WNBA All-Star Weekend is nearly here, and as part of the league's 30th anniversary season, we've looked back at the past three decades of women's basketball in the WNBA to determine the top moments that made the league what it is today. In early July, we released Part 1 of the Top 30 Moments in WNBA History, and Part 2 of the WNBA's Top 30 Moments debuted last week.
RotoWire established a panel for the project that features Sabreena Merchant of The Athletic, along with RotoWire contributors Jacqui Kouassi, Jared Kimble, Jojo Kremer, Thomas Leary, Jason Shebilske, Joe Mayo and Kirien Sprecher Katzmarek.
Each contributor participated in a survey that included over 50 defining moments in WNBA history. The contributors compared moments head-to-head, judging each on several categories, including:
- Competitive Impact (on-court influence)
- Business Impact (including attendance, sponsorship and TV deals)
- Cultural Impact (encompassing media, fashion, politics and social causes)
- Labor/Structural Impact (highlighting impacts of the CBA, business model of the league and player empowerment)
The contributors were free to weigh each category as they saw fit, and the survey resulted in a personal top 30 for each contributor. The final standings were compiled using a Borda count method and reflect the aggregate score across all ballots.
In celebration of the league's 30th anniversary, the Top 10 Moments in WNBA History, as voted on by the panel, are listed below:
10. Candace Parker Drafted First Overall; Wins Rookie of the
Year and MVP
| Year | Panel Score | Ballots |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98 Points | 7/7 |
Candace Parker was drafted by the 
Los Angeles Sparks with the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft, and she made an immediate impact at the professional level after a decorated tenure at the University of Tennessee that included back-to-back national championships to close out her collegiate career. Across 33 appearances during her first year in Los Angeles, she averaged 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals in 33.6 minutes per game, making her the first player in league history to win MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season while carving out her place among the WNBA's most talented players.
9. Players Wear #BlackLivesMatter Shirts; League Fines, Then
Reverses
| Year | Panel Score | Ballots |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 113 Points | 6/7 |
In a moment that helped to usher in the WNBA's current state of activism, players in 2016 wore warmup shirts that read "#BlackLivesMatter" during the 2016 season in response to police-involved shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana. The players who wore the shirts were fined $500 each, while each of their teams were fined $5,000. The fines drew widespread backlash and were later rescinded after the league's players pushed back, and it was a strong example of the self-advocacy that players have displayed throughout the WNBA's history.
8. CBA Opt-Out Activated
| Year | Panel Score | Ballots |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 114 Points | 7/7 |
The WNBPA has made significant strides for the league's players in recent years by negotiating new collective bargaining agreements, and one of the biggest advancements came ahead of the 2026 season, when a new CBA was ratified in March of 2026 after the WNBPA opted out of the previous agreement on October 21, 2024. Despite facing the potential of a shortened or lost season, the WNBPA held steady late into the spring and reached a deal that included a revenue-sharing model and significant salary increases for players across the board.
7. Players Association Formally Established
| Year | Panel Score | Ballots |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 118 Points | 7/7 |
Before the collective bargaining agreements could be negotiated, the important first step of establishing a players association needed to take place. The players association was formed after the league's second season in 1998 and was the first trade union for female professional athletes. The first CBA was ratified ahead of the 1999 campaign.
6. Indiana Fever Sell Out Almost Every Home Game
| Year | Panel Score | Ballots |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 121 Points | 5/7 |
The history of the Indiana Fever includes a period of struggles following the team's lone championship in 2012, but the team's selection of Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft provided a significant boon to the team and the league. Indiana is a state capable of maintaining ample basketball interest, but Clark's presence on the team helped contribute to the team selling out nearly every home game in 2024 and setting what was then the single-season home attendance record at 340,715.
5. Brittney Griner Wrongfully Detained in Russia; League-Wide Advocacy Follows
| Year | Panel Score | Ballots |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 142 Points | 6/7 |
After years of consistent advocacy against injustices around the country and the world, the players in the WNBA were forced to stand up for one of their own after Brittney Griner was wrongfully detained in Russia on February 17, 2022, after cartridges with hashish oil were found in her luggage at a Moscow airport. Players around the league advocated for her release throughout the 2022, including wearing her No. 42 in the second half of the WNBA All-Star Game that year. Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony in August of 2022 but was released in December of that year as part of a prisoner exchange.
4. WNBA Plays Its Inaugural Season
| Year | Panel Score | Ballots |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 152 Points | 7/7 |
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." In order for the WNBA to become what it is today, early steps were necessary, including actually beginning play. The 1997 season featured eight teams and ran from June to August, with each playoff matchup featuring just one game rather than a series. While substantial developments to the league's format and structure would take place in future seasons, the 1997 WNBA campaign featured an abundance of on-court talent that helped pave the way for future generations.
3. $2.2 Billion Media Rights Deal Announced
| Year | Panel Score | Ballots |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 159 Points | 7/7 |
On the heels of the uptick in interest associated with the 2024 WNBA season, the league capitalized by reaching an 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon and NBCUniversal in July of 2024 worth $2.2 billion. The deal with the three companies was in addition to the league's agreements with CBS and ION and further helped to increase the broadcast offerings available to fans to watch the WNBA throughout the season.
2. ABC/ESPN Broadcast Deal
| Year | Panel Score | Ballots |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 175 Points | 7/7 |
ESPN was one of the WNBA's first broadcast partners during the inaugural season in 1997, and the two sides reached a new agreement in June 12, 2002 that increased the reach of the deal beginning in the 2003 campaign. NBC lost broadcast rights to the WNBA ahead of the 2003 season, but the new deal with ESPN expanded the reach of the league, shifting programming from ESPN to ESPN2 while broadcasting some Saturday matchups and playoff games on ABC.
1. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese Drafted into the W
| Year | Panel Score | Ballots |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 197 Points | 7/7 |
The 2024 WNBA Draft was one of the most impactful in recent memory, as Caitlin Clark was one of the most sure-fire No. 1 picks in several years following her prolific career at the University of Iowa that helped to spark a new wave of fandom in women's basketball. While Angel Reese fell to the Chicago Sky at No. 7, she also made a substantial on-court impact right away. Both Clark and Reese have made significant impacts in popular culture, including both being named NBA 2K cover athletes, substantial endorsements for each of them, including shoe deals, a media role with NBC for Clark, and Reese becoming the first athlete to walk the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2025. Many prominent figures helped pave the way for the WNBA as it is known today, but Clark and Reese have made advancements of their own both on and off the court.
