With the 2021 WNBA Draft slated for tomorrow night, and the season now officially a month away, the league announced it’s 2021 season schedule.
The WNBA will also be celebrating it’s 25 year anniversary and after a modified 2020 season due to COVID-19, the 12 teams will return to action starting on May 14.
In honor of the leagues monumental year, the season will include the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup and a special selection of The W25, the greatest game-changing players since the league’s inception in 1997.
After playing the 2020 season in the bubble in Bradenton, FL., and playing just 22 games, the 12 teams will play a 32-game regular season schedule this year and teams will be back in their home arenas.
The season will also include a mid-season break from Jul. 12 through Aug. 14, due to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo (per ESPN.com).
“As we tip-off this historic season with teams returning to play in their home markets, we celebrate the impact the WNBA has made on generations of young and diverse athletes and on sports and society since 1997,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “Together with our fans and partners, we look ahead to how the outstanding athletes of the WNBA will continue to provide the best women’s basketball in the world while also driving change, striving for justice and equality, and impacting future generations.”
Throughout this season the WNBA will be using the slogan, ‘Count It’ which will represent the leagues achievements over the years on and off the court. ‘Count It,’ also indicates how the WNBA is by any means, not done yet progressing.
The first game of the season features talented guard Sabrina Ionescu, fresh off an ankle injury, and the New York Liberty facing the Indiana Fever. It will be Liberty’s first game in Brooklyn playing at their new home arena, the Barclays Center.
It will be an intriguing season as the Seattle Storm will look to repeat as champions but, following an off-season filled with unprecedented player movement across the league, it’ll be a difficult journey.
