List of WNBA seasons

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A regular season game during the 2022 WNBA season between the Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream in Seattle, Washington Breanna Stewart free throw vs Atlanta Dream at Climate Pledge Arena (July 2022).jpg
A regular season game during the 2022 WNBA season between the Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream in Seattle, Washington

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a professional women's basketball league based in the United States with 12 teams as of 2024. [1] The league was founded in 1996 by the men's National Basketball Association (NBA) as a wholly-owned subsidiary and began play in the 1997 season with eight teams. [2] [3] WNBA shares the same court dimensions, hoop height, and shot clock length as NBA, but has had shorter quarters of ten minutes each since 2006 and uses a smaller ball to match with international FIBA standards. [1] [4] [5] Full NBA ownership of the league ended in 2002 and new independent ownership groups began investing in franchises; the WNBA has seven teams with independent ownership and five that are under the same ownership as an NBA team and share the same home arena. [3] [6]

Contents

The league's 12 teams are organized into the Eastern and Western conferences; [1] a 13th team is scheduled to begin play in the 2025 season. [7] The number of WNBA teams has varied since the league's original eight in 1997 due to expansions and later contractions; the first expansion teams were added in 1998 and were followed by two more rounds of additions that brought the total to 16 teams in 2000. Following the change in NBA ownership in 2002, the WNBA lost two teams. The league lost two more teams by 2006 but expanded to remain at 13 teams. The number of teams has remained at 12 since the Houston Comets ceased operations after the 2008 season. [8]

As of the 28th season in 2024, each team plays 40 games during the regular season, which runs from May to September. The 2024 season includes a month-long break for the Summer Olympic Games that begins after the annual WNBA All-Star Game in mid-July. [9] [10] The summer schedule is mostly played during the NBA offseason, which allows teams to share venues; [11] during the WNBA offseason, many players transfer to overseas leagues that follow a fall and winter schedule. [12] Teams play four games against opponents in the same conference and two teams from the other conference; three games are played against the remaining four teams in the other conference. [13] Five regular season games in early June are 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 is hosted by the team with the better win–loss record in qualifying games. [14]

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 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 WNBA Finals. [15] [16] The most successful playoff teams are the Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, and defunct Houston Comets, who have each won four WNBA championships; the Lynx have made six appearances in the WNBA Finals, the most in league history. [17] [18] Three current WNBA teams have yet to win a championship; among them, the New York Liberty has finished as runners-up in five WNBA Finals. [19] [20]

The best regular season performance in league history was set in the 1998 season by the Houston Rockets, who finished with a 27–3 win–loss record—a winning percentage of 0.900. The number of games played by WNBA teams has steadily increased since the initial 28-game schedule in the inaugural season; for most of the league's history, teams played 34 games before the schedule was expanded to 36 games in 2022 and 40 games in 2023. The Las Vegas Aces won 34 games during the expanded 2023 season and set a record for most wins in a WNBA season. [21] [22] The WNBA playoffs has also changed its format several times; until 2016, the two conferences were separated until the WNBA Finals. Under the cross-conference format, top-seeded teams received single or double byes and some rounds had single-elimination games instead of a best-of-five series. [23] The format was simplified in 2022 to remove single-elimination rounds and byes. [16]

Seasons

WNBA seasons
SeasonTeams [8] Playoffs [24] Regular season Commissioner's Cup winner [25] Ref.
Champion SeriesRunners-upTop seedRecordGames
1997 8 Houston Comets 1–0 New York Liberty Houston Comets 18–1028Not established until 2020 [26]
1998 10 Houston Comets (2nd title)2–1 Phoenix Mercury Houston Comets 27–330 [27]
1999 12 Houston Comets (3rd title)2–1 New York Liberty Houston Comets 26–632 [28]
2000 16 Houston Comets (4th title)2–0 New York Liberty Los Angeles Sparks 28–432 [29]
2001 16 Los Angeles Sparks 2–0 Charlotte Sting Los Angeles Sparks 28–432 [30]
2002 16 Los Angeles Sparks (2nd title)2–1 New York Liberty Los Angeles Sparks 25–732 [31]
2003 14 Detroit Shock 2–1 Los Angeles Sparks Detroit Shock 25–934 [32]
2004 13 Seattle Storm 2–1 Connecticut Sun Los Angeles Sparks 25–934 [33]
2005 13 Sacramento Monarchs 3–1 Connecticut Sun Connecticut Sun 26–834 [34]
2006 14 Detroit Shock (2nd title)3–2 Sacramento Monarchs Connecticut Sun 26–834 [35]
2007 13 Phoenix Mercury 3–2 Detroit Shock Detroit Shock 24–1034 [36]
2008 14 Detroit Shock (3rd title)3–0 San Antonio Silver Stars San Antonio Silver Stars 24–1034 [37]
2009 13 Phoenix Mercury (2nd title)3–2 Indiana Fever Phoenix Mercury 23–1134 [38]
2010 12 Seattle Storm (2nd title)3–0 Atlanta Dream Seattle Storm 28–634 [39]
2011 12 Minnesota Lynx 3–0 Atlanta Dream Minnesota Lynx 27–734 [40]
2012 12 Indiana Fever 3–1 Minnesota Lynx Minnesota Lynx 27–734 [41]
2013 12 Minnesota Lynx (2nd title)3–0 Atlanta Dream Minnesota Lynx 26–834 [42]
2014 12 Phoenix Mercury (3rd title)3–0 Chicago Sky Phoenix Mercury 29–534 [43]
2015 12 Minnesota Lynx (3rd title)3–2 Indiana Fever New York Liberty 23–1134 [44]
2016 12 Los Angeles Sparks (3rd title)3–2 Minnesota Lynx Minnesota Lynx 28–634 [45]
2017 12 Minnesota Lynx (4th title)3–2 Los Angeles Sparks Minnesota Lynx 27–734 [46]
2018 12 Seattle Storm (3rd title)3–0 Washington Mystics Seattle Storm 26–834 [47]
2019 12 Washington Mystics 3–2 Connecticut Sun Washington Mystics 26–834 [48]
2020 12 Seattle Storm (4th title)3–0 Las Vegas Aces Las Vegas Aces [lower-alpha 1] 18–422 [lower-alpha 2] Not held [lower-alpha 3] [52]
2021 12 Chicago Sky 3–1 Phoenix Mercury Connecticut Sun 26–632 Seattle Storm [53]
2022 12 Las Vegas Aces 3–1 Connecticut Sun Las Vegas Aces [lower-alpha 4] 26–1036 Las Vegas Aces [55]
2023 12 Las Vegas Aces (2nd title)3–1 New York Liberty Las Vegas Aces 34–640 New York Liberty [56]
2024 12To be determinedTo be determinedTo be determined40To be determined [9]

Notes

  1. The Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm finished with identical 18–4 records during the 2020 regular season; Las Vegas earned the top seed by winning the head-to-head tiebreaker. [49]
  2. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was shortened to 22 games and played entirely behind closed doors at an isolated site in Bradenton, Florida. [50]
  3. The first edition of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup was delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [51]
  4. The Las Vegas Aces and Chicago Sky finished with identical 26–10 records during the 2022 regular season; Las Vegas earned the top seed by winning the head-to-head tiebreaker 2–1. [54]

Related Research Articles

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Storm</span> American professional womens basketball team

The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerley and her husband Barry ahead of the 2000 season. The team is currently owned by Force 10 Hoops LLC, which is composed of three Seattle businesswomen: Dawn Trudeau, Lisa Brummel, and Ginny Gilder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candace Parker</span> American basketball player

Candace Nicole Parker nicknamed "Ace", is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time, she was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. She spent 13 seasons on the Sparks, two seasons with the Chicago Sky, and as of 2023 has spent one season with the Las Vegas Aces, winning a championship with each team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Colson</span> American basketball player

Sydney Justine Colson is an American basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Texas A&M University, where she helped the Aggies win the 2011 NCAA title. She has previously played for the New York Liberty, San Antonio Stars, Minnesota Lynx, and the Chicago Sky in the WNBA, and overseas in Poland and Israel. Colson is a two-time WNBA champion, winning back-to-back titles with the Aces in 2022 and 2023.

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Las Vegas Aces</span> American professional womens basketball team

The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team plays their home games at Michelob Ultra Arena in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, and is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada. The Aces won the 2022 WNBA Commissioner's Cup and WNBA Championship. The Aces also won the 2023 WNBA Championship, becoming the first team to win back-to-back championships since 2001-2002, when the Los Angeles Sparks completed that feat.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 WNBA season</span> Sports season

The 2019 WNBA season was the 23rd season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Seattle Storm were the defending champions. The regular season began on May 24, with the Atlanta Dream hosting the Dallas Wings and the New York Liberty hosting the Indiana Fever. The season ended with the Washington Mystics securing their first WNBA Title over the Connecticut Sun three games to two, in a closely contested finals. Emma Meesseman was named Finals MVP and teammate Elena Delle Donne was named regular season MVP.

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 2020 Las Vegas Aces season is the franchise's 24th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the 3rd year the franchise was based in Las Vegas. The regular season tipped off on July 26, 2020 versus the Chicago Sky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 WNBA Finals</span> Championship series of the 2020 WNBA season

The 2020 WNBA Finals, officially WNBA Finals 2020 presented by YouTube TV for sponsorship reasons, was the best-of-five championship series for the 2020 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Finals feature the top seeded Las Vegas Aces facing off against the second seed Seattle Storm. Despite losing both regular season meetings against Las Vegas, the Storm dominated the series, sweeping the Aces in three straight games. Led by Finals MVP Breanna Stewart, Seattle won all three games by double-digits, claiming their second title in three years and fourth in franchise history.

The 2021 Las Vegas Aces season was the franchise's 25th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the 4th year the franchise was based in Las Vegas. The regular season tipped off on May 15, 2021 at the Seattle Storm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNBA Commissioner's Cup</span> In-season competition

The WNBA Commissioner's Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the WNBA Commissioner's Cup Presented By Coinbase, is an in-season competition of the Women's National Basketball Association that begins at the start of the regular season and continues throughout the first half of the season. The final is played between the top teams from the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. A total of 60 regular-season contests involving all 12 teams count toward the Cup standings.

The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions.

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.

The 2024 WNBA season is the upcoming 28th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), a professional women's basketball league based in the United States.

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