WNBA 2019

Women's National Basketball Association
◄ previous	Season 2019		next ►
Duration		May 24th - September 8th 2019
Season games per team		34
Number of teams		12
Regular season
Playoffs
Finals

The 2019 season is the 23rd season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The regular season began on May 24, 2019. After the regular season, which should run until September 8, 2019, the playoffs for the WNBA championship will be held.

Draft

On August 28, 2018, a lottery was held to determine the order in which the first four picks were selected. The four teams that missed the playoffs in 2018 took part in the lottery . In the lottery, the Las Vegas Aces again secured the top pick. The other early draft picks went to New York Liberty , Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky . The probability of winning was determined on the basis of the balance sheets for the last two seasons.

The WNBA Draft 2019 took place on April 10, 2019 at the Nike Headquarters in New York . The first player to be drafted was Jackie Young . She was followed by Asia Durr and Teaira McCowan . In total, the 12 franchises secured the rights to 36 players in three rounds. The United States made up the lion's share with 27 players .

Top 5 picks

Abbreviations: Pos = Position, G = Guard, F = Forward, C = Center

#	Player	nationality	Item	WNBA team	College / professional team
1.	Jackie Young	United States	G	Las Vegas Aces	University of Notre Dame
2.	Asia Durr	United States	G	New York Liberty	University of Louisville
3.	Teaira McCowan	United States	C.	Indiana Fever	Mississippi State University
4th	Katie Lou Samuelson	United States	G / F	Chicago Sky	University of Connecticut
5.	Arike Ogunbowale	United States	G	Dallas Wings	University of Notre Dame

Regular season

mode

The 12 WNBA teams are divided into two conferences, with the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference each comprising six teams. Overall, each team should play 34 season games during the regular season, each team half of the games at home or away. Due to the introduction of the conference-wide playoff system in 2016, the distribution of opponents in the regular season was also adjusted. Within their own conference, the teams play against one team a total of four times and against the remaining four teams three times against each other. In addition, each team plays three more games against each team from the other conference.

Closing tables

Explanations:     = Playoff qualification,    = Conference winner

Eastern Conference
Pl	team	Sp	S.	N	%	GB	home	Away
1 (1)	Washington Mystics	34	26th	8th	76.5	-	14: 3	12: 5
2 (2)	Connecticut Sun	34	23	11	67.6	3	15: 2	8: 9
3 (5)	Chicago Sky	34	20th	14th	58.8	6th	12: 5	8: 9
4 (9)	Indiana Fever	34	13	21st	38.2	13	7:10	6:11
5 (11)	New York Liberty	34	10	24	29.4	16	4:13	6:11
6 (12)	Atlanta Dream	34	8th	26th	23.5	18th	5:12	3:14

Western Conference
Pl	team	Sp	S.	N	%	GB	home	Away
1 (3)	Los Angeles Sparks	34	22nd	12	64.7	-	15: 2	7:10
2 (4)	Las Vegas Aces	34	21st	13	61.8	1	13: 4	8: 9
3 (6)	Seattle Storm	34	18th	16	52.9	4th	11: 6	7:10
4 (7)	Minnesota Lynx	33	18th	15th	54.5	4th	7: 9	11: 6
5 (8)	Phoenix Mercury	34	15th	19th	44.1	7th	9: 8	6:11
6 (10)	Dallas Wings	34	10	24	29.4	12	8: 9	2:15

Playoffs

mode

The eight teams in the league with the most successes in the regular season start in the playoffs. These are set from one to eight according to the balance sheet. In the first round the number 5 receives the number 8 and the number 6 receives the number 7 each in a decisive game. The top four have a bye this round. In the second round, number 3 receives the lower seeded winner from the first round and number 4 receives the higher seeded winner from the first round. This round will also be decided in a one game and the two top teams also have a bye. In the third round (semifinals) number 1 meets the lower seeded winner from the second round and number 2 the higher seeded winner from the second round. The winner of this playoff series will reach the WNBA finals. The semi-finals and the final are played in the best-of-five mode, which means that a team needs three wins to be successful. The team with the better record always has the home advantage in all duels. For games that are tied after the regular playing time of 40 minutes, overtime follows. The quarters continue to last ten minutes and play continues until one team has scored more points than the opposing team at the end of an overtime.

Playoff tree

1 round					2nd round					Semifinals					WNBA finals
										1	Washington Mystics	3
5	Chicago Sky	1								4th	Las Vegas Aces	1
8th	Phoenix Mercury	0			4th	Las Vegas Aces	1
					5	Chicago Sky	0
															1	Washington Mystics	3
															2	Connecticut Sun	2
					3	Los Angeles Sparks	1
6th	Seattle Storm	1			6th	Seattle Storm	0
7th	Minnesota Lynx	0								2	Connecticut Sun	3
										3	Los Angeles Sparks	0

WNBA championship team

(Participation in at least one playoff game)

WNBA Masters Washington Mystics

Guards: Ariel Atkins , Natasha Cloud , Kim Mestdagh , Kristi Toliver , Shatori Walker-Kimbrough Guard Forwards: Elena Delle Donne Forwards: Tianna Hawkins , Myisha Hines-Allen , Aerial Powers , LaToya Sanders Center: Emma Meesseman (Finals MVP) Head Coach: Mike Thibault   General Manager: Mike Thibault

Awards

Award	Player	team	comment
WNBA Finals MVP Award	Emma Meesseman	Washington Mystics	-
WNBA Most Valuable Player Award	Elena Delle Donne	Washington Mystics	41 votes out of 43
WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award	Natasha Howard	Seattle Storm	33 out of 43 votes
WNBA Most Improved Player Award	Leilani Mitchell	Phoenix Mercury	27 out of 43 votes
WNBA Peak Performer (points)	Brittney Griner	Phoenix Mercury	21.9 points per game
WNBA Peak Performer (Rebounds)	Jonquel Jones	Connecticut Sun	9.7 rebounds per game
WNBA Peak Performer (Assists)	Courtney Vandersloot	Chicago Sky	9.1 assists per game
WNBA Rookie of the Year Award	Napheesa Collier	Minnesota Lynx	29 votes out of 43
WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Award	Dearica Hamby	Las Vegas Aces	41 votes out of 43
Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award	Nneka Ogwumike	Los Angeles Sparks	7 out of 43 votes
WNBA Coach of the Year Award	James Wade	Chicago Sky	27 out of 43 votes
WNBA Basketball Executive Of The Year Award	Cheryl Reeve	Minnesota Lynx	28 points

All-WNBA teams

All-WNBA First Team
Guards:	Courtney Vandersloot - Chelsea Gray
Forwards:	Elena Delle Donne - Natasha Howard
Center:	Brittney Griner

All-WNBA Second Team
Guards:	Diamond DeShields - ( MIN ) Odyssey Sims
Forwards:	Jonquel Jones - Nneka Ogwumike
Center:	( LVA ) Liz Cambage

All-rookie team

All-rookie team

( MIN ) Napheesa Collier - Teaira McCowan - ( DAL ) Arike Ogunbowale ( LVA ) Jackie Young - Brianna Turner

All-Defensive Team

All-Defensive First Team
Guards:	Jasmine Thomas - Jordin Canada
Forwards:	Natasha Howard - Nneka Ogwumike
Center:	Jonquel Jones

All-Defensive Second Team
Guards:	Ariel Atkins - Natasha Cloud
Forwards:	Alysha Clark - Alyssa Thomas
Center:	Brittney Griner

Web links

• Official homepage of the WNBA (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Key Dates: 2019 WNBA Season. WNBA, January 3, 2019, accessed September 3, 2019 . 
2. ^ WNBA Draft Board. WNBA, April 10, 2019, accessed September 3, 2019 .