The Women’s National Basketball (WNBA) is the female counterpart of the Men’s National Basketball Association. It is a professional basketball league established in the United States and comprises twelve teams. The Women’s National Basketball Association was first founded on April 22, 1996. The first inaugural game was played in the year 1997. The regular season of the league is played from the month of May to September where the All-Star game is played in the middle of the league games from the month of July provided that it isn’t an Olympic year and the WNBA finals are played from the month end of September to the beginning of October.
The Women’s National Basketball Association was off to a rocky start since it had to compete with the American Basketball League, a newly formed professional women’s basketball league but it went on to shut down during its 1998-99 season. The league first began with eight teams in 1997, then two teams were added to the league in 1998 and two more teams in 1999 which equated to 12 teams and the present league consists of these 12 teams. The Women’s National Basketball League held its first All-Star Game in 1999 wherein the Eastern Conference was against the Western Conference. The West had been the winning team prior to 2006 when the East finally won their first game.
List of the Best Women’s Basketball Team
| Basketball Team | Number of seasons won |
|---|---|
| Houston Comets | 4 seasons |
| Minnesota Lynx | 4 seasons |
| Seattle Storm | 4 seasons |
| Los Angeles Sparks | 3 seasons |
| Phoenix Mercury | 3 seasons |
| Detroit Shock (present Dallas Wings) | 3 seasons |
Houston Comets
Houston Comets was an American Professional Basketball team in the Women’s National Basketball Association. The team was based in Houston, Texas, and was one of the original WNBA teams out of the eight teams. The Houston Texas was the first team to have won the first four championships of the WNBA’s existence. The Houston Comets is the only team that is tied with Seattle Storm to be the undefeated team in the WNBA Finals. The team then went on to disband and fold in the year 2008 due to no new ownership because of the Great Recession.
Houston Comets is known to have drafted some of the best players in the WNBA out of which one is Cynthia Cooper-Dyke. She is a professional Basketball coach and was a basketball player who has won in the WNBA, the Olympics, and championships in college. She was titled the WNBA Finals MVP four times and the WNBA MVP 2 times. Cooper has also won the WNBA Championship title four times. She used to average a score of 21 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game.
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx is an American professional team from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They represent their state in the Western Conference and they play for the Women’s National Basketball League. The team was first founded in 1999 and is still presently playing. They have won the WNBA title four times in their career in the years 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. The team has also qualified for the WNBA Playoffs in twelve seasons out of their 21 years. They are the only team presently to hold a record for being qualified for 10 consecutive playoffs.
The best player who played for the Minnesota Lynx is Sylvia Fowles. She spent half of her 14-year career with the Minnesota Lynx. Fowles has been selected for the WNBA All-Star seven times and has also been awarded the 2017 WNBA Most Valuable Player and has also been a two-time WNBA champion. She is also one of the best players and is a rebounding leader with a score of 3,663. In 2010 she went on to score her career-high of 35 points. She is known to average 11.3 points per game but since she was injured she had to sit out of 10 games.
Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm is an American Professional basketball team representing Seattle, Washington. They represent their state in the Western Conference and play for the Women’s National Basketball Association. The team was first founded in the year 2000 and is still currently playing. They won the WNBA Championship title four times in the years 2004, 2010, 2018, and 2020. They along with Houston Comets are the only teams to have not lost the WNBA Finals. The team has qualified in sixteen WNBA playoffs out of their 21 years.
One of the best players to have played for the Seattle Storm is Suzanne Brigit Bird who is an American-Israeli professional basketball player. She is one of the best players in WNBA history and is the only player to have won WNBA titles in three different decades. Bird has also played for three other teams in Russia. She was termed the USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year in 2021. She has also won 5 Gold Olympic medals for the United States.
Los Angeles Sparks
The Los Angeles Sparks is an American Professional Basketball team representing Los Angeles, California. They represent their state in the Western Conference and play for the Women’s National Basketball Association. The team was first founded in 1997 and is one of the original WNBA teams. The team was in the WNBA Finals 5 times but has won the title 3 times in the years 2001, 2002, and 2016. The Sparks have also qualified for the WNBA Playoffs 20 times out of their 24 years in the league. The only team to have qualified these many times in the entire league.
One of the best players in the Los Angeles Sparks is Candace Nicole Parker who is an American Professional Basketball Player. She is a multi-talented player who plays the forward as well as the center positions for her team. She is the first woman to have dunked in an NCAA tournament. Parker has won the WNBA Championship title 2 times and has been the WNBA Finals MVP once. She has also been termed the WNBA Most Valuable Player 2 times. She has also won 2 GOld Olympics for the Women’s Basketball team representing the U.S.A.
Phoenix Mercury
The Phoenix Mercury is an American Professional Basketball team representing Phoenix, Arizona. They represent their state in the Western Conference and play for the Women’s National Basketball Association. The team was first founded in 1997 and is one of the original eight teams to have been in the WNBA. The team has won the WNBA Championship three times in the years 2007, 2009, and 2014. The Phoenix Mercury have qualified in the WNBA Playoffs fifteen times out of twenty four years.
One of the best players in the Phoenix Mercury is Diana Lorena Taurasi who is an American Professional Basketball Player. She plays the Point guard and the shooting guard for her team. She has won the WNBA Championship title 3 times and has also been the WNBA Finals MVP 2 times and has been the WNBA MVP once. Diana is known for her crucial situation scoring which earned her the nickname known as “ White Mamba”. She has won 5 Gold Olympic teams for the Women’s Basketball team representing the United States.
Detroit Shock (Dallas Wings)
The Detroit Shock is a Women’s American Basketball team that represents the Auburn Hills, Michigan. They represent their state in the Eastern Conference in the Women’s National Basketball Association. The Detroit Shock was one of the teams to have joined in the first expansion of the WNBA and debuted in the year 1998. They are currently known as the Dallas Wings. The team has won the WNBA Championship three times in the years 2003, 2006, and 2008.
One of the best players to have played for the Detroit Shock is Swintayla Marie “Swin” Cash who was an American professional basketball player. She plays the position of forward for her team. She has won the WNBA Championship title three times and has also been selected to the WNBA All-Star team four times where she has won the MVP title 2 times. Marie is known to be one of the best scorers and rebounders in the WNBA and is also known for her ball-handling capability. She represented the United States on the Women’s Basketball Team and also won two Olympic Gold Medals.
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