History
Further information: WNBA Playoffs See also: List of WNBA franchise post-season droughtsThe WNBA Finals were originally a single championship game to decide the WNBA champion. However, in 1998, after the addition of two teams, the WNBA Finals were turned into a best-of-three games series. In 2005, the WNBA Finals adopted a best-of-five format. This finale series was known as the WNBA Championship from 1997 to 2001, before changing to reflect its NBA counterpart.
| Year | Champions | Result | Opponent | Finals MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Houston Comets | 65–51 | New York Liberty | Cynthia Cooper |
| 1998 | Houston Comets | 2–1 | Phoenix Mercury | Cynthia Cooper |
| 1999 | Houston Comets | 2–1 | New York Liberty | Cynthia Cooper |
| 2000 | Houston Comets | 2–0 | New York Liberty | Cynthia Cooper |
| 2001 | Los Angeles Sparks | 2–0 | Charlotte Sting | Lisa Leslie |
| 2002 | Los Angeles Sparks | 2–0 | New York Liberty | Lisa Leslie |
| 2003 | Detroit Shock | 2–1 | Los Angeles Sparks | Ruth Riley |
| 2004 | Seattle Storm | 2–1 | Connecticut Sun | Betty Lennox |
| 2005 | Sacramento Monarchs | 3–1 | Connecticut Sun | Yolanda Griffith |
| 2006 | Detroit Shock | 3–2 | Sacramento Monarchs | Deanna Nolan |
| 2007 | Phoenix Mercury | 3–2 | Detroit Shock | Cappie Pondexter |
| 2008 | Detroit Shock | 3–0 | San Antonio Silver Stars | Katie Smith |
| 2009 | Phoenix Mercury | 3–2 | Indiana Fever | Diana Taurasi |
| 2010 | Seattle Storm | 3–0 | Atlanta Dream | Lauren Jackson |
| 2011 | Minnesota Lynx | 3–0 | Atlanta Dream | Seimone Augustus |
| 2012 | Indiana Fever | 3–1 | Minnesota Lynx | Tamika Catchings |
Read more about this topic: WNBA Finals
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“We may pretend that we’re basically moral people who make mistakes, but the whole of history proves otherwise.”
—Terry Hands (b. 1941)
“Boys forget what their country means by just reading “the land of the free” in history books. Then they get to be men, they forget even more. Liberty’s too precious a thing to be buried in books.”
—Sidney Buchman (1902–1975)
“This is the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation, because as a result of what happened in this week, the world is bigger, infinitely.”
—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)