Which WNBA Conference Is Truly Strongest Over Time

I break down why the WNBA Western Conference has historically been the league’s toughest side, using standings, dynasties, and star power as the receipts. I also explain why the Eastern Conference is finally closing the gap and ask whether the next era could flip the script.  
• Today’s WNBA standings and why the top seeds matter  
• Why the West’s dominance stretches across multiple eras  
• The dynasties that built the West’s reputation  
• Star power and MVP history across both conferences  
• Championship totals and the clearest argument for the West  
• Why the East feels closer now with teams like the Liberty and Fever
  
Please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who’s anyone. One, about the WNBA and two about my show!

Transcript

Welcome And Quick Call To Action

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey, as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're going to talk about the WNBA conference and which one is actually strongest over the entirety of the WNBA. But before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. Comment tell anyone who's anyone about the show. Try and get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit. And if you wonder where you heard this before, that's because you've been listening with me Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. So I greatly appreciate your support. Now,

Today’s Standings And The West

SPEAKER_00 0:28

in today's game, right, if you look at today's standings point in time, the top four seeds in the WNBA come out the West. And and matter of fact, let's take it a little step further. The top 12 seeds in the WNBA, seven of them come out of the West. The top four, and then nine, eight, and I'm sorry, nine, ten, and twelve. Now, again, that's the Lynx, the Aces, Minnesota Lynx, Las Vegas Aces, Golden State Valkyrie, Dallas Wings, all of them are out there are out the West. But then you also got the Portland Fire, Phoenix Mercury, and my Los Angeles Sparks, which you know, I wish we could climb up a little bit higher. But we're here. That's what

WNBA History And West Dynasties

SPEAKER_00 1:18

it is. Is this a fad? Like, is this something that's new? I can't quite say that, ladies and gentlemen. The West has historically been the tougher conference, right? Like that's what it's usually known as. If we go back all the way to the inception of the WNBA, right? 1997 to about 2002. It was the West. You had the Houston Commons. They had a dynasty, right? That four-title run. You had the you have my Los Angeles Sparks and their rise. Sacramento Marks, or Monarchs, oh my goodness. The Utah Stars. They were fairly strong. Then we go 2003 to about 2010. Again, that favors the West. You have Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm. Again, Sacramento Monarchs, my Sparks, the Minnesota Lynx, they begin to emerge. 2011, 2019. That's when you have the Lynx dynasty, right? They were going to the finals pretty consistently. Then you also got to sprinkle in the Phoenix Mercury, the Seattle Storm, again, my Sparks. The Aces came up through a little bit too. Remember, the Mystics actually won a championship. Cool, heard you. But again, consistently, the West produced more dominant teams. 2020 to 2023, it's a little bit more even, right? You got the Aces.

unknown 2:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Seattle was doing their thing for a little bit. But then we also had the Connecticut Sun. And then the Liberty actually formed up. And again, the Mystics had just won a championship 2019. I know I said 2020, but remember that's like right there. So you do got a couple of eastern teams that are producing. But again, the West. Golden State's been playing pretty well so far. And again, the Dallas Wings. But on the flip side, too, though, we got we got the Liberty, who we understand are injury riddle, but again, the seating is what it is. The Fever, they got some good talent for sure, right? Kelsey Mitchell, Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Balston, good talent. Atlanta, they've been pretty decent in terms of talent over the last couple years. I'm just saying, ladies and gentlemen, even Washington looks pretty strong and they're young. So again, ladies and gentlemen, in 20, like in present day, it has gotten a little bit closer. But historically, the Western Conference has been the better one. And it's earned that reputation. Again, we're talking about more dynasties, right? The Houston Commons, four straight championships, like I told you all. My Sparks, the early 2000s. We were out there hooping. Then we ended up getting Candace Parker, 2008, took off. Then we got NECA Agumake, won a championship. We got two MVPs right there. Three really with Lisa Leslie, two included back in the early 2000s. I'm just saying, ladies and gentlemen, that's a lot. Phoenix Mercury. You got DT and Diana Tarossi. You got BG. Then you ended up getting Satu Sabali, Alyssa Thomas, Dewana Bonner, Kalia Copper. Like these are good players, ladies and gentlemen, that the Mercury had. Sure, could they have won some more championships later on? Yeah, they could have, but they did, they did win some championships, to be clear with DT and BG. Just saying. Minnesota Lynx, again, four championships. Nothing to scoff at. Nothing to scoff at. And they can be in, they could be in route to getting a fifth one soon. Like that's a possibility. Seattle Storm, again, got four championships. Like four championships, ladies and gentlemen. Again, that's a consistent theme around here. Again, the West has been dominant. Aces, back-to-back champions, ladies and gentlemen. Back-to-back champions, winning multiple, winning three. That's a lot. The East certainly has had champions. But when we're talking about dynasties, like I just rattled

Stars, MVPs, And Why It Matters

SPEAKER_00 5:20

off, the East doesn't quite have that. If we're looking at MVPs and superstars, many of the greatest players spent the bulk of their careers in the West. And you know what? Maybe we got to start thinking, is that a trend? Because I do know that that has happened in the NBA as well, too. Is this due to livelihood and lifestyle? Maybe the West is better to live than the East. Maybe that's another discussion from a societal standpoint. But we have Cynthia Cooper, we have Lisa Leslie, we have Lauren Jackson, we have Diana Tarossi, Sue Byrd, Sylvia Files, Maya Moore, Brianna Stewart, Asia Wilson, Candace Parker. We got a bevy of good talents out of the West. And yes, don't get me wrong, the East has had some has had some good stars. Tamika Ketchings, Elena Deladon, Tina Charles, John Quell Jones, Sabrina Ionescu, Caitlin Clark. But even when we think about today's game, the West can be added on. Paige Beckers, Olivia Miles. Like, there are so many young stars still in the West right now. So again, when we're talking about history, I think it's fair to say that the West wins.

Title Count And The Gap Closing

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We talked about championships. Again, the rock, the comments, four. My Sparks, three. The Storm, four. Phoenix, three. Sacramento got one. Minnesota got four. Aces got two. That's 21 championships right there, ladies and gentlemen. Now, if we go to the East, that's seven. Detroit got three. Indiana got one. Washington got one. Chicago got one. Connecticut got one. New York got one. But the only team that actually win multiple were the Detroit Shocks. So again, ladies and gentlemen, the West wins. Now, the East has closed the gap. The East has closed the gap over the last couple seasons. Like I've been saying, okay? And again, they got the New York Liberty, who they've been perennial title contenders. Indiana Fever again with the Caitlin Clark addition. They got a young talented group. They look to be like they maybe they could do something in the next couple years. Atlanta Dream, they have had talent. It's just an inconsistency thing from them. Washington Mystics, they just got to get more experience and even get a better point guard. Connecticut Sun, they remained as one of the competitive teams for years. And again, ladies and gentlemen, the expansion teams, maybe that adds more fuel to the fire. Maybe that helps out the East. Who knows? But I think it's fair to say that if you broke down the WNBA history-wise, like let's say, let's say let's tier it real quick, right? I think it's fair to say from 1997 to 2019, the S, or the West won by a landslide in favor of the East. Like if we were gonna, if we were gonna classify it, I'd say the West had an A, East had like a B. Now 2020 to 2023, West is still at an A, but the East did catch up. They're more at like an A- now. 2024 to present. I think it's fair to say that the East and West are now splitting. You gotta remember, Liberty won a championship, then Aces won a championship in that tenure. So I mean, we we talk in splits right now. And now if if you want to focus on overall talent, that can maybe that may need to be another discussion. But at least right now, but let's just focus on championships. Yeah, at least it's balanced. At least it's balanced. If we're looking at stars, at least it's more balanced, ladies and gentlemen. So that is nice to see. So again, I hope you understand and I hope you're realizing that the West has has been the better conference within the WNBA.

Listener Question And Sign Off

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But I'm curious, do you view that differently, ladies and gentlemen? Do you think that the East is going to overtake the West? Or will the West continue to run them up? Like they say, history repeats itself, so let's figure that out. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of the episode. So again, while I acknowledge that the West is the better conference, at least, at least at minimum historically, I also acknowledge, I also acknowledge that the East is trying to catch up. So I do look forward to seeing some good basketball. And again, with the four seeds, the top four seeds, at least point in time being the Lynx, the Aces, the Valkyries, and the Wings. And then out of the top 12, we got seven going towards the West. I think it's safe to say that at least this season, that trend is going to continue. But you know what? Hey, maybe one of these Eastern teams come up and mess up some of the seedings. Or maybe one of the eastern teams remain a little further in the playoffs this year. Like maybe we see two Eastern teams going up into the playoffs. I don't, I, I, I, I, I don't know, go pretty far and do pr and do pretty well. Maybe we see something. But that's another discussion for another day. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, like I said, that does conclude the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone. One, about the WNBA and two about my show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. I hope you are all having a good one. Take care.