💥The greatest WNBA teams of all time💥
0The greatest WNBA teams of all time
The WNBA has featured the best women's basketball players in the world during its illustrious history. Some of those players were part of memorable teams that defined the collective greatness of the league. Here are the 25 best teams in WNBA history, including some that didn't win it all.
1 of 2525. Minnesota Lynx
The third of Minnesota's four WNBA championship teams. Despite 12 regular-season losses, the Lynx finished atop the Western Conference and owned the league's second-best record at 22-12. Minnesota went 4-6 down the stretch but proved stout during the postseason, where it lost just three times and won three games by three or fewer points. Averaging 20.6 points, Maya Moore was named All-WNBA First Team. Meanwhile, Sylvia Fowles, who averaged 12.6 points and 9.7 rebounds during the postseason, earned Finals MVP honors
From 2003-08, the Detroit Shock were the WNBA's "It" team. The franchise won all three of its WNBA titles during that span, with this '06 squad being the second championship-winning squad. That group went 23-11 and was paced by stars Deanna Nolan and Cheryl Ford. The Shock took down reigning league champion Sacramento in a five-game Finals series. While the first four contests featured double-digit victory margins, the decisive Game 5 was much closer. In fact, Detroit needed two Katie Smith jumpers in the final two minutes for an 80-75 victory.
Under the direction of coach Van Chancellor, the Houston Comets were the first and, depending on opinion, the only dynasty in WNBA history. The Comets won the league's first four titles (1997-2000). It's a consecutive feat that's not been duplicated, and those four championships are tied for the most in league history. In the WNBA's inaugural season, there were just eight teams, with the Comets posting a league-best 18-10 record behind 34-year-old Cynthia Cooper (22.2 ppg), the league's first superstar and MVP. They only needed two playoff games to win the title and beat Charlotte and New York by a combined 30 points.
The first of back-to-back Minnesota teams that failed to win a WNBA title but should be recognized for their overall greatness. This 2017 squad, led by Seimone Augustus (16.6 ppg), Maya Moore (16.4 ppg), and Lindsay Whalen (11.5 ppg, 5.4 apg), went a league-best 27-7 and looked primed to repeat as WNBA champs. However, it should have been a sign of things to come when the Lynx needed three games to take down Seattle in the opening playoff round. After sweeping Los Angeles, Minnesota could not shake a 12-loss Indiana squad that got hot in the playoffs and lost in four games
In the history of Minnesota Lynx basketball, no team has posted more single-season victories than the 2016 group that went 28-6. But, even with the league's best record, WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Sylvia Fowles, fellow star Maya Moore (19.3 ppg), and a double-bye in the playoffs, the Lynx were unable to repeat as league champions. Minnesota swept Phoenix in three games, then ran into Candace Parker and the surging Los Angeles Sparks. The Lynx lost two of three to the Sparks at home in the series, including 77-76 in the decisive Game 5, when Nneka Ogwumike hit a short jumper off a rebound of her own blocked shot with 3.1 seconds left. Before her heroics, Ogwumike made a shot that appeared to come after the shot clock expired but wasn't called. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve lashed out in her postgame presser.