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 498,71 ...

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, al ...

were announced in late 2007. No WNBA All-Star Game was held due to the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. The regular season began with a televised ( ABC) meeting between the defending champion

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season ...

and the Los Angeles Sparks in

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 o ...

, on May 17.

2007–2008 off-season

* On September 27, 2007,

coach Paul Westhead resigned and took a job as an assistant coach under P. J. Carlesimo 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 Conf ...

. Assistant coach Corey Gaines 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 Wayne Monte "Tree" Rollins (born June 16, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets, ...

would be named the permanent head coach. Rollins had been the interim head coach since the resignation of Richie Adubato 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 ...

as their head coach and general manager on November 27. The team name, the Atlanta Dream, was unveiled on January 23, 2008, with the expansion draft held on February 6. * On October 26, 2007, The

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...

declined to pick up the option for head coach Brian Winters. Lin Dunn 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, 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 Érika Cristina de Souza (born 9 March 1982) is a Brazilian professional basketball player for BC Castors Braine of the EuroLeague.

* Ann Wauters * Betty Lennox 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 The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded ...

at number three, the Atlanta Dream at number four, the

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

at number five and the

at number six. The 2008 WNBA draft was held on April 9 in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the 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 the seat of Hillsborough C ...

. 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 ...

. Second and third round coverage was shown on NBA TV. The top draft picks were as follows: # Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks # Sylvia Fowles, Chicago Sky # Candice Wiggins,

# Alexis Hornbuckle,

Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. T ...

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 ...

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 Terrapins. In 2008 she was drafted by the Washington Mysti ...

Regular season

Standings

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.

2008 WNBA season summary

Season highlights

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

resulting in four ejections and ten suspensions. * The first-ever outdoor professional basketball game is held at Arthur Ashe Stadium between the

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 ...

and the

. Over 19,000 fans attended the game. * 50-year-old hall-of-famer Nancy Lieberman signs a contract with the

to play in one game. She played 9 minutes and had 2 assists. * The expansion Atlanta Dream 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

, is put up for sale with an uncertain future. * For the first time in WNBA history, the defending champion (

) does not qualify for the playoffs. * Former

head coach

is relieved of his duties halfway through the season. Assistant coach

Jessie Kenlaw Jessie Kenlaw (born July 3, 1953) worked in collegiate and professional women's basketball between the 1970s to 2000s. After playing a year of collegiate basketball with Savannah State University, Kenlaw started playing professional basketball with ...

is named interim head coach for the remainder of the season. * The

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 con ...

for the first time (in a best-of-five format). * Candace Parker wins the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award and the

MVP Award In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. 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 ( ABC 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 edu ...

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%.

Season award winners

Coaches

Eastern Conference

* Atlanta Dream:

* Chicago Sky:

Steven Key Steven Key (born May 14, 1968) is an American professional basketball coach and former professional player. Career Key attended Atholton High School in Columbia, Maryland, and was named the 1986 Howard County Player of the Year. He was a four- ...

* Connecticut Sun: Mike Thibault *

: Bill Laimbeer *

: Lin Dunn *

: Pat Coyle *

and

Western Conference

Karleen Thompson Karleen M. Thompson (née Shields; born July 1, 1968) is the associate head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team since 2018. Before joining the Cavaliers, Thompson was a WNBA head coach for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2004 and th ...

* Los Angeles Sparks: Michael Cooper *

: Don Zierden *

: Corey Gaines * Sacramento Monarchs: Jenny Boucek * San Antonio Silver Stars: Dan Hughes * Seattle Storm: Brian Agler