The top two have finished with nothing at all between them in six WNBA races, most recently the 2022 Playoff Race. Below, every conference and playoff race charted since 1997, ranked three ways: by final margin, by lead changes, and by days spent within one game. How each list is computed is spelled out under the tables.
Companion page: Biggest WNBA comebacks and collapses.
| Rank | Race | Result | Margin (games) | Lead changes | First place for good |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011 East | Connecticut Sun and Indiana Fever, level | 0 | 8 | |
| 2 | 2002 East | Charlotte Sting and New York Liberty, level | 0 | 7 | |
| 3 | 2020 West | Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm, level | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 2010 East | New York Liberty and Washington Mystics, level | 0 | 12 | |
| 5 | 2004 East | Connecticut Sun and New York Liberty, level | 0 | 14 | |
| 6 | 2022 Playoff Race | Chicago Sky and Las Vegas Aces, level | 0 | 3 | |
| 7 | 2017 East | New York Liberty over Connecticut Sun | 1 | 5 | September 1, 2017 |
| 8 | 2002 West | Los Angeles Sparks over Houston Comets | 1 | 2 | August 9, 2002 |
| 9 | 2019 West | Los Angeles Sparks over Las Vegas Aces | 1 | 14 | September 3, 2019 |
| 10 | 2008 East | Detroit Shock over Connecticut Sun | 1 | 6 | September 9, 2008 |
| Rank | Race | Result | Lead changes | Margin (games) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2004 East | Connecticut Sun and New York Liberty, level | 14 | 0 |
| 2 | 2019 West | Los Angeles Sparks over Las Vegas Aces | 14 | 1 |
| 3 | 2010 East | New York Liberty and Washington Mystics, level | 12 | 0 |
| 4 | 2008 West | San Antonio Silver Stars over Seattle Storm | 10 | 2 |
| 5 | 2007 West | Phoenix Mercury over San Antonio Silver Stars | 10 | 3 |
| 6 | 2000 East | New York Liberty over Cleveland Rockers | 9 | 3 |
| 7 | 2011 East | Connecticut Sun and Indiana Fever, level | 8 | 0 |
| 8 | 2002 East | Charlotte Sting and New York Liberty, level | 7 | 0 |
| 9 | 2021 Playoff Race | Connecticut Sun over Las Vegas Aces | 7 | 2 |
| 10 | 2024 West | Minnesota Lynx over Las Vegas Aces | 7 | 3 |
| Rank | Race | Result | Days within one game | Playing days | Margin (games) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017 East | New York Liberty over Connecticut Sun | 69 | 79 | 1 |
| 2 | 2004 East | Connecticut Sun and New York Liberty, level | 66 | 75 | 0 |
| 3 | 2019 West | Los Angeles Sparks over Las Vegas Aces | 62 | 73 | 1 |
| 4 | 2021 Playoff Race | Connecticut Sun over Las Vegas Aces | 56 | 80 | 2 |
| 5 | 2019 East | Washington Mystics over Connecticut Sun | 56 | 73 | 3 |
| 6 | 2022 Playoff Race | Chicago Sky and Las Vegas Aces, level | 55 | 81 | 0 |
| 7 | 2008 East | Detroit Shock over Connecticut Sun | 55 | 69 | 1 |
| 8 | 2008 West | San Antonio Silver Stars over Seattle Storm | 54 | 67 | 2 |
| 9 | 2007 West | Phoenix Mercury over San Antonio Silver Stars | 54 | 66 | 3 |
| 10 | 2002 West | Los Angeles Sparks over Houston Comets | 53 | 67 | 1 |
Everything on this page comes from the same day-by-day season files the charts draw, with standings read as each day ended. All 68 charted WNBA races from 29 finished seasons enter: every conference and playoff race from 1997 to 2025. Wild card races are not ranked; their story is the playoff cutoff, not first place. The 2026 season joins these lists when it ends. When the same two teams finished first and second in more than one charted race in the same season (a division and its conference, or a conference and a league-wide race), the narrower race keeps the row; that folds away 4 repeats here.
Tightest finishes ranks races by the final gap between first and second place, in games. Ties are broken by how late the winner took first place for good, then by lead changes, then oldest first. Two teams the standings cannot separate are shown as level, with no winner named; where the league settled such a race another way, the linked race page tells that story.
Most lead changes counts a change only when a new team passes the leader outright. A day spent tied on top stays with the team already leading, so a tie can never inflate the count.
Most days within one game counts the days on which this race's teams played and the top two ended the day within one game of each other. Days a league stood idle (a strike, a pause) are not counted: a frozen gap says nothing about a race.
Only finished seasons are ranked. Seasons shortened by strikes or other stoppages count as played; every irregularity in the record is listed in the data notes.