2012 Media Guide - WNBA.com

July 22, 2002
Lisa Leslie becomes the first WNBA player to record 3,000 points
during the Sparks’ 92-84 victory over Orlando at the STAPLES
Center. Leslie records 24 points and 21 rebounds (tying the league
record she set on 6/19/98) in the victory.
July 30, 2002
Lisa Leslie becomes the first WNBA player to dunk in a game
when she throws down a one-handed breakaway layup with 4:44
remaining in the first half in Los Angeles’ 82-73 loss to Miami at
the STAPLES Center.
August 9, 2002
Margo Dydek becomes the first WNBA player to record 500 career
blocks.
August 15, 2002
Washington Mystics forward Chamique Holdsclaw becomes the
first player to lead the league in both scoring (19.9 ppg) and
rebounding (11.6 rpg) in a single season.
August 29, 2002
Los Angeles Sparks rookie guard Nikki Teasley nails the gamewinning
shot in the waning seconds of Game 2 of the WNBA
Finals to give the Sparks their second consecutive WNBA
Championship, defeating the New York Liberty.
Lisa Leslie earns WNBA Finals MVP honors for the second
straight year.
October 8, 2002
The NBA Board of Governors votes to restructure the WNBA to
allow individual team ownership, to allow teams to be owned by
non-NBA owners and to be located in non-NBA markets.
October 21, 2002
The WNBA announces that the Miracle will be relocated from
Orlando to a city to be designated by the WNBA.
November 27, 2002
The Miami Heat organization elects not to assume ownership of
the Sol.
December 5, 2002
The WNBA announces that the Utah Starzz will relocate to San
Antonio for the 2003 season.
December 30, 2002
The Portland Trailblazers organization elects not to assume
ownership of the Fire.
January 10, 2003
San Antonio announces “Silver Stars” as its official team name.
January 28, 2003
The Connecticut Sun join the WNBA for 2003, as the Mohegan
Tribe of Indians become the first non-NBA owner in league history.
The Orlando Miracle become the Connecticut Sun.
April 24, 2003
The WNBA holds the second annual Draft Lottery and a Dispersal
Draft to disseminate players from the Miami Sol and Portland Fire.
The Cleveland Rockers win the lottery, while the Detroit Shock
make Ruth Riley, formerly of the Sol, the first selection in the
Dispersal Draft.
2012 INDIANA FEVER MEDIA GUIDE
WNBA HISTORY
184 • FeverBasketball.com
April 25, 2003
At 3 a.m., the WNBA and the WNBAPA sign the league’s second
Collective Bargaining Agreement. The agreement is for four years,
with a league option for a fifth, and gives WNBA players the first
free agency rights in the history of women’s professional team
sports.
April 25, 2003
The league holds the 2003 WNBA Draft, and Cleveland takes
Mississippi State’s LaToya Thomas as the first overall pick.
May 23, 2003
Chamique Holdsclaw breaks the WNBA record for rebounds in a
game grabbing 24 in the Washington Mystics season-opening win
over the Charlotte Sting. She also added 22 points and become
the first WNBA player to record two 20-point, 20-rebound
performances in a career.
June 7, 2003
Seattle Storm center Lauren Jackson becomes the youngest
player in WNBA history to reach the 1,000 point milestone at age
22.
June 10, 2003
Minnesota’s Katie Smith becomes the first WNBA player to record
300 three-point field goals in her career.
July 12, 2003
The West captures its fifth straight WNBA All-Star victory at New
York’s Madison Square Garden by defeating the East All-Stars 84-
75, while Los Angeles’s Nikki Teasley earns MVP honors.
August 25, 2003
Nikki Teasley finishes the year averaging 11.5 points, 6.3 assists,
and 5.1 rebounds becoming the first player in WNBA history to
average more than ten points, five assists, and five rebounds in a
season.
September 14, 2003
Seattle’s Lauren Jackson becomes the first international player to
win the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player award.
September 16, 2003
The Detroit Shock win their first WNBA title against the Los
Angeles Sparks in front of a sell-out crowd and record attendance
of 22,076.
Detroit’s Ruth Riley records a career high 27 points in Game Three
and earns the series MVP.
September 23, 2003
Rebecca Lobo, one of three original WNBA players, (together with
Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie) signed by the league, retires
after a seven-year career.
December 3, 2003
The Phoenix Mercury win the first pick in the WNBA Draft in the
2004 WNBA Draft Lottery.
December 17, 2003
The Board of Governors announces three rules changes. The
three-point line moves from 19' 9" to 20' 6¼", and the lane is
widened from 12' to the NBA width of 16'. The 30-second shot
clock resets to 20 seconds (as opposed to 30 seconds under the
previous rule) when a defensive foul or other defensive violation
occurs with less than 20 seconds remaining on the shot clock.
The Indiana Fever made its first postseason appearance as part of the 2002 WNBA Playoffs.