2021 WNBA season

2021 WNBA season
2021 WNBA season
	Official logo used for the WNBA's 25th season
League	Women's National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	May 14 – October 17, 2021
Games	32
Teams	12
Total attendance	434,906
Average attendance	2,636
TV partner(s)	ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, CBSSN, NBA TV
Draft
Top draft pick	Charli Collier
Picked by	Dallas Wings
Regular season
Top seed	Connecticut Sun
Season MVP	/ Jonquel Jones (Connecticut)
Top scorer	Tina Charles (Washington)
Playoffs
Finals champions	Chicago Sky
Runners-up	Phoenix Mercury
Finals MVP	Kahleah Copper (Chicago)
WNBA seasons
	← 2020 2022 →

LeagueWomen's National Basketball Association

SportBasketball

DurationMay 14 – October 17, 2021

Games32

The 2021 WNBA season was the 25th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Seattle Storm were the defending champions. In the playoffs, the Chicago Sky won in four games over the Phoenix Mercury. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teams played a 32-game season (rather than the 36 games agreed to in the original 2020 season schedule) that included mini two-game series to reduce travel.^[1]^[2] The regular season ran from May 14 to September 19, with a break from July 12 to August 11 for the Olympic Games.^[2]

This season also marked the launch of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup, which had been intended to start in the 2020 season but was delayed due to COVID-19. The first home game and first away game for each team against each of its conference opponents doubled as Cup games; all such games were played before the league took its Olympic break. The Cup final, officially called the Commissioner's Cup Championship Game, featured the conference leaders in the Cup standings and was held on August 12, three days before the rest of the league resumed play, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. A prize pool of $500,000 was provided for the Cup, with players on the winning team guaranteed a minimum bonus of $30,000 and those of the losing team guaranteed $10,000, and the championship game MVP receiving an extra $5,000.^[3] The Seattle Storm defeated the Connecticut Sun 79-57 to win the inaugural cup. Breanna Stewart was named MVP of the game.

The season had 100 games broadcast on national networks, including 25 across ABC and ESPN networks, 40 on CBS networks, and 35 on NBA TV.^[4] The remainder of games were broadcast on local networks and the WNBA's League Pass service; several games were also streamed on Twitter, Amazon Prime,^[5] and Oculus.^[4]

This season saw Wilson take over as the league's ball supplier. Spalding previously held the contract for the league's first 24 seasons.^[6]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Off-season
Team	2020 season	2021 season	Reference
Dallas Wings	Brian Agler	Vickie Johnson	^[18]^[19]
Atlanta Dream	Nicki Collen	Mike Petersen (interim)	^[20]
Mid-season
Team	Departing Coach	New Coach	Reference
Seattle Storm	Dan Hughes	Noelle Quinn	^[21]
Atlanta Dream	Mike Petersen (interim)	Darius Taylor (interim)	^[22]

Team USA 85, Team WNBA 93
Scoring by quarter: 28–25, 15–19, 23–22, 19–27
Pts: Brittney Griner 17 Rebs: Sylvia Fowles 7 Asts: Sue Bird 8		Pts: Arike Ogunbowale 26 Rebs: Jonquel Jones 14 Asts: Courtney Vandersloot 7

#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Conf.	Home	Road	Cup
1	x – Connecticut Sun	26	6	.813	–	12–3	15–1	11–5	9–1
2	x – Las Vegas Aces	24	8	.750	2	11–4	13–3	11–5	6–4
3	x – Minnesota Lynx	22	10	.688	4	10–5	13–3	9–7	7–3
4	x – Seattle Storm	21	11	.656	5	9–6	11–5	10–6	8–2
5	x – Phoenix Mercury	19	13	.594	7	6–9	7–9	12–4	5–5
6	x – Chicago Sky	16	16	.500	10	10–5	6–10	10–6	6–4
7	x – Dallas Wings	14	18	.438	12	7–8	7–9	7–9	3–7
8	x – New York Liberty	12	20	.375	14	6–9	7–9	5–11	5–5
9	e – Washington Mystics	12	20	.375	14	7–8	8–8	4–12	4–6
10	e – Los Angeles Sparks	12	20	.375	14	2–13	8–8	4–12	1–9
11	e – Atlanta Dream	8	24	.250	18	6–9	4–12	4–12	4–6
12	e – Indiana Fever	6	26	.188	20	4–11	4–12	2–14	2–8

Category	Player	Team	Statistic
Points per game	Tina Charles	Washington Mystics	23.4 ppg
Rebounds per game	Jonquel Jones	Connecticut Sun	11.2 rpg
Assists per game	Courtney Vandersloot	Chicago Sky	8.6 apg
Steals per game	Brittney Sykes	Los Angeles Sparks	1.8 spg
Blocks per game	Brittney Griner	Phoenix Mercury	1.9 bpg
Field goal percentage	Sylvia Fowles	Minnesota Lynx	64.0% (208/325)
Three point FG percentage	Allie Quigley	Chicago Sky	45.4% (54/119)
Free throw percentage	Kelsey Plum	Las Vegas Aces	94.4% (85/90)
Points per game (team)	Las Vegas Aces		89.3 ppg
Field goal percentage (team)	Las Vegas Aces		47.2%


First round single elimination Sept. 23			Second round single elimination Sept. 26			Semifinals Best-of-5 Sept. 28 – Oct. 8			Finals Best-of-5 Oct. 10 – 17



						2	Las Vegas Aces	2

			4	Seattle Storm	80	5	Phoenix Mercury	3

5	Phoenix Mercury	83	5	Phoenix Mercury	85^OT				5	Phoenix Mercury	1

8	New York Liberty	82							6	Chicago Sky	3

						1	Connecticut Sun	1

			3	Minnesota Lynx	76	6	Chicago Sky	3

6	Chicago Sky	81	6	Chicago Sky	89

7	Dallas Wings	64

2021 WNBA season

Transactions

Retirement

Free agency

Coaching changes

Regular season

All-Star Game

Standings

Schedule

Statistical Leaders

Playoffs

Awards

Individual

Team

Players of the Week

Players of the Month

Rookies of the Month

Coaches of the Month

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

References

Related Articles

Award		Winner	Team	Position	Votes/Statistic
Most Valuable Player (MVP)		Jonquel Jones	Connecticut Sun	Forward/Center	48 of 49^[28]
Finals MVP		Kahleah Copper	Chicago Sky	Guard/Forward	^[29]
Rookie of the Year		Michaela Onyenwere	New York Liberty	Forward	47 of 49^[30]
Most Improved Player		Brionna Jones	Connecticut Sun	Forward	38 of 49^[31]
Defensive Player of the Year		Sylvia Fowles	Minnesota Lynx	Center	31 of 49^[32]
Sixth Player of the Year		Kelsey Plum	Las Vegas Aces	Guard	41 of 49^[33]
Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award		Nneka Ogwumike	Los Angeles Sparks	Forward	19 of 46^[34]
Season-Long Community Assist Award		Amanda Zahui B.	Los Angeles Sparks	Center
Peak Performers	Points	Tina Charles	Washington Mystics	Center	23.4 ppg^[35]
	Rebounds	Jonquel Jones	Connecticut Sun	Forward/Center	11.2 rpg^[35]
	Assists	Courtney Vandersloot	Chicago Sky	Guard	8.6 apg^[35]
Coach of the Year		Curt Miller	Connecticut Sun	Coach	41 of 49^[36]
Basketball Executive of the Year		Dan Padover	Las Vegas Aces	General manager	9 ballots^[37]

Award		Guard	Guard	Forward	Forward	Center
All-WNBA^[38]	First Team	Skylar Diggins-Smith	Jewell Loyd	Breanna Stewart	Jonquel Jones	Brittney Griner
All-WNBA^[38]	Second Team	Arike Ogunbowale	Courtney Vandersloot	Tina Charles	A'ja Wilson	Sylvia Fowles
All-Defensive^[39]	First Team	Brittney Sykes	Briann January	Brianna Turner	Jonquel Jones	Sylvia Fowles
All-Defensive^[39]	Second Team	Jasmine Thomas	Ariel Atkins	Brionna Jones	Breanna Stewart	Brittney Griner
All-Rookie Team^[40]		Dana Evans	Aari McDonald	Michaela Onyenwere	DiDi Richards	Charli Collier

Week ending	Eastern Conference		Western Conference		Reference
Week ending	Player	Team	Player	Team	Reference
May 24	Sabrina Ionescu	New York Liberty	Breanna Stewart	Seattle Storm	^[41]
June 1	Betnijah Laney	New York Liberty	Brittney Griner	Phoenix Mercury	^[42]
June 7	Jonquel Jones	Connecticut Sun	Jewell Loyd	Seattle Storm	^[43]
June 14	Tina Charles	Washington Mystics	Breanna Stewart (3)		^[44]
June 21	Courtney Vandersloot	Chicago Sky	Breanna Stewart (3)		^[45]
June 28	DeWanna Bonner	Connecticut Sun	Sylvia Fowles	Minnesota Lynx	^[46]
July 6	Brionna Jones		A'ja Wilson	Las Vegas Aces	^[47]
July 12	Jonquel Jones (5)		Brittney Griner (3)	Phoenix Mercury	^[48]
August 23			Brittney Griner (3)		^[49]
August 30			Skylar Diggins-Smith		^[50]
September 6			Brittney Griner (5)		^[51]
September 13	Tina Charles (2)	Washington Mystics	Brittney Griner (5)		^[52]
September 20	Natasha Howard	New York Liberty	Kelsey Plum	Las Vegas Aces	^[53]

Month	Eastern Conference		Western Conference		Reference
Month	Player	Team	Player	Team	Reference
May	Jonquel Jones	Connecticut Sun	Breanna Stewart	Seattle Storm	^[54]
June	Tina Charles	Washington Mystics	A'ja Wilson	Las Vegas Aces	^[55]
August	Jonquel Jones (3)	Connecticut Sun	Sylvia Fowles	Minnesota Lynx	^[56]
September	Jonquel Jones (3)	Connecticut Sun	Kelsey Plum	Las Vegas Aces	^[57]

Month	Player	Team	Reference
May	Michaela Onyenwere (4)	New York Liberty	^[58]
June			^[59]
August			^[60]
September			^[61]

Month	Coach	Team	Reference
May	Walt Hopkins	New York Liberty	^[62]
June	James Wade	Chicago Sky	^[63]
August	Curt Miller (2)	Connecticut Sun	^[64]
September	Curt Miller (2)	Connecticut Sun	^[65]

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years with team	Record with team	Playoff appearances	Finals Appearances	WNBA Championships
Atlanta Dream	Mike Petersen (interim)	Atlanta Dream (assistant)	0	0–0	0	0	0
Chicago Sky	James Wade	UMMC Ekaterinburg (assistant)	2	32–24	2	0	0
Connecticut Sun	Curt Miller	Los Angeles Sparks (assistant)	5	89–69	4	1	0
Indiana Fever	Marianne Stanley	Washington Mystics (assistant)	1	6–16	0	0	0
New York Liberty	Walt Hopkins	Minnesota Lynx (assistant)	1	2–20	0	0	0
Washington Mystics	Mike Thibault	Connecticut Sun	8	139–121	7	2	1

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years with team	Record with team	Playoff appearances	Finals Appearances	WNBA Championships
Dallas Wings	Vickie Johnson	Las Vegas Aces (assistant)	0	0–0	0	0	0
Las Vegas Aces	Bill Laimbeer	New York Liberty	3	53–37	2	1	0
Los Angeles Sparks	Derek Fisher	New York Knicks	2	37–19	2	0	0
Minnesota Lynx	Cheryl Reeve	Detroit Shock (assistant)	11	245–117	10	6	4
Phoenix Mercury	Sandy Brondello	Los Angeles Sparks (assistant)	7	131–95	7	1	1
Seattle Storm	Dan Hughes	San Antonio Stars	3	62–28	3	2	2

v t e 2021 WNBA season by team
Draft Transactions All-Star Game Commissioner's Cup Playoffs Finals
Eastern	Atlanta Dream Chicago Sky Connecticut Sun Indiana Fever New York Liberty Washington Mystics
Western	Dallas Wings Las Vegas Aces Los Angeles Sparks Minnesota Lynx Phoenix Mercury Seattle Storm
← 2020 WNBA season 2022 →