The WBNA season has finally concluded, and the season had a lot of great points to cover. For those who may not know, the Chicago Sky are the 2021 WNBA champions after a marvelous 80-74, game four victory over the Phoenix Mercury.
Kahleah Copper was named the Finals MVP, averaging 17 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in the finals series. The Sky had significant contributions from All-stars Candace Parker and Courtney Vandersloot. Parker recently joined the Chicago Sky in the offseason with dreams of winning a championship for her hometown team. In her 13 seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks, won a championship and was a 2x MVP.
The Phoenix Mercury were a particular team in the WNBA due to the heavy firepower on their team. In the offseason, they made an upgrade to their guard position by picking up Skylar Diggins-Smith. This acquisition adds to their team consisting of the recently named “GOAT” Diana Taurasi and the dominant center, Brittany Griner.
The WNBA postseason was filled with shock as the top two teams were eliminated in the playoffs. The Las Vegas Aces and the Seattle Storm had troubles. The Storm have been a tough team as of late due to their superstar Breanna Stewart, alongside the legendary Sue Bird. After the birth of her daughter, Breanna Stewart took time off to support her wife and child.
This impacted the Storm as they lost their best player moving into the postseason. The Aces had a great season, finishing second in the league. The postseason was looking very bright for the Aces after being swept in the finals the previous year. Although they came up short this year, they have a young star in A’ja Wilson alongside an upcoming star in their rookie guard Jackie Young.
The Connecticut Sun was another team that fell short in the postseason. They finished the regular season with the best record in the WNBA. However, the team faced a disappointing first-round exit against Chicago Sky.
Throughout the playoffs, viewership for the WNBA has risen 51%, averaging 306,000 across multiple networks. Game 1 of the WNBA finals was the most viewed finals since 2017, peaking at 547,000 and averaging 476,000 viewers. Game 2 of the WNBA finals reached a peak of 1 million viewers with an average of 789,000 viewers.
In addition, Instagram pages like HighlightHer, WSlam, and WNBA have grown over the year with viral posts of women’s highlights; this boosted social media engagement for the WNBA. The future is bright for the WNBA as popularity is growing.
Sources: WNBA, ESPN, CNBC, The Athletic, WSlam (Instagram), HighlightHer (Instagram)