2000 WNBA Championship

2000 WNBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Houston Comets Van Chancellor 2 New York Liberty Richie Adubato 0
Dates	August 24-26
MVP	Cynthia Cooper (Houston Comets)
Hall of Famers	Comets: Cynthia Cooper (2010) Sheryl Swoopes (2016) Tina Thompson (2018) Liberty: Becky Hammon (2023) Rebecca Lobo (2017; did not play) Teresa Weatherspoon (2019) Coaches: Van Chancellor (2007)
Eastern Finals	New York defeated Cleveland, 2–1
Western Finals	Houston defeated Los Angeles, 2–0

The 2000 WNBA Championship was the championship series of the 2000 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Houston Comets, second-seeded champions of the Western Conference, defeated the New York Liberty, first-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, two games to none in a best-of-three series. This was Houston's fourth title.

The Comets made their fourth appearance in the Finals in franchise history. The Liberty also made their third Finals appearance.

Going into the series, no other team except the Houston Comets had won a WNBA championship (1997–1999).

The Comets had a 27–5 record (.844), good enough to receive home-court advantage over the Liberty (20–12). It did not matter, however, as the Comets swept the Liberty.

Road to the finals

Houston Comets		New York Liberty
27–5 (.844) 2nd West, 2nd overall	Regular season	20–12 (.562) 1st East, 4th overall
Defeated the (3) Sacramento Monarchs, 2–0	Conference Semifinals	Defeated the (4) Washington Mystics, 2–0
Defeated the (1) Los Angeles Sparks, 2–0	Conference Finals	Defeated the (2) Cleveland Rockers, 2–1

Regular season series

The Comets and the Liberty split the regular season series:

May 29

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived October 21, 2000)

New York Liberty 68, Houston Comets 84

Compaq Center, Houston

July 23

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived October 22, 2000)

Houston Comets 64, New York Liberty 69

Madison Square Garden, New York

Game summaries

All times listed below are Eastern Daylight Time.

Game 1

Lifetime

August 24

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived October 23, 2000)

Houston Comets 59, New York Liberty 52
Scoring by half: 29–22, 30–39
Pts: Cooper (20) Rebs: Swoopes, Thompson (8) Asts: Cooper (5)		Pts: Phillips (24) Rebs: Phillips (15) Asts: Weatherspoon (5)

Madison Square Garden, New York Attendance: 19,563 Referees: Sally Bell Dennis DeMayo Gary Zielinski

Game 2

NBC

August 26

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived October 23, 2000)

New York Liberty 73, Houston Comets 79 (OT)
Scoring by half: 25–27, 39–37 Overtime: 9–15
Pts: Phillips (20) Rebs: Phillips (7) Asts: Weatherspoon (8)		Pts: Swoopes (31) Rebs: Thompson (8) Asts: Cooper (7)

Compaq Center, Houston Attendance: 16,285 Referees: June Corteau Courtney Kirkland Michael Price

Rosters

External links

v t e WNBA Finals
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WNBA Championship prior to 2002

v t e 2000 WNBA season by team
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Eastern	Charlotte Sting Cleveland Rockers Detroit Shock Indiana Fever Miami Sol New York Liberty Orlando Miracle Washington Mystics
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v t e New York Liberty
Founded in 1997 Based in Brooklyn, New York
Franchise	Franchise Most recent season
Arenas	Madison Square Garden Radio City Music Hall Prudential Center Westchester County Center Barclays Center
Head coaches	Nancy Darsch Richie Adubato Pat Coyle Anne Donovan John Whisenant Bill Laimbeer Katie Smith Walt Hopkins Sandy Brondello
Administration	Owner Joseph Tsai General Managers Carol Blazejowski John Whisenant Bill Laimbeer Kristin Bernert Jonathan Kolb
WNBA All-Stars	Essence Carson Tina Charles Shameka Christon Becky Hammon Kym Hampton Natasha Howard Sabrina Ionescu Vickie Johnson Betnijah Laney Kia Nurse Rebecca Lobo Tari Phillips Cappie Pondexter Sugar Rodgers Ann Wauters Teresa Weatherspoon Sue Wicks
Seasons	1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Playoff appearances	1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2004 2005 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2015 2016 2017 2021 2022 2023
Conference Championships	1997 1999 2000 2002 2023
Rivals	Connecticut Sun Detroit Shock Houston Comets Indiana Fever Los Angeles Sparks
Media	TV: YES Network Announcers: Chris Shearn Michael Grady Julianne Viani

v t e Houston Comets
Founded in 1997 Folded in 2008 Based in Houston, Texas
The Franchise	Franchise Final season
Arenas	Compaq Center Toyota Center Reliant Arena
Head coaches	Van Chancellor Karleen Thompson
Administration	Owner: Leslie Alexander Hilton Koch WNBA
All-Stars	Janeth Arcain Cynthia Cooper Michelle Snow Dawn Staley Sheryl Swoopes Tina Thompson
Seasons	1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Playoff appearances	1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006
Conference titles	1997 1998 1999 2000
WNBA titles	1997 1998 1999 2000
Rivals	Los Angeles Sparks New York Liberty Phoenix Mercury

v t e Houston Comets 2000 WNBA champions
0 Tiffani Johnson 3 Kelley Gibson 4 Coquese Washington 7 Tina Thompson 9 Janeth Arcain 13 Amaya Valdemoro 14 Cynthia Cooper (Finals MVP) 21 Jennifer Rizzotti 22 Sheryl Swoopes 23 Tammy Jackson 40 Monica Lamb Head Coach Van Chancellor

v t e NBA on NBC
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