Western Conference (WNBA)

Template:Short description Template:Onesource Template:Infobox sports conference The Western Conference is one of two conferences that make up the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the other being the Eastern Conference. Both conferences currently consist of 6 teams, until 2025, when the Golden State Valkyries will join the Western Conference.

From the league's second season in 1998 through 2015, the WNBA operated separate playoff brackets for its Eastern and 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.

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 formet, 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-seven WNBA Finals.

Teams

Team	City/Area	Arena	Colors	Joined WNBA	Head coach
Dallas Wings	Arlington, Texas	College Park Center	Dark blue, lime green, white	1998*	Chris Koclanes
Golden State Valkyries	San Francisco, California	Chase Center	Black, purple	2025	Natalie Nakase
Las Vegas Aces	Paradise, Nevada	Michelob Ultra Arena	Red, black, gold, silver	1997*	Becky Hammon
Los Angeles Sparks	Los Angeles, California	Crypto.com Arena	Purple, gold, teal	1997	Lynne Roberts
Minnesota Lynx	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Target Center	Blue, green, white, silver	1999	Cheryl Reeve
Phoenix Mercury	Phoenix, Arizona	PHX Arena	Purple, yellow, orange, white	1997	Nate Tibbetts
Seattle Storm	Seattle, Washington	Climate Pledge Arena	Green, red, white, gold	2000	Noelle Quinn

Former teams

Defunct

• Houston Comets (1997–2008)
• Portland Fire (2000–2002)
• Sacramento Monarchs (1997–2009)

Relocated

• Utah Starzz to San Antonio Silver Stars (2003)
• Detroit Shock (East) to Tulsa Shock (2010)
• Tulsa Shock to Dallas Wings (2016)
• San Antonio Stars to Las Vegas Aces (2017)

Western 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: Houston Comets
• 1999: Houston Comets (2)
• 2000: Houston Comets (3)
• 2001: Los Angeles Sparks
• 2002: Los Angeles Sparks (2)
• 2003: Los Angeles Sparks (3)
• 2004: Seattle Storm
• 2005: Sacramento Monarchs
• 2006: Sacramento Monarchs (2)
• 2007: Phoenix Mercury
• 2008: San Antonio Silver Stars
• 2009: Phoenix Mercury (2)
• 2010: Seattle Storm (2)
• 2011: Minnesota Lynx
• 2012: Minnesota Lynx (2)
• 2013: Minnesota Lynx (3)
• 2014: Phoenix Mercury (3)
• 2015: Minnesota Lynx (4)

All-time regular-season conference standings

2008 season

Western Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
San Antonio Silver Stars x	24	10	.706	–	15–2	9–8	10–10
Seattle Storm x	22	12	.647	2.0	16–1	6–11	13–7
Los Angeles Sparks x	20	14	.588	4.0	12–5	8–9	12–8
Sacramento Monarchs x	18	16	.529	6.0	5–12	13–4	9–11
Houston Comets o	17	17	.500	7.0	13–4	4–13	10–10
Minnesota Lynx o	16	18	.471	8.0	10–7	6–11	8–12
Phoenix Mercury o	16	18	.471	8.0	9–8	7–10	8–12