View source for Eastern Conference (WNBA)

{{Short description|Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association}}
{{infobox sports conference
| title = Eastern Conference
| league = [[WNBA]]
| sport = [[Basketball]]
| inaugural = [[1997 WNBA season|1997]]
| teams = 6
| champion = [[Indiana Fever]] ([[2015 WNBA Playoffs|2015]]) 
| most_champs = [[Detroit Shock]] (4)
}}
The '''Eastern Conference''' is one of two conferences that make up the [[Women's National Basketball Association]] (WNBA), the other being the [[Western Conference (WNBA)|Western Conference]]. The Eastern conference consists on 6 teams whereas with the addition of [[Golden State Valkyries]] from 2025 season , Western conference will consist on 7 teams.

From the league's second season in 1998 through 2015, the WNBA operated separate playoff brackets for its Eastern and [[Western Conference (WNBA)|Western]] Conferences. Each conference's playoff was divided into two playoff rounds, the Conference Semi-Finals and the Conference Finals, with the Conference Finals winners receiving Conference Championships and advancing to the [[WNBA Finals]] to determine the WNBA champion. In the final years of this playoff scheme, all in-conference playoff series were [[best-of-three playoff|best-of-three]].

Since 2016, the league has abandoned separate conference playoffs in favor of a single league-wide playoff bracket. The top eight teams in the regular season, without regard to conference affiliation, advance to the playoffs, which are seeded based strictly on regular-season record (with tiebreakers as needed). The bottom four playoff teams play single-elimination games (5 vs. 8, 6 vs. 7) in the first round, with the higher seeds (5 and 6) hosting the games. The first-round winners advance to the second round, where they play the 3 and 4 seeds in single-elimination games. The 3 seed hosts the lower seed among the first-round winners, with the 4 seed hosting the other first-round survivor. The winners of these games advance to the WNBA Semifinals, where they face the top two seeds in best-of-five series. In this round, the 1 seed plays the lower seed among the second-round winners, and the 2 seed plays the other second-round winner. Both series are best-of-five and played in a 2–2–1 format, with the higher seeds (1 and 2) hosting the first two games plus a possible fifth game. The winners of these series advance to the best-of-five WNBA Finals.

==Teams==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|-
! Team
! City/Area
! Arena
! Colors
! Joined WNBA
! Head coach
|-
| '''[[Atlanta Dream]]'''
| [[College Park, Georgia]]
| [[Gateway Center Arena]]
| Sky blue, red, white
| style="text-align:center"|2008
| [[Karl Smesko]]
|-
| '''[[Chicago Sky]]'''
| [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]]
| [[Wintrust Arena]]
| Sky blue, yellow, white
| style="text-align:center"|2006
| [[Tyler Marsh]]
|-
| '''[[Connecticut Sun]]'''
| [[Uncasville, Connecticut]]
| [[Mohegan Sun Arena]]
| Navy blue, red, gold, white
| style="text-align:center"|1999*
| [[Rachid Meziane]]
|-
| '''[[Indiana Fever]]'''
| [[Indianapolis|Indianapolis, Indiana]]
| [[Gainbridge Fieldhouse]]
| Navy blue, gold, red, white
| style="text-align:center"|2000
| [[Stephanie White]]
|-
| '''[[New York Liberty]]'''
| [[Brooklyn|Brooklyn, New York]]
| [[Barclays Center]]
| Black, green, orange, white
| style="text-align:center"|1997
| [[Sandy Brondello]]
|-
| '''[[Washington Mystics]]'''
| [[Washington, D.C.]]
| [[St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena|Entertainment and Sports Arena]]
| Navy, gray, white, red
| style="text-align:center"|1998
| [[Sydney Johnson]]
|}

{{notelist|group=t}}

===Former teams===
'''Defunct'''
* [[Charlotte Sting]] (1997–2006)
* [[Cleveland Rockers]] (1997–2003)
* [[Miami Sol]] (2000–2002)
'''Changed to Western Conference'''
* [[Houston Comets]]
'''Relocated'''
* [[Orlando Miracle]] to [[Connecticut Sun]] (2003)
* [[Detroit Shock]] to [[Tulsa Shock]] (West) (2009); team now plays in the West as the [[Dallas Wings]] (2016)

==Eastern Conference champions==
The WNBA awarded conference championships between 1998 and 2015 to the winners of the Conference Finals in the playoffs. Conference championships were not awarded in the 1997 inaugural season, and they were again discontinued since the WNBA adopted its current single-table playoff format in 2016. 

:''WNBA champions in '''bold'''''

* 1998: [[Cleveland Rockers]]
* 1999: [[New York Liberty]]
* 2000: [[New York Liberty]] (2)
* 2001: [[Charlotte Sting]]
* 2002: [[New York Liberty]] (3)
* 2003: '''[[Detroit Shock]]'''
* 2004: [[Connecticut Sun]]
* 2005: [[Connecticut Sun]] (2)
* 2006: '''[[Detroit Shock]]''' (2)
* 2007: [[Detroit Shock]] (3)
* 2008: '''[[Detroit Shock]]''' (4)
* 2009: [[Indiana Fever]]
* 2010: [[Atlanta Dream]]
* 2011: [[Atlanta Dream]] (2)
* 2012: '''[[Indiana Fever]]''' (2)
* 2013: [[Atlanta Dream]] (3)
* 2014: [[Chicago Sky]]
* 2015: [[Indiana Fever]] (3)

==All-time regular-season conference standings==
===2024 season===
{{2024 WNBA standings|notes=yes}}

===2023 season===
{{2023 WNBA standings|notes=yes}}

===2022 season===
{{2022 WNBA standings|notes=yes}}

===2021 season===
{{2021 WNBA standings|notes=yes}}

===2020 season===
{{2020 WNBA standings|notes=yes}}

===2019 season===
{{2019 WNBA Eastern Conference standings|notes=yes}}

===2018 season===
{{2018 WNBA Eastern Conference standings|notes=yes}}

===2017 season===
{{2017 WNBA Eastern Conference standings|notes=yes}}

===2016 season===
{{2016 WNBA Eastern Conference standings|notes=yes}}

===2015 season===
{{2015 WNBA Eastern Conference standings|notes=yes}}

===2014 season===
{{2014 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2013 season===
{{2013 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2012 season===
{{2012 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2011 season===
{{2011 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2010 season===
{{2010 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2009 season===
{{2009 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2008 season===
{{2008 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2007 season===
{{2007 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2006 season===
{{2006 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2005 season===
{{2005 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2004 season===
{{2004 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2003 season===
{{2003 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2002 season===
{{2002 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2001 season===
{{2001 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===2000 season===
{{2000 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===1999 season===
{{1999 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===1998 season===
{{1998 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

===1997 season===
{{1997 WNBA Eastern Conference standings}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{WNBA}}

[[Category:Women's National Basketball Association]]