2012 Media Guide - WNBA.com

SEVEN CONSECUTIVE WNBA PLAYOFF APPEARANCES
January 6, 2004
The WNBA holds a Dispersal Draft to disseminate the players from
the Cleveland Rockers. The Phoenix Mercury select forward
Penny Taylor with the first overall selection.
April 17, 2004
The league holds the 2004 WNBA Draft, and Phoenix takes the
University of Connecticut’s Diana Taurasi as the #1 overall pick.
June 17, 2004
Ticha Penicheiro passes Teresa Weatherspoon to take over the
number one spot in career assists.
July 29, 2004
Lisa Leslie scores her 4,000th career point and becomes the first
WNBA player to reach the milestone.
August 2-31, 2004
The WNBA stops play to give players the opportunity to compete
in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
August 5, 2004
USA Basketball defeats the WNBA All-Stars 74-58 as the two
teams face-off in the historic game at Radio City Music Hall in New
York City. The game was a send off for the US Women’s National
Team as they prepared to compete in the 2004 Olympic Games in
Athens.
September 10, 2004
Lisa Leslie records the WNBA’s third triple-double, tying Margo
Dydek’s record for blocked shots in the process as her 29 points,
15 rebounds and 10 blocked shots leads Los Angeles to an 81-63
victory over the Detroit Shock.
October 12, 2004
The Seattle Storm win their first WNBA title against the
Connecticut Sun before a sell-out crowd of 17,072. For the first
time in WNBA history, all three games of the WNBA Finals were
sell-outs.
Seattle guard Betty Lennox averaged 22.3 points for the three
games on her way to earning the series MVP.
December 1, 2004
The Charlotte Sting beat the odds to win the first pick in the 2005
WNBA Draft in the fourth annual WNBA Draft Lottery. Charlotte
had only a 9.7 percent chance of capturing the first pick.
February 8, 2005
NBA Commissioner David Stern announces that the WNBA will be
expanding to Chicago for the 2006 season. The Chicago Sky
becomes the second WNBA team to be owned and run by an
entity outside of the NBA. In 2003, the Connecticut Sun became
the first independently owned and operated WNBA team.
February 15, 2005
Donna Orender is appointed by David Stern as the second
president of the WNBA.
April 16, 2005
The league holds the 2005 WNBA Draft, and Charlotte takes the
University of Minnesota center Janel McCarville as the #1 overall
pick.
WNBA HISTORY
May 24, 2005
Sheila Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television,
becomes the WNBA’s first African-American female owner when
she joined Ted Leonsis’ Lincoln Holdings LLC, which in turn
purchased the Washington Mystics from Washington Wizards’
owner Abe Pollin.
July 13, 2005
Katie Smith becomes the first woman in U.S. basketball history to
score 5,000 points in her professional career (WNBA and ABL).
August 18, 2005
Anne Donovan becomes the first female WNBA coach – and
fourth overall in the league – to win 100 games.
September 18, 2005
Sheryl Swoopes becomes the first three-time WNBA Most
Valuable Player in league history.
September 20, 2005
The Sacramento Monarchs clinch the 2005 WNBA Championship,
bringing the city of Sacramento their first basketball title.
October 24, 2005
The Minnesota Lynx beat the odds to win the first pick in the 2006
WNBA Draft in the fifth annual WNBA Draft Lottery. Minnesota had
only a 16.7 percent chance of capturing the first pick.
February 1, 2006
The WNBA announces the 2006 WNBA Draft and Pre-Draft Camp
will be held in Boston, site of the NCAA Women’s Final Four. The
WNBA events will conclude a week-long celebration of women’s
basketball emanating from Boston.
April 5, 2006
The league holds the 2006 WNBA Draft, and Minnesota takes the
Louisiana State University’s Seimone Augustus as the #1 overall
pick.
June 13, 2006
The WNBA All-Decade Team is selected by fans, a panel of
national and WNBA-market media and the league’s current
players and coaches. The team is comprised of the 10 best and
most influential players from its first 10 years of play. Players
named were: Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Cynthia Cooper,
Yolanda Griffith, Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie, Katie Smith, Dawn
Staley, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson. Van Chancellor, who
led the Houston Comets to consecutive WNBA championships in
the league’s first four seasons, was named the WNBA’s Coach of
Decade.
June 23, 2006
In a game against the San Antonio, Los Angeles Sparks center
Lisa Leslie scores the 5,000th point in her WNBA career and
becomes the first player in WNBA history to reach that milestone.
July 12, 2006
The 2006 WNBA All-Star Game takes place at New York City’s
Madison Square Garden. Four rookies – Seimone Augustus,
Cappie Pondexter, Sophia Young and Candice Dupree – are
named All-Stars. The East squad, led by All-Star MVP Katie
Douglas of the Connecticut Sun, earns its first victory with a 98-82
decision. Off the court, the inaugural All-Star Salute: Celebrating
Inspiration Luncheon is a key highlight of the festivities as former
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is the keynote speaker.
A member of the WNBA All-Decade Team in 2006, Tamika Catchings won her first Olympic gold medal in 2004.
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