The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league composed of 12 teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA), and league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from May to September, with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July and the WNBA Finals at the end of September until the beginning of October.
The Sacramento Monarchs were a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena.
Lindsay Marie Whalen is a former professional basketball player and coach. She most recently served as the head coach at Minnesota.
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.
Suzanne Brigit Bird is an American former professional basketball player who played her entire career with the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Bird was drafted by the Storm first overall in the 2002 WNBA draft and is considered to be one of the greatest players in WNBA history. As of 2021, Bird is the only WNBA player to win titles in three different decades. She held a front office position for the NBA's Denver Nuggets as their Basketball Operations Associate. She has also played for three teams in Russia, and also has dual citizenship with both U.S. and Israel.
Alana Monique Beard is an American former professional basketball player. After playing college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, she was drafted second overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2004 WNBA draft. She signed on with the Los Angeles Sparks as a free agent in 2012. Beard was the 2017 and 2018 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. However, she was injured next season, only contributing a few points for the Sparks. Beard announced her retirement from the WNBA on January 23, 2020.
The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the official sponsor.
Kathryn Elizabeth Douglas is an American former professional basketball player. Her primary position was shooting guard, her secondary was small forward. She was known league-wide as one of the most prominent two-way players for her long-range shooting and high scoring abilities on offense as well as her defensive abilities.
Seimone Delicia Augustus is an American former professional basketball player who is one of the most recognizable faces in the WNBA. After retiring as a player in 2020, she was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for two seasons. She was drafted first overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2006 draft; and played for the Lynx for most of her WNBA career except for her final season in 2020 with the Los Angeles Sparks. An eight-time All-Star and the 2011 finals MVP, Augustus led the Lynx to four WNBA championships. She also won three gold medals in the Olympics on the U.S. national team.
Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles is an American former professional basketball player. Fowles played for the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx during her WNBA career. She won the WNBA MVP Award in 2017 and the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award four times. She led the Lynx to win the WNBA Championship in 2015 and 2017, and she was named the MVP of the WNBA Finals both times. In 2020, Fowles overtook Rebekkah Brunson to become the WNBA's career leader in rebounds.
The National Basketball League (NBL) Finals is a tournament held at the end of each NBL season to determine the league champions.
Plenette Michelle Pierson is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In the 2007 season, Pierson won the first ever Sixth Woman of the Year Award given in the WNBA. Pierson is currently an assistant coach at Texas Tech.
Kristi Renee Toliver is an American-Slovak professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the associate head coach for the Phoenix Mercury. During her rookie season in the WNBA, Toliver signed an endorsement deal with Nike.
Odyssey Celeste Sims is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the WNBA. An AP and WBCA All-American, Sims was born in Irving, Texas and graduated from MacArthur High School.
Spurs Sports & Entertainment L.L.C. (SS&E) is an American sports & entertainment organization, based in San Antonio, Texas. The company owns and operates several sporting franchises including the National Basketball Association (NBA) San Antonio Spurs, NBA G League Austin Spurs, and the USL Championship club San Antonio FC. SS&E also operates the Bexar County-owned multi-purpose facility, the Frost Bank Center.
Kayla Renae McBride is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Super League (KBSL), EuroLeague Women. She was drafted third overall by the San Antonio Stars in the 2014 WNBA draft. McBride played shooting guard for Notre Dame, where she led the Fighting Irish to four consecutive Final Fours and three NCAA championship appearances.
Chelsea Nichelle Gray is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was the eleventh pick in the 2014 WNBA draft. She missed the 2014 WNBA season due to injury, but she made her debut with the Sun in the 2015 WNBA season. Gray won her first title with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016. She won her second title with the Las Vegas Aces in the 2022 WNBA Finals, where she was named Finals MVP, and a third title the following year.
The 2015 WNBA season was the 19th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The regular season started on June 5 and playoffs concluded on October 14.
A'ja Riyadh Wilson is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Wilson played for the South Carolina Gamecocks in college, and helped lead the Gamecocks to their first NCAA Women's Basketball Championship in 2017, and won the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award. In 2018, she won a record third straight SEC Player of the Year award, leading South Carolina to a record fourth straight SEC Tournament Championship, becoming the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina women's basketball history, and was a consensus first-team All-American for the third consecutive season. Wilson swept all National Player of the Year awards as the best player in Women's College basketball for 2018. In the 2018 WNBA draft, she was drafted first overall by the Aces.
Jonquel Orthea Jones is a Bahamian-Bosnian professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 WNBA draft. Since May 2019, she also holds the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, allowing her to play for the national team.
