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 New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded in 1997 and is one of the eight original franchises of the league. The team is owned by Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, the majority owners of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets. The team's home games are played at Barclays Center.
The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; then moved to San Antonio before the 2003 season and became the San Antonio Silver Stars, then simply the San Antonio Stars in 2014. The team was owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which also owned the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. The team was sold to MGM Resorts International in 2017 and became the Las Vegas Aces for the 2018 season.
The Women's National Basketball Association's Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season -- 1997, to the top defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.
Rebecca Lynn Hammon is a Russian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She previously served as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-American basketball player for the Colorado State Rams, Hammon went on to play for the San Antonio Stars and New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for several other teams outside the United States. Hammon was born and raised in the United States, but she became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2008 and represented the Russian national team in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
The Women's National Basketball Association's Sixth Player of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the 2007 WNBA season to the league's most valuable player for her team coming off the bench as a substitute—or sixth woman. A panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States votes on the recipient. Each panel member casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award. To be eligible for the award, a player must come off the bench in more games than she starts.
Mark M Davis is an American businessman and sports franchise owner. He is the controlling owner and managing general partner of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) and the owner of the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). His father, Al, was the principal owner of the Raiders from 1972 until his death in 2011. Upon his father's death, Davis and his mother, Carol, inherited ownership of the Raiders, with Davis taking over as operating head of the franchise. As of February 2023, his estimated net worth was $1.9 billion.
Natalie Mitsue Nakase is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). After retiring as a player, Nakase was a head coach for both men's and women's professional teams. She was later an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). She then won two WNBA championships as an assistant coach for the Las Vegas Aces in 2022 and 2023.
A'ja Riyadh Wilson is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
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.
The WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award first presented after the league's 2017 regular season. The winner is selected at the end of the regular season by a panel consisting of one executive from each of the WNBA's 12 teams, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place. Panel members are not allowed to vote for themselves. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The person with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.
The 2022 Las Vegas Aces season was the franchise's 26th season in the Women's National Basketball Association and the 5th year the franchise is based in Las Vegas after relocating from San Antonio and Utah. The regular season began on May 6, 2022, at the Phoenix Mercury.
The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions.
Kierstan Bell is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Las Vegas Aces in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Florida Gulf Coast and Ohio State.
The 2022 WNBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on July 10, 2022, at Wintrust Arena. The Chicago Sky hosted the game and related events for the first time.
The 2022 WNBA Finals, officially the WNBA Finals 2022 presented by YouTube TV for sponsorship reasons, was the best-of-five championship series for the 2022 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The finals featured the first-seeded Las Vegas Aces facing off against the third-seeded Connecticut Sun. The Aces defeated the Sun in 4 games, winning their first WNBA Championship. This was Las Vegas's third time making the finals, and the second time since moving to Vegas. They previously competed in the Finals in 2008 and 2020. This was Connecticut's fourth time making the finals. They previously competed in 2004, 2005, and 2019.
The 2023 Las Vegas Aces season was the franchise's 27th season in the Women's National Basketball Association and the sixth year the franchise is based in Las Vegas - after relocating from San Antonio and Utah. This was also the second season under head coach Becky Hammon. They were the defending WNBA champions, after defeating the Connecticut Sun in the 2022 WNBA Finals.
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 2023 WNBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on July 15, 2023, at Michelob Ultra Arena. The Las Vegas Aces hosted the game and related events for the third time - the previous games being in 2019 and 2021.
The 2024 Las Vegas Aces season is the franchise's 27th season in the Women's National Basketball Association and the seventh year the franchise is based in Las Vegas - after relocating from San Antonio and Utah. This is the third season under head coach Becky Hammon. They are the defending WNBA champions, after defeating the New York Liberty in the 2023 WNBA Finals. In 2023, the Aces also finished with the most regular season wins in WNBA history, 34. Additionally, the Aces won back-to-back WNBA titles, and were the first team to do so since 2001–2002. The season tipped off on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at home versus the Phoenix Mercury.
