History UsefulNotes / Basketball

* '''Candace Parker''': One of the most accomplished players in WNBA history, having won championships with three different franchises. Silky, smooth, and incredibly athletic, she was drafted #1 overall in 2008 out of Tennessee by the Los Angeles Sparks fresh off of winning back-to-back national titles in college. She proved equally capable in the pros right away, not just winning Rookie of the Year but ''league MVP'' for leading the W in rebounds and becoming just the second W player ever to successfully dunk (she also won the first of two Olympic gold medals in the middle of that campaign). Pregnancy and injuries partially sidelined her for the next few seasons, but she still secured an assist and two more rebound and block titles, won another MVP in 2013, was named Finals MVP after taking the Sparks to a title in 2016, set the Sparks franchise assists record, and was even named Defensive Player of the Year in 2020. After over a decade in LA, she returned to her hometown[[labelnote:*]]Well, close enough. She grew up in the western suburb of Naperville.[[/labelnote]] by signing with the Chicago Sky as a free agent in 2021 and immediately won another title (and the Sparks notably fell off in her absence); the next year, despite being in her late 30s, she became the first player in league history to record two triple-doubles in a single season (and also the first to have three career triple-doubles). She signed with the Las Vegas Aces "super team" in 2023 and won a third title in a contributor role before retiring. Parker has earned number of other accolades abroad, has served as a lead basketball analyst for TNT and CBS since 2018, and has 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. She's also become part of the growing list of sportspeople who own shares in American soccer teams; she is a minority investor in Angel City FC, an LA-based team that started play in the National Women's Soccer League in 2022. Formerly married to NBA journeyman Shelden Williams; now in a same-sex marriage with Russian basketball player Anna Petrakova.

* '''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). [[JackOfAllTrades 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 quickly [[TookALevelInBadass took multiple levels in badass]] and became legitimate title contenders; 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 2014, she took the Sky to a Finals appearance; in 2015, she led the league in scoring and free throw percentage (unheard of for center-sized players) and was named league MVP. 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 Finals berth in '18 and first title in '19. She was also league MVP in the latter season on the strength of the first and only 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, becoming the first W player named MVP for two different teams. She 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 the seven-time All-Star's WNBA future is uncertain.

* The ball used is unique to [=3x3=]. It's the same circumference as the "size 6" women's ball (28.5 in/70 cm), but is the same mass as the "size 7" men's ball (22 oz/620 g).

* '''Tamika Catchings''': A Hall of Fame forward who spent her entire 15-season career with the Indiana Fever, Catchings was drafted #3 overall in 2001 out of Tennessee after winning a national title and numerous awards (and that coming after a high school career where she became the first known player to manage a ''quintuple''-double). Catchings is one of the league's most decorated players--Rookie of the Year in 2002 (she missed '01 with a torn ACL), MVP in '11, ten All-Star appearances, five-time Defensive Player of the Year (easily the most of any WNBA player), and Finals MVP in 2012 after helping win the Fever's only championship. Despite only going all the way on one playoff run, Catchings also holds career playoff records in points, rebounds, and steals. Catchings ended her career in 2016 holding ''every'' major statistical record in Fever history and as the league's all-time leader in rebounds and steals (the rebound record has since fallen twice, with Sylvia Fowles as the current leader) and #2 scorer. Her steals record might just be locked up for the foreseeable future; she led the WNBA in the category in ''eight'' seasons and is over 250 ahead of the nearest runner-up. She was widely beloved and respected by her peers, thrice winning the league's Sportsmanship award and serving as the president of the players' union late in her career. The Fever retired her #24, and she later briefly served as the team's GM.

* '''Margo Dydek''': The WNBA's all-time leader in career blocks and the tallest woman ever to play pro basketball at a staggering 7'2". The Polish player was the #1 overall pick in 1998, going to the Utah Starzz; her height allowed her to lead the W in blocks in eight separate seasons, though she only received two All-Star nods, as her height possibly limited her other basketball abilities. Dydek was traded to the Sun in 2005 and retired after spending 2008 with the Sparks. Tragically, Dydek died of a heart attack in 2011 at just 37 years old while pregnant with her third child.

* '''Yolanda Griffith''': A Hall of Fame center, the Florida Atlantic player landed in the WNBA with a splash when she was drafted #2 overall in 1999 by the Sacramento Monarchs after a few years in other pro leagues. "Yo-Yo" won league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in her very first season in the W, the first of two years she led the league in rebounds and steals; her first three seasons also remain the three best in W history in terms of total offensive rebounds. The eight-time All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist kept the Monarchs competitive for the next decade, and she won Finals MVP after leading them to a championship in 2005. She retired in 2009 after a season apiece in Seattle and Indiana.

* '''Lauren Jackson''': A versatile stretch four from Australia and arguably the best player ever from that country--she won seven WNBL championships and four [=MVPs=], plus three Olympic silver medals in the 2000s. She spent her entire WNBA career for the Seattle Storm, from her overall #1 selection in 2001 through 2012, and was extremely successful in the States as well--she won championships in '04 and '10 (winning Finals MVP in the latter) and was named league MVP thrice: first in '03, when she led the league in scoring (she led in points again during next year's title run); then in '07 when she led in points and rebounds, was also named Defensive Player of the Year, and set the standing WNBA record for single-season player efficiency; and then finally in the 2010 title run. Despite her many accomplishments, the seven-time All-Star was still an example of WhatCouldHaveBeen, as she battled near-constant shin, ankle, and knee injuries throughout her career. She retired from basketball in 2016 after missing almost all of the previous two years to the after-effects of a particularly bad knee injury, and the Storm retired her #15; she remains the frachise leader in rebounds and blocks. However, the Hall of Famer 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.]]

* '''[=DeWanna=] Bonner''': Entered the W as the #5 overall pick in 2009, going to the Phoenix Mercury out of Auburn. The swingwoman won Sixth Woman of the Year in each of her first three seasons in the W, developed into a regular All-Star, and won two championships with the team. During that time, she also formed one of the W's most prominent power couples with teammate and seven-time All-Star '''Candice Dupree'''; they married in 2014, and Bonner missed the 2017 season to give birth to twins. Dupree left Phoenix for Indiana that same season, and Bonner was traded to the Connecticut Sun in 2020 for three first round picks. The couple divorced sometime during that separation, and Bonner is now [[BattleCouple engaged to another teammate]], superstar Alyssa Thomas (see below).

* '''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 records for single-season points, career points per game, and career 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.

* '''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 #1 overall pick out of Oregon and having already entered FirstNameBasis--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, as well as the all-time leader in triple-doubles. 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 W 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, and two games later became the youngest WNBA player to record a triple-double. Her overall production was slowed by the injury, but she still ended up with the league's top-selling jersey in 2021 and a regular spokeswoman in commercials. Finally fully healthy in 2022, Ionescu started to rack up impressive stats, becoming the second player after Candace Parker (below) with two triple-doubles in a season and three in a career and the first W player with [[MasterOfAll 500 points, 200 rebounds, and 200 assists]] in a season.[[note]]It doesn't sound like a lot, but keep in mind (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 (helped by the league's expansion to 40 games), 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 ''unisex'' signature shoe ''and'' apparel line from Nike. Besides nearly 80 ''NBA'' players [[https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39877975/why-sabrina-1s-taking-nba-shoe-game wearing her shoe model]] at least once in that league's 2023–24 season, Ionescu even attended the NBA's All-Star Game to compete with UsefulNotes/StephenCurry in their three-point contest and narrowly competed with the legendary shooter from the men's three-point line.

* '''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'' thrilling buzzer-beaters to lead the Irish to the 2018 national title. She parlayed those heroics into an appearance on ''Series/DancingWithTheStars'' in that offseason and went on to go #5 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; she is already the franchise leader in three-pointers

* '''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. Though the point guard struggled somewhat at first, the point guard made the move with the team when they became the Las Vegas Aces the next year and developed into a core piece as they built towards their back-to-back titles in 2022-23, being named Sixth Player of the Year in '21 before becoming a regular All-Star. She is also an Olympic gold medalist... in [=3x3=] basketball.
* '''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 becoming the first Commissioner's Cup MVP in 2021 and leading the W in scoring in 2022, she signed with the Libs in 2023, 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. She has won two Olympic gold medals.

* '''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. For the WNBA's 25th anniversary in 2021, she was named the league's [[TheAce "Greatest of All Time"]] by fans, and with good reason. [[ArsonMurderAndLifesaving Hot-headed, foul-mouthed, charismatic, and exceedingly talented]], she won three championships in Phoenix ('07, '09, '14), claimed one regular season MVP ('09) and two Finals [=MVPs=] (plus Rookie of the Year), led the WNBA in scoring five times (and assists once), set the standing single-season per game scoring record in '06, and became the league's all-time career scoring leader in '17 (she's also W's all-time leader in three-pointers and the Mercury's all-time leader in assists and steals). 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 ''Film/SpaceJamANewLegacy'', voicing White Mamba, a humanoid snake that bears her nickname.

* '''Jonquel Jones''': A Bahamian power forward/center drafted by the Connecticut Sun at #6 overall in 2016 out of George Washington, Jones had a muted rookie year but exploded in her second, setting a then-record for rebounds in a season and winning Most Improved Player. Her role was reduced the next year, but she still won Sixth Woman of the Year; the Sun restored her to the full-time starting role in 2019, and she immediately led the W in rebounds and blocks while taking the team to a Finals appearance. After sitting out 2020 to avoid COVID, Jones picked up right where she left off, winning league MVP and her third rebounding title, then took the Sun to a league-best record and another Finals appearance the following year and set the franchise record for career blocks. However, with the Sun [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut still falling short of winning a title]], Jones successfully pushed for a trade to join the New York Liberty superteam in 2023; she added a Commissioner's Cup trophy and MVP to the case in her first season but still has yet to secure a championship.

* The '''Sixth Player of the Year Award'''[[note]]The award was titled "Sixth Woman" through the 2020 season, with "Woman" replaced by "Player" in 2021.[[/note]] goes to the best bench player of the regular season. Players who started in more games than they played strictly as a substitute are ineligible. [=DeWanna=] Bonner has the most awards with three. Jonquel Jones is the only player to have won this award and be named MVP (Sixth Player, 2018; MVP, 2021).

* '''Alyssa Thomas''': Forward for the Sun since 2014, when she was picked #4 overall out of Maryland. Thomas holds the Sun's franchise records for assists and rebounds and 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, and she led the league in steals in 2020, but she 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 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'' while leading the league in rebounds and setting the league records for single-season defensive boards ''and'' assists, narrowly missing out on the season MVP award to Stewie.[[note]]Thomas actually had more first-place votes, but Stewie won on overall points.)[[/note]] Her eleven career triple-doubles as of 2023 is ''eight'' more than any other WNBA player.

* '''Cheryl Ford''': Forward drafted #3 overall by the Detroit Shock in 2003. Ford came to the W after an esteemed college career at Louisiana Tech, the alma mater of her Hall of Fame father [[UsefulNotes/NotableNBAPlayersGThroughM Karl Malone]] (though the two have a decidedly... ''complicated'' relationship) and made an immediate splash, helping the Detroit Shock go from the worst team in the league to winning a championship in her first season, picking up Rookie of the Year along the way. The four-time All-Star twice led the W in rebounds and won another two titles in Detroit, though the final title was claimed while she was recovering from a torn ACL injury sustained in an on-court brawl earlier in the season. Ford returned the following year but was let go after the Shock made the move to Tulsa; she never made another W roster and retired a few years later.

* '''Jonquel Jones''': A Bahamian power forward/center drafted by the Connecticut Sun at #6 overall in 2016 out of George Washington, Jones had a muted rookie year but exploded in her second, setting a then-record for rebounds in a season and winning Most Improved Player. Her role was reduced the next year, but she still won Sixth Woman of the Year; the Sun restored her to the full-time starting role in 2019, and she immediately led the W in rebounds and blocks while taking the team to a Finals appearance. After sitting out 2020 to avoid COVID, Jones picked up right where she left off, winning league MVP and her third rebounding title, then took the Sun to a league-best record and another Finals appearance the following year and setting the franchise record for career blocks. However, with the Sun [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut still falling short of winning a title]], Jones successfully pushed for a trade to join the New York Liberty superteam in 2023; she added a Commissioner's Cup trophy and MVP to the case in her first season but still has yet to secure a championship.

** 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 go to Rio for the 2016 Olympics and joined 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.

* '''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 won Rookie of the Year, helped lead the Dream to playoff berths in all but one of her seasons in the ATL, including three Finals appearances (all losses), twice led the league in both scores and steals, won two Olympic gold medals, and set the Dream franchise records in minutes, points, assists, and steals. 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]].

* '''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. They have generally been quite successful, but like the nearby New York Liberty, [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut have never won a championship]] in spite of four Finals appearances. The current face of the team is triple-double threat Alyssa Thomas.

* '''Lisa Leslie''': One of the cornerstones of the Los Angeles Sparks if not the early W itself, she was assigned to LA at the league's beginning- appropriate for an Angeleno who went to USC. The Hall of Fame center became a back-to-back champion and Finals MVP in 2001-02, three-time MVP ('01, '04, '06), and two-time Defensive Player of the Year ('04, '06), won four Olympic gold medals; holds the Sparks franchise records in minutes, points, blocks, and rebounds; was the league's all-time leading rebounder until Catchings passed her in her final season, and recorded 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 #9 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. She later became the head coach of the Triplets of Music/IceCube's 3-on-3 basketball league, winning a championship in its first season.

* '''Candace Parker''': One of the most accomplished players in WNBA history, having won championships with three different franchises. Silky, smooth, and incredibly athletic, she was drafted #1 overall in 2008 out of Tennessee by the Los Angeles Sparks fresh off of winning back-to-back national titles in college. She proved equally capable in the pros right away, not just winning Rookie of the Year but ''league MVP'' for leading the W in rebounds and becoming just the second W player ever to successfully dunk (she also won the first of two Olympic gold medals in the middle of that campaign). Pregnancy and injuries partially sidelined her for the next few seasons, but she still secured an assist and two more rebound titles, won another MVP in 2013, was named Finals MVP after taking the Sparks to a title in 2016, set the Sparks franchise assists record, and was even named Defensive Player of the Year in 2020. After over a decade in LA, she returned to her hometown[[labelnote:*]]Well, close enough. She grew up in the western suburb of Naperville.[[/labelnote]] by signing with the Chicago Sky as a free agent in 2021 and immediately won another title (and the Sparks notably fell off in her absence); the next year, despite being in her late 30s, she became the first player in league history to record two triple-doubles in a single season (and also the first to have three career triple-doubles). She signed with the Las Vegas Aces "super team" in 2023 and won a third title in a contributor role before retiring. Parker has earned number of other accolades abroad, has served as a lead basketball analyst for TNT and CBS since 2018, and has 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. She's also become part of the growing list of sportspeople who own shares in American soccer teams; she is a minority investor in Angel City FC, an LA-based team that started play in the National Women's Soccer League in 2022. Formerly married to NBA journeyman Shelden Williams; now in a same-sex marriage with Russian basketball player Anna Petrakova.

* '''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. She has won two Olympic gold medals.

* '''Yolanda Griffith''': A Hall of Fame center, the Florida Atlantic player landed in the WNBA with a splash when she was drafted #2 overall in 1999 by the Sacramento Monarchs after a few years in other pro leagues. She won league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in her very first season in the W, the first of two years she led the league in rebounds; her first three seasons also remain the three best in W history in terms of total offensive rebounds. The eight-time All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist kept the Monarchs competitive for the next decade, and she won Finals MVP after leading them to a championship in 2005. She retired in 2009 after a season apiece in Seattle and Indiana.

*** ''Most recent winner (2024)'': Kiki Iriafen, junior, Stanford

*** ''Most recent winner (2024)'': Staley[[note]]Third straight win (2022–24).[[/note]]

* '''Jewell Loyd''': The current star for the Seattle Storm, who drafted her #1 overall in 2015 out of Notre Dame. The guard won Rookie of the Year and two championships with the Storm and has become a perennial All-Star. While the Storm receded in the win column in 2023 in the absence of her former co-stars, Loyd acquitted herself well, setting the current W record for most points scored in a single season (thanks to a slightly expanded calendar).

* '''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, and the Mystics' franchise rebounds record. 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 comebacks in '09 and '10 with the Dream and Stars.

* '''Ticha Penicheiro''': One of the W's greatest ever point guards, the Portuguese player was drafted #2 overall by the Sacramento Monarchs in 1998 after a stellar career at Old Dominion. The four-time All-Star was an incredible passer, led the W in assists in each of her first ''six'' seasons, and contributed to the Monarchs' championship in 2005. She signed with the Sparks in 2010 after the Monarchs were dissolved and led the W in assists a seventh time in her first year in L.A.; she retired two years later following a season with the Sky as the W's all-time leader in career assists (since surpassed by Sue Bird and Courtney Vandersloot). Her exclusion from the Naismith Hall of Fame has been [[AwardSnub widely questioned]] considering that she's been awarded nearly every other major legacy award possible for a WNBA player.

* '''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. She more than lived up to the hype; a perennial All-Star, Griner has led the league in blocks ''eight'' times, including her first seven straight seasons (her 129 in 2014 remains the league's single-season record), has also led the W in scoring twice, and holds the Mercury's career records for blocks and rebounds. She was named Defensive Player of the Year in consecutive seasons (2014-15) and helped lead the Mercury to a title in the former season. 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.

* '''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... 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 until 2019, her fourth of a total ''seven'' seasons leading the W in assists (2014, 2017-21, 2023) including breaking the record for single-season assists ''multiple times''. (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 and setting franchise records in minutes, steals, and (of course) assists, Sloot was one of numerous elite players to sign with the New York Liberty in 2023.

* '''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. Wilson further cemented her status in the 2020 bubble, averaging over 20 points and 8 rebounds, leading the league in blocks for the first of three seasons, 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, also being named Defensive Player of the Year during both title campaigns. 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, 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... 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 until 2019, her fourth of a total ''seven'' seasons leading the W in assists (2014, 2017-21, 2023) including breaking the record for single-season assists ''multiple times''. (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 and setting franchise records in minutes, steals, and (of course) assists, 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]]".

One of the Big Four team sports in the United States (UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball, UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}}, and UsefulNotes/IceHockey are the others) and one of the most popular sports worldwide, '''Basketball''' has as rich and interesting of a history as one ''expects'' it to have. Basketball has a reputation of "easy to play, difficult to master": for casual players about all you need is a ball and the presence of a nearby court (be it a public one or just a driveway hoop) to shoot away.

Basketball was created in 1891 by James Naismith, a [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} Canadian]]-born physical fitness professor at Springfield College in Massachusetts. Wanting to find a way to allow his students to exercise indoors during the cold New England winters, after coming up with a game that would involve throwing a ball into a raised goal, he looked for some boxes for goals, but [[SerendipityWritesThePlot only found peach baskets to nail up.]] Dr. Naismith's original version of the game is very different from the one played today, as he changed many of the original rules himself while testing the game with his students.

Thus, "basket-ball", in its earliest recorded form, was born.

* '''[=UConn=] Huskies''' -- The reigning back-to-back NCAA champion. Representing the University of Connecticut, the Huskies men were a regional power in New England for many decades, and the school was also a founding member of the original Big East Conference in 1979. However, [=UConn=] didn't become a national name until the 1990s under coach Jim Calhoun. After falling short of the Final Four throughout that decade, they broke through in 1999 and claimed the national title. They went on to win two more titles in '04 and '11 under Calhoun. After he retired in 2012, he was replaced by his top assistant (and former [=UConn=] player) Kevin Ollie. After being barred from the '13 tournament for academic reasons and being left behind in the conference realignment shuffle of the early 2010s,[[note]]Unlike NJIT, whose conference imploded around it and couldn't find a home, [=UConn=] was instead stuck in the American Athletic Conference, the football rump of the former Big East.[[/note]] they picked up a fourth national title in '14 before falling into a dry spell, leading to Ollie's replacement by Dan Hurley, a member of a prominent coaching family. The Huskies revived their (men's) fortunes with a move to the reconfigured Big East in 2020, followed by consecutive natties in '23 and '24. Among their star players are Ray Allen and Richard "Rip" Hamilton (the latter a star on the first championship team). As strong as [=UConn=] is in men's basketball, it's even stronger in women's basketball. Led by coach Geno Auriemma, the women have won ''11'' national titles.[[note]][=UConn=] is the only Division I school to have won the men's and women's NCAA titles in the same season--and the Huskies have done it ''twice''. The only other NCAA school to match the feat is Division II Central Missouri, and Northwestern College of Iowa is the only NAIA school to do it.[[/note]] This makes [=UConn=] the only school whose men's and women's teams have both won multiple D-I national titles. Among their rivals in both versions of the Big East are the...

* '''[[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. Despite their success, the devastating economic impact of the Great Recession on Detroit led to the sale of the team in 2010. New ownership moved the team to Tulsa, believing the lack of nearby competition for sports would help them succeed in the small market. It didn't work- the Shock 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. In 2013, things finally looked hopeful when they gained the charismatic Notre Dame superstar Skylar Diggins (now Diggins-Smith). 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. Their current star is Arike Ogunbowale

* '''Sue Bird''': Point guard for the Seattle Storm from her 2002 selection out of [=UConn=] (where she won two national titles) as the #1 overall pick until her retirement [[LongRunners in 2022]]. The quintessential GirlNextDoor- if the girl next door could find you blind on the fast break or drain a dagger three in your face. Bird is the WNBA's all-time leader in seasons played, games played, All-Star selections (13), and total assists (leading the league in the category in three seasons), holds the Storm's franchise record for points and steals, and won four championships with the Storm across three different decades.[[note]]She also won five [=EuroLeague=] titles.[[/note]] However, she doesn't have the per-game assists record (see Courtney Vandersloot below) and also never won a regular season or Finals MVP. She and fellow [=UConn=] alum Diana Taurasi (below) are the only two basketball players with five Olympic gold medals, and Bird herself is the only player, male or female, with four golds and five total medals in the FIBA World Cup. Bird is also the [[CoolOldLady oldest player]] ever to play in a full WNBA season; her final game in the 2022 playoffs was about six weeks before her 42nd birthday.[[note]]The oldest player to appear in a WNBA game was Nancy Lieberman (the namesake of the best-known award for top D-I PG), who appeared in a single game in 2008 at age 50.[[/note]] Her #10 is retired by the Storm. She is also half of one of American sports' most prominent power couples, as the long-term partner (and now fiancée) of US women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe.

* '''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 her individual success and several Finals visits, Hammon was one of very few W stars to [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut never win a ring]]. 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.

* '''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'' thrilling buzzer-beaters to lead the Irish to the 2018 national title. She parlayed those heroics into an appearance on ''Series/DancingWithTheStars'' in that offseason and went on to go #5 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.

* '''Seimone Augustus''': Hall of Fame forward who spent all but the last of her 16 WNBA seasons with the Minnesota Lynx. She was featured on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'' for women in high school, promoting her as the possible female Michael Jordan. Her success continued during her college years at LSU where she won many national awards and led her team to three Final Four appearances; LSU put a statue of her up in front of its arena in 2023. Augustus was drafted #1 overall by the Lynx in 2006, where she quickly made her presence known by winning Rookie of the Year. In 2011, when another promising rookie named Maya Moore joined the team, she led the Lynx to their first WNBA title and won Finals MVP; she would contribute to three more titles in Minnesota over the following decade. She initially planned to retire after 2019 but lost most of that season to injury and ultimately left for the Sparks as a free agent, spending the 2020 season in the "Wubble" in Bradenton before entering coaching. The Lynx retired her #33.

* '''Sylvia Fowles''': Center for the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx, drafted #2 overall by the Sky in 2008 from LSU, where she was the SEC's all-time leading rebounder. Fowles quickly established herself as a solid scorer, tenacious rebounder, and elite defender, becoming claiming the first two of her four Defensive Player of the Year nods in '11 and '13. After seven seasons in Chicago (where she set the standing franchise records for blocks and rebounds), she had a contract dispute and sat out the first half of 2014 until she got traded to Minnesota, becoming the final piece of a dominant dynasty that won WNBA titles in '15 and '17; Fowles was Finals MVP in both seasons as well as league MVP in 2017, not to mention that she got two more DPOY nods in '16 and '21. In 2018, she set the standing W record for most rebounds in a season. In 2020, she surpassed Rebekkah Brunson as the W's career rebounding leader, and ended her career in 2022 as the first W player with 4,000 career boards. In total, she led the league in rebounds in three seasons and blocks in two, earned eight All-Star nods, and had her #34 retired by the Lynx. Outside of the W, Fowles won four Olympic gold medals and two [=EuroLeague=] championships.

* '''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, led the league in steals in '18, and won two Olympic gold medals. 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.

* '''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 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, serving in that role for five seasons. During her pro career, the five-time All-Star thrice led the W in assists and holds the league's career record for career assists, and she won two Olympic gold medals; the Lynx retired her #13.

* '''Sue Bird''': Point guard for the Seattle Storm from her 2002 selection out of [=UConn=] (where she won two national titles) as the #1 overall pick until her retirement [[LongRunners in 2022]]. The quintessential GirlNextDoor- if the girl next door could find you blind on the fast break or drain a dagger three in your face. Bird is the WNBA's all-time leader in seasons played, games played, All-Star selections (13), and total assists (leading the league in the category in three seasons), holds the Storm's franchise record for steals, and won four championships with the Storm across three different decades.[[note]]She also won five [=EuroLeague=] titles.[[/note]] However, she doesn't have the per-game assists record (see Courtney Vandersloot below) and also never won a regular season or Finals MVP. She and fellow [=UConn=] alum Diana Taurasi (below) are the only two basketball players with five Olympic gold medals, and Bird herself is the only player, male or female, with four golds and five total medals in the FIBA World Cup. Bird is also the [[CoolOldLady oldest player]] ever to play in a full WNBA season; her final game in the 2022 playoffs was about six weeks before her 42nd birthday.[[note]]The oldest player to appear in a WNBA game was Nancy Lieberman (the namesake of the best-known award for top D-I PG), who appeared in a single game in 2008 at age 50.[[/note]] Her #10 is retired by the Storm. She is also half of one of American sports' most prominent power couples, as the long-term partner (and now fiancée) of US women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe.

* '''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 comebacks in '09 and '10 with the Dream and Stars.
* '''Lauren Jackson''': A versatile stretch four from Australia and arguably the best player ever from that country--she won seven WNBL championships and four [=MVPs=], plus three Olympic silver medals in the 2000s. She spent her entire WNBA career for the Seattle Storm, from her overall #1 selection in 2001 through 2012, and was extremely successful in the States as well--she won championships in '04 and '10 (winning Finals MVP in the latter) and was named league MVP thrice: first in '03, when she led the league in scoring (she led in points again during next year's title run); then in '07 when she led in points and rebounds, was also named Defensive Player of the Year, and set the standing WNBA record for single-season player efficiency; and then finally in the 2010 title run. Despite her many accomplishments, the seven-time All-Star was still an example of WhatCouldHaveBeen, as she battled near-constant shin, ankle, and knee injuries throughout her career. She retired from basketball in 2016 after missing almost all of the previous two years to the after-effects of a particularly bad knee injury, and the Storm retired her #15. However, the Hall of Famer 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.]]

* '''Sue Bird''': Point guard for the Seattle Storm from her 2002 selection out of [=UConn=] (where she won two national titles) as the #1 overall pick until her retirement [[LongRunners in 2022]]. The quintessential GirlNextDoor- if the girl next door could find you blind on the fast break or drain a dagger three in your face. Bird is the WNBA's all-time leader in seasons played, games played, All-Star selections (13), and total assists (leading the league in the category in three seasons), and she won four championships with the Storm across three different decades.[[note]]She also won five [=EuroLeague=] titles.[[/note]] However, she doesn't have the per-game assists record (see Courtney Vandersloot below) and also never won a regular season or Finals MVP. She and fellow [=UConn=] alum Diana Taurasi (below) are the only two basketball players with five Olympic gold medals, and Bird herself is the only player, male or female, with four golds and five total medals in the FIBA World Cup. Bird is also the [[CoolOldLady oldest player]] ever to play in a full WNBA season; her final game in the 2022 playoffs was about six weeks before her 42nd birthday.[[note]]The oldest player to appear in a WNBA game was Nancy Lieberman (the namesake of the best-known award for top D-I PG), who appeared in a single game in 2008 at age 50.[[/note]] Her #10 is retired by the Storm. She is also half of one of American sports' most prominent power couples, as the long-term partner (and now fiancée) of US women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe.

* '''Tamika Catchings''': A Hall of Fame forward who spent her entire 15-season career with the Indiana Fever, Catchings was drafted #3 overall in 2001 out of Tennessee after winning a national title and numerous awards (and that coming after a high school career where she became the first known player to manage a ''quintuple''-double). Catchings is one of the league's most decorated players--Rookie of the Year in 2002 (she missed '01 with a torn ACL), MVP in '11, ten All-Star appearances, five-time Defensive Player of the Year (easily the most of any WNBA player), and Finals MVP in 2012 after helping win the Fever's only championship. Despite only going all the way on one playoff run, Catchings also holds career playoff records in points, rebounds, and steals. Catchings ended her career in 2016 as the league's all-time leader in rebounds and steals (the rebound record has since fallen twice, with Sylvia Fowles as the current leader) and #2 scorer. Her steals record might just be locked up for the foreseeable future; she led the WNBA in the category in ''eight'' seasons and is over 250 ahead of the nearest runner-up. She was widely beloved and respected by her peers, thrice winning the league's Sportsmanship award and serving as the president of the players' union late in her career. The Fever retired her #24, and she later briefly served as the team's GM.

* '''Lisa Leslie''': One of the cornerstones of the Los Angeles Sparks if not the early W itself, she was assigned to LA at the league's beginning- appropriate for an Angeleno who went to USC. The Hall of Fame center became a back-to-back champion and Finals MVP in 2001-02, three-time MVP ('01, '04, '06), and two-time Defensive Player of the Year ('04, '06), won four Olympic gold medals, was the league's all-time leading rebounder until Catchings passed her in her final season, and recorded 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 #9 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. She later became the head coach of the Triplets of Music/IceCube's 3-on-3 basketball league, winning a championship in its first season.

* '''Candace Parker''': One of the most accomplished players in WNBA history, having won championships with three different franchises. Silky, smooth, and incredibly athletic, she was drafted #1 overall in 2008 out of Tennessee by the Los Angeles Sparks fresh off of winning back-to-back national titles in college. She proved equally capable in the pros right away, not just winning Rookie of the Year but ''league MVP'' for leading the W in rebounds and becoming just the second W player ever to successfully dunk (she also won the first of two Olympic gold medals in the middle of that campaign). Pregnancy and injuries partially sidelined her for the next few seasons, but she still secured an assist and two more rebound titles, won another MVP in 2013, was named Finals MVP after taking the Sparks to a title in 2016, and was even named Defensive Player of the Year in 2020. After over a decade in LA, she returned to her hometown[[labelnote:*]]Well, close enough. She grew up in the western suburb of Naperville.[[/labelnote]] by signing with the Chicago Sky as a free agent in 2021 and immediately won another title (and the Sparks notably fell off in her absence); the next year, despite being in her late 30s, she became the first player in league history to record two triple-doubles in a single season (and also the first to have three career triple-doubles). She signed with the Las Vegas Aces "super team" in 2023 and won a third title in a contributor role before retiring. Parker has earned number of other accolades abroad, has served as a lead basketball analyst for TNT and CBS since 2018, and has 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. She's also become part of the growing list of sportspeople who own shares in American soccer teams; she is a minority investor in Angel City FC, an LA-based team that started play in the National Women's Soccer League in 2022. Formerly married to NBA journeyman Shelden Williams; now in a same-sex marriage with Russian basketball player Anna Petrakova.

** Nneka, the older by two years and shorter by one inch (6'2"), was named Pac-10/Pac-12 Player of the Year twice, and went #1 overall in the 2012 Draft to the Los Angeles Sparks. She made an immediate impact, earning Rookie of the Year and becoming a perennial All-Star. 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 championship. Since then, she's continued to play at top level and is also known for her [[NiceGuy Nice Gal]] image on-court, winning the league's sportsmanship award three times in a row (2019–21). She was also one of two WNBA players featured in ''Film/SpaceJamANewLegacy'', voicing Arachnneka, a humanoid spider who played on the Goon Squad. She signed with the Storm in 2024.

* '''Sylvia Fowles''': Center for the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx, drafted #2 overall by the Sky in 2008 from LSU, where she was the SEC's all-time leading rebounder. Fowles quickly established herself as a solid scorer, tenacious rebounder, and elite defender, becoming claiming the first two of her four Defensive Player of the Year nods in '11 and '13. After seven seasons in Chicago, she had a contract dispute and sat out the first half of 2014 until she got traded to Minnesota, becoming the final piece of a dominant dynasty that won WNBA titles in '15 and '17; Fowles was Finals MVP in both seasons as well as league MVP in 2017, not to mention that she got two more DPOY nods in '16 and '21. In 2018, she set the standing W record for most rebounds in a season. In 2020, she surpassed Rebekkah Brunson as the W's career rebounding leader, and ended her career in 2022 as the first W player with 4,000 career boards. In total, she led the league in rebounds in three seasons and blocks in two, earned eight All-Star nods, and had her #34 retired by the Lynx. Outside of the W, Fowles won four Olympic gold medals and two [=EuroLeague=] championships.

* '''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 won Rookie of the Year, helped lead the Dream to playoff berths in all but one of her seasons in the ATL, including three Finals appearances (all losses), twice led the league in both scores and steals, and won two Olympic gold medals. 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]].

* '''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, and she led the league in steals in 2020, but she 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 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'' while leading the league in rebounds and setting the league records for single-season defensive boards ''and'' assists, narrowly missing out on the season MVP award to Stewie.[[note]]Thomas actually had more first-place votes, but Stewie won on overall points.)[[/note]] Her eleven career triple-doubles as of 2023 is ''eight'' more than any other WNBA player.
* '''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... 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 until 2019, her fourth of a total ''seven'' seasons leading the W in assists (2014, 2017-21, 2023) including breaking the record for single-season assists ''multiple times''. (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]]".

* '''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 (her 100 steals in '98 remains the league's record), 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. Prior to her W career, she won Olympic gold in '88 and bronze in '92 as part of the last American women's team to lose on the biggest international stage.

* '''Tina Charles''': A center drafted #1 overall in 2010, staying in-state with the Connecticut Sun after helping to lead [=UConn=] to back-to-back undefeated national titles. Charles made an immediate splash in the WNBA, winning Rookie of the Year while leading the league in rebounds (the first of four such rebound titles). She continued to up her game in the following season, winning league MVP in 2012; however, when the Sun fell short in the Conference Finals that season and collapsed the following year, the Sun traded Charles to the New York Liberty in 2014 for a haul of draft picks. She continued to play well in New York, leading the league in scoring in '16, but the team still struggled in the playoffs. Charles was traded to the Mystics in 2020, as she was unable to play in 2020 due to concerns about contracting COVID with her asthma; while she led the league in scoring again the next year, the Mystics didn't even make the playoffs. The three-time Olympic gold medalist later signed with the Mercury and Storm, desperate to avert the distinction of being the best WNBA player ever [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut to never play in the Finals, let alone win a championship]], but to no avail; she is currently signed with the Dream.

* '''Cynthia Cooper''': The league's first (and second) MVP and a member of both the Naismith and Women's Halls of Fame. A sixth woman at USC, she honed her skills in Italy before being assigned to the newly formed Houston Comets. Despite (or perhaps because of) being in her thirties, Cooper proceeded to heck everyone's garbage up, leading the league in scoring in her first three seasons and claiming a championship in each of her four seasons (earning a record four Finals [=MVPs=] in the process) before retiring in 2000; her single-game scoring record (44) in the inaugural season stood for ten years. After serving as head coach of the Mercury for just over a year, Cooper played four more games with the Comets in '03 at age 40 before fully committing to college coaching, with [[HesBack two stints]] at Texas Southern (retiring from the last of these in 2022) sandwiched by a few years at her alma mater of USC.
* '''Sylvia Fowles''': Center for the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx, drafted #2 overall by the Sky in 2008 from LSU, where she was the SEC's all-time leading rebounder. Fowles quickly established herself as a solid scorer, tenacious rebounder, and elite defender, becoming claiming the first two of her four Defensive Player of the Year nods in '11 and '13. After seven seasons in Chicago, she had a contract dispute and sat out the first half of 2014 until she got traded to Minnesota, becoming the final piece of a dominant dynasty that won WNBA titles in '15 and '17; Fowles was Finals MVP in both seasons as well as league MVP in 2017, not to mention that she got two more DPOY nods in '16 and '21. In 2020, she surpassed Rebekkah Brunson as the W's career rebounding leader, and ended her career in 2022 as the first W player with 4,000 career boards. In total, she led the league in rebounds in three seasons and blocks in two, earned eight All-Star nods, and had her #34 retired by the Lynx. Outside of the W, Fowles won four Olympic gold medals and two [=EuroLeague=] championships.
* '''Yolanda Griffith''': A Hall of Fame center, the Florida Atlantic player landed in the WNBA with a splash when she was drafted #2 overall in 1999 by the Sacramento Monarchs after a few years in other pro leagues; she won league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in her very first season in the W, the first of two years she led the league in rebounds. The eight-time All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist kept the Monarchs competitive for the next decade, and she won Finals MVP after leading them to a championship in 2005. She retired in 2009 after a season apiece in Seattle and Indiana.

* '''Lauren Jackson''': A versatile stretch four from Australia and arguably the best player ever from that country--she won seven WNBL championships and four [=MVPs=], plus three Olympic silver medals in the 2000s. She spent her entire WNBA career for the Seattle Storm, from her overall #1 selection in 2001 through 2012, and was extremely successful in the States as well--she won championships in '04 and '10 (winning Finals MVP in the latter), was named league MVP thrice, first in '03, when she led the league in scoring (she led in points again during next year's title run), then in '07 when she led in points and rebounds and was also named Defensive Player of the Year, and then finally in the 2010 title run. Despite her many accomplishments, the seven-time All-Star was still an example of WhatCouldHaveBeen, as she battled near-constant shin, ankle, and knee injuries throughout her career. She retired from basketball in 2016 after missing almost all of the previous two years to the after-effects of a particularly bad knee injury, and the Storm retired her #15. However, the Hall of Famer 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.]]

* '''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. Prior to her W career, she won Olympic gold in '88 and bronze in '92 as part of the last American women's team to lose on the biggest international stage.

* '''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. She more than lived up to the hype; a perennial All-Star, Griner has led the league in blocks ''eight'' times, including her first seven straight seasons, and has also led the league in scoring twice. She was named Defensive Player of the Year in consecutive seasons (2014-15) and helped lead the Mercury to a title in the former season. 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.

* '''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. For the WNBA's 25th anniversary in 2021, she was named the league's [[TheAce "Greatest of All Time"]] by fans, and with good reason. [[ArsonMurderAndLifesaving Hot-headed, foul-mouthed, charismatic, and exceedingly talented]], she won three championships in Phoenix ('07, '09, '14), claimed one regular season MVP ('09) and two Finals [=MVPs=] (plus Rookie of the Year), led the WNBA in scoring five times (and assists once), set the standing single-season scoring record in '06, and became the league's all-time career scoring leader in '17. 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 ''Film/SpaceJamANewLegacy'', 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, and she led the league in steals in 2020, but she 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 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'' while leading the league in rebounds, narrowly missing out on the season MVP award to Stewie.[[note]]Thomas actually had more first-place votes, but Stewie won on overall points.)[[/note]] Her eleven career triple-doubles as of 2023 is ''eight'' more than any other WNBA player.

* '''Tina Charles''': A center drafted #1 overall in 2010 after helping to lead [=UConn=] to back-to-back undefeated national titles, Charles made an immediate splash in the WNBA after staying in-state with the Connecticut Sun, winning Rookie of the Year after leading the league in rebounds (the first of four such rebound titles). She continued to up her game in the following season, winning league MVP in 2012; however, when the Sun fell short in the Conference Finals that season and collapsed the following year, the Sun traded Charles to the New York Liberty in 2014 for a haul of draft picks. She continued to play well in New York, leading the league in scoring in '16, but the team still struggled in the playoffs. Charles was traded to the Mystics in 2020, as she was unable to play in 2020 due to concerns about contracting COVID with her asthma; while she led the league in scoring again the next year, the Mystics didn't even make the playoffs. The three-time Olympic gold medalist later signed with the Mercury and Storm, desperate to avert the distinction of being the best WNBA player ever [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut to never play in the Finals, let alone win a championship]], but to no avail; she is currently signed with the Dream.