Test Your WNBA Knowledge

Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a professional basketball league in the United States with 12 teams.

The league was founded on April 22, 1996, and league play started in 1997.

Five WNBA teams have direct NBA counterparts and normally play in the same arena.

The Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Seattle Storm, and Washington Mystics do not share an arena with a direct NBA counterpart.

The league was marketed around stars Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie, and Sheryl Swoopes.

The Houston Comets won the first four championships since the league's inception.

The league added four more teams for the 2000 season, bringing the league up to 16 teams.

The WNBA became the first team-oriented women's professional sports league to exist for ten consecutive seasons.

The Phoenix Mercury won their first-ever WNBA title in 2007.

The league's average of 80.35 points per game was the best in 2010.

The Detroit Shock relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to become the Tulsa Shock, and the Sacramento Monarchs folded in 2009.

The 2010 season saw a tight race in the East, with three teams being tied for first place on the final day of the regular season.A Summary of the History of the WNBA

• The East held a .681 winning percentage over the West in the 2010 season, its highest ever.

• Laurel J. Richie assumed duties as president of the WNBA on May 16, 2011.

• The 2011 season began with strong publicity helped by rising young stars and the NBA lockout, which did not affect the WNBA.

• The 2013 WNBA Draft produced Brittney Griner, Elena Delle Donne, and Skylar Diggins, known as "The Three To See."

• The Minnesota Lynx won the 2013 WNBA championship, boosting television ratings for the league by 28%.

• A new CBA and Commissioner's Cup were announced in January 2020.

• The 2020 season was held exclusively at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The "Count It" campaign celebrated the league's 25th anniversary in 2021.

• The delayed launch of the Commissioner's Cup was officially announced in 2021, and the first Cup final was held in August.

• The WNBA regular season begins in May, and each team plays 40 games, 20 each of home and away.

• The Commissioner's Cup is an in-season tournament, with each team playing its first home and away games against each of its conference opponents as Cup games.

• The league held its first-ever All-Star Game in 1999.Overview of the WNBA Season and Awards

• The WNBA All-Star Game is held annually in July and features star players from across the league.

• The game is played on the selected team's home court, and conference affiliations have been ignored since 2018.

• Voting for All-Star starters takes place among fans, players, and media members, and the two players with the most fan votes are team captains.

• The trading deadline follows shortly after the All-Star break, and major trades often occur right before it.

• The playoffs usually begin in September and are made up of the eight best teams from the regular season.

• The playoffs have been held in a standard knockout format since 2022, with the quarterfinals bracketed in a normal manner.

• The WNBA Finals is a best-of-five series between the two semifinal winners, held annually in October.

• The Houston Comets, Minnesota Lynx, and Seattle Storm have won the most championships with four titles each.

• Sue Bird of the Seattle Storm holds the record for career assists with 3,234 in 580 regular-season games.

• Awards given at the end of the season include Sixth Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award, Coach of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and Basketball Executive of the Year.

• Teams are beginning to become more profitable, with six of the league's 12 teams reporting a profit in 2013.

• The WNBA has become a leader in social activism and promoting social and political movements, such as Black Lives Matter and promoting the COVID-19 vaccine.

• The league has secured sponsorships with Boost Mobile and Casino Arizona and Talking Stick Resort, and some teams feature sponsors on their jerseys.Overview of the WNBA: Salaries, Rosters, Collective Bargaining, Merchandise, Attendance, and Media Coverage

• The Philadelphia 76ers were the first team to feature a sponsor's logo on their jerseys, starting in 2017.

• Adidas upgraded all team uniforms before the start of the 2011 season.

• AT&T became the first non-apparel partner to have its logo featured on the front of all 12 team jerseys in 2019.

• The maximum team roster size changed from 13 players to 11 players before the 2009 season.

• The WNBA and players signed a new, eight-year collective bargaining agreement in March 2014, increasing the number of players on a roster to 12.

• The WNBA Draft is held annually every spring, with three rounds and each team getting three picks.

• The salary cap for an entire team in 2020 was $900,000, with players supplementing their salaries by playing overseas.

• The 2020 CBA significantly increased minimum and maximum salaries, with the minimum league salary in 2020 being $57,000 for players with less than three years of experience, and $68,000 otherwise.

• Lack of roster space for rookies has become a major issue in recent years.

• The WNBA's average attendance per game has decreased over the years, with 2015 having a record low of 7,318.

• WNBA games are televised throughout the U.S. by ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Twitter, NBATV, CBS, and CBS Sports Network, with some teams offering games on local radio and television stations.

• WNBA League Pass was launched in 2009, providing fans with access to more than 200 live game webcasts throughout the WNBA season.