This is a list of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise post-season appearance droughts. This list includes the all-time and the active consecutive non-playoffs. Aside from the WNBA Playoff appearance droughts, this list also includes appearances in the WNBA Finals and WNBA championships win streak.
This is a list of teams that have active and current consecutive seasons without playoff appearances.
List updated through October 8, 2024.
| ^ | Longest drought in team history |
| ~ | Tied for longest drought in team history |
| Streak | Team | Last appearance in WNBA Playoffs | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Los Angeles Sparks^ | 2020 Second Round | [1] |
| 1 | Chicago Sky | 2023 First Round | [2] |
| 1 | Dallas Wings | 2023 Semifinals | [3] |
| 1 | Washington Mystics | 2023 First Round | [4] |
| 2024 Playoff teams | |||
| 0 | Atlanta Dream | 2024 First Round | [5] |
| 0 | Indiana Fever | 2024 First Round | [6] |
| 0 | Phoenix Mercury | 2024 First Round | [7] |
| 0 | Seattle Storm | 2024 First Round | [8] |
| 0 | Connecticut Sun | 2024 Semifinals | [9] |
| 0 | Las Vegas Aces | 2024 Semifinals | [10] |
| 0 | Minnesota Lynx | 2024 Finals | [11] |
| 0 | New York Liberty | 2024 Finals | [12] |
| ^ | Longest drought in team history |
| ♦ | Most consecutive series losses in team history |
List updated through the 2024 playoffs.
| Seasons since win | Team | Last series win in NBA Playoffs | Losing streak | Series losses – teams | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Indiana Fever^ | 2015 Conference Finals | 3 ♦ | 2015 Minnesota 2016 Phoenix 2024 Connecticut | [6] |
| 8 | Atlanta Dream^ | 2016 First Round | 4 ♦ | 2016 Chicago 2018 Washington 2023 Dallas 2024 New York | [5] |
| 5 | Los Angeles Sparks^ | 2019 Second Round | 2 | 2019 Connecticut 2020 Connecticut | [1] |
| 5 | Washington Mystics | 2019 Finals | 3 | 2020 Phoenix 2022 Seattle 2023 New York | [4] |
| 3 | Phoenix Mercury | 2021 Semifinals | 3 ♦ | 2021 Chicago 2022 Las Vegas 2024 Minnesota | [7] |
| 2 | Chicago Sky | 2022 First Round | 2 | 2022 Connecticut 2023 Las Vegas | [2] |
| 2 | Seattle Storm | 2022 First Round | 2 | 2022 Las Vegas 2024 Las Vegas | [8] |
| 1 | Dallas Wings | 2023 First Round | 1 | 2023 Las Vegas | [3] |
| 2024 Playoff Series | Winners | ||||
| 0 | Connecticut Sun | 2024 First Round | 0 | [9] | |
| 0 | Las Vegas Aces | 2024 First Round | 0 | [10] | |
| 0 | Minnesota Lynx | 2024 Semifinals | 0 | [11] | |
| 0 | New York Liberty | 2024 Semifinals | 0 | [12] | |
| Seasons | Team | Last appearance in NBA Finals | Result | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Dallas Wings [a] | 2008 | Won vs. San Antonio | [3] |
| 10 | Atlanta Dream | 2014 | Lost vs. Minnesota | [5] |
| 9 | Indiana Fever | 2015 | Lost vs. Minnesota | [6] |
| 7 | Los Angeles Sparks | 2017 | Lost vs. Minnesota | [1] |
| 5 | Washington Mystics | 2019 | Won vs. Connecticut | [4] |
| 4 | Seattle Storm | 2020 | Won vs. Las Vegas | [8] |
| 2 | Chicago Sky | 2021 | Won vs. Phoenix | [2] |
| 2 | Phoenix Mercury | 2021 | Lost vs. Chicago | [7] |
| 2 | Connecticut Sun | 2022 | Lost vs. Las Vegas | [9] |
| 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 2023 | Won vs. New York | [10] |
| 2024 Finalists | ||||
| 0 | Minnesota Lynx | 2024 | [11] | |
| 0 | New York Liberty | 2024 | [12] |
| Seasons | Team | Last WNBA championship | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Connecticut Sun | Never | [9] |
| 16 | Atlanta Dream | Never | [5] |
| 16 | Dallas Wings [a] | 2008 | [3] |
| 12 | Indiana Fever | 2012 | [6] |
| 10 | Phoenix Mercury | 2014 | [7] |
| 8 | Los Angeles Sparks | 2016 | [1] |
| 7 | Minnesota Lynx | 2017 | [11] |
| 5 | Washington Mystics | 2019 | [4] |
| 4 | Seattle Storm | 2020 | [8] |
| 3 | Chicago Sky | 2021 | [2] |
| 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 2023 | [10] |
| 0 | New York Liberty | 2024 | [12] |
Updated through the 2024 season.
| ^ | Denotes active drought |
| Team | Longest streak with no post-season appearances | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Sky | 2006 through 2012 | 7 |
| Indiana Fever | 2017 through 2023 | 7 |
| Phoenix Mercury | 2001 through 2006 | 6 |
| Minnesota Lynx | 2005 through 2010 | 6 |
| Dallas Wings | 2010 through 2014 | 5 |
| Las Vegas Aces | 1997 through 2000 2003 through 2006 2015 through 2018 | 4 |
| Connecticut Sun | 2013 through 2016 | 4 |
| Atlanta Dream | 2019 through 2022 | 4 |
| Los Angeles Sparks ^ | 2021 through 2024 | 4 |
| New York Liberty | 2018 through 2020 | 3 |
| Washington Mystics | 1998 through 1999 2007 through 2008 2011 through 2012 | 2 |
| Seattle Storm | 2000 through 2001 2014 through 2015 | 2 |
