# 2014 WNBA season

The 2014 WNBA season was the 18th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season started in May and concluded in September to accommodate the 2014 Women's World Championship.

## Notable occurrences

* The New York Liberty returned to the renovated Madison Square Garden after three years of playing at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
* Indiana Fever head coach Lin Dunn announced her retirement on May 8; effective at the end of the season.

## TV and Internet coverage

Games aired on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and NBA TV. The Washington Mystics made history in May 2014 when they debuted Kiswe Mobile's Mystics Live and became the first U.S. professional sports team to stream live games within the venue via a mobile application.

## 2014 WNBA draft

On December 12, 2013, the 2014 WNBA Draft Lottery took place. The Connecticut Sun, who had a league-worst record of 10-24 last season, won the draft lottery and had the right to pick first in the 2014 draft. In the draft, held on April 14, the Sun made Chiney Ogwumike of Stanford University the top pick.

## Regular season

The timing of the 2014 WNBA schedule and the draft were not finalized at its normal timeframe, as the league and players were negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement during the 2013 season. The previous agreement expired during the 2013 WNBA Finals and a new CBA was reached on February 17, 2014.
On February 6, 2014, the 2014 regular season schedule was announced. The regular season schedule began on May 16 and concluded on August 17.
It was announced on January 22 that the 2014 WNBA All-Star Game would take place on July 19 at 3:00 PM EDT in Phoenix, Arizona.

## Team standings
### Eastern Conference

| # | Eastern Conference vte | Eastern Conference vte | Eastern Conference vte | Eastern Conference vte | Eastern Conference vte | Eastern Conference vte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
| 1 | y- Atlanta Dream | 19 | 15 | .559 | - | 34 |
| 2 | x- Indiana Fever | 16 | 18 | .471 | 3.0 | 34 |
| 3 | x-Washington Mystics | 16 | 18 | .471 | 3.0 | 34 |
| 4 | x-Chicago Sky | 15 | 19 | .441 | 4.0 | 34 |
| 5 | e-New York Liberty | 15 | 19 | .441 | 4.0 | 34 |
| 6 | e-Connecticut Sun | 13 | 21 | .382 | 6.0 | 34 |

### Western Conference

| # | Western Conference vte | Western Conference vte | Western Conference vte | Western Conference vte | Western Conference vte | Western Conference vte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
| 1 | y-Phoenix Mercury | 29 | 5 | .853 | - | 34 |
| 2 | x-Minnesota Lynx | 25 | 9 | .735 | 4.0 | 34 |
| 3 | x-San Antonio Stars | 16 | 18 | .471 | 13.0 | 34 |
| 4 | x-Los Angeles Sparks | 16 | 18 | .471 | 13.0 | 34 |
| 5 | e-Tulsa Shock | 12 | 22 | .353 | 17.0 | 34 |
| 6 | e-Seattle Storm | 12 | 22 | .353 | 17.0 | 34 |

## Playoffs

| Conference semi-finals: best-of-3 | Conference semi-finals: best-of-3 | Conference semi-finals: best-of-3 | Conference finals: best-of-3 | Conference finals: best-of-3 | Conference finals: best-of-3 | WNBA finals: best-of-5 | WNBA finals: best-of-5 | WNBA finals: best-of-5 |
| E1 | Atlanta | 1 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Chicago | 2 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Chicago | 2 | E4 | Chicago | 2 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E4 | Chicago | 2 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E2 | Indiana | 1 | | | |
| E2 | Indiana | 2 | E2 | Indiana | 1 | | | |
| E3 | Washington | 0 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Washington | 0 | | | | E4 | Chicago | 0 |
| | | | | | | W1 | Phoenix | 3 |
| W1 | Phoenix | 2 | | | | | | | W1 | Phoenix | 3 |
| W4 | Los Angeles | 0 | | | | | | |
| W4 | Los Angeles | 0 | W1 | Phoenix | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W1 | Phoenix | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W2 | Minnesota | 1 | | | |
| W2 | Minnesota | 2 | W2 | Minnesota | 1 | | | |
| W3 | San Antonio | 0 | | | | | | |
* Bold – Series winner
* Italics – Team with home-court advantage

## Season award winners
### Player of the Week award

| For games played beginning | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference |
| For games played beginning | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| May 16, 2014 | Elena Delle Donne | Chicago Sky | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| May 26, 2014 | Briann January | Indiana Fever | Lindsay Whalen | Minnesota Lynx |
| June 2, 2014 | Erika de Souza | Atlanta Dream | Diana Taurasi | Phoenix Mercury |
| June 9, 2014 | Alex Bentley | Connecticut Sun | Skylar Diggins | Tulsa Shock |
| June 16, 2014 | Angel McCoughtry | Atlanta Dream | Brittney Griner | Phoenix Mercury |
| June 23, 2014 | Sancho Lyttle | Atlanta Dream | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks |
| June 30, 2014 | Tina Charles | New York Liberty | Diana Taurasi | Phoenix Mercury |
| July 7, 2014 | Angel McCoughtry | Atlanta Dream | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| July 14, 2014 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| July 21, 2014 | Ivory Latta | Washington Mystics | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| July 28, 2014 | Tina Charles | New York Liberty | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| August 4, 2014 | Allie Quigley | Chicago Sky | Brittney Griner | Phoenix Mercury |
| August 11, 2014 | Shoni Schimmel | Atlanta Dream | Kristi Toliver | Los Angeles Sparks |

### Player of the Month award

| For games played | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference |
| For games played | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| May 2014 | Elena Delle Donne | Chicago Sky | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| June 2014 | Angel McCoughtry | Atlanta Dream | Diana Taurasi | Phoenix Mercury |
| July 2014 | Tina Charles | New York Liberty | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| August 2014 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |

### Rookie of the Month award

| For games played | Player | Team |
| May 2014 | Chiney Ogwumike | Connecticut Sun |
| June 2014 | Chiney Ogwumike | Connecticut Sun |
| July 2014 | Odyssey Sims | Tulsa Shock |
| August 2014 | Odyssey Sims | Tulsa Shock |

### Postseason awards

| Award | Award | Winner | Position | Team | Votes/Statistic |
| Most Valuable Player Award | Most Valuable Player Award | Maya Moore | Forward | Minnesota Lynx | 35 out of 38 |
| Finals MVP Award | Finals MVP Award | Diana Taurasi | Guard | Phoenix Mercury | |
| Rookie of the Year Award | Rookie of the Year Award | Chiney Ogwumike | Forward | Connecticut Sun | 23 out of 38 |
| Most Improved Player Award | Most Improved Player Award | Skylar Diggins | Guard | Tulsa Shock | 29 out of 38 |
| Defensive Player of the Year Award | Defensive Player of the Year Award | Brittney Griner | Center | Phoenix Mercury | 31 out of 38 |
| Sixth Woman of the Year Award | Sixth Woman of the Year Award | Allie Quigley | Guard | Chicago Sky | 26 out of 38 |
| Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award | Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award | Becky Hammon | Guard | San Antonio Stars | 24 out of 37 |
| Peak Performer: Points | Peak Performer: Points | Maya Moore | Forward | Minnesota Lynx | 23.9 PPG |
| Peak Performer: Rebounds | Peak Performer: Rebounds | Courtney Paris | Center | Tulsa Shock | 10.2 RPG |
| Peak Performer: Assists | Peak Performer: Assists | Diana Taurasi | Guard | Phoenix Mercury | 5.6 APG |
| Coach of the Year Award | Coach of the Year Award | Sandy Brondello | Coach | Phoenix Mercury | 33 out of 38 |
| Team | Guard | Guard | Forward | Forward | Center |
| All-WNBA First Team | Skylar Diggins | Diana Taurasi | Maya Moore | Candace Parker | Brittney Griner |
| All-WNBA Second Team | Danielle Robinson | Seimone Augustus | Angel McCoughtry | Nneka Ogwumike | Tina Charles |
| All-WNBA Second Team | Lindsay Whalen | Seimone Augustus | Angel McCoughtry | Nneka Ogwumike | Tina Charles |
| All-Defensive First Team | Briann January | Tanisha Wright | Angel McCoughtry | Sancho Lyttle | Brittney Griner |
| All-Defensive Second Team | Danielle Robinson | Alana Beard | Maya Moore | Tamika Catchings | Sylvia Fowles |
| All-Rookie Team | Odyssey Sims | Bria Hartley | Kayla McBride | Alyssa Thomas | Chiney Ogwumike |

## Coaches
### Eastern Conference

* Atlanta Dream: Michael Cooper
* Chicago Sky: Pokey Chatman
* Connecticut Sun: Anne Donovan
* Indiana Fever: Lin Dunn
* New York Liberty: Bill Laimbeer
* Washington Mystics: Mike Thibault

### Western Conference

* Los Angeles Sparks: Carol Ross and Penny Toler
* Minnesota Lynx: Cheryl Reeve
* Phoenix Mercury: Sandy Brondello
* San Antonio Stars: Dan Hughes
* Seattle Storm: Jenny Boucek
* Tulsa Shock: Fred Williams