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- 1997 – Present
National Women’s Basketball Association (WNBA)American Women’s Professional basketball League that started playing in 1997.
(Read the Britannica trial of James Naismith in 1929 on his invention of basketball.)
History
WNBA was created by the National Basketball Association (NBA) Council of Governors as a woman similar at the NBA. Each of the first eight WNBA franchises was located in a city which also housed an NBA team, often with nicknames and uniform colors that were evocative counterparts of their men. The NBA had each of the franchises until 2002, when it began to allow the sale of deductibles to ownership groups in cities which had no NBA teams and groups in the cities of the NBA which were not affiliated to these NBA teams.
Britannica Quiz
Great moments in the sports quiz
The first four titles of the WNBA were won by the Houston cometswith teams that presented two of the first superstars in the league Cynthia Cooper And Sheryl dives. Helped by the dissolution of the rival American basketball league In 1999, the WNBA grew up in the first years of the 21st century to become the most successful American professional sports league of all time, helped by the popularity of exceptional players such as Rebecca Lobo,, Lisa LeslieAnd Lauren Jackson.
Conferences and teams
The 13 WNBA teams are divided into two divisions as follows:
The expansion teams planned to join the WNBA are Portland and Toronto (2026), Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030).
WNBA Championship
The winners of the WNBA championship are provided in the table.
| year | winner | finalist | results |
|---|---|---|---|
| * Final series for the best of three until 2005; Subsequently, the best of the five series. | |||
| 1997 | Houston comets | New York Liberty | 1–0 |
| 1998 | Houston comets | Phoenix Mercury | 2–1 |
| 1999 | Houston comets | New York Liberty | 2–1 |
| 2000 | Houston comets | New York Liberty | 2–0 |
| 2001 | Los Angeles Sparks | Charlotte Sting | 2–0 |
| 2002 | Los Angeles Sparks | New York Liberty | 2–0 |
| 2003 | Detroit shock | Los Angeles Sparks | 2–1 |
| 2004 | Seattle storm | Connecticut Soleil | 2–1 |
| 2005 | Sacramento Monarchs | Connecticut Soleil | 3–1 |
| 2006 | Detroit shock | Sacramento Monarchs | 3–2 |
| 2007 | Phoenix Mercury | Detroit shock | 3–2 |
| 2008 | Detroit shock | San Antonio silver stars | 3-0 |
| 2009 | Phoenix Mercury | Indiana fever | 3–2 |
| 2010 | Seattle storm | Atlanta Dream | 3-0 |
| 2011 | Minnesota lynx | Atlanta Dream | 3-0 |
| 2012 | Indiana fever | Minnesota lynx | 3–1 |
| 2013 | Minnesota lynx | Atlanta Dream | 3-0 |
| 2014 | Phoenix Mercury | Chicago Sky | 3-0 |
| 2015 | Minnesota lynx | Indiana fever | 3–2 |
| 2016 | Los Angeles Sparks | Minnesota lynx | 3–2 |
| 2017 | Minnesota lynx | Los Angeles Sparks | 3–2 |
| 2018 | Seattle storm | Washington mystics | 3-0 |
| 2019 | Washington mystics | Connecticut Soleil | 3–2 |
| 2020 | Seattle storm | AS de Las Vegas | 3-0 |
| 2021 | Chicago Sky | Phoenix Mercury | 3–1 |
| 2022 | AS de Las Vegas | Connecticut Soleil | 3–1 |
| 2023 | AS de Las Vegas | New York Liberty | 3–1 |
| 2024 | New York Liberty | Minnesota lynx | 3–2 |
