20 Dates to Circle During the WNBA's 20th Season
The countdown to the WNBA’s 20th season is officially on.
And the landmark anniversary is not just a reason to celebrate the past 19 years; after Thursday’s schedule release, it’s also a time to look forward to the league’s bright future — a future that will come in full focus starting with a marquee Opening Night.
Here are 20 dates to highlight on the 2016 WNBA schedule (part 1):
May 14: Opening Night
The 20th season opens with a rebirth of longtime rivalries and a glimpse at some of the league’s top talents, both new and familiar.
The headline from the five-game slate? One of the league’s defining rivalries, Minnesota vs. Phoenix — two teams that have met in four of the past five Western Conference Finals.
First, the Mercury will watch as the Lynx receive their 2015 championship rings. Then Mercury superstar Diana Taurasi, who sat out last season, will return to the floor in a must-see matchup against fellow former MVP Maya Moore.
Check out the best of their seven games, including Playoffs, last season:
Opening Night also marks the beginning of a swan song for one of the league’s all-time greats: Tamika Catchings opens her 16th and final season when the Fever take on the Dallas Wings in Indiana.
May 15: First Glimpse at the No. 1 Pick?
There are still nearly three months until the 2016 WNBA Draft, but it’s not too early to speculate who could be debuting for the Seattle Storm on the season’s second day.
Seattle holds the top overall selection, and Connecticut star Breanna Stewart — currently pushing to lead the Huskies to their fourth straight NCAA title — is widely expected to be the pick.
If Stewart goes No. 1, she’d debut in Los Angeles in another must-see matchup against Candace Parker and the Sparks.
MORE: Seattle Wins Draft Lottery | Storm’s Rebuild
May 18: MVP Showdown in Chi-Town
Two of the league’s top players will go to work on the same court. Maya Moore and Elena Delle Donne, who’ve won the past two WNBA MVP awards, face off for the first time this year in a Wednesday matinee in Chicago.
Their duel will grab the headlines. But don’t sleep on the underlying story: this game could offer a litmus test for two top title contenders.
May 21: Wings Make Dallas Debut
A new era begins for a franchise looking to return to its glory days. After 12 years as the Detroit Shock and six as the Tulsa Shock, the team has moved to Dallas-Fort Worth under a new name: the Wings. They host their new in-state rivals, the San Antonio Stars, in their home opener at the College Park Center (on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington) as they make a bid for a second consecutive playoff berth.
It promises to be a battle of the backcourts, pitting San Antonio’s Kayla McBride and Danielle Robinson vs. Dallas’ Skylar Diggins and Odyssey Sims.
May 24: Delle Donne vs. Parker
Few players in women’s basketball have ever possessed the combination of size and skill that Elena Delle Donne and Candace Parker possess. Both carved their names into league history in 2015: Delle Donne took home MVP honors after scoring 23.4 points per game and shooting an all-time record 95% from the free-throw line (for those with more than 100 attempts), while Parker became the first player ever to average 10+ rebounds and 6+ assists per game.
Watch their head-to-head highlights from last season: