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| 2022 WNBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | Women's National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | May 6 – September 18, 2022 |
| Number of games | 36 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Total attendance | 1,215,359 |
| Average attendance | 5,679 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC, ESPN, ESPN2,[1] CBS, CBSSN, NBA TV[2] |
| Top draft pick | Rhyne Howard |
| Picked by | Atlanta Dream |
| Season MVP |  A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas) |
| Finals champions | Las Vegas Aces (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Connecticut Sun |
| Finals MVP | Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas) |
The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions.
The WNBA's second Commissioner's Cup took place during the regular season, with the Las Vegas Aces winning over the Sky.[3] In the playoffs, the Aces were the first seed and won the Finals over the Connecticut Sun.
The regular season was expanded to 36 games per team, is the most games scheduled in a single WNBA season.[4] A 36-game season was originally scheduled for 2020, but the plan was scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] This season also marked the return of an all-series playoffs, which was last used in 2015, instead of the prior schedule of two rounds of single-elimination games and byes for the higher-seeded teams. The first-round series used a 2–1 format, with the higher seed hosting the first two games (differing from the 1–1–1 format used up to 2015). The semifinals and finals remained best-of-five series.[6] The playoffs began on August 17 and concluded on September 18.[7]
In May 2022, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that during this upcoming season, the league would honor the Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner with a "BG42" floor decal in a notable spot on the court of all 12 teams. The Mercury center has been detained in Russia since February 2022 after customs officials said they found hashish oil in her luggage at an airport.[8] The "BG42" floor decal was also prominently found on the Mercury's parent team, the Phoenix Suns, during the rest of the year after she was detained in Russia.
- ^ Voepel, Mechelle (March 3, 2022). "ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 to televise 25 regular-season WNBA games, entire postseason". ESPN. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ "WNBA Announces 2022 Broadcast and Streaming Schedule for CBS, NBA TV, Prime Video and Facebook Watch". WNBA. April 6, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
- ^ Costabile, Annie (March 3, 2022). "WNBA schedule includes 25 regular-season games broadcast nationally across ABC, ESPN". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ Voepel, Mechelle (December 9, 2021). "WNBA announces 36-game regular-season schedule for 2022, its longest in 26 seasons". ESPN. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
- ^ "2020 WNBA Season to Feature Inaugural Commissioner's Cup, Expanded 36-Game Schedule for Teams and More ABC Games". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. January 16, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
- ^ Negley, Cassandra (November 18, 2021). "WNBA introduces new playoff format abolishing single-elimination games, top-seeded byes". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
- ^ "2022 WNBA playoffs".
- ^ Baer, Jack (May 5, 2022). "Mercury unveil Brittney Griner court decal to be used by all 12 WNBA teams". Yahoo. Retrieved May 14, 2022.