)		37–31210
New York Liberty Sandy Brondello Phoenix Mercury 380–36321
Washington Mystics Sydney Johnson Chicago Sky
(assistant coach)		00–0000

Western Conference

TeamHead coachPrevious jobYears with teamRecord with teamPlayoff AppearancesFinals AppearancesWNBA Championships
Dallas Wings Chris Koclanes USC Trojans
(assistant coach)		00–0000
Golden State Valkyries Natalie Nakase Las Vegas Aces
(assistant coach)		00–0000
Las Vegas Aces Becky Hammon San Antonio Spurs
(assistant coach)		387–29322
Los Angeles Sparks Lynne Roberts Utah Utes 00–0000
Minnesota Lynx Cheryl Reeve Detroit Shock
(assistant coach)		15330–1801374
Phoenix Mercury Nate Tibbetts Orlando Magic
(assistant coach)		119–21100
Seattle Storm Noelle Quinn Seattle Storm
(associate head coach)		474–68300

Notes:

Media coverage

National

This will be the ninth and final year of the deal with ESPN, the third and final year of the deal with Ion, [23] and the second and final year of a deal with CBS Sports and Amazon. [24] [25] New 11 year deals with ESPN, NBC Sports and Amazon will begin in 2026. [26] Select games also air on NBA TV through the WNBA and NBA's shared ownership.

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References

  1. ↑ Allen, Percy (December 18, 2023). "Here's a look at the Storm's 2024 schedule" . The Seattle Times . Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  2. ↑ Voepel, M.A. (December 18, 2023). "WNBA goes to more compact format for Commissioner's Cup". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  3. ↑ Pickman, Ben; Merchant, Sabreena (December 18, 2023). "WNBA unveils 2024 schedule with 40 regular-season games, new Commissioner's Cup format" . The Athletic . Archived from the original on July 6, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  4. ↑ Feinberg, Doug (December 18, 2023). "WNBA to take its usual month-long break for the Olympics". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  5. ↑ Henderson, Cydney (September 12, 2023). "2023 WNBA playoffs: Finals schedule, scores, matchups and award winners". USA Today . Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  6. ↑ Huddleston, Ben (2024-10-11). "News: WNBA Finals format, Vince Carter, Cam Newton". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  7. ↑ Lev, Jacob (October 18, 2023). "Las Vegas Aces become WNBA's 1st repeat champions in 21 years". CNN. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Layshia Clarendon, WNBA's first openly nonbinary player, retires". ESPN . September 20, 2024. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Angel McCoughtry, Sylvia Fowles and Danielle Robinson capture 2013 WNBA Peak Performer honors". Hoop Feed. September 18, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Indiana Fever Send Heartfelt Message to Former All-Star After Retirement Announcement". Parade Media . January 2, 2025. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
  11. ↑ Maloney, Jack (January 28, 2025). "2025 WNBA free agency tracker: Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas among star players to receive core designation". cbssports.com. CBS . Retrieved January 28, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Atlanta Dream Hire Karl Smesko as Head Coach". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
  13. ↑ "Chicago Sky Name Tyler Marsh as Head Coach". sky.wnba.com. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
  14. ↑ Voepel, Michael (2024-12-04). "Sun hire coach Meziane of Belgian national team". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
  15. ↑ "Dallas Wings Name Chris Koclanes Head Coach". wings.wnba.com. December 23, 2024.
  16. ↑ James, Yalonda (2024-10-11). "Natalie Nakase becomes WNBA's first Asian American head coach". NBC News. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
  17. ↑ "Indiana Fever Hire Stephanie White as Head Coach". fever.wnba.com. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
  18. ↑ "Los Angeles Sparks Name Lynne Roberts Head Coach". sparks.wnba.com. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
  19. ↑ "Mystics hire Wideman as GM, Johnson as coach". Associated Press . ESPN. December 23, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Official Leaders". wnba.com. WNBA. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Team Stats". wnba.com. WNBA. Archived from the original on February 6, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Statistical Minimums". wnba.com. WNBA. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  23. ↑ Zucker, Joseph (April 20, 2023). "WNBA, ION TV Agree to Multiyear Broadcast Contract; Won't Run Past 2025 Season". Bleacher Report . Archived from the original on May 26, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  24. ↑ Lucia, Joe (April 10, 2024). "CBS Sports announces new multi-year deal with WNBA". Awful Announcing. Archived from the original on April 10, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  25. ↑ Spangler, Todd (April 5, 2024). "Amazon Prime Video Extends WNBA Exclusive Streaming Pact for Two More Years". Variety. Archived from the original on April 10, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  26. ↑ Nagle, Dave (October 6, 2014). "ESPN & NBA Reach Nine-Year Agreement for Significantly Enhanced Multiplatform Rights". ESPN Press Room. Archived from the original on July 6, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
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