Days in first place: WNBA conference and playoff races, 1997 to 2026
The longest anyone has led a WNBA race without winning it: the Charlotte Sting ended 53 of the 1998 East race's 61 playing days in first place, 87% of them, and finished behind the Cleveland Rockers. The longest unbroken spell of that lead covered 51 playing days, from June 18, 1998 to August 11, 1998. At the other end, the New York Liberty won the 2017 East race having led on eleven of its 79 playing days, never more than three in a row. Both lists below rank by the share of a race's playing days a team spent in first place. How that is counted is spelled out under the lists.
The Charlotte Sting led the 1998 East race on 53 of its 61 playing days, 87% of them, and finished behind the Cleveland Rockers.
The New York Liberty led the 1997 East race on 45 of its 54 playing days, 83% of them, and finished behind the Houston Comets.
The New York Liberty led the 2025 East race on 67 of its 95 playing days, 71% of them, and finished behind the Atlanta Dream.
The Connecticut Sun led the 2008 East race on 43 of its 69 playing days, 62% of them, and finished behind the Detroit Shock.
The Connecticut Sun led the 2019 East race on 46 of its 74 playing days, 62% of them, and finished behind the Washington Mystics.
The Los Angeles Sparks led the 2016 West race on 45 of its 73 playing days, 62% of them, and finished behind the Minnesota Lynx.
The Houston Comets led the 2000 West race on 38 of its 63 playing days, 60% of them, and finished behind the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Seattle Storm led the 2021 West race on 43 of its 74 playing days, 58% of them, and finished behind the Las Vegas Aces.
The Las Vegas Aces led the 2019 West race on 42 of its 74 playing days, 57% of them, and finished behind the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Connecticut Sun led the 2017 East race on 37 of its 79 playing days, 47% of them, and finished behind the New York Liberty.
Winners who led least
The New York Liberty won the 2017 East race having led on 11 of its 79 playing days, 14% of them, and took first place for good on September 3, 2017.
The Cleveland Rockers won the 1998 East race having led on 11 of its 61 playing days, 18% of them, and took first place for good on August 14, 1998.
The Los Angeles Sparks won the 2019 West race having led on 15 of its 74 playing days, 20% of them, and took first place for good on September 5, 2019.
The Houston Comets won the 1997 East race having led on 14 of its 54 playing days, 26% of them, and took first place for good on August 17, 1997.
The New York Liberty won the 2000 East race having led on 17 of its 61 playing days, 28% of them, and took first place for good on July 24, 2000.
The Atlanta Dream won the 2025 East race having led on 29 of its 95 playing days, 31% of them, and took first place for good on August 21, 2025.
The Phoenix Mercury won the 2007 West race having led on 21 of its 66 playing days, 32% of them, and took first place for good on August 7, 2007.
The Washington Mystics won the 2019 Playoff Race having led on 29 of its 80 playing days, 36% of them, and took first place for good on August 25, 2019.
The Atlanta Dream won the 2018 East race having led on 26 of its 68 playing days, 38% of them, and took first place for good on August 19, 2018.
The Los Angeles Sparks won the 2000 West race having led on 25 of its 63 playing days, 40% of them, and took first place for good on July 23, 2000.
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 71 charted WNBA races from 30 finished seasons enter: every conference and playoff race from 1997 to 2026. A team's time in first place is counted once per season, at its longest, whichever of its charted races it came in.
Longest leads lost is the club that ended the most of a race's playing days in first place and did not finish first. Any club in the race qualifies, not the runner-up alone, because a club can lead for four months and finish fifth.
Winners who led least is the same count for the club that did win, ranked from the fewest days up. Each row closes on the day that winner took first place for good, which the comebacks page ranks on.
Only days this race's teams played are counted, the same rule the closest races page counts closeness over. A strike or a pause freezes the standings, and a leader sitting out an idle stretch would collect time on top for nothing.
The ranking is by share rather than by the raw count, because a league's seasons are not all the same length and a short one would otherwise win by being short. Seasons cut short by a strike or a stoppage are ranked on what was played, which is the same rule and the reason for it. The count and the total are printed beside the share, so the order can be checked; where two rows print the same whole percent, the unrounded share put them in that order.
A day two clubs end tied at the top is a day in first place for both of them, which is what holding first place means in English. So the two counts of one race can add up to more than the race's playing days. A day on which a club still to play its first game is on top, alone or tied with others, counts for nobody, because that club was up there without a game. Races whose top two the standings cannot separate appear on neither list: with no winner, the data can name neither the club that lost a lead nor the club that kept one.
A lead measured in days and a lead measured in games are different questions, and the two lists often disagree about which season was the bigger collapse; the comebacks page ranks the same blown leads by size. Only finished seasons are ranked; every irregularity in the record is listed in the data notes.