The 2003 WNBA Season was the Women's National Basketball Association's seventh season. It was first season in which teams either folded or relocated, as well as the first to have teams that were not co-owned with NBA teams. The Orlando Miracle relocated to Connecticut and became the Connecticut Sun, the Utah Starzz relocated to San Antonio, Texas and became the San Antonio Silver Stars. Meanwhile, both the Miami Sol and the Portland Fire folded, while the Charlotte Sting became the second WNBA team without a brother NBA team. The schedule increased from 32 games per team to 34. The season ended with the Detroit Shock winning their first WNBA Championship.
| 2003 WNBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | Women's National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | May 22 - August 25, 2003 |
| Number of games | 34 |
| Number of teams | 14 |
| Total attendance | 2,100,630 |
| Average attendance | 8,826 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC, ESPN, Oxygen |
| 2003 WNBA Draft | |
| Top draft pick |  LaToya Thomas |
| Picked by | Cleveland Rockers |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP |  Lauren Jackson (Seattle) |
| Playoffs | |
| Eastern champions | Detroit Shock |
| Eastern runners-up | Connecticut Sun |
| Western champions | Los Angeles Sparks |
| Western runners-up | Sacramento Monarchs |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Detroit Shock |
| Runners-up | Los Angeles Sparks |
| Finals MVP | Ruth Riley (Detroit) |
Regular season standings
editEastern Conference
| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Shock x | 25 | 9 | .735 | – | 13–4 | 12–5 | 18–6 |
| Charlotte Sting x | 18 | 16 | .529 | 7.0 | 13–4 | 5–12 | 12–12 |
| Connecticut Sun x | 18 | 16 | .529 | 7.0 | 10–7 | 8–9 | 11–13 |
| Cleveland Rockers x | 17 | 17 | .500 | 8.0 | 11–6 | 6–11 | 13–11 |
| Indiana Fever o | 16 | 18 | .471 | 9.0 | 11–6 | 5–12 | 12–12 |
| New York Liberty o | 16 | 18 | .471 | 9.0 | 11–6 | 5–12 | 11–13 |
| Washington Mystics o | 9 | 25 | .265 | 16.0 | 3–14 | 6–11 | 7–17 |
Western Conference
| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Sparks x | 24 | 10 | .706 | – | 11–6 | 13–4 | 17–7 |
| Houston Comets x | 20 | 14 | .588 | 4.0 | 14–3 | 6–11 | 14–10 |
| Sacramento Monarchs x | 19 | 15 | .559 | 5.0 | 12–5 | 7–10 | 13–11 |
| Minnesota Lynx x | 18 | 16 | .529 | 6.0 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 14–10 |
| Seattle Storm o | 18 | 16 | .529 | 6.0 | 13–4 | 5–12 | 11–13 |
| San Antonio Silver Stars o | 12 | 22 | .353 | 12.0 | 9–8 | 3–14 | 10–14 |
| Phoenix Mercury o | 8 | 26 | .235 | 16.0 | 6–11 | 2–15 | 5–19 |
Season award winners
editPlayoffs
edit| First Round Best of 3 | Conference Finals Best of 3 | WNBA Finals Best of 3 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Detroit | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Cleveland | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Detroit | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
| E3 | Connecticut | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Charlotte | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Connecticut | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Detroit | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Los Angeles | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Los Angeles | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Minnesota | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Los Angeles | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| W3 | Sacramento | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Houston | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Sacramento | 2 | ||||||||||||
Coaches
editEastern Conference
edit- Charlotte Sting: Trudi Lacey
- Cleveland Rockers: Dan Hughes
- Connecticut Sun: Mike Thibault
- Detroit Shock: Bill Laimbeer
- Indiana Fever: Nell Fortner
- New York Liberty: Richie Adubato
- Washington Mystics: Marianne Stanley