2022 WNBA season

2022 WNBA season
2022 WNBA season
League	Women's National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	May 6 – September 18, 2022
Number of games	36
Number of teams	12
Total attendance	1,215,359
Average attendance	5,679
TV partner(s)	ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, CBSSN, NBA TV
Top draft pick	Rhyne Howard
Picked by	Atlanta Dream
Season MVP	A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas)
Finals champions	Las Vegas Aces (1st title)
Runners-up	Connecticut Sun
Finals MVP	Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas)
WNBA seasons
	← 2021 2023 →

The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions.

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The WNBA's second Commissioner's Cup took place during the regular season, with the Las Vegas Aces winning over the Sky.^[3] In the playoffs, the Aces were the first seed and won the Finals over the Connecticut Sun.

The regular season was expanded to 36 games per team, is the most games scheduled in a single WNBA season.^[4] A 36-game season was originally scheduled for 2020, but the plan was scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[5] This season also marked the return of an all-series playoffs, which was last used in 2015, instead of the prior schedule of two rounds of single-elimination games and byes for the higher-seeded teams. The first-round series used a 2–1 format, with the higher seed hosting the first two games (differing from the 1–1–1 format used up to 2015). The semifinals and finals remained best-of-five series.^[6] The playoffs began on August 17 and concluded on September 18.^[7]

In May 2022, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that during this upcoming season, the league would honor the Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner with a "BG42" floor decal in a notable spot on the court of all 12 teams. The Mercury center has been detained in Russia since February 2022 after customs officials said they found hashish oil in her luggage at an airport.^[8] The "BG42" floor decal was also prominently found on the Mercury's parent team, the Phoenix Suns, during the rest of the year after she was detained in Russia.

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Pick	Player	Nationality	Team	School / club team
1	Rhyne Howard	United States	Atlanta Dream (from Washington)^[a]	Kentucky
2	NaLyssa Smith	United States	Indiana Fever	Baylor
3	Shakira Austin	United States	Washington Mystics (from Atlanta)^[a]	Ole Miss
4	Emily Engstler	United States	Indiana Fever (from Los Angeles via Dallas)^[b]^[c]	Louisville

Off-season
Team	2021 season	2022 season	Reference
Atlanta Dream	Darius Taylor (interim)	Tanisha Wright	^[14]
Las Vegas Aces	Bill Laimbeer	Becky Hammon	^[15]
New York Liberty	Walt Hopkins	Sandy Brondello	^[16]
Phoenix Mercury	Sandy Brondello	Vanessa Nygaard	^[17]
Mid-season
Team	Departing Coach	New Coach	Reference
Indiana Fever	Marianne Stanley	Carlos Knox	^[18]
Los Angeles Sparks	Derek Fisher	Fred Williams	^[19]

Team Wilson 134, Team Stewart 112
Scoring by quarter: 23–28, 36–11, 33–38, 42–35
Pts: Kelsey Plum (30) Rebs: Sylvia Fowles (9) Asts: Courtney Vandersloot (8)		Pts: Jonquel Jones (29) Rebs: Jonquel Jones (13) Asts: Sue Bird/Skylar Diggins-Smith (6)

#	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Conf.	Home	Road	Cup
1	x – Las Vegas Aces	26	10	.722	–	15–3	13–5	13–5	9–1
2	x – Chicago Sky	26	10	.722	–	15–3	14–4	12–6	9–1
3	x – Connecticut Sun	25	11	.694	1.0	11–7	13–5	12–6	5–5
4	x – Seattle Storm	22	14	.611	4.0	10–8	13–5	9–9	6–4
5	x – Washington Mystics	22	14	.611	4.0	11–7	12–6	10–8	5–5
6	x – Dallas Wings	18	18	.500	8.0	8–10	8–10	10–8	5–5
7	x – New York Liberty	16	20	.444	10.0	10–8	9–9	7–11	6–4
8	x – Phoenix Mercury	15	21	.417	11.0	7–11	11–7	4–14	3–7
9	e – Minnesota Lynx	14	22	.389	12.0	8–10	7–11	7–11	4–6
10	e – Atlanta Dream	14	22	.389	12.0	5–13	8–10	6–12	3–7
11	e – Los Angeles Sparks	13	23	.361	13.0	6–12	7–11	6–12	3–7
12	e – Indiana Fever	5	31	.139	21.0	2–16	3–15	2–16	2–8

Category	Player	Team	Statistic
Points per game	Breanna Stewart	Seattle Storm	21.8 ppg
Rebounds per game	Sylvia Fowles	Minnesota Lynx	9.8 rpg
Assists per game	Natasha Cloud	Washington Mystics	7.0 apg
Steals per game	Brittney Sykes	Los Angeles Sparks	2.0 spg
Blocks per game	A'ja Wilson	Las Vegas Aces	1.9 bpg
Field goal percentage	Sylvia Fowles	Minnesota Lynx	62.2%
Three point FG percentage	Moriah Jefferson	Minnesota Lynx	47.4%
Free throw percentage	Allie Quigley	Chicago Sky	95.0%
Points per game (team)	Las Vegas Aces		90.4 ppg
Field goal percentage (team)	Chicago Sky		48.1%

2022 WNBA season

2022 WNBA draft

Lottery picks

Media coverage

Transactions

Coaching changes

Regular season

All-Star Game

Standings

Schedule

Statistical leaders

Playoffs and Finals

Season award winners

Player of the Week Award

Player of the Month Award

Rookie of the Month Award

Coach of the Month Award

Postseason awards

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Notes

References

Wikiwand - on

Round One: Best-of-3			Semifinals: Best-of-5			Finals: Best-of-5

1	Las Vegas Aces	2

8	Phoenix Mercury	0
			1	Las Vegas Aces	3

			4	Seattle Storm	1
4	Seattle Storm	2

5	Washington Mystics	0
						1	Las Vegas Aces	3

						3	Connecticut Sun	1
2	Chicago Sky	2

7	New York Liberty	1
			2	Chicago Sky	2

			3	Connecticut Sun	3
3	Connecticut Sun	2

6	Dallas Wings	1

Month	Coach	Team	Reference
May	Becky Hammon	Las Vegas	^[44]
June	James Wade	Chicago	^[45]
July	James Wade (2)	Chicago	^[46]
August	Vickie Johnson	Dallas	^[47]

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years with team	Record with team	Playoff appearances	Finals Appearances	WNBA Championships
background-color: #E31837 !important; color: #FFFFFF !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">Atlanta Dream	Tanisha Wright	Las Vegas Aces (assistant)	0	0–0	0	0	0
background-color: #5091CD !important; color: #000000 !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">Chicago Sky	James Wade	UMMC Ekaterinburg (assistant)	3	48–40	3	1	1
background-color: #F05023 !important; color: #FFFFFF !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">Connecticut Sun	Curt Miller	Los Angeles Sparks (assistant)	6	111–75	5	1	0
background-color: #002D62 !important; color: #FFFFFF !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">Indiana Fever	Marianne Stanley	Washington Mystics (assistant)	2	12–42	0	0	0
background-color: #000000 !important; color: #FFFFFF !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">New York Liberty	Sandy Brondello	Phoenix Mercury	0	0–0	0	0	0
background-color: #E03A3E !important; color: #FFFFFF !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">Washington Mystics	Mike Thibault	Connecticut Sun	9	151–147	7	2	1

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years with team	Record with team	Playoff appearances	Finals Appearances	WNBA Championships
background-color: #002B5C !important; color: #FFFFFF !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">Dallas Wings	Vickie Johnson	Las Vegas Aces (assistant)	1	14–18	1	0	0
background-color: #000000 !important; color: #FFFFFF !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">Las Vegas Aces	Becky Hammon	San Antonio Spurs (assistant)	0	0–0	0	0	0
background-color: #552583 !important; color: #FFFFFF !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">Los Angeles Sparks	Derek Fisher	New York Knicks	3	49–39	2	0	0
background-color: #0C233F !important; color: #FFFFFF !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">Minnesota Lynx	Cheryl Reeve	Detroit Shock (assistant)	12	267–127	11	6	4
background-color: #1D1160 !important; color: #FFFFFF !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">Phoenix Mercury	Vanessa Nygaard	Las Vegas Aces (assistant)	0	0–0	0	0	0
background-color: #2C5235 !important; color: #FFFFFF !important; "}]]}" class="notheme">Seattle Storm	Noelle Quinn	Seattle Storm (associate head coach)	1	16–10	1	0	0