2008 WNBA season

2008 WNBA season
League Women's National Basketball Association
Sport Basketball
Duration May 17 – October 5
Number of games 34
Number of teams 14
Total attendance 1,887,706
Average attendance 7,932
TV partner(s) ABC, ESPN, NBA TV
2008 WNBA Draft
Top draft pick Candace Parker
Picked by Los Angeles Sparks
Regular season
Season MVP Candace Parker (Los Angeles)
Playoffs
Eastern champions Detroit Shock
  Eastern runners-up New York Liberty
Western champions San Antonio Silver Stars
  Western runners-up Los Angeles Sparks
Finals
Champions Detroit Shock
  Runners-up San Antonio Silver Stars
Finals MVP Katie Smith (Detroit)

The 2008 WNBA season was the 12th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. It was the first WNBA season with a franchise in Atlanta as the Dream were announced in late 2007.

No WNBA All-Star Game was held due to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The regular season began with a televised (ABC) meeting between the defending champion Phoenix Mercury and the Los Angeles Sparks in Phoenix, Arizona, on May 17.

2007–2008 off-season

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:

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 Los Angeles Sparks received the first pick. The Chicago Sky was awarded the number two pick, followed by the Minnesota Lynx at number three, the Atlanta Dream at number four, the Houston Comets at number five and the Washington Mystics at number six.

The 2008 WNBA draft was held on April 9 in Tampa, Florida. Coverage of the first round was shown on ESPN2. Second and third round coverage was shown on NBA TV.

The top draft picks were as follows:

  1. Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
  2. Sylvia Fowles, Chicago Sky
  3. Candice Wiggins, Minnesota Lynx
  4. Alexis Hornbuckle, Detroit Shock
  5. Matee Ajavon, Houston Comets
  6. Crystal Langhorne, Washington Mystics

Regular season

Standings

Eastern Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
Detroit Shock x2212.647–14–38–916–4
Connecticut Sun x2113.6181.013–48–913–7
New York Liberty x1915.5593.011–68–911–9
Indiana Fever x1717.5005.011–66–1112–8
Chicago Sky o1222.35310.08–94–1310–10
Washington Mystics o1024.29412.06–114–136–14
Atlanta Dream o430.11818.01–163–142–18
Western Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
San Antonio Silver Stars x2410.706–15–29–810–10
Seattle Storm x2212.6472.016–16–1113–7
Los Angeles Sparks x2014.5884.012–58–912–8
Sacramento Monarchs x1816.52913–45–126.09–11
Houston Comets o1717.5007.013–44–1310–10
Minnesota Lynx o1618.4718.010–76–118–12
Phoenix Mercury o1618.4718.09–87–108–12

All-star game

There was no WNBA All-Star Game 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. 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.

First round Conference Finals WNBA Finals
         
1 Detroit 2
4 Indiana 1
1 Detroit 2
Eastern Conference
3 New York 1
2 Connecticut 1
3 New York 2
1 Detroit 3
1 San Antonio 0
1 San Antonio 2
4 Sacramento 1
1 San Antonio 2
Western Conference
3 Los Angeles 1
2 Seattle 1
3 Los Angeles 2

2008 WNBA season summary

Season highlights

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 (ABC and ESPN2) 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 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 Los Angeles Sparks rookie Candace Parker 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%.

[8]

Season award winners

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mercury promotes assistant coach Corey Gaines as Head Coach
  2. ↑ WNBA Awards an Expansion Franchise to Atlanta
  3. ↑ Atlanta announces Team Name
  4. ↑ The first ever outdoor professional basketball game is held at Arthur Ashe Stadium between the New York Liberty and the Indiana Fever. Over 19,000 fans attended the game.
  5. ↑ Jeremy Kaufman. "Age Is Just A Number: Nancy Lieberman Plays At 50". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  6. ↑ "After Wretched Start, Atlanta Dream Still Believes". The New York Times. 13 July 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Comets Owner Koch To Sell; WNBA Seeking To Keep Team In Houston". Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
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