2020 WNBA season

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2020 WNBA season
League Women's National Basketball Association
Sport Basketball
Duration July 25 – October 6[lower-alpha 1]
Number of games 22[lower-alpha 2]
Number of teams 12
TV partner(s) ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, CBSSN, NBA TV
Top draft pick Sabrina Ionescu
Picked by New York Liberty
Season MVP United States A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas)
Finals champions Seattle Storm
  Runners-up Las Vegas Aces
Finals MVP United States Breanna Stewart (Seattle)
WNBA seasons

The 2020 WNBA season was the 24th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Washington Mystics were the defending champions. Planned changes to the league's schedule included an increase from 34 to 36 regular season games for each team, the introduction of a mid-season Commissioner's Cup tournament, and more games broadcast on ESPN and ABC.[1] This is the first season under a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the WNBA Players' Association.[2] On April 3, the season was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league began a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present on July 25.[4][5][6] A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces was named the league MVP. The Seattle Storm won the 2020 WNBA Finals over the Aces, and Breanna Stewart was named the Finals MVP.

Offseason

Collective Bargaining Agreement

On January 14, 2020, the WNBA and the WNBA Players Association announced that a new eight-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) had been signed.[7][2] Key provisions of the new CBA include:[8][9]

  • The new maximum base salary, for which certain qualified players and those designated as "core players" are eligible, is $215,000, an increase from $117,500 under the previous CBA. Maximum earnings for top players can be over $500,000.
  • The new minimum base salary for inexperienced players is $57,000 and for experienced players is $68,000. This is an increase from $41,965 and $56,375 respectively under the previous CBA.
  • The "core player" designation, under which teams can retain players otherwise eligible for free agency, remains available to teams. However, while teams could designate a player as such up to four times under the previous CBA, this has been reduced to thrice in the next two seasons and twice thereafter.
  • Apart from those players under the "core player" designation, all players who have met contract obligations for five years become unrestricted free agents. This is a decrease from the required six years under the previous CBA.
  • The league will enter a 50-50 revenue sharing agreement beginning in 2021, conditional on meeting certain revenue growth targets.
  • For road games, players will receive "comfort/economy plus" seats rather than ordinary economy class seats, and will receive individual hotel rooms.
  • The league will provide a new paid maternity leave policy, where players will receive their full salaries while on leave. Players with children will be provided an annual $5,000 childcare stipend and two-bedroom apartments. Veteran players are also eligible for up to $60,000 in reimbursements for costs related to family planning.
  • The league will institute a new “Diversity in Coaching” initiative to build a pipeline to coaching and offer other paid employment opportunities for players during the offseason. Under the initiative, WNBA players can work on coaching staffs or in front offices of NBA teams without a salary limit, regardless of the WNBA team's ownership structure.[lower-alpha 3]
  • The league will create expanded programs to address intimate partner violence and nutrition, but details about these programs were not included in the CBA.
  • By the sixth year of the CBA, veteran players (defined for this purpose as those with more than 2 years of WNBA experience) will face season-long suspension for missing the start of training camp. The CBA includes several exceptions to this policy, among them serious injury or illness, maternity leave, national team commitments for non-US players, college graduations, and other significant life events.

Schedule changes

The WNBA originally planned that each team would play 36 total games in the 2020 season, an increase from the 34 games played in each season since 2003. Teams will have 18 home & road games each.[1][10]

The original 2020 season schedule featured the inaugural Commissioner's Cup, an in-season tournament. In the first half of the season between May 15 and July 10, each team would have played its first home and road games against its five conference opponents. These games would have been designated as "Cup games", and the leaders in Cup standings in each conference were would have met in the Commissioner's Cup championship game scheduled for August 14, 2020.[1][10]

The 2020 WNBA schedule originally included a traditional month-long break in July and August to allow players to participate in the Summer Olympic Games. The 2020 games have however been postponed till 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rendering this break unnecessary. On April 3, 2020, the WNBA announced that the start of its own schedule would also be postponed, although there were few details on what the revised schedule might look like. The 2020 entry draft took place as originally scheduled on April 17, although it was done remotely.[3] During a conference call on the day of the draft, Commissioner Engelbert addressed the issue of when the season might begin. Aside from reiterating that the season would not begin as originally scheduled on May 15, she had few concrete details. "Obviously, our goal is to have a season when it’s medically advisable and feasible," she stated. She confirmed that games would if possible be scheduled during the now-unnecessary Olympic break, and she also stated that the season might extend into the fall.[11]

On the originally scheduled opening day, May 15, 2020, Engelbert told ESPN that the players would get their first paychecks on June 1, but she gave few other details of how the season might proceed, if it starts at all. She said a full-length schedule with 36 games per team could only be played if the season began before some point in early July, but she also said the league was looking at various scenarios for a shorter season.[12]

Postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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See also: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports and Suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season

As with most professional sports leagues, the WNBA season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 3, it was announced that the starting of the regular season has been postponed.[3] The 2020 WNBA draft took place on April 17 as originally scheduled,[3] but the rest of the league's activities have been delayed.

On the originally scheduled opening day, May 15, 2020, it was announced that the players would be paid their first paychecks on June 1. On June 4, ESPN reported that the WNBA was planning on a shortened 22-game regular season to be held at IMG Academy, with players receiving 60% of their salaries.[13] On June 9, The Next reported that many players were unhappy with the reduced salary, and the league revised its plans by June 12 to include full season salaries for players.[14] On June 15, the return-to-play proposal was approved.[5][15] The playoff format, which includes single-elimination first and second-round games and then five-game series for the semifinals and finals, will stay the same and end in October.[15]

2020 WNBA draft

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Main article: 2020 WNBA draft

The New York Liberty have the first pick in the 2020 WNBA draft.[16] The Liberty selected Sabrina Ionescu first overall.[17] The full draft was televised on ESPN in the US and on both TSN2 and SN1 in Canada.[18]

Transactions

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Main article: List of 2020 WNBA season transactions

Retirement

Free agency

Free agency negotiations started on January 28, 2020, and the signing period began on February 10, 2020.[26]

Coaching changes

Off-season
Team 2019 season 2020 season Reference
Indiana Fever Pokey Chatman Marianne Stanley [27][28]
New York Liberty Katie Smith Walt Hopkins [29][30]

Arena changes

Regular season

All-Star Game

Traditionally, there is no WNBA All-Star Game during an Olympic year, such as 2020. The 2020 Tokyo games have been postponed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the season being held at IMG Academy, the All-Star Game was not played in 2020.

Standings

# Team W L PCT GB Conf.
1 x – Las Vegas Aces 18 4 .818 – 8–2
2 x – Seattle Storm 18 4 .818 – 8–2
3 x – Los Angeles Sparks 15 7 .682 3 5–5
4 x – Minnesota Lynx 14 8 .636 4 4–6
5 x – Phoenix Mercury 13 9 .591 5 4–6
6 x – Chicago Sky 12 10 .545 6 6–4
7 x – Connecticut Sun 10 12 .455 8 7–3
8 x – Washington Mystics 9 13 .409 9 6–4
9 e – Dallas Wings 8 14 .364 10 1–9
10 e – Atlanta Dream 7 15 .318 11 5–5
11 e – Indiana Fever 6 16 .273 12 4–6
12 e – New York Liberty 2 20 .091 16 2–8

Notes

x – Clinched playoff berth
e – Eliminated from playoffs
Home and Away records not shown, as all games played at a neutral location.
Updated to include results from September 13, 2020
Source


Schedule

2020 WNBA preseason
2020 WNBA regular season
2020 WNBA postseason

Statistical leaders

The following shows the leaders in each statistical category during the 2020 regular season.[35][36]

Category Player Team Statistic
Points per game Arike Ogunbowale Dallas Wings 22.8 ppg
Rebounds per game Candace Parker Los Angeles Sparks 9.7 rpg
Assists per game Courtney Vandersloot Chicago Sky 10.0 apg
Steals per game Alyssa Thomas Connecticut Sun 2.0 spg
Blocks per game A'ja Wilson Las Vegas Aces 2.0 bpg
Field goal percentage Ruthy Hebard Chicago Sky 68.2% (58/85)
Three point FG percentage Alysha Clark Seattle Storm 52.2% (35/67)
Free throw percentage Tiffany Mitchell Indiana Fever 95.1% (77/81)
Points per game (team) Las Vegas Aces 88.7 ppg
Field goal percentage (team) Chicago Sky 49.1%

Playoffs

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Main article: 2020 WNBA Playoffs

The WNBA continued its current playoff format for 2020. The top eight teams, regardless of conference, make the playoffs, with the top two teams receiving a bye to the semi-finals. The remaining six teams play in two single-elimination playoff rounds, with the third and fourth seeds receiving a bye to the second round.[37]

 
 First round:
Single elimination
(September 15)		 Second round:
Single elimination
(September 17)		 Semifinals:
Best-of-five
(September 20–29)		 WNBA Finals:
Best-of-five
(October 2–11)
 
                            
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
1
Las Vegas Aces		 3
 
 
7
Connecticut Sun		 2
 
 
  
 
 
4
Minnesota Lynx		 80
 
  
 
5
Phoenix Mercury		 79
 
5
Phoenix Mercury		 85
 
  
 
8
Washington Mystics		 84
 
1
Las Vegas Aces		 0
 
  
 
2
Seattle Storm		 3
 
6
Chicago Sky		 81
 
  
 
7
Connecticut Sun		 94
 
3
Los Angeles Sparks		 59
 
 
7
Connecticut Sun		 73
 
 
  
 
 
2
Seattle Storm		 3
 
 
4
Minnesota Lynx		 0
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.

Semifinals
Team 1 2 3 4 5
1
Las Vegas Aces		 62 83 68 84 66
7
Connecticut Sun		 87 75 77 75 63
Team 1 2 3
2
Seattle Storm		 88 89 92
4
Minnesota Lynx		 86 79 71
WNBA Finals
Team 1 2 3
1
Las Vegas Aces		 80 91 59
2
Seattle Storm		 93 104 92
This box:


Season award winners

Player of the Week Award

Date Awarded Eastern Conference Western Conference Reference
Player Team Player Team
August 3 Myisha Hines-Allen (1/2) Washington Mystics Breanna Stewart (1/2) Seattle Storm [38]
August 10 Courtney Vandersloot (1/2) Chicago Sky A'ja Wilson (1/2) Las Vegas Aces [39]
August 17 DeWanna Bonner (1/2) Connecticut Sun Napheesa Collier (1/1) Minnesota Lynx [40]
August 24 Courtney Vandersloot (2/2) Chicago Sky Candace Parker (1/1) Los Angeles Sparks [41]
August 31 Alyssa Thomas (1/1) Connecticut Sun Breanna Stewart (2/2) Seattle Storm [42]
September 8 DeWanna Bonner (2/2) Connecticut Sun Skylar Diggins-Smith (1/1) Phoenix Mercury [43]
September 14 Myisha Hines-Allen (2/2) Washington Mystics A'ja Wilson (2/2) Las Vegas Aces [44]

Player of the Month Award

For games played Eastern Conference Western Conference Reference
Player Team Player Team
August Courtney Vandersloot (1/1) Chicago Sky A'ja Wilson (1/2) Las Vegas Aces [45]
September Myisha Hines-Allen (1/1) Washington Mystics A'ja Wilson (2/2) Las Vegas Aces [46]

Rookie of the Month Award

For games played Player Team Reference
August Crystal Dangerfield (1/2) Minnesota Lynx [47]
September Crystal Dangerfield (2/2) Minnesota Lynx [48]

Coach of the Month Award

For games played Coach Team Reference
August Bill Laimbeer (1/2) Las Vegas Aces [49]
September Bill Laimbeer (2/2) Las Vegas Aces [50]

Postseason awards

Award Winner Position Team Votes/Statistic
Most Valuable Player Award A'ja Wilson Forward Las Vegas Aces 43 of 47[51]
Finals MVP Award Breanna Stewart Forward Seattle Storm [52]
Rookie of the Year Award Crystal Dangerfield Guard Minnesota Lynx 44 of 47[53]
Most Improved Player Award Betnijah Laney Forward/Guard Atlanta Dream 25 of 47[54]
Defensive Player of the Year Award Candace Parker Forward/Center Los Angeles Sparks 16 of 47[55]
Sixth Woman of the Year Award Dearica Hamby Forward Las Vegas Aces 44 of 47[56]
Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award Nneka Ogwumike Forward Los Angeles Sparks 21 of 46[57]
Peak Performer: Points Arike Ogunbowale Guard Dallas Wings 22.8 ppg[58]
Peak Performer: Rebounds Candace Parker Forward/Center Los Angeles Sparks 9.7 rpg[58]
Peak Performer: Assists Courtney Vandersloot Guard Chicago Sky 10.0 apg[58]
Coach of the Year Award Cheryl Reeve Coach Minnesota Lynx 25 of 47[59]
Basketball Executive of the Year Award Dan Padover General Manager Las Vegas Aces 37 points[60]
Team Guard Guard Forward Forward Center
All-WNBA First Team[61] Courtney Vandersloot Arike Ogunbowale A'ja Wilson Breanna Stewart Candace Parker
All-WNBA Second Team[61] Diana Taurasi Skylar Diggins-Smith DeWanna Bonner Napheesa Collier Myisha Hines-Allen
All-Defensive First Team[62] Alysha Clark Betnijah Laney Brianna Turner Alyssa Thomas Elizabeth Williams
All-Defensive Second Team[62] Ariel Atkins Brittney Sykes Breanna Stewart Napheesa Collier A'ja Wilson
All-Rookie Team[63] Crystal Dangerfield Julie Allemand Chennedy Carter Jazmine Jones Satou Sabally

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Team Head coach Previous job Years with team Record with team Playoff Appearances Finals Appearances WNBA Championships
Atlanta Dream Nicki Collen Connecticut Sun (assistant) 2 31–37 1 0 0
Chicago Sky James Wade UMMC Ekaterinburg (assistant) 1 20–14 1 0 0
Connecticut Sun Curt Miller Los Angeles Sparks (assistant) 4 79–57 3 1 0
Indiana Fever Marianne Stanley Washington Mystics (assistant) 0 0–0 0 0 0
New York Liberty Walt Hopkins Minnesota Lynx (assistant) 0 0–0 0 0 0
Washington Mystics Mike Thibault Connecticut Sun 7 130–108 6 2 1

Western Conference

Team Head coach Previous job Years with team Record with team Playoff Appearances Finals Appearances WNBA Championships
Dallas Wings Brian Agler Los Angeles Sparks 1 10–24 0 0 0
Las Vegas Aces Bill Laimbeer New York Liberty 2 35–33 1 0 0
Los Angeles Sparks Derek Fisher New York Knicks 1 22–12 1 0 0
Minnesota Lynx Cheryl Reeve Detroit Shock (assistant) 10 231–109 9 6 4
Phoenix Mercury Sandy Brondello Los Angeles Sparks (assistant) 6 118–86 6 1 1
Seattle Storm Dan Hughes San Antonio Stars 2 44–24 2 1 1

Notes:

  • Year with team does not include 2020 season.
  • Records are from time at current team and are through the end of the 2019 season.
  • Playoff appearances are from time at current team only.
  • WNBA Finals and Championships do not include time with other teams.
  • Coaches shown are the coaches who began the 2020 season as head coach of each team.

Activism

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Main article: 2020 American athlete boycotts

In response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted Game 5 of their series against the Orlando Magic on August 26. Later that day, the NBA announced that in light of the Bucks' decision, all games for the day were postponed.[64] The WNBA joined the protest and postponed their three games that were originally scheduled on Wednesday: Washington Mystics vs. Atlanta Dream; Los Angeles Sparks vs. Minnesota Lynx; Connecticut Sun vs. Phoenix Mercury.[65] Games were again postponed on August 27th.[66] Games resumed on Friday, August 28.[67]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The season was originally scheduled for May 15 – September 20, and was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. ↑ The season was originally scheduled to have 36 games per team, an increase from the 34 games played in the previous season. However, the season was shortened and delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  3. ↑ This issue arose in the 2019–20 offseason when the Washington Wizards hired Mystics player Kristi Toliver as an assistant coach. Toliver could not receive a normal NBA assistant's salary because the Mystics and Wizards are owned by the same company; the previous WNBA CBA viewed such an arrangement as a way of getting around the salary cap.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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