History UsefulNotes / Basketball

** '''Geno Auriemma Award''': Presented since 1990. Through the 2023–24 season, it was the last USBWA national award without an individual namesake. It now bears the name of the [=UConn=] coaching legend who's won it six times.

* '''Courtney Vandersloot''': Point guard for the Chicago Sky from 2011–2022, Vandersloot has basically been the league's poster child for OvershadowedByAwesome and DudeWheresMyRespect, despite currently standing as the league's all-time leader in assists per game.[[labelnote:*]]By close to a full assist per game over the current #2, Sabrina.[[/labelnote]] A native of the Seattle area, she wasn't seen has a big-time recruit out of high school, ending up on the other side of the Cascades at Gonzaga. After leading the Zags to a surprise run to the NCAA regional finals in her 2010–11 senior season, and becoming the first NCAA player (male or female) with 2,000 points and 1,000 assists in a career (since joined by Sabrina and Caitlin),[[note]]Incidentally, she and Sabrina played for the same head coach in college, Kelly Graves.[[/note]] the Sky made her the #3 overall pick in that year's draft. [[FanNickname Sloot]] made an immediate impact, making the All-Star Game and the All-Rookie team... though in a harbinger of things to come, she happened to join the league at the same time as Maya Moore. With other big names at her position, most notably Sue Bird and Skylar Diggins-Smith, she didn't make another All-Star team for a while. Despite leading the league in assists in 2015. Then setting a new league record for assists per game in 2017. And another in 2018. She finally got her second All-Star nod in 2019, with a ''[[OverusedRunningGag third straight]]'' assists record to boot. Sloot at long last got some real attention in 2020, when she set ''[[SerialEscalation yet another assists record]]''. Through 2023, she has the top six seasons in per-game assists in league history. On top of that, she joined Sheryl Swoopes in the exclusive club of WNBA players with multiple triple-doubles, posting one in the 2018 regular season and one in the 2021 playoffs. Further developing the "overshadowed" theme, she didn't make the 2016 US Olympic team, and given USA Basketball's long track record of demonstrating loyalty to established players, wound up opting to play internationally for Hungary in 2017, believing (not without reason) that she'd never get to play for Team USA in her prime. After finally winning a title with the Sky in 2021, Sloot was one of numerous elite players to sign with the New York Liberty in 2023. Also in a same-sex marriage, in her case with former Sky backcourt mate Allie Quigley, with some fans calling them "[[PortmanteauCoupleName The VanderQuigs]]".
* '''A'ja Wilson''': Power forward for the Las Vegas Aces and a rising face of the league. The 6'4" Wilson grew up in a small South Carolina town not far from the state capital of Columbia, and went to that city to play under Hall of Fame guard Dawn Staley at South Carolina, leading the Gamecocks to a national title in 2017 and sweeping all major NCAA player of the year awards the next season. Carolina has since put up a statue of her in front of its arena. After going #1 overall to the Aces in the 2018 draft, she lived up to her billing, being named Rookie of the Year and making the All-Star Game. Wilson further cemented her status in the 2020 bubble, averaging over 20 points and 8 rebounds, leading the league in blocks, and being named league MVP. She would be named MVP again in 2022 and go on to collect her first championship ring, and was Finals MVP in the Aces' successful repeat in 2023. And yes, her first name ''does'' come from the Music/SteelyDan [[Music/AjaAlbum album]]... actually, its title track, as it was her father's favorite song.

* '''Courtney Vandersloot''': Point guard for the Chicago Sky from 2011–2022 before signing with the Liberty as a free agent, Vandersloot has basically been the league's poster child for OvershadowedByAwesome and DudeWheresMyRespect, despite currently standing as the league's all-time leader in assists per game.[[labelnote:*]]By close to a full assist per game over the current #2, Sabrina.[[/labelnote]] A native of the Seattle area, she wasn't seen has a big-time recruit out of high school, ending up on the other side of the Cascades at Gonzaga. After leading the Zags to a surprise run to the NCAA regional finals in her 2010–11 senior season, and becoming the first NCAA player (male or female) with 2,000 points and 1,000 assists in a career (since joined by Sabrina and Caitlin),[[note]]Incidentally, she and Sabrina played for the same head coach in college, Kelly Graves (male).[[/note]] the Sky made her the third pick in that year's draft. [[FanNickname Sloot]] made an immediate impact, making the All-Star Game and the All-Rookie team... though in a harbinger of things to come, she happened to join the league at the same time as Maya Moore. With other big names at her position, most notably Sue Bird and Skylar Diggins-Smith, she didn't make another All-Star team for a while. Despite leading the league in assists in 2015. Then setting a new league record for assists per game in 2017. And another in 2018. She finally got her second All-Star nod in 2019, with a ''[[OverusedRunningGag third straight]]'' assists record to boot. Sloot at long last got some real attention in 2020, when she set ''[[SerialEscalation yet another assists record]]''. Through 2023, she has the top six seasons in per-game assists in league history. On top of that, she joined Sheryl Swoopes in the exclusive club of WNBA players with multiple triple-doubles, posting one in the 2018 regular season and one in the 2021 playoffs. Further developing the "overshadowed" theme, she didn't make the 2016 US Olympic team, and given USA Basketball's long track record of demonstrating loyalty to established players, wound up opting to play internationally for Hungary in 2017, believing (not without reason) that she'd never get to play for Team USA in her prime. Also in a same-sex marriage, in her case with former Sky backcourt mate Allie Quigley, with some fans calling them "[[PortmanteauCoupleName The VanderQuigs]]".

* '''UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}} Dream''': Founded in 2008, named for Atlanta-native UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr's "I Have a Dream" speech. They're three-time Eastern Conference Champions but have yet to cross the finish line of winning a championship, getting swept each time. While the Dream shared State Farm Arena with the Hawks from 2008-16 and again in 2019, the Hawks never held any ownership stake in its WNBA contemporary. In 2020, the Dream planned to move into the Gateway Center Arena in the south Atlanta suburb of College Park, sharing the venue with the Hawks' G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks. In 2021, the former ownership group sold out after extreme pressure from players, largely driven by the presence of Kelly Loeffler, former Republican Senator for UsefulNotes/{{Georgia|USA}} who had disparaged the UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatterMovement.[[note]]Their vocal support for their employer's opponents, specifically the Reverend Raphael Warnock, in the 2020 elections was seen as one reason for the Republican party's unexpected losses that year.[[/note]] The new ownership group includes Renee Montgomery, who had retired from the league months earlier; she's the first WNBA alum to have invested in a team ''and'' taken an active executive role (other alums have filled one of the roles, but not both).

* '''[[UsefulNotes/NorthCarolina Charlotte]] Sting''': Founded in 1997, folded in 2007. Originally tied to the Charlotte Hornets, later tied to the Charlotte Bobcats; the shift in ownership after the Hornets moved to New Orleans signaled the beginning of the end for this once proud franchise.

* '''UsefulNotes/{{Houston}} Comets''': The league's first dynasty, winning its first four championships. Their name kept up the space ThemeNaming for many of Houston's sports teams. If you're referring to the Big Three in a women's basketball context, you're referring to Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, and Tina Thompson, or you have just made a lot of people very angry. Founded in 1997, folded in 2008.

* '''UsefulNotes/{{Portland}} Fire''': Founded in 2000, folded in 2003. Their name is a play off Blazers. One of only two franchises never to make the playoffs in their history (if you count Tulsa/Dallas as holding Detroit's history).
* '''[[UsefulNotes/{{California}} Sacramento]] Monarchs''': Founded in 1997, folded in 2009. Were the WNBA champions in 2005. Though their name was related to the Sacramento Kings, they also played with the Monarch butterfly theme.

* '''UsefulNotes/LasVegas Aces''': The two-time defending WNBA champions, founded in 1997 as the UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} Starzz (named for their SpearCounterpart, the Utah Jazz, and the Jazz's precursor, the ABA's Utah Stars), moved to [[UsefulNotes/OtherCitiesInTexas San Antonio]] in 2003 as the Silver Stars and brought into the fold of the San Antonio Spurs. Started off lousy, but they got better in San Antonio, turning a profit in 2011. Dropped "Silver" from their name shortly before the start of the 2014 season. In 2017, the Spurs sold the Stars to MGM Resorts, who moved the team to Vegas and rebranded the team as the Aces. MGM Resorts sold out in January 2021 to Mark Davis, de facto owner of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders.[[labelnote:*]]He and his mother own a controlling interest, which they inherited from his late father Al. Mark represents the Raiders at NFL owners' meetings.[[/labelnote]] Becky Hammon, a former franchise star from the San Antonio era, was brought in as HC in 2022 and immediately led the Aces to both the Commissioner's Cup and the first title in franchise history, and followed it up with a second title in 2023. Currently have their own "superteam" cred, with Candace Parker joining A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum for 2023 (though Parker missed most of the season to injury). Also in 2023, Creator/TomBrady became a minority investor.
* '''UsefulNotes/LosAngeles Sparks''': One of the inaugural franchises, founded in 1997. The only one with a NonIndicativeName of any kind (as there's not really a feminine equivalent to "Lakers"), their name came from a secretary watching a welder. Sometimes called [[FanNickname Sporks or Sharks]] by opposing fans. Three-time champions, first with back-to-back titles in 2001-02 led by the legendary Lisa Leslie (who made WNBA history in 2011 by becoming the first alumna to become part owner of a team, though she and her group sold out two years later to a group led by Magic Johnson) and then in 2016 led by Nneka Ogwumike and Candace Parker.

* '''[[UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}} Phoenix]] Mercury''': Founded in 1997, named as a counterpart to the Phoenix Suns... and they play like them too. Sometimes called the Merc, while multiple players at once are Mercs. Three-time champions. Share the venue now known as Footprint Center with the Phoenix Suns; they were scheduled to play the 2020 season at the Suns' past home of Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum while the FC was being renovated, but COVID-19 ended that plan.
* '''UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} Storm''': Founded in 2000, named for Seattle's weather. Have won four titles, most recently in 2020, and also won the first Commissioner's Cup in 2021. Lots of star power, and now Seattle's main basketball team because of the loss of the Sonics, attracting plenty of fans in the process. With the Seattle Center Arena having been rebuilt for the [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL's]] Seattle Kraken (and renamed Climate Pledge Arena), the Storm returned to their permanent home effective in 2022.

* '''Breanna Stewart''': Stretch four for the New York Liberty, moving there as a free agent in 2023 after seven seasons with the Seattle Storm, which drafted her #1 overall in 2016 out of [[OverusedRunningGag UConn]]. The 6'4" [[FanNickname Stewie]] came into the league as perhaps even more hyped than the "Three to See"--led the Huskies to NCAA national titles in ''each'' of her four seasons in Storrs, also being named the Final Four MVP in all four seasons, consensus national player of the year in her last two seasons (also winning a major national award as a sophomore), becoming a fixture on Team USA while still at [=UConn=]... you get the picture. After leading the league's rookies in scoring, rebounding, blocks, and minutes per game in 2016 (co-leader among ''all'' players in minutes, and in the top six in the other three categories), Stewart was the runaway Rookie of the Year, receiving all but one vote. She didn't stop there, going on to earn regular season and Finals MVP honors in 2018 while leading the Storm to the title. Sadly, she missed the 2019 season to a torn Achilles suffered in the 2019 [=EuroLeague=] Women final.[[note]]Her injury made her another poster child for the league's salary issues. Even without the geopolitical risks (cf. Brittney Griner), another problem is that players who go overseas don't get any significant offseason. One ESPN writer noted shortly after Stewart's injury that in calendar 2018, she played in China, had little time off before the WNBA season, almost immediately followed that with duty for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup in Spain, and then had little downtime before going to play in Russia. The last time she'd had any real time off was in 2015, before her senior season at [=UConn=].[[/note]] She came back strong in 2020 with a season that put her in contention for another MVP trophy, though A'ja Wilson (below) beat her out for that honor; Stewie went on to claim Finals MVP again in a sweep of Wilson's Aces. During the 2020 season, she also became a prominent social voice on racial and feminist causes--enough so that ''Magazine/SportsIllustrated'' named her one of its five Sportspeople of the Year. She's since gotten a signature shoe with Puma. Despite leading the W in scoring in 2022, she signed with the Libs the following year, citing a wish to play in "the biggest market in all of sports". (Given that she grew up in the Syracuse area and went to school at [=UConn=], it's likely her ties to the region also played a part in her move.) Stewart won her second MVP in her first season in New York, though she fell short of winning another title with a loss to the Aces in the Finals.

* '''Kelsey Plum''': Drafted by the San Antonio Stars #1 overall in 2017 after breaking the D-I women's basketball all-time scoring record (since surpassed) while at Washington, the point guard made the move with the team when they became the Las Vegas Aces the next year, sticking around as a core part of the team as they built towards their back-to-back titles in 2022-23.
* '''Breanna Stewart''': Stretch four for the Liberty, moving there as a free agent in 2023 after seven seasons with the Seattle Storm, which drafted her #1 overall in 2016 out of [[OverusedRunningGag UConn]]. The 6'4" [[FanNickname Stewie]] came into the league as perhaps even more hyped than the "Three to See"--led the Huskies to NCAA titles in each of her four seasons in Storrs, also being named the Final Four MVP in all four seasons; consensus national player of the year in her last two seasons (also winning a major national award as a sophomore); becoming a fixture on Team USA while still at [=UConn=]... you get the picture. After leading the league's rookies in scoring, rebounding, blocks, and minutes per game in 2016 (co-leader among ''all'' players in minutes, and in the top six in the other three categories), Stewart was the runaway Rookie of the Year, receiving all but one vote. Stewie didn't stop there, going on to earn season and Finals MVP honors in 2018 while leading the Storm to the title. Sadly, she missed the 2019 season to a torn Achilles suffered in the 2019 [=EuroLeague=] Women final. She would come back strong in 2020 with a season that put her in contention for another MVP trophy, though A'ja Wilson (below) beat her out for that honor; Stewie went on to claim Finals MVP again in a sweep of Wilson's Aces. During the 2020 season, she also became a very prominent social voice on racial and feminist causes--enough so that ''Magazine/SportsIllustrated'' named her one of its five Sportspeople of the Year. She's since gotten a signature shoe thanks to a deal with Puma. When she announced her move to the Libs in 2023, she cited a wish to play in "the biggest market in all of sports". Given that she grew up in the Syracuse area, it's likely her ties to the state also played a part in her move.
** Her injury made her another poster child for the league's salary issues. Even without the geopolitical risks (cf. Brittney Griner), another problem is that players who go overseas don't get any significant offseason. One ESPN writer noted shortly after Stewart's injury that in calendar 2018, she played in China, had little time off before the WNBA season, almost immediately followed that with duty for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup in Spain, and then had little downtime before going to play in Russia. The last time she'd had any real time off was in 2015, before her senior season at [=UConn=].

* '''[[UsefulNotes/DFWMetroplex Dallas]] Wings''': Founded in 1998 as the UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} Shock (as in the car part, to reflect the Detroit Pistons), where they won three championships in '03, '06, and '08 (and another Finals appearance in '07) while being coached by former Pistons great Bill Laimbeer. They moved to Tulsa in 2010, retaining their nickname. Tulsa was the league's ButtMonkey for virtually all of its time in UsefulNotes/{{Oklahoma|USA}}. In 2011, they set a new league record for futility with a 3-31 skid. The case of the Shock was unique in that Tulsa claimed the history of the Detroit Shock, including Detroit's three championship banners... but with Tulsa's ButtMonkey status, most fans were uncomfortable with giving them Detroit's GuileHero status. In 2013, things finally looked hopeful when they gained the charismatic Notre Dame superstar Skylar Diggins (now Diggins-Smith). Her weak rookie debut might have damaged those hopes, but those fears largely disappeared after a strong sophomore season, and she became one of the league's top guards before a pregnancy leave in 2019, followed by her departure to Phoenix after that season. By that time, a more than adequate replacement had arrived in the form of Arike Ogunbowale. The Shock finally made their first playoff appearance since the move in 2015... right after the team announced it would move to Dallas[[note]]technically Arlington[[/note]] for 2016, later announcing that it would drop the Shock name.

* '''Candace Parker''': Forward for the Las Vegas Aces, drafted #1 overall in 2008 out of Tennessee by the Sparks, for whom she played until returning to her hometown of Chicago[[labelnote:*]]Well, close enough. She grew up in the western suburb of Naperville.[[/labelnote]] as a free agent in the 2020–21 offseason. After two seasons with the Sky, she moved to Vegas as a free agent. Silky, smooth, and incredibly athletic... when not sidelined with injuries or pregnancy. Formerly married to NBA journeyman Shelden Williams; now in a same-sex marriage with Russian basketball player Anna Petrakova. She won the MVP Award in 2013. Kept out of the 2016 Olympics in Rio, in favor of Breanna Stewart, which caused some controversy. She finished the year strong, however, by winning her first WNBA title and Finals MVP. Parker has continued to play at a high level, earning Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2020, helping her hometown team to its first title in 2021, and in 2022 becoming the first player in league history to have recorded two triple-doubles in a single season (and also the first to have three career triple-doubles). She's also become part of the growing list of sportspeople who own shares in American soccer teams; Parker is a minority investor in Angel City FC, an LA-based team that started play in the National Women's Soccer League in 2022. Parker has also picked up enough big-name endorsements that she made ''Forbes'' magazine's 2021 list of the top 10 earners among female athletes worldwide.[[note]]The W's current maximum salary is a shade over $200K. Parker's total earnings in 2021? An estimated $5.7 million.[[/note]] Most significantly, Parker was one of the cover athletes for ''NBA [=2K22=]'' (specifically a special edition marking the WNBA's 25th anniversary), making her the first woman ever to receive this spot on the popular video game.

* '''Angel [=McCoughtry=]''': Forward for the Las Vegas Aces who made her name with the Atlanta Dream, drafted #1 overall in 2009 out of Louisville. A slashing, high-scoring forward with a penchant for drawing fouls, and also a top-tier defender, she helped lead the Dream to playoff berths in all but one of her seasons in the ATL, including three Finals appearances (all losses). Missed the 2019 season to injury and moved to the Aces, helping them to a Finals appearance in her first season in Vegas... [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic make that Bradenton]].
* '''Arike Ogunbowale''': Shooting guard for the Dallas Wings, the UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}} native first made her name in college at Notre Dame, notably hitting not one but ''two'' buzzer-beaters to lead the Irish to the 2018 national title--the first a pull-up jumper from just inside the three-point line in overtime in the semifinals against [=UConn=], and the second an off-balance running three-pointer to take down Mississippi State in the final. She parlayed those heroics into an appearance on ''Series/DancingWithTheStars'' in that offseason, and went on to go fifth overall in the 2019 draft with the Wings. She quickly emerged as a star of the future, finishing third in scoring as a rookie (though Rookie of the Year honors would go to Napheesa Collier of the Lynx) and then leading the league in that category in 2020.
* '''Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike''': Sisters and Stanford products who both play forward for the Los Angeles Sparks.
** Nneka, the older by two years and shorter by one inch (6'2"), was named Pac-10/Pac-12[[note]](the conference went from 10 to 12 members during her Stanford career)[[/note]] Player of the Year twice, and went #1 in the 2012 draft. She made an immediate impact, earning Rookie of the Year honors, and has since gone on to make the All-Star Game in each year it's been held in her career.[[note]]The All-Star Game is normally not held in Olympic years. It was held in 2021, the year of the COVID-delayed Tokyo Games.[[/note]] In 2016, she took her game to a new level, leading the league in field goal percentage and setting personal highs in scoring, rebounds, and assists, earning MVP honors while leading the Sparks to the title. Since then, she's continued to play at All-Star level, and is also known for her [[NiceGuy Nice Gal]] image on-court, winning the league's sportsmanship award three times in a row (2019–2021). She was also one of two WNBA players featured in ''Film/SpaceJamANewLegacy'', voicing Arachnneka, a humanoid spider who played on the Goon Squad.
** Chiney, through her first season in the WNBA, was almost a mirror image of Nneka--[[RunningGag twice Pac-12 POY, #1 pick in the 2014 draft, an All-Star as a rookie, and Rookie of the Year]]. However, while at Stanford, she picked up one major honor that eluded her sister--the Wooden Award, one of the three major NCAA POY awards in the women's game. Unfortunately, she seems to have become a GlassCannon. First, she tore her right ACL and missed the 2015 WNBA season, but came back strong enough in 2016 to earn that season's Comeback Player of the Year Award. She then went to play in China, where she hurt the Achilles in her other leg; she missed the 2017 WNBA season because of it. Chiney would recover from this setback, making another All-Star appearance in 2018. In the 2018–19 offseason, she was traded to the Sparks, reuniting her with her older sister; she then settled into the role of sixth woman. During the traditional basketball season, she's now an Creator/{{ESPN}} analyst; this enabled her to make the choice to sit out the 2020 season to more fully recover from past injuries. During that time, she also became the first black woman to host a national ESPN Radio program, teaming up with Mike Golic Jr. for the network's 3-hour afternoon drive-time[[labelnote:*]]Drive time in the eastern zones; 4–7 pm Eastern[[/labelnote]] show. She's since become the face of an ad campaign for restaurant delivery company [=DoorDash=].

* '''UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}} Dream''': Founded in 2008, named for Atlanta-native UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr's "I Have a Dream" speech. As of 2020, they're three-time Eastern Conference Champions, but they've yet to cross the finish line of winning a WNBA championship, getting swept three consecutive times, twice by the Minnesota Lynx in 2011 and 2013. While the Dream shared State Farm Arena with the Hawks from 2008 to 2016 and again in 2019, the Hawks never held any ownership stake in its WNBA contemporary. In 2020, the Dream planned to move into the Gateway Center Arena in the south Atlanta suburb of College Park, sharing the venue with the Hawks' G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks. The most recent team to have had an ownership change. In 2021, the former ownership group sold out after extreme pressure from players, largely driven by the presence of Kelly Loeffler, former Republican Senator for UsefulNotes/{{Georgia|USA}} who had disparaged the UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatterMovement.[[note]]Their vocal support for their employer's opponents, specifically the Reverend Raphael Warnock, in the 2020 elections was seen as one reason for the Republican party's unexpected losses that year.[[/note]] The new ownership group includes Renee Montgomery, who had retired from the league months earlier; she's the first WNBA alum to have invested in a team ''and'' taken an active executive role (other alums have filled one of the roles, but not both).
* '''UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} Sky''': Founded in 2006, notable for being the first franchise to be founded without NBA ties. Named for the Chicago skyline. They made an especially strong run in 2011, [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut but never made a playoff appearance]] until picking up college superstar Elena Delle Donne in 2013. During [[FanNickname EDD's]] time in Chicago, their flameouts came in the playoffs (first-round exit, swept in the Finals, first-round exit, second-round exit). They slid back to mediocrity after her departure to Washington, but rebounded once Courtney Vandersloot made a habit of setting new WNBA single-season assist records, and the arrival of [[WhereItAllBegan area native]] Candace Parker in 2021 was followed by their first-ever title.
* '''Connecticut Sun''': Founded in 1999 as the Orlando Miracle (tied to the Orlando Magic), moved to Connecticut in 2003 to become the Sun (named for the [[EnforcedPlug Mohegan Sun]] casino where they play). The Sun was the first WNBA team to be owned independently of an NBA team (specifically by the Mohegan UsefulNotes/{{Native American|s}} tribe) and the first profitable team in league history. This is potentially because of their location: the Sun are the only WNBA team to not share a market with another "Big Four" professional sports team, and said market has been especially crazy for women's basketball since [=UConn=]'s meteoric ascent in the '90s. The team is even [[FanNickname called USunn]] due to the plethora of [=UConn=] alumnae on the roster (five out of eleven players in 2013). The current face of the team is current triple-double threat Alyssa Thomas.
* '''Indiana Fever''': Founded in 2000, named for Indiana's well-known basketball obsession. Saved from potential folding with a run to the 2009 Finals, and then won the 2012 Finals. Was projected to make its first profit in 2013 and remained a competitive force until the end of the 2010s. They share the Indiana Pacers' home of Gainbridge Fieldhouse in UsefulNotes/{{Indianapolis}} (though renovations displaced them for part of the early 2020s). The Fever may show signs of a resurgence in 2024, with 2023 top draft pick and ROY Aliyah Boston being joined by all-time Division I career scoring leader and 2024 top pick UsefulNotes/CaitlinClark.
* '''[[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity New York]] Liberty''': The last inaugural franchise left in the East, founded in 1997 and named for the big green statue in the harbor. This is the team that has gone the longest without a WNBA title, but not for lack of trying--they've made five Finals appearances, tied for second-most of any franchise, and [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut fell short every time]]. Dubbed the Libs, and in recent years the Libbies, as well as the Libkids for their young roster. The team's popularity swelled upon the acquisition of Cappie Pondexter, though it waned again after the news of said exile, and, to a lesser extent, the suspension of Janel [=McCarville=]. And then the Libs' owner James Dolan, also owner of the New York Knicks, tried to bring in Isiah Thomas to run the team... the same Isiah Thomas who had proved to be as epic a failure as an executive with the Knicks as he was great as a player and that had ''just lost a sexual harassment lawsuit''. In 2019, the Liberty was acquired by Joseph Tsai, owner of the Brooklyn Nets, and moved into the Nets' home of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn once the WNBA returned to home arenas in 2021. The "Libkids" name came back in 2020--they had three first-round picks (including #1) in the 2020 draft and ended up with ''seven'' rookies on their opening-night roster of 12, with no player even 30 years old and only one over 26. The #1 pick, to the surprise of absolutely no one, was Sabrina Ionescu, arguably the face of US women's basketball before being picked. They went all-in for a title run in 2023, picking up Vandersloot and former MVP Breanna Stewart in free agency and trading for former MVP Jonquel Jones. They won the Commissioner's Cup but lost in the Finals to the Aces.
* '''UsefulNotes/{{Washington|DC}} Mystics''': Founded in 1998, named for the Washington Wizards; they share ownership with the Wizards and the [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL's]] Washington Capitals. The FanNickname "Mystakes" came up for their incredible knack for screwing things up. Despite this, they have a pretty strong attendance record (several "Attendance Championship" banners were once raised on their arena's rafters). Home of a very BrokenBase, though EDD's arrival plus other roster upgrades for the 2017 season gave the fans hope, which was cemented with a 2018 Finals appearance and their first-ever title in 2019. They probably won't win any more "attendance championships" in the future--they moved out of the Wizards and Caps' home of Capital One Arena after the 2018 season to a new arena in southeast DC that only seats 4,200; the Mystics share the venue with the Wizards' G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go.

* '''Sabrina Ionescu''': Joined the league in 2020 as ''the'' face of American women's basketball, starting her pro career with the New York Liberty as the first overall pick out of Oregon and having already entered FirstNameBasis.[[note]]She's the only D-I player, male or female, with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists in a college career. The aforementioned Caitlin Clark had a decent chance of joining her in that club in 2023–24, but looks to fall just short in boards.[[/note]] Unfortunately, her rookie season came to a premature end, as she went down with a severe ankle sprain in the Libs' third game in the COVID bubble. When the league came back to home markets in 2021, Sabrina didn't take long to have a signature moment. In her first game in Brooklyn, she sank a buzzer-beating game-winning three. Two games later, she became the youngest WNBA player to record a triple-double. However, she was still recovering from the previous season's injury, putting up solid but not spectacular numbers for the rest of the season. She still ended up with the league's top-selling jersey in 2021, also appearing in a couple of commercials for State Farm Insurance alongside NBA superstar PG Chris Paul. Finally fully healthy in 2022, Ionescu picked up where she left off after her 2020 injury, first becoming the most recent of four players with a second career triple-double (achieving that one while ''sitting out the fourth quarter'') and then becoming the second after Candace Parker (below) with two triple-doubles in a season and three in a career. And also becoming the first W player ever with [[MasterOfAll 500 points, 200 rebounds, and 200 assists]] in a season.[[note]]It doesn't sound like a lot, but keep in mind two facts: (1) the WNBA regular season was 36 games in 2022 (increased to 40 for 2023), compared to the NBA's 82, and (2) regulation WNBA games last only 40 minutes instead of the NBA's 48.[[/note]] In 2023, she set a new W single-season record for three-pointers (although the league's expansion to 40 games helped); blew away the field in the All-Star Game three-point contest, making all but two of her 27 final-round attempts for a record 37 points; and got her own signature shoe ''and'' apparel line from Nike, all being marketed as ''unisex'' -- to the point that nearly 80 ''NBA'' players [[https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39877975/why-sabrina-1s-taking-nba-shoe-game wore her shoe model]] at least once in that league's 2023–24 season.

* '''Diana Taurasi''': Guard for the Phoenix Mercury [[LongRunner since 2004]], drafted #1 overall out of [[OverusedRunningGag UConn]] after leading them to three straight national titles. [[ArsonMurderAndLifesaving Hot-headed, foul-mouthed, charismatic, and exceedingly talented]], she won three championships in Phoenix, claimed one regular season MVP and two Finals [=MVPs=] (plus Rookie of the Year), led the WNBA in scoring five times (and assists once), set the single season scoring record in '06, became the league's career scoring leader in '17, and was named the league's "Greatest of All Time" by fans for the WNBA's 25th anniversary in '21. Taurasi set all of these records depite sitting out the 2015 WNBA season at the request of the Russian team she then played for during the traditional basketball season, which offered her [[MoneyDearBoy a bonus well in excess of her WNBA salary]] to do so.[[note]]To put the financial decision in perspective, she was making slightly under the WNBA maximum salary (at that time) of $107,000. Her Russian team was paying her $1.5 million a season, not including the aforementioned bonus. In Taurasi's defense, she turned 33 during the 2015 WNBA season and hadn't had an offseason since she was at [=UConn=]. This wasn't the first time that Taurasi had been offered a bonus to sit out a WNBA season, and several other WNBA players have reportedly been offered similar bonuses; she's just the first player to accept such an offer. Also, Taurasi won ''six'' [=EuroLeague=] titles while playing overseas.[[/note]] As noted above, she and Sue Bird became the first basketball players with five Olympic golds in 2021. Off the court, Taurasi is married to longtime Mercury teammate Penny Taylor. She also portrayed a member of the Goon Squad in ''Space Jam: A New Legacy'', voicing White Mamba, a humanoid snake that bears her nickname.
* '''Alyssa Thomas''': Forward for the Sun since 2014, when she was picked #4 overall out of Maryland, Thomas has become the most prominent among several players who became major triple-double threats in the post-COVID era--yes, even more so than Sabrina. For her first several seasons, she was a strong defender who regularly averaged double-figure points, but took major levels in badass in 2022. In that season, Thomas had four triple-doubles, two in the regular season and two in ''back-to-back'' Finals games, making her the W's career leader in that category and also the first ever to record one (much less two) in the Finals. The following year, she recorded six in the 2023 regular season and one more in the playoffs, and came pretty close to averaging a triple-double ''for the season''. Not to mention that she led the league in rebounds. Thomas made All-WNBA both seasons (second team in 2022, first team in 2023), and narrowly lost out on the season MVP award to Stewie.[[note]]Thomas actually had more first-place votes, but Stewie won on overall points.)[[/note]]

* '''[[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity New York]] Liberty''': The last inaugural franchise left in the East, founded in 1997 and named for the big green statue in the harbor. This is the team that has gone the longest without a WNBA title. Dubbed the Libs, and in recent years the Libbies, as well as the Libkids for their young roster. The team's popularity swelled upon the acquisition of Cappie Pondexter, though it waned again after the news of said exile, and, to a lesser extent, the suspension of Janel [=McCarville=]. And then the Libs' owner James Dolan, also owner of the New York Knicks, tried to bring in Isiah Thomas to run the team... the same Isiah Thomas who had proved to be as epic a failure as an executive with the Knicks as he was great as a player and on top of that had ''just lost a sexual harassment lawsuit''. In 2019, the Liberty was acquired by Joseph Tsai, now sole owner of the Brooklyn Nets, and moved into the Nets' home of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn once the WNBA returned to home arenas in 2021. The "Libkids" name came back in 2020--they had three first-round picks (including #1) in the 2020 draft and ended up with ''seven'' rookies on their opening-night roster of 12, with no player even 30 years old and only one over 26. The #1 pick, to the surprise of absolutely no one, was Sabrina Ionescu, arguably the face of US women's basketball before being picked. They went all-in for a title run in 2023, picking up Vandersloot and former MVP Breanna Stewart in free agency and trading for former MVP Jonquel Jones. They won the Commissioner's Cup but lost in the Finals to the Aces.
* '''UsefulNotes/{{Washington|DC}} Mystics''': Founded in 1998, named for the Washington Wizards; they share ownership with the Wizards and the [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague NHL's]] Washington Capitals. The FanNickname "Mystakes" came up for their incredible knack for screwing things up. Despite this, they have a pretty strong attendance record (several "Attendance Championship" banners were once raised on their arena's rafters). Home of a very BrokenBase, though EDD's arrival plus other roster upgrades for the 2017 season gave the fans hope, which was cemented with a 2018 Finals appearance and their first-ever title in 2019. It's highly unlikely that they'll win any more "attendance championships" in the future--they moved out of the Wizards and Caps' home of Capital One Arena after the 2018 season to a new arena in southeast DC that only seats 4,200; the Mystics share the venue with the Wizards' G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go.

* '''[[UsefulNotes/DFWMetroplex Dallas]] Wings''': Founded in 1998 as the UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} Shock (as in the car part, to reflect the Detroit Pistons), where they won three championships in '03, '06, and '08 while being coached by former Pistons great Bill Laimbeer. They moved to Tulsa in 2010, retaining their nickname. Tulsa was the league's ButtMonkey for virtually all of its time in UsefulNotes/{{Oklahoma|USA}}. In 2011, they set a new league record for futility with a 3-31 skid. The case of the Shock was unique in that Tulsa claimed the history of the Detroit Shock, including Detroit's three championship banners... but with Tulsa's ButtMonkey status, most fans were uncomfortable with giving them Detroit's GuileHero status. In 2013, things finally looked hopeful when they gained the charismatic Notre Dame superstar Skylar Diggins (now Diggins-Smith). Her weak rookie debut might have damaged those hopes, but those fears largely disappeared after a strong sophomore season, and she became one of the league's top guards before a pregnancy leave in 2019, followed by her departure to Phoenix after that season. By that time, a more than adequate replacement had arrived in the form of Arike Ogunbowale. The Shock finally made their first playoff appearance since the move in 2015... right after the team announced it would move to Dallas[[note]]technically Arlington[[/note]] for 2016, later announcing that it would drop the Shock name.

* '''Becky Hammon''': A Hall of Fame point guard out of Colorado State who played 16 seasons in the league before retiring in 2014. Although small by WNBA standards (5'6"/1.68 m) and not exceptionally fast, she made up for her relative lack of physical skills with an extraordinary basketball IQ. The New York Liberty signed the undrafted point guard in 1999 and traded her to the San Antonio Stars in 2007 (where she led the league in assists in her first season). Despite being born in South Dakota, Hammon became a naturalized Russian citizen; this decision was controversial, but it allowed Hammon to make significantly more money in her playing career and play in the Olympics after not making the U.S. team, winning bronze in 2008. Just before the end of the six-time All-Star's final season as a player, she made headlines when the NBA's San Antonio Spurs hired her as an assistant. Hammon became the first woman to be a full-time coach in any of America's four major professional leagues and remained with the Spurs through the 2021–22 season, by which time she was increasingly seen as a potential NBA head coach in the making. On New Year's Eve 2020, she became the first woman to act as an NBA head coach, taking over after Gregg Popovich was ejected from a game. Hammon returned to the W in 2022 to become head coach of the franchise where she had finished her playing career and that had retired her #25, now known as the Las Vegas Aces. In her first season, she led the Aces to the league's best record and the franchise's first title; she won Coach of the Year, and followed it up with another championship the next season.

* '''[[UsefulNotes/DFWMetroplex Dallas]] Wings''': Founded in 1998 as the UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} Shock (as in the car part, to better reflect the Detroit Pistons), moved to Tulsa in 2010, retaining their nickname. Tulsa was the league's ButtMonkey for virtually all of its time in UsefulNotes/{{Oklahoma|USA}}. In 2011, they set a new league record for futility with a 3-31 skid. The case of the Shock was unique in that Tulsa claimed the history of the Detroit Shock, including Detroit's three championship banners... but with Tulsa's ButtMonkey status, most fans were uncomfortable with giving them Detroit's GuileHero status. In 2013, things finally looked hopeful when they gained the charismatic Notre Dame superstar Skylar Diggins (now Diggins-Smith). Her weak rookie debut might have damaged those hopes, but those fears largely disappeared after a strong sophomore season, and she became one of the league's top guards before a pregnancy leave in 2019, followed by her departure to Phoenix after that season. By that time, a more than adequate replacement had arrived in the form of Arike Ogunbowale. The Shock finally made their first playoff appearance since the move in 2015... right after the team announced it would move to Dallas[[note]]technically Arlington[[/note]] for 2016, later announcing that it would drop the Shock name.

* '''UsefulNotes/{{Minnesota}} Lynx''': Founded in 1999, named as a counterpart to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Survived several rough seasons to stockpile approximately a metric crapton of young talent that has paid dividends since 2011. Once they picked up collegiate superstar Maya Moore and hometown hero Lindsay Whalen, [[TookALevelInBadass momentum immediately began to shift in their direction]], and they finally won a title in 2011, followed by three more in '13, '15, and '17, officially becoming a dynasty.

* '''Tina Thompson''': A Hall of Fame forward, she was the league's first-ever college draft pick, chosen #1 overall in 1997 by the Houston Comets out of USC. She contributed to the team's fourpeat championship run in her first four years, signed with her hometown Sparks after the Comets folded in 2009, and spent her last two seasons with the Storm before retiring in 2013. At that point, the nine-time All-Star was the last player from the WNBA's first season to be active in the league and was the league's all-time leading scorer (since surpassed only by Diana Taurasi). [[IconicItem Rarely seen without her lucky lipstick]]. Spent four years as head coach of Virginia before being shown the door in 2022.
* '''Teresa Weatherspoon''': A fiery point guard, "Spoon" was assigned to the New York Liberty in 1997 and left there after 2003. [[FanonDiscontinuity We do not discuss her 2004 season with the Sparks.]] She won the W's first two Defensive Player of the Year awards after leading the league in steals both years, but she was equally effective on the other side of the ball--she also was the league's first assists leader and may be best known for her buzzer-beating halfcourt heave in Game 2 of the 1999 Finals to win the game for New York and extend the series (this was selected the greatest moment in league history during the 15th anniversary season of 2011). The five-time All-Star later coached at her alma mater, Louisiana Tech, from 2009-14, but the Hall of Famer failed to duplicate her national championship-winning play as HC. After four seasons as an assistant with the New Orleans Pelicans, she returned to the W in 2024 as the new head coach of the Chicago Sky.
* '''Lindsay Whalen''': Hall of Fame point guard for the Minnesota Lynx. Started out as the hometown hero of the University of Minnesota, where she graduated the all-time leading scorer. Known for her quiet yet machine-like consistency of play, she helped made women's college basketball popular in the state by bringing twice as many people to the arena during games. She won many college titles while playing. She was drafted #4 overall by the Connecticut Sun in 2004 and helped lead them to two Finals appearances, but was traded back to her home state of Minnesota in 2010 to play for the Lynx. In 2011, she helped lead the Lynx to their first title in WNBA history, followed by another three that decade before retiring in 2018 to immediately become the head coach at her alma mater of Minnesota, serving in that role for five seasons. She made the Naismith Hall in 2022 and the Women's Hall in 2023, in both cases as a player.

** For the first few years of her WNBA career, she was one of the very few high-profile WNBA players who never played overseas. (She has [[WordOfGod publicly stated]] that she normally stays in the States to help care for her disabled older sister; her family ties were seen as playing a big part in her desire to move to Washington.) EDD did join a Chinese team for that country's 2017 playoffs, but a flareup of post-Lyme disease syndrome[[note]]in 2008, she contracted the disease, which was initially misdiagnosed; she's dealt with the aftereffects ever since[[/note]] forced her to return prematurely to the States. Her Lyme disease history, which has left her seriously immunocompromised, meant that she sat out 2020 after the league turned down her petition to skip the abbreviated season (the Mystics announced they would pay her anyway). With disability causes so close to her heart, she's also a high-profile ambassador for Special Olympics and is also heavily involved with Lyme disease charities.
* '''Skylar Diggins-Smith''': Was a superstar point guard at Notre Dame, where she graduated as the school's second-leading career scorer before being drafted #3 overall in 2013. Known for her charisma and good looks, Diggins (now Diggins-Smith) was hyped as the next great WNBA point guard after she was drafted by the then-Tulsa Shock in 2013. She got off to a slow start in her debut rookie season, shooting way below her points average from college, but lived up to expectations in 2014, being named first-team All-WNBA and the league's most improved player, as well as being an All-Star starter. Missed most of the 2015 season to a torn ACL, but came back strong, becoming another perennial All-Star. Another rare example of a WNBA star who doesn't play overseas, in her case because she has enough endorsement and outside business income to not need it, although she was considering playing in China in 2015–16 before her ACL injury. Missed the 2019 season while pregnant with her first child; when she became a free agent in 2020, the Wings sent her to the Mercury in a sign-and-trade deal during that offseason, getting three draft picks in return. After another maternity leave for her second child in 2023, she moved to the Storm.
* '''Brittney Griner''': Center for the Phoenix Mercury, drafted from Baylor #1 overall in 2013 after winning a national title being named consensus NCAA player of the year in her last two seasons. The 6'8" (2.03 m) Griner, known in college for her dominant shot-blocking and as one of the few women who can routinely dunk, entered the league with as much hype as any player in years. Also made headlines in 2013 when she came out as lesbian and had the league's top-selling jersey in her rookie season as well. A perennial All-Star, Griner led the league in blocks eight times, including her first seven straight seasons and has also led the league in scoring twice.

* '''Teresa Weatherspoon''': A fiery point guard, "Spoon" was assigned to the New York Liberty in 1997 and left there after the 2003 season. [[FanonDiscontinuity We do not discuss her 2004 season with the Sparks.]] Best known for her buzzer-beating halfcourt heave in Game 2 of the 1999 Finals to win the game for New York and extend the series; it was selected the greatest moment in league history during the 15th anniversary season of 2011. Coached at her alma mater, Louisiana Tech, for five seasons until being fired in 2014. Member of the Women's Hall since 2010 and Naismith Hall since 2019, and after four seasons as an assistant with the New Orleans Pelicans returned to the W after the 2023 season as the new head coach of the Chicago Sky.

* '''Sheryl Swoopes''': One of the game's greats and the first player signed by the WNBA. Originally assigned to the Houston Comets in '97 after her stellar career at Texas Tech, Swoopes was a brilliant defensive player and incredible slasher in her prime; she was the first WNBA player ever to collect a triple-double (both in the regular and postseason), and still one of only four to have had more than one in the league. After winning championships in each of her first four seasons, Swoopes began to collect more individual accolades right before teammate Cynthia Cooper retired; she won her first MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in 2000 after leading the league in scoring and steals. Her marriage to her high school sweetheart and pregnancy with son Jordan was [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday heavily marketed by the league]]. She revealed in 2005 that she was gay and in a relationship with her former assistant coach Alisa Scott, and is now remarried to a man. (If you're having trouble keeping up, you're not the only one.) After retiring for good, she went into coaching; she had been the head coach at Loyola University Chicago before being fired during the 2016 offseason amid allegations of mistreatment of players. Entered the Naismith Hall in 2016 and the Women's Hall in 2017.
* '''Tina Thompson''': A forward, she was the league's first-ever draft pick,[[note]]since the league doesn't seem to include the Elite Draft in its totals[[/note]] chosen #1 overall in 1997 by Houston out of USC. She then signed with her hometown Sparks after the Comets folded, and then moved to the Storm after the 2011 season. Thompson was the last player from the WNBA's first season to be active in the league, finally retiring after the 2013 season as the league's all-time leading scorer (Diana Taurasi now leads in that statistic). [[IconicItem Rarely seen without her lucky lipstick]]. Spent four years as head coach of Virginia before being shown the door after the 2021–22 season.

* '''Sheryl Swoopes''': One of the game's greats and the first player signed by the WNBA. Originally assigned to the Houston Comets in '97 after her stellar career at Texas Tech, Swoopes was a brilliant defensive player and incredible slasher in her prime; she was the first WNBA player ever to collect a triple-double (both in the regular and postseason), and still one of only four to have had more than one in the league. Her marriage to her high school sweetheart and pregnancy with son Jordan was [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday heavily marketed by the league]]. She revealed in 2005 that she was gay and in a relationship with her former assistant coach Alisa Scott, and is now remarried to a man. (If you're having trouble keeping up, you're not the only one.) After retiring for good, she went into coaching; she had been the head coach at Loyola University Chicago before being fired during the 2016 offseason amid allegations of mistreatment of players. Entered the Naismith Hall in 2016 and the Women's Hall in 2017.

* '''Maya Moore''': Forward for the Minnesota Lynx 2010s dynasty, drafted #1 overall in 2011 out of [[RunningGag UConn]] after an incredibly decorated college career, including consecutive national championships and an NCAA record ''90'' straight wins. She helped lead the Lynx to their first WNBA championship in 2011 and won Rookie of the Year. She finished a close second to Candace Parker for the regular season MVP Award in 2013 but won the Finals MVP Award by helping lead Minnesota to their second title. In 2014, she won MVP after leading the league in scoring, led the Lynx to two more championships in '15 and '17, and led the league in steals in '18. The six-time All-Star's career came to an untimely end for unusual reasons. She sat out the 2019 season to pursue personal interests (mainly related to Christian ministry) and pivoted to pursuing criminal justice reform. Moore never returned to play, formally announcing her retirement from basketball in 2023.
* '''Cappie Pondexter''': An explosive, offensive-minded guard who played for five WNBA teams in her career--the Phoenix Mercury, New York Liberty, Chicago Sky, Los Angeles Sparks, and Indiana Fever. Drafted #2 overall in 2006 out of Rutgers by Phoenix, she, Diana Taurasi, and the Mercury won two titles in three years... and then she demanded a trade, [[MultipleChoicePast either]] because she wanted to be on the Liberty or because of her fashion business. Controversial among New York's faithful before being dealt to Chicago before the 2015 season, especially after making some unfortunate remarks after the earthquake/tsunami/meltdown in Japan. Pondexter stayed in Chicago for three years, but her numbers waned with age, and she moved to the Sparks in 2018, was released during the season, got picked up by the Fever, and retired after that season.

* '''Sheryl Swoopes''': One of the game's greats, originally assigned to the Houston Comets, later with the Seattle Storm and, after a two-year retirement, the Tulsa Shock for one final season in 2011. A brilliant defensive player and incredible slasher in her prime. Her marriage to her high school sweetheart and pregnancy with son Jordan was [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday heavily marketed by the league]]. Revealed in 2005 that she was gay and in a relationship with her former assistant coach Alisa Scott. Now remarried to a man. If you're having trouble keeping up, you're not the only one. After retiring for good, she went into coaching; she had been the head coach at Loyola University Chicago before being fired during the 2016 offseason amid allegations of mistreatment of players. Entered the Naismith Hall in 2016 and the Women's Hall in 2017. Also of note is that she was the first WNBA player ever to collect a triple-double, and one of only four to have had more than one in the league;[[note]]for a long time, she was the ''only'' one with multiple triple-doubles[[/note]] her other triple-double was the first (and for a long time only) one in playoff history.

* '''Maya Moore''': Forward for the Minnesota Lynx, drafted #1 overall in 2011 out of [[RunningGag UConn]]. She helped lead the Minnesota Lynx to their first WNBA championship in 2011 and won Rookie of the Year. She finished a close second to Candace Parker for the regular season MVP Award in 2013 but won the Finals MVP Award by helping lead Minnesota to their second title in franchise history. In 2015, she led the Lynx to a third WNBA title. Her career came to an untimely end for unusual reasons. She sat out the 2019 season to pursue personal interests (mainly related to Christian ministry) and pivoted to pursuing criminal justice reform. Moore never returned to play, formally announcing her retirement from basketball in 2023.

** '''USBWA (Women's) National Coach of the Year''': The women's version of the above, presented since 1990.

* '''Chamique Holdsclaw''': WhatCouldHaveBeen in a smooth, athletic package with a knack for getting into small spaces. She came into the league in 1999 as the #1 overall pick, going to the Washington Mystics with high expectations after being part of three championship teams at Tennessee. She partially lived up to the hype, with six All-Star selections, a Rookie of the Year win, an Olympic gold medal, two rebounding titles, and a scoring title. However, lingering knee and hamstring problems cut many of her seasons short, while battles with depression compounded by family tragedies left gaps in her career. She was traded to the Sparks in '05, abruptly retired early in '07, and attempted comeback in '09 and '10 with the Dream and Stars.
* '''Lauren Jackson''': A versatile stretch four from Australia, she spent her entire WNBA career for the Seattle Storm, from her overall #1 selection in 2001 through 2012. An eight-time league MVP--three in the WNBA, four in the WNBL in her homeland, and one in the Korean league--basketball's definitely in her blood. Despite her many accomplishments, she was still an example of WhatCouldHaveBeen, as she battled near-constant shin, ankle, and knee injuries throughout her career. Retired completely from basketball in 2016 after missing almost all of the previous two years to the aftereffects of a particularly bad knee injury, and made the Naismith and Women's Halls in 2021. However, Jackson ended up returning to play at [[CoolOldLady age 40]] in 2022 for her hometown team in Australia's second-level women's league in a bid to make the Aussie team for that year's FIBA World Cup in Australia. [[EarnYourHappyEnding She made the team and picked up a bronze medal.]]
* '''Lisa Leslie''': One of the cornerstones of the Los Angeles Sparks if not the league itself, she was assigned to LA at the league's beginning- appropriate for an Angeleno who went to USC. For a fair chunk of the league's existence, she was one of the best players, and the best center, out there. A two-time champion, three-time MVP (in 2002, sweeping All-Star MVP, regular season MVP, and Finals MVP), many-time All-WNBA and All-Star, the league's all-time leading rebounder until Catchings passed her in her final season, and member of the Naismith and Women's Halls of Fame. Also notable for recording the first-ever dunk in a WNBA game. There are those who call her Lisamort, and those who call her the Diva, and those who... she has a lot of {{FanNickname}}s. Her number is retired and the Sparks' court is named after her; she later bought into the team as a part owner, but her group sold out in 2013 to a separate group that included Magic Johnson.

** ''Most recent Division I winners (2023)'': Ben Vander Plas, Virginia (men);[[note]]Repeated from 2022, when he was playing for Ohio.[[/note]] Clark (women).[[note]]Went on to be named CSC's D-I Academic All-American of the Year across all sports.[[/note]] ''2024 winners to be announced on April 16 (men) and April 17 (women).''

* '''Elena Delle Donne''':[[labelnote:*]]Her family name is "Delle Donne", pronounced "DEL-uh DON".[[/labelnote]] Perhaps the most positionally versatile player ever in the women's game, the Delaware product was drafted #2 overall in 2013. She spent her first four WNBA seasons with the Chicago Sky before being dealt to the Washington Mystics in the 2017 offseason, is listed as a guard and forward--despite being the size of most WNBA centers (6'5"/1.96 m). Center, power forward, small forward, shooting guard, point guard, swingman, stretch four, point forward, combo guard... you name it, [[FanNickname EDD]] can play it. With her arrival, the Sky [[TookALevelInBadass took multiple levels in badass]] and became legitimate title contenders... until the Fever swept them out in the first round. In 2013, EDD was the first rookie ever to be the top vote-getter for the All-Star Game and was also the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. In 2015, she led the league in scoring and free throw percentage (unheard of for center-sized players) and earned MVP honors. In 2017, she forced a trade to the Mystics, the closest team to her Delaware home (significance noted below) and led the team to its first-ever WNBA Finals berth in '18 and first title in '19. She was also league MVP in the latter season on the strength of the first 50–40–90 season[[note]]shooting at least 50% from the field, 40% on three-pointers, and 90% on free throws[[/note]] in league history. EDD, the first player to be named WNBA MVP for two different teams, is also the current career free-throw percentage leader in league history (and has a better percentage than ''anyone in NBA history'' by a fairly wide margin).[[note]]The margin between EDD and current NBA leader Steph Curry is larger than the difference between Curry and ''18th place'' in the all-time NBA list.[[/note]] Back problems mostly scuttled her 2021 season, but she came back strong in 2022 (with her minutes carefully managed). EDD has since announced she won't play in 2024, and her WNBA future is uncertain.
** For the first few years of her WNBA career, she was one of the very few high-profile WNBA players who never played overseas. (She has [[WordOfGod publicly stated]] that she normally stays in the States to help care for her disabled older sister; her family ties were seen as playing a big part in her desire to move to Washington.) EDD did join a Chinese team for that country's 2017 playoffs, but a flareup of post-Lyme disease syndrome[[note]]in 2008, she contracted the disease, which was initially misdiagnosed; she's dealt with the aftereffects ever since[[/note]] forced her to return prematurely to the States. Her Lyme disease history, which has left her seriously immunocompromised, meant that she sat out 2020 despite the league turning down her petition to skip the abbreviated season (the Mystics announced they would pay her anyway). With disability causes so close to her heart, she's also a high-profile ambassador for Special Olympics and is also heavily involved with Lyme disease charities.

* '''UsefulNotes/CaitlinClark''': Though yet to play a game in the WNBA, as she just finished her college career at Iowa, Clark is possibly ''already'' the most famous woman to ever play basketball and the Indiana Fever's #1 overall pick in 2024. A dominant long-range scorer and an equally skilled passer, Clark essentially rewrote the record books for college basketball; she holds the NCAA Division I records for both women and men in career points and single-season three-pointers; holds the D-I women's career records for single-season points, points per game, and threes; scored more points than any male or female player in a single NCAA tournament during Iowa's 2023 campaign (coming up short in the final against LSU); scored more career points in the NCAA women's tournament than any other player; and led the nation in points and/or assists in all four of her seasons at Iowa.[[note]]Once in points only, once in assists only, and twice in both.[[/note]] Perhaps even more critically, she contributed to a nigh-unprecedented interest in women's basketball, setting several attendance and viewership records throughout her career--notably, the average TV viewership for women's college basketball actually ''exceeded'' the men's game during her final regular season.