HISTORY + THE GAME + THE BUSINESS

THE W VAULT

The league archive: learn the game in The Film Room, decode roster and contract rules in Front Office 101, preserve every season in The W Rewind, track the hardware in The Trophy Room and explore franchise legacy in The Locker Room.

Home›The W Vault

INSIDE THE VAULT

Four connected rooms.

Learn what happens on the court, behind the roster, in the record book and across the league’s visual history.

LEARN THE GAMEThe Film Room

Positions, offense, defense, strategy, Watch Like a Coach and the Basketball Dictionary.

 ROSTERS + MONEY + MOVESFront Office 101

Plain-language contracts, salary caps, hardship deals, waivers, free agency, core designations, roster limits, draft lotteries, expansion drafts and trade rules.

 AWARDS + TITLESThe Trophy Room

Championships, Finals MVPs, league awards, Commissioner’s Cup history and all-league teams.

 STYLE + LEGACYThe Locker Room

Old uniforms, retired numbers, colors, symbols, rebrands, relocations and franchise family trees.
The Vault also has a season shelf. The W Rewind preserves the full season record without pretending We Know the W published editorial rankings before the site existed.

NEW · SEASON YEARBOOKS

Every season gets its own book.

The current year keeps updating. Once the Finals are complete and the season closes, that year freezes into the archive.

THE W REWIND · 1997 TO NOWSign it. Seal it. Shelf it.

Final standings, season rosters, statistical leaders, awards, champions, major transactions, Snack Shak rankings and Shak’s final Starting Five and Bench Mob, all together in one permanent season record.

Open The W Rewind →

FRONT OFFICE DESK

Go inside the business of the W.

The signed 2026 CBA anchors the Front Office desk, with the labor history behind the deal preserved alongside the rules it created.

FRONT OFFICE 101 · 2026 RULESContracts, cap space, roster spots and transactions, translated.

Start with the $7 million team cap, standard and supermax salaries, developmental contracts, hardship exceptions, waivers, free agency, Core designations, trades, the draft lottery and expansion rules.

Enter Front Office 101 → LABOR HISTORY · HERSTORYThe Union Behind the Deal

Nneka Ogwumike was the public leader, but the 2026 CBA was secured by a wider union structure of executive leaders, team player representatives, participating players and WNBPA staff.

Read the CBA labor feature →

OPEN A FILE

History and league rules should be easy to explore.

START HERELeague Origins

The launch years, original franchises, first games, first stars and the foundation of the league.

 SEASON BY SEASONThe W Rewind

Open a permanent yearbook for every WNBA season from 1997 forward.

 FRANCHISE MAPTeam Family Trees

Track teams that moved, folded, rebranded or carried their history into a new city.

 RULEBOOK, TRANSLATEDFront Office 101

Use the plain-language desk when a signing, waiver, hardship contract, Core designation or trade needs decoding.

 ERA BY ERADynasties & Turning Points

Championship runs, landmark seasons and moments that changed the direction of the league.

 FIRSTSMilestone Moments

Historic firsts, record setting performances and barrier breaking achievements.

 ORIGINAL TEAM ARCHIVEFranchise Footprints

The records, highlights and continuing lineage of charter team identities that closed, moved or changed names.

 EXPANSION HISTORYHow the map grew

Past expansion waves connect to the future franchise tracking inside Who Got Next?