The 2008 WNBA season was the 12th season of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

. It was the first WNBA season with a franchise in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

as the

Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

were announced in late 2007. No

WNBA All-Star Game The Women's National Basketball Association All-Star Game, commonly referred to as the WNBA All-Star Game, is an annual exhibition basketball game played in the United States between the best players of the Western and Eastern Conference of ...

was held due to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The regular season began with a televised (

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

) meeting between the defending champion Phoenix Mercury and the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, on May 17.

2007–2008 off-season

* On September 27, 2007, Phoenix Mercury coach

Paul Westhead Paul William Westhead (born February 21, 1939) is an American Retired basketball coach. He was the head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for four others, and also coached in the National Collegiate Athl ...

resigned and took a job as an assistant coach under

P. J. Carlesimo Peter John Carlesimo (born May 30, 1949) is an American basketball coach who coached in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and college basketball for nearly 40 years. He is also a television broadcaster, having worked with ESPN, '' Th ...

for the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

. Assistant coach

Corey Gaines Corey Yasuto Gaines (born June 1, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He played five seasons in the NBA, and was a four-time Israeli Premier League Assists Leader, in 1999 and in 2001 to 2003. He was also a forme ...

was named the team's new head coach on November 7. * On October 2, 2007, the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference ...

announced that Tree Rollins would be named the permanent head coach. Rollins had been the interim head coach since the resignation of

Richie Adubato Richard Adam Adubato''The Sporting News: 1992-93 Official NBA Register''. St. Louis, Missouri: The Sporting News Publishing Co. 1992. (born November 23, 1937) is a former basketball coach in the National Basketball Association. He has served a ...

on June 1. * On October 18, 2007, the WNBA announced the league awarded an expansion franchise to the city of

, Georgia, bringing the league to fourteen teams to start the 2008 season. The team hired

Marynell Meadors Marynell Meadors (born August 27, 1943) is an American women's basketball coach at the college and professional level. She most recently served as head coach and general manager of the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association a ...

as their head coach and general manager on November 27. The team name, the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real e ...

, was unveiled on January 23, 2008, with the expansion draft held on February 6. * On October 26, 2007, The Indiana Fever declined to pick up the option for head coach

Brian Winters Brian Joseph Winters (born March 1, 1952) is an American former basketball player and coach. Career Winters attended academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, New York, graduating in 1970. He then played collegia ...

Lin Dunn Lin Dunn (born May 10, 1947) is an American women's basketball coach, currently general manager with the Indiana Fever. She is most known for being the first coach and general manager for the Seattle Storm. She has more than 500 wins to her name. ...

was named the team's new coach on December 12. * On November 30, 2007, the Seattle Storm announced the resignation of head coach

Anne Donovan Anne Theresa Donovan (November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018) was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun. In her playing career, Donovan won a national championship with Ol ...

. Her replacement,

Brian Agler Brian Agler (born August 2, 1958) is an American women's professional basketball coach. He previously coached the Dallas Wings from 2019 to 2020. He also had previously been head coach of the Seattle Storm and the Los Angeles Sparks, each of whom ...

, was named on January 9, 2008.

Atlanta Dream expansion draft

Atlanta held their expansion draft on February 6, 2008, when they selected one player from each of the thirteen teams in the league. Some of the players chosen were: * Érika de Souza *

Ann Wauters Ann Hilde Willy Wauters (born 12 October 1980) is a Belgian former professional basketball player and coach, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Chicago Sky in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played for numero ...

Betty Lennox Betty Bernice Lennox (born December 4, 1976) is an American retired professional basketball player. She played for the Minnesota Lynx, Miami Sol, Cleveland Rockers, Seattle Storm, Atlanta Dream, Los Angeles Sparks and Tulsa Shock in the Women's ...

The Dream were then free to make trades with other teams in the league.

Draft

On October 23, 2007, the WNBA draft lottery was held. The

received the first pick. The

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2 ...

was awarded the number two pick, followed by the Minnesota Lynx at number three, the

at number four, the Houston Comets at number five and the

at number six. The

2008 WNBA draft The WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which Women's National Basketball Association teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The 2008 draft was held on April 9. A lottery was held on Octobe ...

was held on April 9 in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. Coverage of the first round was shown on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

. Second and third round coverage was shown on

NBA TV NBA TV is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regula ...

. The top draft picks were as follows: #

Candace Parker Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft by the Los Ang ...

# Sylvia Fowles,

Candice Wiggins Candice Dana Wiggins (born February 14, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. Wiggins played college basketball at Stanford University, where she graduated as the all-time leading scorer in Stanford and Pac-10 women's basket ...

, Minnesota Lynx # Alexis Hornbuckle, Detroit Shock #

Matee Ajavon Matee Ajavon (born May 7, 1986) is a Liberian American basketball player. A 5'8" guard, Ajavon was chosen by the Houston Comets as the fifth overall draft pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft. Early life As a child, Ajavon immigrated to the United Stat ...

, Houston Comets #

Crystal Langhorne Crystal Allison Langhorne (born October 27, 1986) is an American former basketball player of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played for the University of Maryland, College Park, University of Maryland Terrapins. In 2008 s ...

Regular season

Standings

All-star game

There was no

due to the break July 28 through August 27 for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This marks the first time since the game was started in the 1999 season that there was no All-Star contest.

Statistic leaders

Playoffs and Finals

This was the outlook for the 2008 WNBA playoffs. Teams in ''italics'' had

home court advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to ga ...

. Teams in bold advanced to the next round. Numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's original playoffs seeding in their respective conferences. Numbers to the right of each team indicate the number of games the team won in that round.

2008 WNBA season summary

Season highlights

becomes the second and third player in WNBA history to dunk in a regular season game. * A fight breaks out between the

and the Detroit Shock resulting in four ejections and ten suspensions. * The first-ever outdoor professional basketball game is held at

Arthur Ashe Stadium Arthur Ashe Stadium is a tennis stadium at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City. Part of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, it is the main stadium of the US Open tennis tournament and has a capacity of 23,771, ...

between the New York Liberty and the Indiana Fever. Over 19,000 fans attended the game. * 50-year-old hall-of-famer

Nancy Lieberman Nancy Elizabeth Lieberman (born July 1, 1958), nicknamed "Lady Magic", is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) who is currently a broadcaster for the Oklahoma City Thun ...

signs a contract with the Detroit Shock to play in one game. She played 9 minutes and had 2 assists. * The expansion

set a record for the longest losing streak in WNBA history with 17 losses to give them an 0–17 start to the season. * One of the original franchises, the Houston Comets, is put up for sale with an uncertain future. * For the first time in WNBA history, the defending champion ( Phoenix Mercury) does not qualify for the playoffs. * Former

head coach Tree Rollins is relieved of his duties halfway through the season. Assistant coach Jessie Kenlaw is named interim head coach for the remainder of the season. * The Detroit Shock sweep the San Antonio Silver Stars three-games-to-none in the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

for the first time (in a best-of-five format). *

wins the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award and the MVP Award. This is the first time in WNBA history and the third time in professional basketball history for the two awards to be won in the same year by the same player.

End-of-season business report

* Regular-season attendance saw an increase of 2.21%. * There were 46 sellouts, more than triple the 17 for the 2007 regular season and double the previous record of 23 in 2004. * The WNBA on national television (

and

) finished up 19% both in ratings (0.32 vs 0.27) and viewership (413,000 vs. 346,000). * The WNBA finished up in key

demographics Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as ed ...

on ESPN2—Women 18–34 (up 71%) and Men 18–34 (up 28%) – and on ABC—All Women (up 10%) and Women 18–34 (up 20%). * WNBA.com set all-time highs in visits and page views. Overall, WNBA.com received nearly 13 million visits and 59 million page views, up 35% and 20%, respectively. * WNBA.com set monthly traffic records in July with more than 3.8 million visits and 16 million page views. * On June 23, 2008, one day after

rookie

became the second WNBA player to dunk in a regular season game, WNBA.com set a single-day record with nearly 95,000 video streams. * League merchandise sales were up more than 36%, and WNBA jersey sales were up more than 46%.

Season award winners

Coaches

Eastern Conference

: Steven Key *

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was established as the Orlando Miracle in ...

Mike Thibault Michael Francis Thibault (born September 28, 1950) is an American basketball head coach, formerly of the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA, and now of the Washington Mystics. In 2013, Thibault became the WNBA's all time most successful coach with 212 vi ...

* Detroit Shock: Bill Laimbeer * Indiana Fever:

* New York Liberty: Pat Coyle *

: Tree Rollins and Jessie Kenlaw

Western Conference

* Houston Comets: Karleen Thompson *

Michael Cooper Michael Jerome Cooper (born April 15, 1956) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the boys varsity coach at Culver City High School. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning ...

* Minnesota Lynx:

Don Zierden Donald Casper Zierden, Jr. is an American basketball coach. From 2007 to 2009, Zierden served as the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Early life and education Zierden, a Minneapolis native, ...

* Phoenix Mercury:

Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena. The Mona ...

Jenny Boucek Jennifer Dawn Boucek (born December 20, 1973) is an assistant basketball coach for the Indiana Pacers, a former basketball player, and former head coach of the Seattle Storm. She was hired by the Storm on January 20, 2015, but terminated on August ...

* San Antonio Silver Stars: Dan Hughes * Seattle Storm:

References

External links

WNBA Official Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:WNBA 2008 in American women's basketball 2008–09 in American basketball by league 2007–08 in American basketball by league Women's National Basketball Association seasons