WNBA season records: Which team has had the worst winning percentage in league history?

The Dallas and the Washington franchises were founded in 1998, two years after the original founding members started playing in the Women’s National Basketball Association. The Washington Mystics were among the first WNBA expansion franchises to be established. At the same time, the Wings team was founded in Auburn Hills, Michigan, before the 1998 WNBA season began. They then moved to Tulsa in 2010 before landing their permanent residence in Arlington, TX, in 2016.

The Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics are tied for the lowest historic winning percentage, with a record of 383–483 (.442). It’s worth noting that no team has gone winless during a WNBA season. However, the New York Liberty came close during the COVID-19 bubble season 2020 when they registered just two wins.

WNBA history

Washington Mystic

The Washington Mystics have made it to the WNBA Playoffs 13 times in their 23-season history. The team had never made it to the WNBA Finals until 2018 when they first appeared. They clinched their first championship in 2019.

In their debut season in 1998, they finished with a poor 3–27 record despite having Olympian Nikki McCray on their team. In 1999, they drafted Chamique Holdsclaw from the University of Tennessee, and although they improved, they still failed to make the playoffs with a 12–20 record.

Dallas Wings

The Detroit Shock, one of the first WNBA expansion teams, began playing in 1998. They had a mix of rookies and veterans in their early years but only made it to the postseason once in their first five years. The team went through two coaches, Nancy Lieberman and Greg Williams, before former Detroit Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer took over.

Laimbeer convinced the owners to keep the team for another year and successfully turned things around. The Shock finished the following season with a 25–9 record and won the 2003 WNBA Finals, making history as the first team to go from last place one season to WNBA champions the following season.

The team continued to have success, appearing in three straight finals from 2006 to 2008, winning championships in 2006 and 2008 but losing in 2007. In the meantime, they’ve changed their address two times, playing in Tulsa and finally ending up in Arlington, Texas, in 2016.