2011 WNBA season

The 2011 WNBA season is the 15th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on June 3 with the Los Angeles Sparks hosting the Minnesota Lynx, featuring 2011 WNBA Draft top pick Maya Moore, in a game televised on NBA TV. Four games followed the next day, with the marquee matchup, televised on ABC, featuring the defending champion Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury in Seattle.

The Minnesota Lynx finished the regular season with the best record in the league at 27-7, and were the top seed in the Western Conference. The Indiana Fever were the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Lynx ultimately advanced to face the Atlanta Dream in the 2011 WNBA Finals.

Logo to recognize the WNBA's 15th Anniversary.

2010/2011 WNBA offseason

• The new television deal with ESPN continued during the 2011 season (runs 2009–2016). For the first time ever, teams will be paid rights fees as part of this deal.
• As of the 2009 season, the maximum roster size per team was reduced from 13 to 11. Any team that falls below nine players able to play due to injury, pregnancy or any other factor outside of the control of the team will, upon request, be granted a roster hardship exception allowing the team to sign an additional player or players so that the team will have nine players able to play in an upcoming game or games. As soon as the injured (or otherwise sidelined) player(s) is able to play, the roster hardship player(s) – not any other player on the roster—must be waived.
• On October 12, 2010, the New York Liberty named former Monarchs coach John Whisenant head coach and general manager.
• On October 29, 2010, Pokey Chatman was named head coach and general manager of the Chicago Sky.
• On November 1, 2010, the Washington Mystics announced that Julie Plank (head coach) and Angela Taylor (GM) would not be returning to the team and that Trudi Lacey would take over head coach and GM positions.
• On December 3, 2010, Donna Orender, six-year league president, announced her resignation effective December 31.
• On January 11, 2011, The San Antonio Silver Stars announced that Dan Hughes would resume head coaching duties.
• The Washington Mystics announced a marquee sponsorship with Inova Health System on April 7, 2011. This marked the fifth team in the league to allow a sponsor to brand their uniforms.
• On draft day, Adidas introduced the Revolution 30 technology, to be used on all WNBA team uniforms. The uniforms are 30% lighter than before and also enable moisture management. Unlike their NBA and NBA D-League counterparts, however, all WNBA uniforms underwent complete redesigns.
• NBA Commissioner David Stern announced on April 21, 2011 that Laurel J. Richie would assume role as president of the WNBA on May 16.
• The New York Liberty will play home games for the next three seasons at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, due to summer renovations at Madison Square Garden.

Marquee sponsorship

On August 22, 2011, the WNBA announced a league-wide marquee sponsorship with Boost Mobile. The deal would allow the Boost Mobile logo to be placed on ten of the 12 teams' jerseys (excluding Phoenix and San Antonio) in addition to branding on the courts and in arenas. A source said the deal is worth "roughly $10 million over its four years" and is the richest in league history.

2011 WNBA Draft

See also: 2011 WNBA Draft

The WNBA Draft lottery was held on November 2, 2010. The lottery teams were the Tulsa Shock, Minnesota Lynx, Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx (from Conn.). The top pick was awarded to Minnesota.

The 2011 WNBA Draft was held on April 11, 2011, in Bristol, Connecticut. Coverage of the first round was shown on ESPN (HD). Second and third round coverage was shown on ESPNU and NBA TV.

The top picks were:

1. Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx
2. Elizabeth Cambage, Tulsa Shock
3. Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago Sky
4. Amber Harris, Minnesota Lynx (from Conn.)

Regular season

All-Star Game

See also: 2011 WNBA All-Star Game

The 2011 WNBA All-Star Game was hosted by the San Antonio Silver Stars on July 23 at the AT&T Center. Coverage of the game began at 3:30pm (ET) on ABC. This marks the first time the Silver Stars have hosted the annual event. This is only the second time in league history that the showcase was played on the court of a Western Conference team.

Statistic leaders

The following shows the leaders for each statistic during the 2011 regular season.

See also

• WNBA
• WNBA Draft
• WNBA All-Star Game
• WNBA Playoffs
• WNBA Finals