Breakdown: Women’s National Basketball Championship (WNBC) 2022

There has been a lot of media attention over the past week or two regarding women’s soccer, culminating in the Women’s European Cup Final between England and Germany on the 31^st of July 2022. The result of that game was an extra time win for England, if you haven’t heard, giving the England Women’s team their first ever major trophy.

But women’s sport in general is rapidly expanding, and it isn’t just Soccer; the women’s Basketball Championship in the United States is also getting far more interest these days, and the 2022 tournaments looks set to attract more attention than ever before. Women have only been playing professional basketball in the United States since 1997; there are still only 12 teams competing for such a prestigious trophy, in contrast to the 30 who current play in the Men’s National Basketball Association.

Today, we’ll be checking out some of the most important aspects of the Women’s 2022 National Basketball Championships, including the current favorites to win the trophy and the league for those who enjoy participating in sports betting online. We’ll also talk about the dates of the regular season and the playoffs, for those who are still new to women’s basketball. Let’s get started!

Key Dates: Regular Season & Playoffs

The women’s NBA works on a different schedule to the men’s tournament, as training camps are held in May rather than September. The training camps give coaches the opportunity to evaluate their players – especially the rookies – as well as determining any key strengths and weaknesses prior to the stat of the regular season. That regular season kicks off in May, with 36 games played with 18 each at home and away.

The playoffs are usually held in late September, although changes to the schedule are held in years where the FIBA women’s basketball World Cup is also being challenged. During these years, the playoffs will usually be held in August instead. In 2022, the regular season finished on Sunday, August 14^th, with the playoffs beginning shortly after.

Who Will be the Most Valued Player?

There are 27 participants currently in the running for the MVP award in 2022. The top eight are as follows:

The most valued player award in the Women’s National Basketball Championship has been awarded to a diverse variety of players since the league first started in the late 1990’s. For example, Elena Baranova was one of the first international players to compete in the WBNA, starting in 1997, and also won an all-star award in 2001.

Previous MVP’s have also included players from China, Poland, Australia, Portugal, Canada, and Brazil.

Favorites

With just 12 teams, it is perhaps unsurprising that the competition within the women’s NBA is extremely fierce. Over the years since the tournament begun, teams have constantly jockeyed for position amongst the favorites each year. At present there are four teams who are currently considered as serious contenders to win the trophy in the 2022 Championships, and with the end of the season rapidly approaching it seems unlikely that any of the lower teams could catch up at this stage. Nevertheless, here is the full team rankings with odds:

The previous champions were the Chicago Sky, who won the tournament during the 2021 season. This was only their first win, however; the Houston Comets, Minnesota Lynx, and Seattle Storm all share the crown of “most titles” with four titles each.

The women’s NBA has many television partners in both the United States and Canada. Internationally the games are being shown on Amazon Prime Video, Facebook, and Twitter in 2022 for the first time, which should attract extra attention to the sport and benefit the teams, players, and tournament overall.

Alban Parsons

“Social media evangelist. Baconaholic. Devoted reader. Twitter scholar. Avid coffee trailblazer.”