WNBA presents ‘W25’, a list of the 25 best players in its 25-year history

Ten current players, including five Olympians Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, and three players who were three-time MVPs highlight the list of “The W25,” which was unveiled Sunday by the WNBA as it celebrates its 25th anniversary season.

The league called it “a collection of the 25 greatest and most influential players in WNBA history,” with players selected based on their overall contributions.

The WNBA began with 72 candidates selected based on factors such as performance and ability on the field of play, leadership, sportsmanship, and community service. The votes of a group of media and defenders of women’s basketball decided the W25.

Seattle’s Bird, in its 18th season, and Phoenix de Taurasi, in its 17th, have spent their entire careers in the WNBA with the teams that drafted them. Bird has four WNBA championships with Storm and three Taurasi with Mercury; both teams have secured playoff spots this season.

The other active players in the W25, who are listed with the team they currently play on, are: Tina Charles and Elena Delle Donne (both with Washington); Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota); Brittney Griner (Phoenix); Angel McCoughtry (Las Vegas); Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles); Candace Parker (Chicago) and Breanna Stewart (Seattle).

Bird, 40, is the biggest player of the current picks and Stewart (27) is the youngest.

The list also includes Maya Moore, who has not played since the 2018 season, but has not announced her retirement.

The 14 retired players are led by three-time MVP, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson, who played their entire WNBA career in Los Angeles and Seattle, respectively, and Sheryl Swoopes, who spent most of her career at Houston. All three are in the halls of Naismith fame and women’s basketball, with Jackson this year.

The other players removed from the list are Seimone Augustus, Swin Cash, Tamika Catchings, Cynthia Cooper, Yolanda Griffith, Becky Hammon, Ticha Penicheiro, Cappie Pondexter, Katie Smith, Tina Thompson and Lindsay Whalen.

Twenty-two W25 members have won at least one WNBA title, led by four by Augustus, Bird, Cooper, Moore, Swoopes, Thompson and Whalen. Hammon did not win any championships in his career, and Charles and McCoughtry are still looking for the former.

All but one regular-season MVP in league history: the winner of 2020, 25-year-old A’ja Wilson of Las Vegas, were on the W25 roster.

Nominations must have been a member of a WNBA team for at least two seasons and meet four of the following seven criteria: win a major individual award; be selected for the first or second All-WNBA team; be selected for the first or second team of all defenses; be selected as an All-Star; winning a WNBA championship; to currently be among the top 40 professional leaders in at least one important statistical category; or receive the WNBA Community Assistance Award throughout the season.

WNBA fans will be able to choose their favorite player as the best in WNBA history in the “Vote for the GOAT” campaign from Sunday at 5pm until September 19, until the end of the regular season. Fans can vote via the WNBA website and app or via Twitter. The winner will be revealed during the WNBA Finals in October.