Why isn't WNBA playoffs 7-game series like NBA? A closer look

With the 2024 WNBA regular season inching to an end, eight of the 12 teams in the league make the postseason, setting the stage for yet another round of intense and scintillating action in the form of the playoffs. Over the years, the league has undergone changes in the format and unlike the NBA, the playoffs are not based on the seven-game series that determine the winner moving to the next round.

As it stands, the first round of the WNBA playoffs is a best-of-three series. The winners advance to the semifinals — a best of five, followed by the finals, another best of five. A 3-5-5 format has been in vogue over the last few years compared to the scrapped single-elimination games that were the norm.

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Why isn't the WNBA playoffs a 7-game series like the NBA?

For starters, the number of teams participating in the WNBA is fewer compared to the NBA. While 16 teams (eight from each conference) make the playoffs in the NBA, the WNBA works differently with just 12 teams overall. In a way, a 3-5-5 model works better to give teams a chance to move past the rounds and make the finals.

As for the other reason, the model ensures more competition and increases the scope of rivalry between the teams, as explained by Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a 2022 statement:

"Following significant discussions with our competition committee and a playoff subcommittee we formed [in 2021], it was clear that while the prior format’s single-elimination games created a win-and-advance level of excitement to the start of the postseason, the new best-of-three series format will provide added opportunities to create and showcase rivalries with all playoff-eligible teams participating," Engelbert said.

This came as a welcome change after only four of the top teams overall made the playoffs in the league's first two seasons and the postseason comprised only two rounds. In 1997, only one single game was played in all matches and the format shifted to three-game series in 1998.

Seven teams have so far made the playoffs for the 2024 season: the New York Liberty, Connecticut Sun, Minnesota Lynx, Las Vegas Aces, Seattle Storm, Indiana Fever and the Phoenix Mercury.

The Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream are battling for the No. 8 seed, while the LA Sparks, Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics have been eliminated from playoff contention.