Women's National Basketball Association

WNBA re-directs here. An alternate use for WNBA is WNBA-AM, a radio station in Illinois.

The Women's National Basketball Association or WNBA is an organization governing a professional basketball league for women in the United States. Formed in 1996, the league started play in 1997. Creation of this league was announced at a press conference with Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes. Penny Toler was the first woman to score a point in the league, and Lisa Leslie was the first one to make a dunk basket.

The WNBA started with eight teams its first season. They added two more in 1998, two more in 1999 and four in 2000. The teams and league were collectively owned by the NBA. After the 2002 season the NBA sold the WNBA teams either to their NBA counterparts or a third party. This lead to two teams moving and two teams folding before the 2003 season. Cleveland folded after the 2003 season.

2004 teams:

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Defunct Teams