The WNBA will suggestion off its 25th period on May 14 with teams returning to their household arenas following a period in the bubble in Bradenton, Fla., the league announced Tuesday.
All 12 groups will be in motion in the opening weekend, with two game titles that includes a fight of four league MVPs. Every single workforce will engage in 32 games on the frequent time, which is scheduled to close Sept. 19.
The league will go on hiatus from July 15 via Aug. 11 to let gamers to just take aspect in the Tokyo Olympics.
“As we idea-off this historic time with teams returning to engage in in their household marketplaces, we celebrate the influence the WNBA has manufactured on generations of young and numerous athletes and on sports and modern society since 1997,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert reported. “With each other with our fans and companions, we seem forward to how the superb athletes of the WNBA will go on to give the ideal women’s basketball in the world while also driving modify, striving for justice and equality, and impacting long term generations.”
Leading off the enjoy on May possibly 14 will be the New York Liberty and the No. 1 all round draft select in 2020, Sabrina Ionescu, as they host the Indiana Fever at Barclays Heart in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Other online games that night time attribute the Connecticut Sunshine at Atlanta Dream, Phoenix Mercury at Minnesota Lynx, and the Dallas Wings at the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Wings will have an infusion of youthful talent by then. They have Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 7 picks in the WNBA Draft, which is established for Thursday. Most mock drafts venture the Wings will pick out a pair of 6-foot-5 females: Charli Collier, who performed at Texas, and Awak Kuier, a 19-calendar year-previous from Finland.
Motion on May 15 consists of a meeting between the Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics, that includes former MVPs Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne. It will be the debut with Chicago for Parker, formerly of the Sparks.
Immediately after that video game, former MVP Breanna Stewart and the Seattle Storm will host reigning MVP A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces. The Storm will obtain their WNBA championship rings just before the sport.
The opening weekend will conclude on Sunday when the Mercury go to the Sun and the Liberty journey to facial area the Fever.