The biggest WNBA comebacks and collapses, 1997 to 2025
The deepest hole a WNBA winner has climbed out of is 5 games: the Cleveland Rockers sat that far behind in the 1998 East on July 18, 1998, and won it by 2 games. The biggest lead lost: the Charlotte Sting led the 1998 East by 5 games as late as July 18, 1998, and finished behind the Cleveland Rockers. Every charted race since 1997 is ranked below; how the numbers are read is spelled out under the lists.
The Cleveland Rockers trailed the 1998 East race by 5 games on July 18, 1998, and won it by 2 games.
The Atlanta Dream trailed the 2018 East race by 3.5 games on July 7, 2018, and won it by 1 game.
The Connecticut Sun trailed the 2021 Playoff Race by 3.5 games on June 19, 2021, and won it by 2 games.
The Atlanta Dream trailed the 2025 East race by 3.5 games on July 22, 2025, and won it by 3 games.
The New York Liberty trailed the 2000 East race by 3 games on June 13, 2000, and won it by 3 games.
The Phoenix Mercury trailed the 2007 West race by 3 games on July 20, 2007, and won it by 3 games.
The San Antonio Silver Stars trailed the 2008 West race by 3 games on June 3, 2008, and won it by 2 games.
The Chicago Sky trailed the 2013 East race by 3 games on July 2, 2013, and won it by 7 games.
The New York Liberty trailed the 2015 East race by 3 games on June 26, 2015, and won it by 2 games.
The New York Liberty trailed the 2017 East race by 3 games on August 4, 2017, and won it by 1 game.
Biggest collapses
The Charlotte Sting led the 1998 East race by 5 games as late as July 18, 1998, and finished behind the Cleveland Rockers.
The New York Liberty led the 2025 East race by 3.5 games as late as July 25, 2025, and finished behind the Atlanta Dream.
The Orlando Miracle led the 2000 East race by 3 games as late as July 9, 2000, and finished behind the New York Liberty.
The Atlanta Dream led the 2013 East race by 3 games as late as July 6, 2013, and finished behind the Chicago Sky.
The San Antonio Silver Stars led the 2007 West race by 2.5 games as late as July 21, 2007, and finished behind the Phoenix Mercury.
The Minnesota Lynx led the 2014 West race by 2.5 games as late as June 2, 2014, and finished behind the Phoenix Mercury.
The Atlanta Dream led the 2016 East race by 2.5 games as late as June 4, 2016, and finished behind the New York Liberty.
The Los Angeles Sparks led the 2016 West race by 2.5 games as late as July 16, 2016, and finished behind the Minnesota Lynx.
The Connecticut Sun led the 2018 East race by 2.5 games as late as June 12, 2018, and finished behind the Atlanta Dream.
The Connecticut Sun led the 2019 East race by 2.5 games as late as June 22, 2019, and finished behind the Washington Mystics.
Latest deciding day
With no charted days left to play, the New York Liberty took first place in the 2017 East race for good on September 3, 2017, having led on 18 of the race's 114 charted days.
With three charted days left to play, the Los Angeles Sparks took first place in the 2019 West race for good on September 5, 2019, having led on 22 of the race's 108 charted days.
With three charted days left to play, the Los Angeles Sparks took first place in the 2002 West race for good on August 10, 2002, having led on 80 of the race's 81 charted days.
With four charted days left to play, the Detroit Shock took first place in the 2008 East race for good on September 11, 2008, having led on 43 of the race's 122 charted days.
With five charted days left to play, the Cleveland Rockers took first place in the 1998 East race for good on August 14, 1998, having led on 15 of the race's 70 charted days.
With six charted days left to play, the San Antonio Silver Stars took first place in the 2008 West race for good on September 9, 2008, having led on 71 of the race's 122 charted days.
With nine charted days left to play, the Los Angeles Sparks took first place in the 2003 West race for good on August 16, 2003, having led on 84 of the race's 96 charted days.
With twelve charted days left to play, the Phoenix Mercury took first place in the 2007 West race for good on August 7, 2007, having led on 28 of the race's 93 charted days.
With twelve charted days left to play, the Minnesota Lynx took first place in the 2016 West race for good on September 6, 2016, having led on 62 of the race's 128 charted days.
With 13 charted days left to play, the New York Liberty took first place in the 1999 East race for good on August 8, 1999, having led on 67 of the race's 73 charted days.
How these lists are ranked
Everything on this page comes from the same 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. A team's comeback or collapse is counted once per season, at its deepest, whichever of its charted races it came in.
Biggest comebacks: the deepest deficit the eventual winner faced at the end of a charted day, in games behind that day's leader, dated to the first day it reached that depth. These are the same numbers the turning points on each race page state.
Biggest collapses: the largest lead over second place held at the end of a charted day by a team that did not finish first, dated to the last day the team still held that full lead. A comeback and a collapse read the same race from opposite ends, so they can disagree about one summer.
Latest deciding day ranks winners by how few charted days remained when they took first place for good, which is the day after the last one the winner ended behind or level with another club: a day it only shared the top is not a day it held first place for good, so a late tie pushes the date later. Races whose top two the standings cannot separate appear on none of these lists: the data cannot name a winner. Only finished seasons are ranked; every irregularity in the record is listed in the data notes.