With the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game in the rearview and the sport's second half underway, the team at RotoWire.com wanted to look at how the league's champions have fared in the 22 seasons where there was a mid-summer exhibition.
With that and WNBA betting trends in mind, here is a list of WNBA champions and how they fared in the league's homestretch of the season after the All-Star Game:
Post-All-Star Game Records By WNBA Champions
| Champion, By Year: | 2nd Half Record: |
| 2024: New York Liberty | 11-4 (.733) |
| 2023: Las Vegas Aces | 15-4 (789) |
| 2022: Las Vegas Aces | 11-3 (.786) |
| 2021: Chicago Sky | 6-6 (.500) |
| 2020: Seattle Storm | NO ASG (COVID-19) |
| 2019: Washington Mystics | 14-2 (.875) |
| 2018: Seattle Storm | 7-1 (.875) |
| 2017: Minnesota Lynx | 11-5 (.689) |
| 2016: Los Angeles Sparks | NO ASG (Olympics) |
| 2015: Minnesota Lynx | 10-8 (.555) |
| 2014: Phoenix Mercury | 11-2 (.846) |
| 2013: Minnesota Lynx | 12-5 (.706) |
| 2012: Indiana Fever | NO ASG (Olympics) |
| 2011: Minnesota Lynx | 17-3 (.850) |
| 2010: Seattle Storm | 12-4 (.750) |
| 2009: Phoenix Mercury | 11-6 (.647) |
| 2008: Detroit Shock | NO ASG (Olympics) |
| 2007: Phoenix Mercury | 12-2 (.857) |
| 2006: Detroit Shock | 10-5 (.667) |
| 2005: Sacramento Monarchs | 14-4 (.778) |
| 2004: Seattle Storm | 3-6 (.333) |
| 2003: Detroit Shock | 15-4 (.789) |
| 2002: Los Angeles Sparks | 10-4 (.714) |
| 2001: Los Angeles Sparks | 11-1 (.917) |
| 2000: Houston Comets | 8-2 (.800) |
| 1999: Houston Comets | 13-4 (.765) |
| 1998: Houston Comets | No ASG yet |
| 1997: Houston Comets | No ASG yet |
| TOTAL RECORD: | 244-85 (.742) |
This analysis comes from RotoWire, where we offer fantasy sports insights and sports betting coverage.
How WNBA Champs Fared After All-Star Game
The WNBA is in the middle of its 29th season overall, but there have only been 22 WNBA All-Star Games. The league paused because of the Summer Olympics in 2008, 2012 and 2016. The All-Star event was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the league didn't have an All-Star Game until 1999, its third year of existence.
In the 22 seasons where the league held an All-Star Game, the average second-half winning percentage of that year's eventual was.742, with 244 wins compared to 85 losses during that stretch. That speaks to the value that comes from playing well when the pressure ramps up the most – players worth the most for WNBA DFS step up during these times.
This season, the Minnesota Lynx have the best record leaguewide, at 25-5 (an .833 winning percentage as of July 6). This year's AGS was on July 19 and Minnesota is 5-1 afterward – for the exact same .833 winning percentage. That could be a stat to bookmark when the postseason rolls around this fall.
Oddsmakers from DraftKings Sportsbook have Minnesota at No. 2 on the WNBA title odds board, at +180, behind the defending champion New York Liberty, who are listed at +170 and have the top record in the Eastern Conference at 19-10.
The Liberty have not been nearly as sharp as Minnesota, the team they knocked off the WNBA championship series a year ago, in this season's second half. Coach Sandy Brondello's bunch is 4-4 (.500) since the All-Star Game, including a 100-93 defeat on July 30 in Minneapolis.
Best And Worst Post-All-Star Game Marks For Champs
Overall, the WNBA champion with the best post-ASG winning percentage was the 2001 Los Angeles Sparks, who went 11-1 (.917) down the stretch.
The 2004 Seattle Storm had the worst record after the break, going 3-6 (.333) before getting hot in the postseason and knocking off the Lynx (in two games), Sacramento Monarchs (in three games) and the Connecticut Sun (in three games) to capture the club's first WNBA title.
Other than Seattle, the only other WNBA champion to have a record of .500 or worse after the ASG was the Sky in 2021. Chicago went 5-5 down the stretch (and 16-16 overall), before knocking off the Dallas Wings, Lynx, Sun and Phoenix Mercury in succession to capture the franchise's first title.
In 2025, we'll have to wait to see which of the league's 13 teams will hoist the hardware in October. Will WNBA Championship odds trends – which indicate that a hot second half usually leads to success – hold in the 2025 WNBA playoffs?
