Today, the WNBA unveiled its schedule for the 2024 regular season, which will open on Tuesday, May 14.
The first game to tip off, like last year, will be down in DC, where Ariel Atkins, Shakira Austin, and the Washington Mystics will host the Breanna Stewart, Betnijah Laney, and the New York Liberty (7 PM ET) in a rematch of September’s intense first-round playoff matchup. Later that night, A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and the Las Vegas Aces will be home to take on the Brittney Griner (assuming she doesn’t surprise us all and leave in free agency), Diana Taurasi (assuming she doesn’t surprise us all and retire a week into training camp), and the Phoenix Mercury (10 PM ET); look for the back-to-back defending champions to hand out rings and raise a banner in front of a large crowd.
Two more matchups complete opening night: one between Aliyah Boston’s Indiana Fever, who will boast back-to-back #1 overall picks, and Alyssa Thomas’ Connecticut Sun (8 PM ET); another between Napheesa Collier’s Minnesota Lynx and Jewell Loyd’s Seattle Storm (10 PM ET).
The four teams not playing on opening night will begin their regular season journeys on Wednesday, May 15 when Satou Sabally, Arike Ogunbowale, and the Dallas Wings host Kahleah Copper, Marina Mabrey, and the Chicago Sky, and Lexie Brown, Dearica Hamby, and the Los Angeles Sparks host Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, and the Atlanta Dream.
As announced earlier today, the Commissioner’s Cup will be streamlined a bit in 2024, with just five games – one against each conference opponent – down from the 10 we’ve seen in years past. Another adjustment is that all the games are grouped in the schedule, with each team playing its five games within the same time window, from June 1 to June 13.
In other schedule-related news, the first 2023 WNBA Finals rematch will occur on June 15 when New York travels to Las Vegas.
Phoenix will host the 2024 All-Star Weekend with events at the Footprint Center: the All-Star Skills Challenge and Three-Point Shootout on Friday, July 19, and the game itself on Saturday, July 20.
The Summer Olympics will take place in Paris from July 27 through August 10, which means we’ll have a midsummer break around those dates.
2024 Commissioner’s Cup Schedule
