2020 WNBA season

2020 WNBA season
League	Women's National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	July 25 – October 6
Number of games	22
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	A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas)
Finals champions	Seattle Storm
Runners-up	Las Vegas Aces
Finals MVP	Breanna Stewart (Seattle)

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. This is the first season under a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the WNBA Players' Association. On April 3, the season was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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. 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. Key provisions of the new CBA include:

• 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.
• 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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

Postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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. The 2020 WNBA draft took place on April 17 as originally scheduled, 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. 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. On June 15, the return-to-play proposal was approved. 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.

2020 WNBA draft

Main article: 2020 WNBA draft

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

Transactions

Main article: List of 2020 WNBA season transactions

Retirement

• In June 2019, Camille Little announced her retirement after twelve years of playing in the WNBA. She won the WNBA Title in 2010 with the Seattle Storm.
• In September 2019, Sancho Lyttle announced her retirement after fourteen years of playing in the WNBA. Lyttle made the WNBA All-Star game once, and twice lead the league in steals.
• Alana Beard announced her retirement on January 22, 2020 after fifteen years of playing professionally. Beard is a four time WNBA All-Star and two time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. She also won a WNBA Championship while playing with the Los Angeles Sparks.
• Rebekkah Brunson announced her retirement on February 11, 2020 after fifteen years of playing professionally. Brunson will stay with the Minnesota Lynx as an assistant coach. Brunson will have her jersey number 32 retired by the Lynx. Brunson finishes her career as a five time WNBA Champion and five time WNBA All-Star. As of her retirement, Brunson was the active WNBA leader in rebounds.
• Carolyn Swords announced she would be retiring to join the marketing team of the Las Vegas Aces on February 24, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was let go from her position and resumed her career to re-join the Aces. Over her nine-year career, she played for four different teams.

Free agency

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

Coaching changes

Off-season
Team	2019 season	2020 season	Reference
Indiana Fever	Pokey Chatman	Marianne Stanley
New York Liberty	Katie Smith	Walt Hopkins

Arena changes

• In June 2019, it was announced that the Bankers Life Fieldhouse would undergo renovations to add an outdoor plaza and skating area. This renovation would force the Indiana Fever to play its home games at the Hinkle Fieldhouse for the 2020–2022 seasons.
• In July 2019, it was announced that Talking Stick Resort Arena would be undergoing renovations and the Phoenix Mercury would be forced to play their home games at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the 2020 season.
• On October 17, 2019, the New York Liberty announced that they would move to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as their permanent home. In the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the Liberty's primary home venue was the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York.
• On October 18, 2019, the Atlanta Dream announced that it would move from State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta to the new Gateway Center Arena in the southern suburb of College Park, Georgia.

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

Statistical leaders

The following shows the leaders in each statistical category during the 2020 regular season.

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

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.

	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

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
August 10	Courtney Vandersloot (1/2)	Chicago Sky	A'ja Wilson (1/2)	Las Vegas Aces
August 17	DeWanna Bonner (1/2)	Connecticut Sun	Napheesa Collier (1/1)	Minnesota Lynx
August 24	Courtney Vandersloot (2/2)	Chicago Sky	Candace Parker (1/1)	Los Angeles Sparks
August 31	Alyssa Thomas (1/1)	Connecticut Sun	Breanna Stewart (2/2)	Seattle Storm
September 8	DeWanna Bonner (2/2)	Connecticut Sun	Skylar Diggins-Smith (1/1)	Phoenix Mercury
September 14	Myisha Hines-Allen (2/2)	Washington Mystics	A'ja Wilson (2/2)	Las Vegas Aces

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
September	Myisha Hines-Allen (1/1)	Washington Mystics	A'ja Wilson (2/2)	Las Vegas Aces

Rookie of the Month Award

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

Coach of the Month Award

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

Postseason awards

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

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. 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. Games were again postponed on August 27th. Games resumed on Friday, August 28.