2019 WNBA season



The 2019 WNBA season was the 23rd season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Seattle Storm were the defending champions. The regular season began on May 24, with the Atlanta Dream hosting the Dallas Wings and the New York Liberty hosting the Indiana Fever. The season ended with the Washington Mystics securing their first WNBA Title over the Connecticut Sun three games to two, in a closely contested finals. Emma Meesseman was named Finals MVP and teammate Elena Delle Donne was named regular season MVP.

2019 WNBA draft
The Las Vegas Aces had the first pick in the 2019 WNBA draft on April 10, marking the third straight draft in which the franchise won the lottery for the top pick. With the top pick, the Aces selected Jackie Young from Notre Dame. The draft was televised nationally on the ESPN networks (Round 1 on ESPN2, Rounds 2 and 3 on ESPNU).

Rule changes
The WNBA Board of Governors approved two rule changes at their November 15, 2018 meeting that would go into effect during the 2019 season.


 * 1) The "Clear Path Foul Rule" was simplified to establish "bright line" standards based on a player's positioning.
 * 2) The definition of a "Hostile Act" was expanded for purposes of instant replay.

Media coverage
On April 22, 2019, CBS Sports Network announced a multi-year deal with the league to broadcast 40 games a season starting in May 2019. On June 27, 2019, TSN, Sportsnet, and NBA TV Canada announced a multi-year deal with the league to broadcast 53 games combined a season starting on June 28, 2019.

Retirement

 * Lindsay Whalen announced her retirement on August 13, 2018 that she would retire at the conclusion of the 2018 season. Whalen played 15 seasons with the Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx, winning four titles with the latter. She retired as the WNBA's all time leader in games won, with 322.
 * Noelle Quinn announced that she would retire on February 21. She joined the Seattle Storm as an assistant coach.
 * Monique Currie announced her retirement via Instagram on February 26. Currie retired to pursue a career with Nike.
 * Cappie Pondexter announced her retirement via Instagram on April 17. Pondexter was the 2007 WNBA Finals MVP and a two time WNBA champion.

Free agency
Free agency negotiations began on January 15, 2019, with the signing period starting on February 1, 2019.

Administration

 * On June 17, Cathy Engelbert became the first Commissioner of the WNBA (previous top administrators had been titled "President"). She had previously served as CEO of the U.S. member firm of the international professional services firm Deloitte.

Arena changes

 * On August 15, 2018 the Seattle Storm announced that they would play their regular season games at the University of Washington's Alaska Airlines Arena while Climate Pledge Arena undergoes renovations for the Seattle Kraken of the NHL. The Storm later announced that of the team's 17 regular-season home games, 12 would be held at Alaska Airlines Arena and the remainder at Angel of the Winds Arena in the northern suburb of Everett, Washington.
 * On December 13, 2018 the Atlanta Dream announced that they would return to State Farm Arena, formerly Philips Arena, after playing the previous two seasons at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion while State Farm Arena underwent a $192.5 million renovation.
 * The Washington Mystics moved into the St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena beginning with the 2019 season. The arena's capacity is only 4,200, vastly smaller than the team's former home of Capital One Arena.
 * On July 24, 2019, the Phoenix Mercury announced that they would play the 2020 season at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum to accommodate renovations to Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Mercury plans to return to the latter venue upon project completion.
 * On September 5, 2019, the Indiana Fever announced that they would move to Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse for the entire 2020 and 2021 seasons, plus part of the 2022 season. The move was made necessary by a previously announced project to renovate Bankers Life Fieldhouse, home to both the Fever and the NBA's Indiana Pacers, with most of the work taking place during Pacers offseasons. The Fever plan to return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse upon project completion.

Standings
Source:

Statistical leaders
The following shows the leaders in each statistical category during the 2019 regular season.

Schedule
! style="background:#094480; color:white" | 2019 WNBA regular season

! style="background:#094480; color:white" | 2019 WNBA postseason

Playoffs
The WNBA continued its current playoff format for 2019. The top eight teams, regardless of conference, make the playoffs, with the top two teams receiving a bye to the semi-finals. The remaining six teams play in two single-elimination playoff rounds, with the third and fourth seeds receiving a bye to the second round.

Western Conference
Notes:
 * Year with team does not include 2019 season.
 * Records are from time at current team and are through the end of the 2018 season.
 * Playoff appearances are from time at current team only.
 * WNBA Finals and Championships do not include time with other teams.
 * Coaches shown are the coaches who began the 2019 season as head coach of each team.