The 2015 WNBA season was the 19th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The regular season started on June 5 and concluded on September 13 and playoffs started on September 17 and concluded on October 14.WNBA Announces ESPN Schedule - Hartford Courant
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.
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, 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.A Russian team paid Diana Taurasi to sit out 2015 WNBA season | SB Nation 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 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.
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 of Notre Dame the top pick.
Media coverage Games aired on ESPN (1 regular season game), ESPN2 (10 regular season games), ABC (All-Star Game) and NBA TV (47 regular season games).
Regular season Standings Source: Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Playoffs
Awards Reference:
Individual AwardWinnerTeamPositionVotes/Statistic Most Valuable Player (MVP) Elena Delle Donne Chicago Sky Forward / Guard 38 out of 39 Finals MVP Sylvia Fowles Minnesota Lynx Center Rookie of the Year Jewell Loyd Seattle Storm Guard 21 out of 39 Most Improved Player Kelsey Bone Connecticut Sun Center 14 out of 39 Defensive Player of the Year Brittney Griner Phoenix Mercury Center 33 out of 39 Sixth Woman of the Year Allie Quigley Chicago Sky Guard 24 out of 39 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award DeLisha Milton-Jones Atlanta Dream Forward 11 out of 39 Peak PerformersScoring Elena Delle Donne Chicago Sky Forward / Guard 23.4 PPGRebounding Courtney Paris Tulsa Shock Center 9.3 RPGAssists Courtney Vandersloot Chicago Sky Guard 5.8 APG Coach of the Year Bill Laimbeer New York Liberty Coach 23 out of 39
Team AwardGuardGuardForwardForwardCenter All-WNBAFirst Team DeWanna Bonner Angel McCoughtry Elena Delle Donne Maya Moore Tina CharlesSecond Team Epiphanny Prince Courtney Vandersloot Candace Parker Tamika Catchings Brittney Griner All-DefensiveFirst Team Briann January Angel McCoughtry Nneka Ogwumike Tamika Catchings Brittney GrinerSecond Team Tanisha Wright DeWanna Bonner Sancho Lyttle Tina Charles Kiah StokesAll-Rookie TeamJewell LoydBrittany BoydRamu TokashikiNatalie Achonwa (tie)Kiah Stokes Ana Dabović (tie)
Players of the Week Week endingEastern ConferenceWestern ConferencePlayerTeamPlayerTeam June 14 Elena Delle Donne (3) Chicago Sky DeWanna Bonner Phoenix Mercury June 21 Skylar Diggins Tulsa Shock June 28 Lindsay Whalen Minnesota Lynx July 5 Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever Nneka Ogwumike Los Angeles Sparks July 13 Cappie Pondexter Chicago Sky Maya Moore (3) Minnesota Lynx July 20 Tina Charles (2) New York Liberty August 3 August 10 Elena Delle Donne (4) Chicago Sky Brittney Griner Phoenix Mercury August 17 Epiphanny Prince New York Liberty Maya Moore (4) Minnesota Lynx August 24 Elena Delle Donne (5) Chicago Sky Candace Parker Los Angeles Sparks August 31 Epiphanny Prince (2) New York Liberty Odyssey Sims Tulsa Shock September 8 Courtney Vandersloot Chicago Sky Candace Parker (2) Los Angeles Sparks
Players of the Month MonthEastern ConferenceWestern ConferencePlayerTeamPlayerTeam June Elena Delle Donne Chicago Sky Skylar Diggins Tulsa Shock July Tina Charles New York Liberty Maya Moore Minnesota Lynx August Epiphanny Prince New York Liberty Candace Parker Los Angeles Sparks
Rookies of the Month MonthPlayerTeam June Natalie Achonwa Indiana Fever July Jewell Loyd Seattle Storm August Kiah Stokes New York Liberty
Coaches Eastern Conference Atlanta Dream: Michael Cooper Chicago Sky: Pokey Chatman Connecticut Sun: Anne Donovan Indiana Fever: Stephanie White New York Liberty: Bill Laimbeer Washington Mystics: Mike Thibault
Western Conference Los Angeles Sparks: Brian Agler Minnesota Lynx: Cheryl Reeve 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 - ESPN