The 2019 WNBA season was the 23rd season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Seattle Storm were the defending champions. The regular season began on May 24, with the Atlanta Dream hosting the Dallas Wings and the New York Liberty hosting the Indiana Fever. The season ended with the Washington Mystics securing their first WNBA Title over the Connecticut Sun three games to two, in a closely contested finals. Emma Meesseman was named Finals MVP and teammate Elena Delle Donne was named regular season MVP.
Draft
The Las Vegas Aces had the first pick in the 2019 WNBA draft on April 10, marking the third straight draft in which the franchise won the lottery for the top pick. With the top pick, the Aces selected Jackie Young from Notre Dame. The draft was televised nationally on the ESPN networks (Round 1 on ESPN2, Rounds 2 and 3 on ESPNU).
Rule changes The WNBA Board of Governors approved two rule changes at their November 15, 2018 meeting that would go into effect during the 2019 season.
The "Clear Path Foul Rule" was simplified to establish "bright line" standards based on a player's positioning. The definition of a "Hostile Act" was expanded for purposes of instant replay.
Media coverage
On April 22, 2019, CBS Sports Network announced a multi-year deal with the league to broadcast 40 games a season starting in May 2019. On June 27, 2019, TSN, Sportsnet, and NBA TV Canada announced a multi-year deal with the league to broadcast 53 games combined a season starting on June 28, 2019.
Transactions
Retirement Lindsay Whalen announced her retirement on August 13, 2018 that she would retire at the conclusion of the 2018 season. Whalen played 15 seasons with the Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx, winning four titles with the latter. She retired as the WNBA's all-time leader in games won, with 322. Noelle Quinn announced that she would retire on February 21. She joined the Seattle Storm as an assistant coach. Monique Currie announced her retirement via Instagram on February 26. Currie retired to pursue a career with Nike. Cappie Pondexter announced her retirement via Instagram on April 17. Pondexter was the 2007 WNBA Finals MVP and a two time WNBA champion.
Free agency Free agency negotiations began on January 15, 2019, with the signing period starting on February 1, 2019.
Coaching changes +Off-seasonTeam2018 season2019 seasonReference Chicago Sky Amber Stocks James Wade Dallas Wings Taj McWilliams-Franklin (Interim) Brian Agler Los Angeles Sparks Brian Agler Derek Fisher +Postseason Indiana Fever Pokey Chatman New York Liberty Katie Smith
Administration On June 17, Cathy Engelbert became the first Commissioner of the WNBA (previous top administrators had been titled "President"). She had previously served as CEO of the U.S. member firm of the international professional services firm Deloitte.
Arena changes On August 15, 2018 the Seattle Storm announced that they would play their regular season games at the University of Washington's Alaska Airlines Arena while Climate Pledge Arena undergoes renovations for the Seattle Kraken of the NHL. The Storm later announced that of the team's 17 regular-season home games, 12 would be held at Alaska Airlines Arena and the remainder at Angel of the Winds Arena in the northern suburb of Everett, Washington. On December 13, 2018 the Atlanta Dream announced that they would return to State Farm Arena, formerly Philips Arena, after playing the previous two seasons at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion while State Farm Arena underwent a $192.5 million renovation. The Washington Mystics moved into the St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena beginning with the 2019 season. The arena's capacity is only 4,200, vastly smaller than the team's former home of Capital One Arena. On July 24, 2019, the Phoenix Mercury announced that they would play the 2020 season at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum to accommodate renovations to Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Mercury plans to return to the latter venue upon project completion. On September 5, 2019, the Indiana Fever announced that they would move to Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse for the entire 2020 and 2021 seasons, plus part of the 2022 season. The move was made necessary by a previously announced project to renovate Bankers Life Fieldhouse, home to both the Fever and the NBA's Indiana Pacers, with most of the work taking place during Pacers offseasons. The Fever plan to return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse upon project completion.
Regular season
All-Star Game
Standings Source:
Statistical leaders The following shows the leaders in each statistical category during the 2019 regular season. CategoryPlayerTeamStatistic Points per game Brittney Griner Phoenix Mercury 20.7 ppg Rebounds per game Jonquel Jones Connecticut Sun 9.7 rpg Assists per game Courtney Vandersloot Chicago Sky 9.1 apg Steals per game Jordin Canada Seattle Storm 2.3 spg Blocks per game Brittney GrinerJonquel Jones Phoenix MercuryConnecticut Sun 2.0 bpg Field goal percentage Sylvia Fowles Minnesota Lynx 58.8% Three point FG percentage Alysha Clark Seattle Storm 48.1% Free throw percentage Elena Delle Donne Washington Mystics 97.4% Points per game (team) Washington Mystics 89.3 ppg Field goal percentage (team) Washington Mystics 46.9%
Schedule
| rowspan=2| Wednesday, April 10 || 7:00 p.m. || colspan=3| 2019 WNBA draft: first round ||colspan=5| ESPN2 || Nike New York Headquarters, New York City |- | 8:00 p.m. || colspan=3| 2019 WNBA draft: second and third round ||colspan=5| ESPNU || Nike New York Headquarters, New York City |- | Thursday, May 9 || 7:00 p.m. || China || @ || New York Liberty || ESPNews || 71–89 || Tied (19) || Warley-Talbert (8) || Tied (5) || Barclays Center4,115 |- | Friday, May 10 || 8:00 p.m. || Washington Mystics || @ || Minnesota Lynx || || 79–86 || Sims (20) || Fowles (11) || Sims (7) || Target Center3,201 |- | Saturday, May 11 || 10:00 p.m. || Los Angeles Sparks || @ || Phoenix Mercury || || 75–82 || Bonner (20) || Bonner (8) || Tied (5) || Talking Stick Resort Arena3,751 |- | rowspan="2" | Monday, May 13 || 5:00 p.m. || Atlanta Dream || vs. || Dallas Wings || || 82–59 || Bentley (15) || Gülich (6) || Tied (5) || Mohegan Sun Arena3,300 |- | 7:00 p.m. || New York Liberty || @ || Connecticut Sun || || 66–100 || J. Jones (19) || J. Thomas (7) || C. Williams (7) || Mohegan Sun Arena3,806 |- | rowspan="3" | Tuesday, May 14 || 12:00 p.m. || Indiana Fever || @ || Chicago Sky || || 69–58 || Tied (11) || McCowan (8) || Vandersloot (6) || Wintrust Arena4,033 |- | 5:00 p.m. || Atlanta Dream || vs. || New York Liberty || || 92–87 || Zahui B. (20) || Zahui B. (8) || 4 tied (4) || Mohegan Sun Arena3,458 |- | 7:00 p.m. || Dallas Wings || @ || Connecticut Sun || || 71–67 || Ogunbowale (19) || J. Jones (14) || Stricklen (4) || Mohegan Sun Arena3,965 |- | Wednesday, May 15 || 10:00 p.m. || Phoenix Mercury || @ || Seattle Storm || || 87–84 || 4 tied (15) || Tied (7) || Canada (5) || Angel of the Winds Arena3,076 |- | Thursday, May 16 || 12:00 p.m. || Chicago Sky || @ || Indiana Fever || || 65–76 || Parker (16) || Tied (7) || Wheeler (8) || Bankers Life Fieldhouse3,794 |- | rowspan="2" | Friday, May 17 || 7:00 p.m. || Washington Mystics || @ || Atlanta Dream || || 75–64 || Walker-Kimbrough (18) || Billings (6) || Montgomery (4) || Albany Civic Center |- | 10:30 p.m. || Seattle Storm || @ || Los Angeles Sparks || || 85–92 || Tied (18) || Russell (9) || Tied (6) || Hutto-Patterson Gym |- | rowspan="3" | Sunday, May 19 || 2:30 p.m. || Connecticut Sun || @ || New York Liberty || || 98–79 || Nurse (25) || Charles (6) || C. Williams (6) || Times Union Center |- | 3:00 p.m. || Indiana Fever || @ || Dallas Wings || || 71–66 || K. Mitchell (26) || McCowan (6) || Johnson (6) || College Park Center3,428 |- | 3:30 p.m. || Minnesota Lynx || @ || Las Vegas Aces || || 79–75 || Sims (25) || Swords (8) || Brown (7) || Cox Pavilion
! style="background:#094480; color:white" | 2019 WNBA regular season
| rowspan=2| Friday, May 24 || rowspan=2| 7:30 p.m. || Dallas Wings || @ || Atlanta Dream || || 72–76 || Breland (17) || Johnson (9) || McCarty–Williams (8) || State Farm Arena3,070 |- | Indiana Fever || @ || New York Liberty || NBA TV || 81–80 || Charles (32) || Charles (12) || Wheeler (5) || Westchester County Center1,965 |- | rowspan=3| Saturday, May 25 || 3:30 p.m. || Phoenix Mercury || @ || Seattle Storm || ABC || 68–77 || Bonner (31) || Howard (16) || Canada (6) || Angel of the Winds Arena8,500 |- | 7:30 p.m. || Washington Mystics || @ || Connecticut Sun || Twitter || 69–84 || A. Thomas (23) || J. Jones (14) || Cloud (8) || Mohegan Sun Arena7,913 |- | 8:00 p.m. || Chicago Sky || @ || Minnesota Lynx || || 71–89 || Collier (27) || Shepard (13) || Vandersloot (8) || Target Center8,524 |- | Sunday, May 26 || 8:00 p.m. || Los Angeles Sparks || @ || Las Vegas Aces || Twitter || 70–83 || Vadeeva (24) || Hamby (14) || Plum (6) || Mandalay Bay Events Center7,249 |- | Tuesday, May 28 || 7:00 p.m. || Indiana Fever || @ || Connecticut Sun || CBSSN, NESN+ || 77–88 || Wheeler (26) || A. Thomas (10) || Wheeler (9) || Mohegan Sun Arena4,781 |- | Wednesday, May 29 || 8:00 p.m. || Seattle Storm || @ || Minnesota Lynx || CBSSN, Fox Sports Go || 61–72 || Howard (18) || Fowles (13) || Sims (5) || Target Center8,092 |- | rowspan=3| Friday, May 31 || 7:30 p.m. || Seattle Storm || @ || Atlanta Dream || CBSSN || 82–66 || Howard (19) || Howard (14) || Canada (7) || State Farm Arena2,119 |- | 10:00 p.m. || Las Vegas Aces || @ || Phoenix Mercury || ESPN2 || 84–86 || Carson (20) || Bonner (12) || Y. Turner (10) || Talking Stick Resort Arena14,090 |- | 10:30 p.m. || Connecticut Sun || @ || Los Angeles Sparks || NESN+, ESPN3, Spectrum Sports Net || 70–77 || C. Ogwumike (20) || J. Jones (22) || Tied (4) || Staples Center12,334
| rowspan=4| Saturday, June 1 || rowspan=2| 7:00 p.m. || New York Liberty || @ || Indiana Fever || || 77–92 || K. Mitchell (23) || R. Gray (9) || Tied (6) || Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,003 |- | Atlanta Dream || @ || Washington Mystics || || 75–96 || Atkins (21) || Hines-Allen (8) || Toliver (5) || St. Elizabeths East Arena4,200 |- | rowspan=2| 8:00 p.m. || Seattle Storm || @ || Chicago Sky || || 79–83 || Quigley (25) || Howard (9) || Vandersloot (11) || Wintrust Arena 7,063 |- | Minnesota Lynx || @ || Dallas Wings || || 70–67 || Dantas (20) || Fowels (12) || Sims (5) || College Park Center6,535 |- | Sunday, June 2 || 7:00 p.m. || Connecticut Sun || @ || Las Vegas Aces || League Pass, MYLVTV, NESN || 80–74 || Tied (19) || J. Jones (13) || 3 tied (5) || Mandalay Bay Events Center 2,747 |- | rowspan=2| Tuesday, June 4 || 11:00 a.m. || Los Angeles Sparks || @ || New York Liberty || League Pass, YES, Spectrum Sportsnet || 78–79 || C. Gray (29) || Charles (14) || Boyd (6) || Westchester County Center3,579 |- | 10:00 p.m. || Minnesota Lynx || @ || Seattle Storm || Twitter, JoeTV || 77–84 || Loyd (19) || Howard (6) || Canada (7) || Angel of the Winds Arena5,711 |- | Wednesday, June 5 || 7:00 p.m. || Chicago Sky || @ || Washington Mystics || CBSSN, NBC Sports Washington || 85–103 || DeShields (24) || Delle Donne (7) || Vandersloot (8) || St. Elizabeths East Arena2,347 |- | rowspan=3| Thursday, June 6 || rowspan=2| 7:00 p.m. || Las Vegas Aces || @ || Atlanta Dream || CBSSN || 92–69 || 3 tied (15) || Breland (9) || J. Young (8) || State Farm Arena2,630 |- | Los Angeles Sparks || @ || Connecticut Sun || League Pass, NESN+, Spectrum Sportsnet || 77–89 || N. Ogwumike (21) || A. Thomas (12) || Tied (6) || Mohegan Sun Arena5,496 |- | 8:00 p.m. || Phoenix Mercury || @ || Minnesota Lynx || League Pass, Fox Sports North Plus, Fox Sports Arizona || 56–58 || Bonner (25) || Bonner (8) || Tied (3) || Target Center8,001 |- | rowspan=2| Friday, June 7 || 7:00 p.m. || Dallas Wings || @ || Indiana Fever || CBSSN || 64–79 || Harrison (18) || Tied (11) || Wheeler (9) || Bankers Life Fieldhouse3,671 |-