The 2015 WNBA season was the 19th 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 Nati ...

(WNBA). The regular season started on June 5 and playoffs concluded on October 14. The Minnesota Lynx beat the Indiana Fever 69–52 in game five of the Finals on October 14 to clinch a third WNBA title in five years.

TV and Internet coverage

Games aired on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

(1 regular season game), ESPN2 (10 regular season games), ABC ( All-Star Game) and NBA TV (47 regular season games).

Notable occurrences

* On February 3, 2015, the Phoenix Mercury announced that superstar Diana Taurasi would not play in 2015. Her Russian club team,

UMMC Ekaterinburg BC Ekaterinburg (russian: БК «УГМК») is a Russian women's basketball team based in Yekaterinburg competing in the Russian Premier League, and until February 2022 in FIBA Europe's EuroLeague Women. In reaction to the 2022 Russian inv ...

, offered her more than her WNBA season salary to rest during the 2015 WNBA season. Some in the league feared this would cause more star players to reach similar agreements. * On June 4, 2015, Tulsa player Glory Johnson announced that she is pregnant and would miss all of the 2015 WNBA season. *On July 23, 2015, The WNBA approved the relocation of the Tulsa Shock to Dallas-Fort Worth. The move is the first franchise relocation or fold since the 2009

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 Mon ...

folded, and the Detroit Shock moved to Tulsa. At the time, the Shock were the only WNBA franchise to relocate twice. *On October 14, 2015, The Minnesota Lynx won their third WNBA title in five years, beating the Indiana Fever 3-2. *On November 4, 2015, shortly after the 2015 season concluded, WNBA President Laurel Richie announced her resignation, effective November 9, 2015. She was the league's 3rd president.

2015 WNBA draft

On August 21, 2014, the 2015 WNBA Draft Lottery took place. The Seattle Storm, who had a league-worst record of 12–22 last season, won the draft lottery and had the right to pick first in the 2015 draft. In the draft, held on April 16, the Storm made

Jewell Loyd Jewell Loyd (born October 5, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Perfumerias Avenida of Spain's Liga Femenina de Baloncesto and the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first o ...

of Notre Dame the top pick.

Team standings

Source: ;Eastern Conference ;Western Conference

Playoffs

Season award winners

Player of the Week award

Player of the Month award

Rookie of the Month award

Postseason awards

Coaches

Eastern Conference

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 ...

: Michael Cooper * Chicago Sky: Pokey Chatman * Connecticut Sun:

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 ...

* Indiana Fever:

Stephanie White Stephanie Joanne White (formerly Stephanie White-McCarty; born June 20, 1977) is a former professional basketball player and head coach of the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA. She was previously head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basket ...

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was ...

Bill Laimbeer William J. Laimbeer Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who spent the majority of his career with the Detroit Pistons. Known for his rough and violent style of play, he played a big part in 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. The team was founded pri ...

: Mike Thibault

Western Conference

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 fou ...

: Brian Agler * Minnesota Lynx:

Cheryl Reeve Cheryl Reeve (born September 20, 1966) is an American basketball head coach and President of Basketball Operations for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. Reeve has coached the Lynx to four league championships. In WNBA history, she has the highest w ...

* Phoenix Mercury: Sandy Brondello * San Antonio Silver Stars: Dan Hughes * Seattle Storm: Jenny Boucek * Tulsa Shock: Fred Williams

References

External links

2015 WNBA Schedule and Results - Women's National Basketball Association - ESPNOfficial Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:WNBA 2015 in American women's basketball 2014–15 in American basketball by league 2015–16 in American basketball by league Women's National Basketball Association seasons