2015 WNBA season
Sports season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2015 WNBA season was the 19th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The regular season started on June 5 and concluded on September 13 and playoffs started on September 17 and concluded on October 14.[1]
| 2015 WNBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | Women's National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | June 5 – October 14, 2015 |
| Games | 34 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Total attendance | 1,465,432 |
| Average attendance | 7,183 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, NBA TV |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick |  Jewell Loyd |
| Picked by | Seattle Storm |
| Regular season | |
| Top seed | New York Liberty |
| Season MVP | Elena Delle Donne (Chicago) |
| Top scorer | Elena Delle Donne (Chicago) |
| Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Minnesota Lynx |
| Runners-up | Indiana Fever |
| Finals MVP | Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota) |
The Minnesota Lynx beat the Indiana Fever 69–52 in game five of the Finals on October 14 to clinch a third WNBA title in five years.[2][3][4][5]
Notable occurrences
- On February 3, 2015, the Phoenix Mercury announced that superstar Diana Taurasi would not play in 2015. Her Russian club team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, offered her more than her WNBA season salary to rest during the 2015 WNBA season. Some in the league feared this would cause more star players to reach similar agreements.[6]
- On June 4, 2015, Tulsa player Glory Johnson announced that she is pregnant and would miss all of the 2015 WNBA season.
- On July 23, 2015, The WNBA approved the relocation of the Tulsa Shock to Dallas-Fort Worth. The move is the first franchise relocation or fold since the 2009 Sacramento Monarchs folded, and the Detroit Shock moved to Tulsa. At the time, the Shock were the only WNBA franchise to relocate twice.
- On October 14, 2015, The Minnesota Lynx won their third WNBA title in five years, beating the Indiana Fever 3–2.
- On November 4, 2015, shortly after the 2015 season concluded, WNBA President Laurel Richie announced her resignation, effective November 9, 2015. She was the league's 3rd president.
Draft
On August 21, 2014, the 2015 WNBA Draft Lottery took place. The Seattle Storm, who had a league-worst record of 12–22 last season, won the draft lottery and had the right to pick first in the 2015 draft. In the draft, held on April 16, the Storm made Jewell Loyd of Notre Dame the top pick.
Media coverage
Games aired on ESPN (1 regular season game), ESPN2 (10 regular season games), ABC (All-Star Game) and NBA TV (47 regular season games).
Regular season
Standings
Source:[7]
- Eastern Conference
| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x - New York Liberty | 23 | 11 | .676 | – | 12–5 | 11–6 | 13–9 |
| x - Chicago Sky | 21 | 13 | .618 | 2 | 13–4 | 8–9 | 14–8 |
| x - Indiana Fever | 20 | 14 | .588 | 3 | 11–6 | 9–8 | 13–9 |
| x - Washington Mystics | 18 | 16 | .529 | 5 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 10–12 |
| e - Atlanta Dream | 15 | 19 | .441 | 8 | 9–8 | 6–11 | 10–12 |
| e - Connecticut Sun | 15 | 19 | .441 | 8 | 8–9 | 7–10 | 6–16 |
- Western Conference
| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| z - Minnesota Lynx | 22 | 12 | .647 | – | 13–4 | 9–8 | 16–6 |
| x - Phoenix Mercury | 20 | 14 | .588 | 2 | 13–4 | 7–10 | 15–7 |
| x - Tulsa Shock | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4 | 12–5 | 6–11 | 11–11 |
| x - Los Angeles Sparks | 14 | 20 | .412 | 8 | 9–8 | 5–12 | 10–12 |
| e - Seattle Storm | 10 | 24 | .294 | 12 | 8–9 | 2–15 | 8–14 |
| e - San Antonio Stars | 8 | 26 | .235 | 14 | 7–10 | 1–16 | 6–16 |
Notes
- z – Clinched Conference
- x – Clinched playoff spot
- e – Eliminated from playoffs
Playoffs
| Conference semifinals Best-of-3 | Conference finals Best-of-3 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | New York | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Washington | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | New York | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
| E3 | Indiana | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Chicago | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Indiana | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Indiana | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Los Angeles | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| W2 | Phoenix | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Phoenix | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Tulsa | 0 | ||||||||||||
- Bold – Series winner
- Italics – Team with home-court advantage
Awards
Reference:[8]
Individual
| Award | Winner | Team | Position | Votes/Statistic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player (MVP) | Elena Delle Donne | Chicago Sky | Forward / Guard | 38 out of 39[9] | |
| Finals MVP | Sylvia Fowles | Minnesota Lynx | Center | ||
| Rookie of the Year | Jewell Loyd | Seattle Storm | Guard | 21 out of 39 | |
| Most Improved Player | Kelsey Bone | Connecticut Sun | Center | 14 out of 39 | |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Brittney Griner | Phoenix Mercury | Center | 33 out of 39 | |
| Sixth Woman of the Year | Allie Quigley | Chicago Sky | Guard | 24 out of 39 | |
| Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award | DeLisha Milton-Jones | Atlanta Dream | Forward | 11 out of 39 | |
| Peak Performers | Scoring | Elena Delle Donne | Chicago Sky | Forward / Guard | 23.4 PPG |
| Rebounding | Courtney Paris | Tulsa Shock | Center | 9.3 RPG | |
| Assists | Courtney Vandersloot | Chicago Sky | Guard | 5.8 APG | |
| Coach of the Year | Bill Laimbeer | New York Liberty | Coach | 23 out of 39 | |
Team
| Award | Guard | Guard | Forward | Forward | Center | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-WNBA | First Team | DeWanna Bonner | Angel McCoughtry | Elena Delle Donne | Maya Moore | Tina Charles |
| Second Team | Epiphanny Prince | Courtney Vandersloot | Candace Parker | Tamika Catchings | Brittney Griner | |
| All-Defensive | First Team | Briann January | Angel McCoughtry | Nneka Ogwumike | Tamika Catchings | Brittney Griner |
| Second Team | Tanisha Wright | DeWanna Bonner | Sancho Lyttle | Tina Charles | Kiah Stokes | |
| All-Rookie Team | Jewell Loyd | Brittany Boyd | Ramu Tokashiki | Natalie Achonwa (tie) | Kiah Stokes | |
| Ana Dabović (tie) | ||||||
Players of the Week
| Week ending | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Player | Team | |
| June 14 | Elena Delle Donne (3) | Chicago Sky | DeWanna Bonner | Phoenix Mercury |
| June 21 | Skylar Diggins | Tulsa Shock | ||
| June 28 | Lindsay Whalen | Minnesota Lynx | ||
| July 5 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks |
| July 13 | Cappie Pondexter | Chicago Sky | Maya Moore (3) | Minnesota Lynx |
| July 20 | Tina Charles (2) | New York Liberty | ||
| August 3 | ||||
| August 10 | Elena Delle Donne (4) | Chicago Sky | Brittney Griner | Phoenix Mercury |
| August 17 | Epiphanny Prince | New York Liberty | Maya Moore (4) | Minnesota Lynx |
| August 24 | Elena Delle Donne (5) | Chicago Sky | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |
| August 31 | Epiphanny Prince (2) | New York Liberty | Odyssey Sims | Tulsa Shock |
| September 8 | Courtney Vandersloot | Chicago Sky | Candace Parker (2) | Los Angeles Sparks |
Players of the Month
| Month | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Player | Team | |
| June | Elena Delle Donne | Chicago Sky | Skylar Diggins | Tulsa Shock |
| July | Tina Charles | New York Liberty | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| August | Epiphanny Prince | New York Liberty | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |
Rookies of the Month
| Month | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| June | Natalie Achonwa | Indiana Fever |
| July | Jewell Loyd | Seattle Storm |
| August | Kiah Stokes | New York Liberty |