Coming Tuesday Besides Summer: The WNBA Top 20 All-Time Players

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Correcting to Tuesday

On Tuesday the WNBA will announce the top 20 all-time players as chosen from a select panel of which yours truly participated. 

The Guru will reveal his vote after the result is public.

But for now, here is the WNBA email heads up.

BEST OF THE BEST: WNBA TO HONOR 20 GREATEST PLAYERS OF ALL TIME

 

--WNBA Top 20@20 presented by Verizon to be unveiled on

ESPN’s SportsCenter: Face-to-Face with Hannah Storm on

June 21 during the 10 a.m. ET hour--

 

NEW YORK, June 16, 2016 -- In celebration of its landmark 20^th season, the WNBA will honor the 20 greatest and most influential players in its history and announced today the 60 official nominees for the WNBA Top 20@20 presented by Verizon. 

 

The WNBA Top 20@20 presented by Verizon will be unveiled on ESPN’s SportsCenter: Face-to-Face with Hannah Stormduring the 10 a.m. ET hour on June 21.  That date was chosen to honor the date of the league’s inaugural regular-season game in 1997.  ESPN Networks will promote the list throughout the day on various programs, including during ESPN’s noon ET SportsCenter: Coast-to-Coast with a Cari Champion interview with four-time WNBA champion Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, as well as ESPN2’s telecast of the Phoenix Mercury vs. Dallas Wings game at 8 p.m. ET.

 

The 60 nominees were selected based on factors like on-court performance and ability, leadership and sportsmanship, as well as contributions to team success.  In addition, all players must have been a member of a WNBA team for two seasons and met three of the following seven criteria: the winner of a major individual award; a selection to either the All-WNBA First Team or All-WNBA Second Team; a selection to either the WNBA All-Defensive First Team or WNBA All-Defensive Second Team; a selection to the WNBA All-Star Game; a member of a WNBA Championship team; a current ranking among the top 30 career leaders in at least one major statistical category; and a selection to either the WNBA’s All-Decade Team (voted on in 2006) or the WNBA’s Top 15 Players (voted on in 2011). 

 

“Together with our partners Verizon and ESPN, we are delighted to recognize the very best in women’s professional basketball as part of the WNBA’s 20th season celebration,” said WNBA President Lisa Borders.  “The women of our league have played a major role in growing basketball around the world and are examples of the dreams that can be achieved through hard work and perseverance.  To honor this league’s ‘best of the best’ is certainly fitting on June 21, a truly historic day for the WNBA and the game.”

 

Voting for the league’s WNBA Top 20@20 presented by Verizon will be conducted by a 15-member committee composed of women’s basketball pioneers Carol Blazejowski and Ann Meyers Drysdale; current and former WNBA head coaches Van Chancellor, Michael Cooper, Anne Donovan and Cheryl Reeve; and media members Doris Burke, Doug Feinberg, Mel Greenberg, Melanie Jackson, Howard Megdal, LaChina Robinson, Michelle Smith, Mechelle Voepel and Pam Ward.

Below are the 60 official nominees for the league’s WNBA Top 20@20 presented by Verizon:  

Janeth Arcain	Betty Lennox
Seimone Augustus	Lisa Leslie
Sue Bird	Mwadi Mabika
Alana Beard	Angel McCoughtry
Ruthie Bolton	Taj McWilliams-Franklin
DeWanna Bonner	DeLisha Milton-Jones
Rebekkah Brunson	Maya Moore
Swin Cash	Deanna Nolan
Tamika Catchings	Nneka Ogwumike
Tina Charles	Wendy Palmer
Cynthia Cooper	Candace Parker
Erika de Souza	Ticha Penicheiro
Elena Delle Donne	Plenette Pierson
Skylar Diggins	Cappie Pondexter
Tamecka Dixon	Nicole Powell
Katie Douglas	Ruth Riley
Candice Dupree	Danielle Robinson
Margo Dydek	Nykesha Sales
Cheryl Ford	Katie Smith
Sylvia Fowles	Tangela Smith
Yolanda Griffith	Dawn Staley
Brittney Griner	Sheryl Swoopes
Jennifer Gillom	Diana Taurasi
Becky Hammon	Penny Taylor
Chamique Holdsclaw	Nikki Teasley
Lauren Jackson	Tina Thompson
Shannon Johnson	Teresa Weatherspoon
Vickie Johnson	Natalie Williams
Crystal Langhorne	Lindsay Whalen
Kara Lawson	Sophia Young-Malcolm