The 2006 WNBA.com Awards: The Dotties
Take a stroll down the red
carpet, put on your best formalwear and smile for the cameras, because you are
our guest at the 2005 WNBA.com Awards. The first annual Dotties will be handed
out and everyone who is anyone will be on hand recognizing the very best accomplishments
in the WNBA from the past year. 2005 was a year of great, big stories in the WNBA. Donna Orender took over as president back in February, stars were traded before and after the season... Tangela Smith, Nicole Powell, DeLisha Milton-Jones, Chamique Holdsclaw, Dawn Staley, Katie Smith and Margo Dydek, the Sky were born, Tina Thompson missed half the season with pregnancy, Swin Cash missed half the season with a knee injury, coaches came and went, Natalie Williams retired, Stacey Dales Schuman retired and unretired, Holdsclaw revealed her depression, Sheryl Swoopes returned to MVP form and then made a big announcement regarding her personal life and the Sacramento Monarchs finally won the title.
With all that in mind, the votes have been counted, the envelopes have been stuffed, the presenters are standing by, the nominees are waiting anxiously in their seats and the orchestra is getting ready to play... (fanfare and drumroll).
Best
Actress in a Leading Role
Yolanda
Griffith, Sacramento Monarchs
To the belle of the ball and the
2005 WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player, Griffith raised her game in the postseason
and helped lead her team to its first title. No one shone brighter in the glare
of the spotlight on the game's biggest stage. Her commanding performance will
be remembered for years to come as she finally gets to put a trophy on her mantlepiece.
The only thing missing is the gown and the tearful acceptance speech.
(nominees:
Sheryl Swoopes, Lauren Jackson, Tamika Catchings, Nykesha Sales)
Best
Actress in a Supporting Role
Taj
McWilliams-Franklin, Connecticut Sun
This award goes to the
consummate teammate, a player who defines sportsmanship, is loved by her teammates
and commands respect from the opposition. She was brilliant in her supporting
role all season and even more so in the epic drama that was the WNBA Playoffs.
McWilliams-Franklin and the Sun had the best record in the league during the regular
season with 26 wins and almost won their first WNBA championship this season and
Taj was the emotional nucleus on a team of stars.
(nominees: Ticha Penicheiro,
Sue Bird, Temeka Johnson)
Best
Breakthrough Performance
Nicole
Powell, Sacramento Monarchs
After fighting for playing time
in 2004 as a rookie with the Charlotte Sting, the third overall pick in the 2004
Draft was shipped to Sacramento in one of the biggest trades in the offseason.
Powell went on to average 10.7 points per game in 29.1 minutes per game and was
named the WNBA's Most Improved Player.
(nominees: Janell Burse, Shameka
Christon, Joe Bryant)
Best Short Feature
Maria
Stepanova, Phoenix Mercury
In 15 games with Stepanova this
season, the Phoenix Mercury were 11-4. In games played before the Russian center
arrived or after she left to play for the Russian national team, Phoenix was 5-14
and missed the playoffs. Like her fellow nominees, she made the most of her time
in the lineup.
(nominees: Tina Thompson, Swin Cash, Muggsy Bogues)
Best
Foreign Feature
Lauren Jackson,
Seattle Storm
The 2003 WNBA Most Valuable Player and a 2004 champion,
Jackson narrowly missed out winning the MVP award by one ballot.
(nominees:
Maria Stepanova, Kamila Vodichkova, Tully Bevilaqua, Iziane Castro Marques)
Best
Revival
Chamique Holdsclaw,
Los Angeles Sparks
After taking off the second half of the 2004
season to deal with personal health issues, Holdsclaw was traded to the Sparks
and returned with a new spirit and lease on life. 'Miq went on to have another
All-Star year and averaged 18.1 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game.
(nominees:
Marie Ferdinand, Ann Wauters, Tina Thompson)
Best
Director
John Whisenant, Sacramento Monarchs
The 2005 WNBA Coach
of the Year had no idea what he was coming in with this season after a series
of trades and free agent signings in the offseason. However, he quickly forged
his collection of players into one of the best teams in the league, finished with
25 wins and marched through the playoffs en route to the city of Sacramento's
first professional sports title.
(nominees: Mike Thibault, Brian Winters,
Van Chancellor)
Best Cinematography
Tan
White, Indiana Fever
Our award for best cinematography goes
to the play of the year, a most impressive spin pass out of nowhere on the fast
break by Indiana rookie guard Tan White. It made all of the highlight reels and
will live on in WNBA history as one of the most memorable moments ever. Play
Now!
Best Score
The 2005
WNBA All-Star Game
With over 220 points score, by far the most
in any WNBA game in history, the Western Conference All-Stars prevailed yet again
over the East, winning 122-99. The game also featured a dunk from Sparks center
Lisa Leslie, two near-dunks from Deanna Nolan, a 30-foot shot from Diana Taurasi
and enough end-to-end action to leave fans with sore necks.
Best
Art Direction
Kara Lawson,
Sacramento Monarchs
Not all of the votes have been counted for the
Snap Judgment Photo Contest that allows fans to vote, but the award for Best Art
Direction goes to the team of NBA photographer Garrett Ellwood and Kara Lawson
for that most memorable image of her standing on podium celebrating the Monarchs
victory. Those of you who were there will never forget that moment and those of
you were not present at ARCO that night will always remember it, too. Cropped
version at right.
(nominees: Deanna Nolan, Brooke Wyckoff, Diana Taurasi)
Best
Screen Play
Game 2 of the WNBA Finals
The
final shot could not have been scripted any better. Down three points at home
with their playoff lives on the line, the Connecticut Sun needed a (Orlando?)
miracle. And they got one. Reserve forward Brooke Wyckoff was inserted into the
lineup for her ability to hit the three, though she was not the first option,
nor the second or third. But when Mike Thibault's play broke down, Wyckoff found
herself wide open in the corner and her teammates found her not long thereafter.
She fired and connected to tie the game and send yet another Finals game into
overtime and hurdling towards a Game 2 victory for the Sun.
Best
Costume Design
Ebony Hoffman,
Indiana Fever
For her tango performance in that flowing orange ballroom
dress. Simply magnificent. Joan and Melissa Rivers would have been breaking that
one down for months.
(nominees: Sue Bird and the mask, the Monarchs' purple
wigs, Betty Lennox's brother)
Best Comedy
Tully
Bevilaqua, Indiana Fever
For daring an Indianapolis sports writer
to a game of HORSE, then convincing him that the loser runs around the gym sans
pants. And she won. And he did it. And they have pictures. And they ran it in
the newspaper!
Best Drama
Dads and Daughters Week
Those
Theme Weeks sure were fun in 2005, but nothing was quite as moving as the big
Dads and Daughters game in Madison Square Garden featuring the Liberty and Mercury
as Becky Hammon and Diana Taurasi's fathers sat next to each other courtside.
You could see the pride and joy on each of their faces as they watched their daughters
doing what they love.
Best
Mystery
Chicago Sky
After months of speculation
and keeping pretty much everyone in the dark as to their new team name (including
league officials), the new WNBA Chicago franchise revealed their name to the world
on the same day that the WNBA Finals were decided out west in Sacramento.
Best
Soundtrack
New York Liberty
No arena
gets the crowd going with its music selection like the Garden - they play the
newest, freshest stuff out there, and it's hard not to dance while sitting courtside
at press row. Ask any player and they'll agree.
(nominees: Sacramento, Los
Angeles, Indiana)
Best Western
Mohegan Sun Hotel
and Casino
For being such a great host for the WNBA All-Star Game
and the WNBA Finals, our "Best Western" Hotel of the Year Award goes to the fine
people in Connecticut.
(nominees: Chicago O'Hare Hilton, Sacramento Downtown
Sheraton)
Outstanding Performance in a Dance or
Musical
Elbow Tassles, New York Liberty Torch Patrol
To our favorite
dancer in the WNBA, you know who you are...
(nominees: Nikki McCray's National
Anthem, Kym Hampton's National Anthem, Ebony Hoffman's ballroom dance)
Outstanding
Miniseries
Round One of the Western Conference playoffs
It is
rare that anyone will remember a first round playoff series over time, but the
classic battle between the Seattle Storm and Houston Comets was one for the story
books.
(nominees: Shock-Sun, Monarchs-Sparks)
Best
Ensemble Cast
The Sacramento Monarchs
Hands down, the team of
the year. Hey, they won the championship and you can't beat that on your list
of credentials.
(nominees: Conencticut Sun, WNBA Player Personnel Department,
NBA.com newsdesk team)
Best Lighting Effects
Tamika
Williams, Minnesota Lynx
This award could also be called "Smiles
Award," because it goes to the player who is always smiling on and off the court
and always seems to be having fun no matter what the score is. Naturally, when
T appears, she lights up a room.
(nominees: Katie Smith, Tully Bevilaqua,
Shameka Christon, Natalie Williams)
Best Original
Script
Doris Burke, ABC
Sports
Without question, the The 2005 Blogger of the Year. Her weekly
game previews, playoff analysis and charming prose kept us laughing and crying
all season long.
(nominees: Tanisha Wright, Ruth Riley, Ann Meyers)
Record
of the Year
Katie Smith,
Minnesota Lynx/Detroit Shock
Smith surpassed 5,000 career points
as a professional between her days in the ABL and WNBA, the most in North American
professional women's basketball history.
(nominees: Sheryl Swoopes' playoff
triple double, Anne Donovan's 100th career coaching win, Vickie Johnson, Yolanda
Griffith and Nykesha Sales recorded 3,000 career points)
Best
New Artist
Temeka Johnson,
Washington Mystics
Won Rookie of the Year. Convincingly.
(nominees:
Tan White, Chelsea Newton, Kara Braxton)
Artist of
the Year
Sheryl
Swoopes, Houston Comets
With her triple double in the playoffs.,
All-Star MVP, 2005 WNBA MVP. A five-star performance by Sheryl Swoopes recording
the first triple-double in WNBA Playoff history in a series-clinching win over
Seattle as the Comets joined the Charlotte Sting as the only team to drop the
first game at home of a three-game series and win the next two on the road. The
deep connection scene features Dawn Staley, who was a member of both team.
(nominees:
Lauren Jackson, Tamkia Catchings, Diana Taurasi)
Best
Seat Filler
Kendra Wecker,
San Antonio Silver Stars
After going down with a season-ending injury
in the first half of her first game as a professional Silver Stars forward Kendra
Wecker spent the rest of the season on the bench cheering on her teammates.
(nominees:
Swin Cash, Tina Thompson, Ann Wauters, DeMya Walker)
The Lifetime Achievement Award
Lisa
Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks
An accomplished, talented yet steady influence, Leslie is all that and more, solid in the middle of the Sparks lineup
going on ten years. Not that she's going anywhere anytime soon. But after nine
extraordinary years of service, she has excelled for the entire duration of the
WNBA's lifetime.
(nominees: Vickie Johnson, Mwadi Mabika, Tina Thompson)
The
Good Humanitarian Award
Tamika
Catchings, Indiana Fever
Catchings is not only a superstar in her primary
area of focus, but also a star in the community. This past year, Catch was a star
at clinics, autograph signings, beginning her own charitable foundation and maintaining
personal relationships with local kids. She even traveled to and from Russia,
twice, within a week, for 24 hours at a time, to conduct her annual clinics for
which she donates all proceeds as part of an annual Thanksgiving donation. And
she has the Community Assist Awards every year to boot. Of course, in her spare
time, Catchings has led the Fever in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks
for four consecutive seasons. No other WNBA player has accomplished the same feat
for her team in ANY of those seasons.
(nominees: Helen Darling, Barbara
Farris, Chantelle Anderson)
The Writer's
Guild Award
Becky Hammon,
New York Liberty
Because she was always there when you needed her,
for a quote, at an appearance and in just about every feature in the calendar
year 2005 that appeared on WNBA.com. Becky is always there to lend a helping
hand.
(nominees: Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Swin Cash,
Alana Beard)
Congratulations to the winners. Thank you and good night!