2014 WNBA season
Sports season
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The 2014 WNBA season was the 18th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season started in May and concluded in September to accommodate the 2014 Women's World Championship.
| 2014 WNBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | Women's National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | May 16 – September 12, 2014 |
| Games | 34 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Total attendance | 1,545,890 |
| Average attendance | 7,578 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, NBA TV |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick |  Chiney Ogwumike |
| Picked by | Connecticut Sun |
| Regular season | |
| Top seed | Phoenix Mercury |
| Season MVP | Maya Moore (Minnesota) |
| Top scorer | Maya Moore (Minnesota) |
| Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Phoenix Mercury |
| Runners-up | Chicago Sky |
| Finals MVP | Diana Taurasi (Phoenix) |
Notable occurrences
- The New York Liberty returned to the renovated Madison Square Garden after three years of playing at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
- Indiana Fever head coach Lin Dunn announced her retirement on May 8; effective at the end of the season.
Draft
On December 12, 2013, the 2014 WNBA Draft Lottery took place. The Connecticut Sun, who had a league-worst record of 10-24 last season, won the draft lottery and had the right to pick first in the 2014 draft.[1] In the draft, held on April 14, the Sun made Chiney Ogwumike of Stanford University the top pick.[2]
Media coverage
Games aired on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and NBA TV. The Washington Mystics made history in May 2014 when they debuted Kiswe Mobile's Mystics Live and became the first U.S. professional sports team to stream live games within the venue via a mobile application.[3][4]
Regular season
The timing of the 2014 WNBA schedule and the draft were not finalized at its normal timeframe, as the league and players were negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement during the 2013 season.[5] The previous agreement expired during the 2013 WNBA Finals and a new CBA was reached on February 17, 2014.[6]
On February 6, 2014, the 2014 regular season schedule was announced.[7] The regular season schedule began on May 16 and concluded on August 17.
It was announced on January 22 that the 2014 WNBA All-Star Game would take place on July 19 at 3:00 PM EDT in Phoenix, Arizona.[8]
Standings
- Eastern Conference
| # | Eastern Conference | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP | |
| 1 | y- Atlanta Dream | 19 | 15 | .559 | - | 34 |
| 2 | x- Indiana Fever | 16 | 18 | .471 | 3.0 | 34 |
| 3 | x-Washington Mystics | 16 | 18 | .471 | 3.0 | 34 |
| 4 | x-Chicago Sky | 15 | 19 | .441 | 4.0 | 34 |
| 5 | e-New York Liberty | 15 | 19 | .441 | 4.0 | 34 |
| 6 | e-Connecticut Sun | 13 | 21 | .382 | 6.0 | 34 |
- Western Conference
| # | Western Conference | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP | |
| 1 | y-Phoenix Mercury | 29 | 5 | .853 | - | 34 |
| 2 | x-Minnesota Lynx | 25 | 9 | .735 | 4.0 | 34 |
| 3 | x-San Antonio Stars | 16 | 18 | .471 | 13.0 | 34 |
| 4 | x-Los Angeles Sparks | 16 | 18 | .471 | 13.0 | 34 |
| 5 | e-Tulsa Shock | 12 | 22 | .353 | 17.0 | 34 |
| 6 | e-Seattle Storm | 12 | 22 | .353 | 17.0 | 34 |
Playoffs
| Conference semifinals Best-of-3 | Conference finals Best-of-3 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Atlanta | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Chicago | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Chicago | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
| E2 | Indiana | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Indiana | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Washington | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Chicago | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Phoenix | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Phoenix | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Los Angeles | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Phoenix | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| W2 | Minnesota | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | San Antonio | 0 | ||||||||||||
- Bold – Series winner
- Italics – Team with home-court advantage
Awards
Reference:[9]
Individual
| Award | Winner | Team | Position | Votes/Statistic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player (MVP) | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx | Forward | 35 out of 38[10] | |
| Finals MVP | Diana Taurasi | Phoenix Mercury | Guard | ||
| Rookie of the Year | Chiney Ogwumike | Connecticut Sun | Forward | 23 out of 38 | |
| Most Improved Player | Skylar Diggins | Tulsa Shock | Guard | 29 out of 38 | |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Brittney Griner | Phoenix Mercury | Center | 31 out of 38 | |
| Sixth Woman of the Year | Allie Quigley | Chicago Sky | Guard | 26 out of 38 | |
| Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award | Becky Hammon | San Antonio Stars | Guard | 24 out of 37 | |
| Peak Performers | Scoring | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx | Forward | 23.9 PPG |
| Rebounding | Courtney Paris | Tulsa Shock | Center | 10.2 RPG | |
| Assists | Diana Taurasi | Phoenix Mercury | Guard | 5.6 APG | |
| Coach of the Year | Sandy Brondello | Phoenix Mercury | Coach | 33 out of 38 | |
Team
| Award | Guard | Guard | Forward | Forward | Center | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-WNBA | First Team | Skylar Diggins | Diana Taurasi | Maya Moore | Candace Parker | Brittney Griner |
| Second Team | Danielle Robinson | Seimone Augustus | Angel McCoughtry | Nneka Ogwumike | Tina Charles | |
| Lindsay Whalen | ||||||
| All-Defensive[11] | First Team | Briann January | Tanisha Wright | Angel McCoughtry | Sancho Lyttle | Brittney Griner |
| Second Team | Danielle Robinson | Alana Beard | Maya Moore | Tamika Catchings | Sylvia Fowles | |
| All-Rookie Team | Odyssey Sims | Bria Hartley | Kayla McBride | Alyssa Thomas | Chiney Ogwumike | |
Players of the Week
| Week ending | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Player | Team | ||
| May 25 | Elena Delle Donne | Chicago Sky | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx | |
| June 1 | Briann January | Indiana Fever | Lindsay Whalen | [12] | |
| June 8 | Erika de Souza | Atlanta Dream | Diana Taurasi | Phoenix Mercury | |
| June 15 | Alex Bentley | Connecticut Sun | Skylar Diggins | Tulsa Shock | |
| June 22 | Angel McCoughtry | Atlanta Dream | Brittney Griner | Phoenix Mercury | |
| June 29 | Sancho Lyttle | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks | ||
| July 6 | Tina Charles | New York Liberty | Diana Taurasi (2) | Phoenix Mercury | |
| July 13 | Angel McCoughtry (2) | Atlanta Dream | Maya Moore (5) | Minnesota Lynx | |
| July 18 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | [13] | ||
| July 27 | Ivory Latta | Washington Mystics | |||
| August 3 | Tina Charles (2) | New York Liberty | |||
| August 10 | Allie Quigley | Chicago Sky | Brittney Griner (2) | Phoenix Mercury | |
| August 17 | Shoni Schimmel | Atlanta Dream | Kristi Toliver | Los Angeles Sparks | |
Players of the Month
| Month | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Player | Team | ||
| May | Elena Delle Donne | Chicago Sky | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx | |
| June | Angel McCoughtry | Atlanta Dream | Diana Taurasi | Phoenix Mercury | |
| July | Tina Charles | New York Liberty | Maya Moore (3) | Minnesota Lynx | |
| August | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | [14] | ||
Rookies of the Month
| Month | Player | Team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| May | Chiney Ogwumike (2) | Connecticut Sun | |
| June | |||
| July | Odyssey Sims (2) | Tulsa Shock | |
| August |