And then I sit back and turn on the television and watch them perform. Still, the league has thrived, particularly over the last few years. While most leagues took ratings hits during the pandemic, the WNBA was able to offset losses with some strong indicators. Will any combination of the above players team up to form the next WNBA dynasty? Time will tell. It always does — but the task could be made harder if the league decides to expand. Depending on how you look at it, that parity is the up or downside to success.
But no matter what, the talent level in the W has never been higher. By Russell Steinberg. Sign Up For Our Newsletter. And the Storm looked to be a strong threat to become the first repeat champion since the Sparks in But an Achilles injury kept Stewart out in When she returned in , the Storm picked up where they had left off in With Los Angeles and Minnesota both eliminated in advance of the semifinals after back-to-back Finals meetings, the Storm emerged as the league's best team, improving by 11 wins under first-year head coach Dan Hughes with Stewart winning MVP.
Seattle went in the regular season and became the first team to go in the postseason after the Finals expanded to best-of-five series in The Storm specialized in close wins, going in games decided by five points or fewer in the regular season and winning their last five playoff games by single digits. Seattle didn't lose at home in , which ended up being Jackson's last full season in the WNBA, as injuries forced her out of the league after Regular season and playoff records: , Defeated Connecticut in Finals.
They were more impressive during the playoffs, going with an average margin of The Sparks' repeat championship seemed more predictable than extraordinary at the time, coming after Houston had won four in a row. But almost two decades later, no franchise has gone back-to-back, so Los Angeles' achievement stands out more now. There isn't much to separate this team from the Sparks, who had a little better regular-season record.
The standout players were the same except for Nikki Teasley, a rookie in who hit the championship-clinching 3-pointer in Game 2 of the Finals. Regular season and playoff records: , Defeated Sacramento in Finals. Detroit got home-court advantage thanks to Sacramento upsetting Los Angeles in the Western Conference finals and used it, rallying from a deficit to knock off the defending champs in five games.
A big key for this team was the midseason trade that brought Katie Smith to the Shock. In the decisive Game 5, won by Detroit, Nolan played all 40 minutes and scored 24 points. Indiana reached a different level in the playoffs, as Mechelle notes below. When Indiana lost its playoff opener at home to Atlanta, there was no reason to think anything magical was in the works.
Yet two days later, Indiana scored points in beating the Dream, then closed out that series with another victory. The roller coaster wasn't over. The Fever also lost their opener in the East finals to Connecticut and were on the verge of getting swept before pulling Game 2 out of the fire and winning Game 3 on the road. Next up: A Lynx team that had the best record in the league that year. The Lynx, who led the league in offensive rating, were held to a season-low 59 points, while Indiana's Shavonte Zellous erupted for 30 points.
Indiana had been up in the Finals but couldn't close out that series at home and lost Game 5 at Phoenix. In , franchise legend Catchings and the Fever won Game 4 at home. Regular season and playoff records: , Defeated Detroit in Finals. Phoenix's winning formula was coach Paul Westhead's run-and-gun offense, which was first in the league. Defense was not as much a priority; the Mercury were next-to-last in defensive rating. The Finals matchup with defending champion Detroit got chippy, with Phoenix surviving a physical Game 4 in a win.
Then the Mercury became the first WNBA team to win a championship on the road, taking Game 5 at Detroit behind 30 points from Taylor -- who went 18 of 18 from the free throw line -- and 26 points and 10 assists from Finals MVP Pondexter. Despite a record, the Mercury had the worst point differential in the regular season of any champion to date. Whoever wins this year's Finals will surpass them.
Phoenix was much more impressive in the playoffs, sweeping to the Finals and outscoring Detroit by a combined 30 points in a series that went the full five games.
Seattle went the distance to beat both Sacramento and Connecticut. And this was the last year that the Finals was a best-of-three series. The Storm were on the ropes after a opening loss at Connecticut. But they pulled out a nail-biter in Game 2 at Seattle, led by Betty Lennox's 27 points. Regular season and playoff records: , Defeated Indiana in Finals. But big-time help came via two trades in July: first for guard Renee Montgomery and then for center Fowles, who had sat out the season to that point to force a trade from Chicago.
Moore, the MVP, was again brilliant in , leading the Lynx in scoring in the regular season She hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win Game 3 of the Finals vs. Indiana It's surprising to see the Lynx in last in my statistical model given the championship teams two years before and after are both among my top seven, and the next year's runner-up is the best-rated non-champion in WNBA history.
There was hope in , when the Comets returned to the playoffs and returned to the conference finals for the first time since by knocking off the defending champion Seattle Storm in three games. It was the last time Houston would make the playoffs before being dissolved. Comets owner Leslie Alexander announced that he was selling the team in October Chancellor retired before the new ownership took over, and on Jan.
After starting the season a miserable, , the Comets would go on to miss the playoffs for the second time in franchise history. Koch decided to move the team from the 18,seat Toyota Center to the much more intimate Reliant Arena for the season in order save money in the face of the recession and declining attendance. In , the NBA laid off 80 employees as a result of the economic climate. By September , the stars that had aligned for Houston during its inaugural season and the three there after had almost completely moved on.
But Thompson, the sole member of the original team, made sure the Comets ended on a high note, scoring 31 points in a victory. But I just think that it was a very bad misjudgment. Tangible impacts of the Comets were the girls who grew up in Houston during that era and played in the league such as Brittney Griner, Lindsey Harding, Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike. Then there are former players like Kara Lawson, and current ESPN commentator, who had a poster of Cooper pinned right next to her Michael Jordan fit on her bed room wall.
In the eight years since the Comets were shuttered, the league has downsized from 14 teams to It has not seen a team repeat as champions since the Sparks and there remains no talk of a team returning to Houston. Facing elimination Sunday night at the Staples Center in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals, Moore scored a playoff career-high 31 points and added nine rebounds, five assists and three steals in the win over the Sparks.
With a win, the Lynx become only the third WNBA team to repeat as champions and cement their status as a dynasty. After losing five of the original eight teams, shifting the ownership model and enduring an economic crisis, as the 20th anniversary of the league comes to a close, the WNBA finds itself in a win-win situation, even after losing its most successful franchise in the process. Correction: Van Chancellor coached at Ole Miss. The original story stated he was coach at Mississippi State.
Rhiannon Walker is an associate editor at The Undefeated. She is a drinker of Sassy Cow Creamery chocolate milk, an owner of an extensive Disney VHS collection, and she might have a heart attack if Frank Ocean doesn't drop his second album.
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