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1997 WNBA season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| title | 1997 WNBA season |
| league | Women's National Basketball Association |
| sport | Basketball |
| duration | June 21 – August 30, 1997 |
| no_of_games | 28 |
| no_of_teams | 8 |
| attendance | 1,082,963 |
| TV | ESPN, NBC, Lifetime |
| draft | 1997 WNBA Draft |
| draft_link | 1997 WNBA Draft |
| top_pick | USA Tina Thompson |
| picked_by | Houston Comets |
| season | Regular season |
| MVP | USA Cynthia Cooper (Houston) |
| MVP_link | Women's National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award |
| top_scorer | C. Cooper (22.2) |
| playoffs | Playoffs |
| playoffs_link | WNBA Playoffs |
| conf1 | Semi-Finals 1 |
| conf1_champ | Houston Comets |
| conf1_runner-up | Charlotte Sting |
| conf2 | Semi-Finals 2 |
| conf2_champ | New York Liberty |
| conf2_runner-up | Phoenix Mercury |
| finals | Finals |
| finals_link | WNBA Finals |
| finals_champ | Houston Comets |
| finals_runner-up | New York Liberty |
| finals_MVP | USA Cynthia Cooper (Houston) |
| finals_MVP_link | WNBA Finals MVP Award |
| seasonslist | List of WNBA seasons |
| seasonslistnames | WNBA |
| nextseason_link | 1998 WNBA season |
| nextseason_year | 1998 |
| conf1_runner-up = Charlotte Sting | conf2_runner-up = Phoenix Mercury | finals_runner-up = New York Liberty
The 1997 WNBA season was the Women's National Basketball Association's inaugural season. It started off with 8 franchises: Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, Los Angeles Sparks, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs, and the Utah Starzz. It featured an inaugural game between the New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks lost to the New York Liberty, 67–57. The attendance at the Forum was 14,284. The season ended with the Comets defeating the Liberty in a one-game series 65–51. Cynthia Cooper was named MVP of the game.
Regular season
Standings
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Note: Teams with an "X" clinched playoff spots.
Playoffs
Main article: 1997 WNBA playoffs
Awards
Reference:
Individual
| Award | Winner | Team |
|---|---|---|
| **Most Valuable Player (MVP)** | Cynthia Cooper | [Houston Comets](1997-houston-comets-season) |
| **Finals MVP** | Cynthia Cooper | Houston Comets |
| **Defensive Player of the Year** | Teresa Weatherspoon | [New York Liberty](1997-new-york-liberty-season) |
| **Shooting Champions** | **Eastern Conference** | Andrea Congreaves |
| **Western Conference** | Haixia Zheng | [Los Angeles Sparks](1997-los-angeles-sparks-season) |
| **Sportsmanship Award** | Haixia Zheng | Los Angeles Sparks |
| **Coach of the Year** | Van Chancellor | Houston Comets |
Team
| Award | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| **All-WNBA** | **First Team** | Eva Nemcova |
| Tina Thompson | [Houston Comets](1997-houston-comets-season) | |
| Lisa Leslie | [Los Angeles Sparks](1997-los-angeles-sparks-season) | |
| Cynthia Cooper | Houston Comets | |
| Ruthie Bolton-Holifield | [Sacramento Monarchs](1997-sacramento-monarchs-season) | |
| **Second Team** | Wendy Palmer | [Utah Starzz](1997-utah-starzz-season) |
| Rebecca Lobo | [New York Liberty](1997-new-york-liberty-season) | |
| Jennifer Gillom | [Phoenix Mercury](1997-phoenix-mercury-season) | |
| Teresa Weatherspoon | New York Liberty | |
| Andrea Stinson | [Charlotte Sting](1997-charlotte-sting) |
Players of the Week
| Week ending | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| June 29 | Ruthie Bolton-Holifield | [Sacramento Monarchs](1997-sacramento-monarchs-season) |
| July 6 | Sophia Witherspoon | [New York Liberty](1997-new-york-liberty-season) |
| July 13 | Andrea Stinson | [Charlotte Sting](1997-charlotte-sting-season) |
| July 20 | Cynthia Cooper | [Houston Comets](1997-houston-comets-season) |
| July 27 | Cynthia Cooper (2) | Houston Comets |
| August 3 | Eva Nemcova | [Cleveland Rockers](1997-cleveland-rockers-season) |
| August 10 | Tamecka Dixon | [Los Angeles Sparks](1997-los-angeles-sparks-season) |
| August 17 | Jennifer Gillom | [Phoenix Mercury](1997-phoenix-mercury-season) |
Coaches
Eastern Conference
- Charlotte Sting: Marynell Meadors
- Cleveland Rockers: Linda Hill-MacDonald
- Houston Comets: Van Chancellor
- New York Liberty: Nancy Darsch
Western Conference
- Los Angeles Sparks: Linda Sharp
- Phoenix Mercury: Cheryl Miller
- Sacramento Monarchs: Mary Murphy and Heidi VanDerveer
- Utah Starzz: Denise Taylor
References
References
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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