# 2015 WNBA season

The 2015 WNBA season was the 19th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The regular season started on June 5 and concluded on September 13 and playoffs started on September 17 and concluded on October 14.
The Minnesota Lynx beat the Indiana Fever 69–52 in game five of the Finals on October 14 to clinch a third WNBA title in five years.

## TV and Internet coverage

Games aired on ESPN (1 regular season game), ESPN2 (10 regular season games), ABC (All-Star Game) and NBA TV (47 regular season games).

## Notable occurrences

* On February 3, 2015, the Phoenix Mercury announced that superstar Diana Taurasi would not play in 2015. Her Russian club team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, offered her more than her WNBA season salary to rest during the 2015 WNBA season. Some in the league feared this would cause more star players to reach similar agreements.
* On June 4, 2015, Tulsa player Glory Johnson announced that she is pregnant and would miss all of the 2015 WNBA season.
* On July 23, 2015, The WNBA approved the relocation of the Tulsa Shock to Dallas-Fort Worth. The move is the first franchise relocation or fold since the 2009 Sacramento Monarchs folded, and the Detroit Shock moved to Tulsa. At the time, the Shock were the only WNBA franchise to relocate twice.
* On October 14, 2015, The Minnesota Lynx won their third WNBA title in five years, beating the Indiana Fever 3–2.
* On November 4, 2015, shortly after the 2015 season concluded, WNBA President Laurel Richie announced her resignation, effective November 9, 2015. She was the league's 3rd president.

## 2015 WNBA draft

On August 21, 2014, the 2015 WNBA Draft Lottery took place. The Seattle Storm, who had a league-worst record of 12–22 last season, won the draft lottery and had the right to pick first in the 2015 draft. In the draft, held on April 16, the Storm made Jewell Loyd of Notre Dame the top pick.

## Team standings

Source:

### Eastern Conference

| Eastern Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| x - New York Liberty | 23 | 11 | .676 | – | 12–5 | 11–6 | 13–9 |
| x - Chicago Sky | 21 | 13 | .618 | 2 | 13–4 | 8–9 | 14–8 |
| x - Indiana Fever | 20 | 14 | .588 | 3 | 11–6 | 9–8 | 13–9 |
| x - Washington Mystics | 18 | 16 | .529 | 5 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 10–12 |
| e - Atlanta Dream | 15 | 19 | .441 | 8 | 9–8 | 6–11 | 10–12 |
| e - Connecticut Sun | 15 | 19 | .441 | 8 | 8–9 | 7–10 | 6–16 |

### Western Conference

| Western Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| z - Minnesota Lynx | 22 | 12 | .647 | – | 13–4 | 9–8 | 16–6 |
| x - Phoenix Mercury | 20 | 14 | .588 | 2 | 13–4 | 7–10 | 15–7 |
| x - Tulsa Shock | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4 | 12–5 | 6–11 | 11–11 |
| x - Los Angeles Sparks | 14 | 20 | .412 | 8 | 9–8 | 5–12 | 10–12 |
| e - Seattle Storm | 10 | 24 | .294 | 12 | 8–9 | 2–15 | 8–14 |
| e - San Antonio Stars | 8 | 26 | .235 | 14 | 7–10 | 1–16 | 6–16 |
Notes
    z – Clinched Conference
    x – Clinched playoff spot
    e – Eliminated from playoffs

## 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 | New York | 2 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Washington | 1 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Washington | 1 | E1 | New York | 1 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E1 | New York | 1 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E3 | Indiana | 2 | | | |
| E2 | Chicago | 1 | E3 | Indiana | 2 | | | |
| E3 | Indiana | 2 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Indiana | 2 | | | | E3 | Indiana | 2 |
| | | | | | | W1 | Minnesota | 3 |
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | | | | | | | W1 | Minnesota | 3 |
| W4 | Los Angeles | 1 | | | | | | |
| W4 | Los Angeles | 1 | W1 | Minnesota | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W1 | Minnesota | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W2 | Phoenix | 0 | | | |
| W2 | Phoenix | 2 | W2 | Phoenix | 0 | | | |
| W3 | Tulsa | 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 |
| June 5, 2015 | Elena Delle Donne | Chicago Sky | DeWanna Bonner | Phoenix Mercury |
| June 15, 2015 | Elena Delle Donne (2) | Chicago Sky | Skylar Diggins | Tulsa Shock |
| June 22, 2015 | Elena Delle Donne (3) | Chicago Sky | Lindsay Whalen | Minnesota Lynx |
| June 29, 2015 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks |
| July 6, 2015 | Cappie Pondexter | Chicago Sky | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| July 13, 2015 | Tina Charles | New York Liberty | Maya Moore (2) | Minnesota Lynx |
| July 20, 2015 | Tina Charles (2) | New York Liberty | Maya Moore (3) | Minnesota Lynx |
| August 3, 2015 | Elena Delle Donne (4) | Chicago Sky | Brittney Griner | Phoenix Mercury |
| August 10, 2015 | Epiphanny Prince | New York Liberty | Maya Moore (4) | Minnesota Lynx |
| August 17, 2015 | Elena Delle Donne (5) | Chicago Sky | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |
| August 24, 2015 | Epiphanny Prince (2) | New York Liberty | Odyssey Sims | Tulsa Shock |
| August 31, 2015 | Courtney Vandersloot | Chicago Sky | Candace Parker (2) | Los Angeles Sparks |
| September 7, 2015 | Kelsey Bone | Connecticut Sun | Monique Currie | Phoenix Mercury |

### Player of the Month award

| For games played | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference |
| For games played | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| June 2015 | Elena Delle Donne | Chicago Sky | Skylar Diggins | Tulsa Shock |
| July 2015 | Tina Charles | New York Liberty | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| August 2015 | Epiphanny Prince | New York Liberty | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |

### Rookie of the Month award

| For games played | Player | Team |
| June 2015 | Natalie Achonwa | Indiana Fever |
| July 2015 | Jewell Loyd | Seattle Storm |
| August 2015 | Kiah Stokes | New York Liberty |

### Postseason awards

| Award | Winner | Position | Team | Votes/Statistic |
| Most Valuable Player Award | Elena Delle Donne | Forward / Guard | Chicago Sky | 38 out of 39 |
| Finals MVP Award | Sylvia Fowles | Center | Minnesota Lynx | |
| Rookie of the Year Award | Jewell Loyd | Guard | Seattle Storm | 21 out of 39 |
| Most Improved Player Award | Kelsey Bone | Center | Connecticut Sun | 14 out of 39 |
| Defensive Player of the Year Award | Brittney Griner | Center | Phoenix Mercury | 33 out of 39 |
| Sixth Woman of the Year Award | Allie Quigley | Guard | Chicago Sky | 24 out of 39 |
| Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award | DeLisha Milton-Jones | Forward | Atlanta Dream | 11 out of 39 |
| Peak Performer: Points | Elena Delle Donne | Forward / Guard | Chicago Sky | 23.4 PPG |
| Peak Performer: Rebounds | Courtney Paris | Center | Tulsa Shock | 9.3 RPG |
| Peak Performer: Assists | Courtney Vandersloot | Guard | Chicago Sky | 5.8 APG |
| Coach of the Year Award | Bill Laimbeer | Coach | New York Liberty | 23 out of 39 |
| Team | Guard | Guard | Forward | Forward | Center |
| All-WNBA First Team | DeWanna Bonner | Angel McCoughtry | Elena Delle Donne | Maya Moore | Tina Charles |
| All-WNBA Second Team | Epiphanny Prince | Courtney Vandersloot | Candace Parker | Tamika Catchings | Brittney Griner |
| All-Defensive First Team | Briann January | Angel McCoughtry | Nneka Ogwumike | Tamika Catchings | Brittney Griner |
| All-Defensive Second Team | Tanisha Wright | DeWanna Bonner | Sancho Lyttle | Tina Charles | Kiah Stokes |
| All-Rookie Team | Jewell Loyd | Brittany Boyd | Ramu Tokashiki | Natalie Achonwa | Kiah Stokes |
| All-Rookie Team | Ana Dabović | Brittany Boyd | Ramu Tokashiki | Natalie Achonwa | Kiah Stokes |

## Coaches
### Eastern Conference

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

### Western Conference

* Los Angeles Sparks: Brian Agler
* Minnesota Lynx: Cheryl Reeve
* Phoenix Mercury: Sandy Brondello
* San Antonio Silver Stars: Dan Hughes
* Seattle Storm: Jenny Boucek
* Tulsa Shock: Fred Williams