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Paige Bueckers Reveals What Drives Her Toward WNBA Greatness (Exclusive)
When the plan to launch the WNBA was finalized in 1996, it was nothing short of "revolutionary."
"We looked at the history, at other women's leagues," NBA commissioner Adam Silver recalled to ESPN The Magazine in 2016. "There had been attempts. But there was not a tradition of success. We were trying to buck historical trends."
Added former commissioner David Stern, "We thought it was an ultimate winner. But we knew it was going to be a long haul."
So yes, the Women's Professional Basketball League received a key assist from the stratospheric success of the men's sport. But the idea was a slam dunk no matter who ultimately sank the shot.
Enter future legends Sheryl Swoopes (the first player signed to the WNBA), Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and their pioneering ilk, and the rest is history.
"The WNBA, when I first heard about it," Lobo told ESPN, "meant a dream being realized."
Now buoyed by the star power of Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, A'ja Wilson, Paige Bueckers, Sabrina Ionescu and many more, the league is still growing—and therefore has growing pains—but the WNBA enjoys a loyal, enthusiastic and ever-expanding fan base.
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“Being on the magnitude it is,” Clark—destined to be the league's top draw after she was drafted No. 1 by the Indiana Fever in 2024—told CNN Sports last year of the reception the team was getting everywhere they played, “is kind of hard to imagine.”
Added Fever point guard Kelsey Mitchell, "The media, the constant eyes, some of the eyes you least expect. I’ve been in the league a while, so this is kind of new for me. I knew it would get here eventually. I didn’t expect the impact, but it’s such a positive and beautiful way.”
Small forward Leslie Hull admitted she expected her playing career to end after she graduated from Stanford in 2022.
But the WNBA has become "a real option for girls, they can have these dreams in first and second grade, being a basketball player is now a legitimate goal to have," she said. "I just can’t imagine what the sport is going to look like when players have been playing with that goal in mind for 15 years.”
Before the shot clock resumes with the start of the league's 30th season May 8, we've got a bucketful of secrets about the WNBA that'll have you laying up points wherever you go:
Photo by Bobby Goddin/Getty Images
1. The WNBA was founded in 1996.
2. When the league first tipped off, there were eight teams total: Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, New York Liberty, Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs and Utah Starzz.
As of the 2026 season, there are 15, with the addition of the Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Dallas Wings, Golden State Valkyries, Indiana Fever, Las Vegas Aces, Minnesota Lynx, Portland Fire, Seattle Storm, Toronto Tempo and Washington Mystics.
However, there have been many pivots in the league's three decades as the Starzz were relocated to San Antonio and then Las Vegas while the Sting, Rockers, Monarchs and Rockets folded. But Tilman Fertitta purchased the Connecticut Sun with plans to rebrand them down in Texas.
3. At the ripe old age of 30, the WNBA is the oldest women's professional sports league in North America.
Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/WNBAE/Getty Images
4. The first ever WNBA game featured the New York Liberty facing the Los Angeles Sparks in L.A.
5. The matchup between two-time champion Lisa Leslie and Olympic gold medalist Rebecca Lobo took place on June 21, 1997.
6. Leslie won back-to-back championship with the Sparks in 2001 and 2002—the same year she recorded the first WNBA in-game dunk.
7. New York Liberty's Teresa Weatherspoon had the first buzzer-beater in an WNBA Finals game in 1999 when she heaved up a shot from beyond half court with less than three seconds left. Though she has said she knew it would go in, "You feel like you're living it in slow motion."
Photo by Mitchell Layton/WNBAE/Getty Images
8. Years after she finished her championship-winning college career at Texas Tech, future four-time champ Sheryl Swoops was the first player signed by the WNBA.
9. The three-time MVP also had the league's first triple-double in 1999.
10. Houston Comets forward Tina Thompson was the first WNBA college draft pick, chosen first in the 1997 draft after finishing her run at the University of Southern California.
11. She and her teammates were the first WNBA Champions, defeating the Liberty on Aug. 30, 1997.
Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images
12. Houston's point guard Cynthia Cooper was the first WNBA MVP, earning the trophy both in 1997 and 1998.
13. The first WNBA Rookie of the Year was Tracy Reid, the Charlotte Sting guard earning the honors in 1998.
14. Some key stats of WNBA play: Games are played with four quarters that are 10 minutes each.
15. The WNBA season takes place from May until October, with each team playing 44 games.
16. Across 29 seasons, the Seattle Storm, the Minnesota Lynx and the Houston Comets hold the most WNBA Championships, with four a piece.
Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
17. However, Rebekkah Brunson has won a total of five championships—the most of any player—scoring wins with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005, the Minnesota Lynx in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. She now serves as an assistant coach for the Minneapolis-based squad.
Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
18. Only three current WNBA teams have never won a championship: the Atlanta Dream, Connecticut Sun and Dallas Stars, which selected UConn standout Azzi Fudd with the No. 1 pick in 2026.
19. Candace Parker is the only player to win Rookie of the Year and MVP during the same season in 2008.
(Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
20. G'day indeed. Australian Lauren Jackson won two championships with the Storm, four Olympic medals and three MVP honors, making her the first (and, to date, only!) non-American to nab the trophy.
(Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
21. Whitney Houston sang the National Anthem at the inaugural WNBA All-Star Game in 1999.
22. Only one WNBA All-Star Game has gone into overtime, when the East defeated the West in 2014.
Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images
23. Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson is always a smart bet. She was the first WNBA player to score 1,000-plus points in one season in 2024, the same year she won her third MVP title.
24. She also shares the WNBA single-game scoring record with Liz Cambage, each center knocking in a total of 53 points.
25. With four MVP honors in all, the University of South Carolina alum Wilson has the most in the league, and is a favorite to repeat in 2026.
26. Among her challengers: Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark, who holds the record for most assists in a single WNBA game at 19.
Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images
27. The WNBA all-time leader in points, three-pointers, field goals and free throws, Diana Taurasi—who retired in 2024 after 20 years in Phoenix—is the first WNBA player to hit 1,000 three-point shots, reaching the milestone in 2018.
28. Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles has recorded the most career double-doubles in WNBA history with 194.
Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
29. Sue Bird is the only WNBA player to net three championship titles in three different decades, the retired point guard raising the trophy with her Seattle teammates in 2004, 2010, 2018 and 2020.
30. Sometimes that's just the way the ball bounces. The longest game in WNBA history went into quadruple overtime in 2001.
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