2019 WNBA season

Sports season

Elena Delle Donne, the 2019 regular season MVP

The 2019 WNBA season was the 23rd season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Seattle Storm were the defending champions. The regular season began on May 24, with the Atlanta Dream hosting the Dallas Wings and the New York Liberty hosting the Indiana Fever. The season ended with the Washington Mystics securing their first WNBA Title over the Connecticut Sun three games to two, in a closely contested finals. Emma Meesseman was named Finals MVP and teammate Elena Delle Donne was named regular season MVP.

2019 WNBA draft

The Las Vegas Aces had the first pick in the 2019 WNBA draft on April 10, marking the third straight draft in which the franchise won the lottery for the top pick.^[2][3] With the top pick, the Aces selected Jackie Young from Notre Dame. The draft was televised nationally on the ESPN networks (Round 1 on ESPN2, Rounds 2 and 3 on ESPNU).

Rule changes

The WNBA Board of Governors approved two rule changes at their November 15, 2018 meeting that would go into effect during the 2019 season.^[4]

1. The "Clear Path Foul Rule" was simplified to establish "bright line" standards based on a player's positioning.
2. The definition of a "Hostile Act" was expanded for purposes of instant replay.

Media coverage

On April 22, 2019, CBS Sports Network announced a multi-year deal with the league to broadcast 40 games a season starting in May 2019. On June 27, 2019, TSN, Sportsnet, and NBA TV Canada announced a multi-year deal with the league to broadcast 53 games combined a season starting on June 28, 2019.

Transactions

Retirement

• Lindsay Whalen announced her retirement on August 13, 2018 that she would retire at the conclusion of the 2018 season. Whalen played 15 seasons with the Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx, winning four titles with the latter. She retired as the WNBA's all time leader in games won, with 322.^[5]
• Noelle Quinn announced that she would retire on February 21. She joined the Seattle Storm as an assistant coach.^[6]
• Monique Currie announced her retirement via Instagram on February 26. Currie retired to pursue a career with Nike.^[7]
• Cappie Pondexter announced her retirement via Instagram on April 17. Pondexter was the 2007 WNBA Finals MVP and a two time WNBA champion.^[8]

Free agency

Free agency negotiations began on January 15, 2019, with the signing period starting on February 1, 2019.^[9]

Coaching changes

Administration

• On June 17, Cathy Engelbert became the first Commissioner of the WNBA (previous top administrators had been titled "President"). She had previously served as CEO of the U.S. member firm of the international professional services firm Deloitte.^[17]

Arena changes

• On August 15, 2018 the Seattle Storm announced that they would play their regular season games at the University of Washington's Alaska Airlines Arena while Climate Pledge Arena undergoes renovations for the Seattle Kraken of the NHL.^[18] The Storm later announced that of the team's 17 regular-season home games, 12 would be held at Alaska Airlines Arena and the remainder at Angel of the Winds Arena in the northern suburb of Everett, Washington.^[19]
• On December 13, 2018 the Atlanta Dream announced that they would return to State Farm Arena, formerly Philips Arena, after playing the previous two seasons at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion while State Farm Arena underwent a $192.5 million renovation.^[20]
• The Washington Mystics moved into the St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena beginning with the 2019 season. The arena's capacity is only 4,200, vastly smaller than the team's former home of Capital One Arena.^[21]
• On July 24, 2019, the Phoenix Mercury announced that they would play the 2020 season at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum to accommodate renovations to Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Mercury plans to return to the latter venue upon project completion.^[22]
• On September 5, 2019, the Indiana Fever announced that they would move to Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse for the entire 2020 and 2021 seasons, plus part of the 2022 season. The move was made necessary by a previously announced project to renovate Bankers Life Fieldhouse, home to both the Fever and the NBA's Indiana Pacers, with most of the work taking place during Pacers offseasons. The Fever plan to return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse upon project completion.^[23]

Regular season

All-Star Game

Standings

Source:^[24]

Notes

(#) – Conference Standing, Playoff Seeds shown to the right of team name

e – Eliminated from playoffs

Statistical leaders

The following shows the leaders in each statistical category during the 2019 regular season.^[25][26]

Schedule

Playoffs

The WNBA continued its current playoff format for 2019. The top eight teams, regardless of conference, make the playoffs, with the top two teams receiving a bye to the semi-finals. The remaining six teams play in two single-elimination playoff rounds, with the third and fourth seeds receiving a bye to the second round.^[27]

Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.

Season award winners

Player of the Week Award

Player of the Month Award

Rookie of the Month Award

Coach of the Month Award

Postseason awards

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Notes:

• Year with team does not include 2019 season.
• Records are from time at current team and are through the end of the 2018 season.
• Playoff appearances are from time at current team only.
• WNBA Finals and Championships do not include time with other teams.
• Coaches shown are the coaches who began the 2019 season as head coach of each team.

References

1. "WNBA Turnstile Tracker: Attendance Down At End Of Regular season". Sports Business Daily. September 10, 2019.
2. "WNBA Draft Lottery 2019 Presented By State Farm Results". wnba.com. WNBA. August 28, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
3. "WNBA Draft 2019 Presented By State Farm To Be Held April 10". wnba.com. WNBA. March 19, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
4. "WNBA Board of Governors Approves Two Rules Changes for 2019 Season". wnba.com. WNBA. November 15, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
5. "Lindsay Whalen To Retire After 2018 Season". wnba.com. WNBA. August 13, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
6. "Noelle Quinn Returns to Storm as an Assistant Coach". WNBA. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
7. Voepel, Mechelle (February 26, 2019). "WNBA's Currie retires, starts new career at Nike". espn.com. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
8. Voepel, Mechelle (April 16, 2019). "Two-time WNBA champion Pondexter retires". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
9. "Key Dates:2019 WNBA Season". wnba.com. WNBA. January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
10. "Chicago Sky Announce Change in Coaching Staff". OurSportsCentral.com. August 31, 2018.
11. Youngblood, Kent (November 9, 2018). "Lynx assistant James Wade headed to Chicago to become Sky's head coach". Star Tribune. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
12. "Brian Agler to be next coach of Dallas Wings". ESPN. Associated Press. December 17, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
13. Voepele, Mechelle (November 30, 2018). "Brian Agler resigns as Sparks coach". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
14. Ballow, Jonah (December 5, 2018). "Sparks Hire Derek Fisher As Head Coach". WNBA.com. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
15. "Pokey Chatman Will Not Return As Head Coach & General Manager". WNBA.com. WNBA. September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
16. "New York Liberty Announce Head Coach Katie Smith's Contract Not Renewed". wnba.com. WNBA. October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
17. Voepel, Mechelle (May 15, 2019). "WNBA tabs CEO Engelbert as 1st commissioner". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
18. "Seattle Storm Set to Play 2019 WNBA Season at University of Washington's Alaska Airlines Arena" (Press release). Seattle Storm. August 15, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
19. "Seattle Storm Announces 2019 Regular season Schedule" (Press release). Seattle Storm. December 18, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
20. "Atlanta Dream Announce 2019 Home Games to be Played at State Farm Arena". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. December 13, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
21. Barrios, Jennifer (September 22, 2018). "Residents hope new arena means new life for long-neglected area". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
22. "Phoenix Mercury Announce the Return of Pro Basketball to Veterans Memorial Coliseum for 2020 Season" (Press release). Indiana Fever. July 24, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
23. "Indiana Fever Announce Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse As Home Venue For 2020, 2021 and Part of 2022 WNBA Seasons" (Press release). Indiana Fever. September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
24. "2019 Regular season Standings". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
25. "WNBA Stats Season Leaders". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
26. "WNBA Stats Teams Traditional". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
27. "WNBA Regular season and Playoff Formats". wnba.com.
28. "Jonquel Jones, Natasha Howard Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. June 3, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
29. "Jonquel Jones, DeWanna Bonner Player Of The Week Highlights". wnba.com. WNBA. June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
30. "Jonquel Jones, Natasha Howard Win Player of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. June 17, 2019. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
31. @WNBA (June 24, 2019). "🗣 Congrats to @De11eDonne and @_ajawilson22 for being named this week's #PlayerofTheWeek 👏" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
32. "Delle Donne, Wilson Earn Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
33. "Tina Charles, Brittney Griner Earn Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
34. @WNBA (July 15, 2019). "🗣️ Congrats to Jonquel Jones and @Nnemkadi30 for earning this week's #PlayeroftheWeek 👏" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
35. "Delle Donne, Howard Earn Player Of The Week Honors". wnba.com. WNBA. July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
36. "Delle Donne, Parker Earn Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
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38. "Delle Donne, Ogunbowale Earn Player of the Week Honors". wnba.com. WNBA. August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
39. "Vandersloot, Collier Earn Player Of The Week Honors". wnba.com. WNBA. August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
40. "Connecticut's Williams, Phoenix's Griner Win Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. September 3, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
41. "Delle Donne, Parker Earn Player of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
42. "Delle Donne, Howard Receive Player Of The Month". wnba.com. WNBA. July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
43. @WNBA (August 1, 2019). "Congratulations to @De11eDonne and @Nnemkadi30 on being named Players of the Month! 💯🏀 #WNBA" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
44. "Delle Donne, Griner Named Players Of The Month". wnba.com. WNBA. September 4, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
45. @WNBA (July 2, 2019). "Congrats to @DallasWings guard @Arike_O for winning #WNBA Rookie of the Month for June! 👏" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
46. @WNBA (August 1, 2019). "Baller alert 🚨 @PHEEsespieces earns #WNBA Rookie of the Month! 👏" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
47. "Rookie Of The Month: Arike Ogunbowale". wnba.com. WNBA. September 4, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
48. @WNBA (July 2, 2019). "Congrats to @WashMystics head coach Mike Thibault on winning #WNBA Coach of the Month for June! 👏" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
49. @WNBA (August 1, 2019). "Congrats to @LVAces Head Coach Bill Laimbeer on being named #WNBA Coach of the Month! 👏" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
50. "Coach Of The Month: Mike Thibault". wnba.com. WNBA. September 4, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
51. "Washington's Elena Delle Donne Named 2019 WNBA Basketball Most Valuable Player". wnba.com. WNBA. September 19, 2019. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
52. "Emma Meesseman Named WNBA Finals 2019 MVP". wnba.com. WNBA. October 10, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
53. "Minnesota's Napheesa Collier Named 2019 WNBA Rookie of the Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 16, 2019. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
54. "Leilani Mitchell Named 2019 WNBA Most Improved Player". wnba.com. WNBA. September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
55. "Seattle's Natasha Howard Named 2019 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
56. "Las Vegas' Dearica Hamby Named 2019 WNBA Sixth Woman Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 20, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
57. "Los Angeles' Nneka Ogwumike Wins 2019 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award". wnba.com. WNBA. September 16, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
58. "Los Angeles' Nneka Ogwumike Wins 2019 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award". wnba.com. WNBA. September 15, 2019. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
59. "Chicago's James Wade Named 2019 WNBA Coach Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
60. "Minnesota's Cheryl Reeve Named 2019 WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
61. "WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Natasha Howard Highlights 2019 WNBA All-Defensive First Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
62. "Rookie of the Year Collier Headlines 2019 All-Rookie Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 16, 2019. Retrieved September 16, 2019.