2012 Media Guide - WNBA.com

August 10, 2006
Diana Taurasi scores a WNBA single-game record 47 points in a
triple-overtime game against Houston. Taurasi would also finish
the 2006 season with new WNBA records for most points in a
single-season (860) and highest scoring average in a single
season (25.3).
August 30, 2006
As part of the League’s 10th Anniversary season, the WNBA
Greatest Moment presented by AOL.com is unveiled during Game
1 of the 2006 WNBA Finals. Fans, who were able to log on to
www.aol.com/wnba, voted Teresa Weatherspoon’s half-court,
buzzer-beater – a shot that propelled the New York Liberty to
victory in Game 2 of the 1999 WNBA Finals and on to a deciding
Game 3 against the Houston Comets – as their favorite moment in
the WNBA’s 10-year history.
September 3, 2006
Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks is named MVP for the third
time in her career after having also earned the honor in 2001 and
2004. Leslie joined the Houston Comets’ Sheryl Swoopes as the
only players in WNBA history to capture MVP honors three times.
September 9, 2006
The 2006 WNBA Finals see the Detroit Shock earn their second
league championship when they topped the Sacramento
Monarchs in the first WNBA Finals match up ever to reach a fifth
and deciding game. The historic game featured a sellout crowd of
19,671 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, the second highest Finals
crowd in WNBA history. Detroit’s Deanna Nolan is named Finals
MVP.
October 26, 2006
The Phoenix Mercury wins the sixth annual Draft Lottery and earns
the top pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft. It marks the first time that
the team whose odds of winning the top pick were mathematically
the smallest actually came away with the #1 pick.
November 7, 2006
The WNBA announces the creation of the Dawn Staley
Community Leadership Award. The award will be presented to the
player who best exemplifies the characteristics of a leader in the
community and will reflect Staley’s contagious leadership, spirit,
charitable efforts and love for the game.
December 7, 2006
The WNBA Board of Governors approves the sale of the Los
Angeles Sparks to an investment group led by Katherine E.
Goodman and Carla J. Christofferson.
December 13, 2006
The Charlotte Bobcats Organization announces that it will no
longer operate the Charlotte Sting.
January 8, 2007
The WNBA holds a Dispersal Draft to disseminate the players from
the Charlotte Sting. The Chicago Sky select guard Monique Currie
with the first overall selection.
2012 INDIANA FEVER MEDIA GUIDE
WNBA HISTORY
186 • FeverBasketball.com
January 30, 2007
Rule changes are announced for the 2007 season and include the
following: the backcourt rule requires offensive teams to bring the
ball across the mid-court line within eight seconds rather than 10
seconds; the timeout rule requires that officials grant requests for a
timeout (full or 20-second) by a player in the game or the head
coach; and the teams will now be able to designate 11 active
players and up to two inactive players on playoff rosters, with the
ability to activate any inactive players on a game-by-game basis.
January 31, 2007
The WNBA Board of Governors approves the sale of the Houston
Comets to Hilton Koch/Hilton Acquisitions, LLC.
February 16, 2007
Electronic Arts announces that six WNBA players are featured in a
new videogame NBA STREET Homecourt. Sue Bird, Tamika
Catchings, Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and
Diana Taurasi are the first female professional athletes to ever be
featured and go head-to-head with their male counterparts in a
videogame.
March 31, 2007
Former University of Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt becomes
the inaugural recipient of the WNBA Inspiring Coach Award.
April 4, 2007
The 2007 WNBA Draft presented by adidas takes place in
Cleveland, marking the second straight year that the draft was
held immediately following the NCAA Women’s Division I
Championship Game and conducted in the same city as the Final
Four. The Phoenix Mercury make Lindsey Harding the top overall
pick before trading her to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for
Tangela Smith. The fast-paced draft earned a place in league
history when Jessica Davenport, the second overall pick, was
subsequently traded from San Antonio to New York in exchange
for all-star guard Becky Hammon and a future selection. It marked
the first time in WNBA history that the top two picks were traded
on Draft Day.
July 15, 2007
The 2007 WNBA All-Star Game, the league’s eighth such contest,
is played in front of a sellout audience on July 15 at the Verizon
Center in Washington, D.C. A crowd of 19,487 fans witnessed the
East defeat the West, 103-99, as Cheryl Ford of the Detroit Shock
clinched the MVP honors. A key highlight of the All-Star festivities
in 2007 was the second annual All-Star Salute: Inspiring Women
Luncheon, featuring keynote speaker and Secretary of State Dr.
Condoleezza Rice.
July 15, 2007
Signaling a major milestone in its second decade, the WNBA
reaches an eight-year agreement with ESPN to have ABC, ESPN
and ESPN2 televise games through the 2016 season. The
agreement was announced in conjunction with the 2007 WNBA
All-Star Game by Donna Orender, WNBA President, and John
Skipper, ESPN Executive Vice President, Content. The
agreement extends the WNBA’s relationship with ESPN, which
began with the league’s inaugural season in 1997, to 20 seasons.
July 24, 2007
Seattle’s Lauren Jackson scores 47 points in a 97-96 overtime
loss to the Washington Mystics, tying Diana Taurasi for the WNBA
record for most points in a single game.
During the 2012 season, the WNBA and ESPN will continue a partnership reached in 2007.