After 25 televised regular season games to honor the 25th season of the WNBA, ESPN continues as the exclusive home of the WNBA postseason with the WNBA Playoffs Presented by Google beginning Thursday, September 23.
- The first round, single elimination games will feature No. 7 Dallas at No. 6 Chicago and No. 8 New York at No. 5 Phoenix, airing at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET, respectively, on ESPN2.
- The single elimination second round will take place Sunday, September 26 at 3 p.m., on ABC and 5 p.m. on ESPN2.
- The semifinals will run September 28-October 8 leading into the WNBA Finals Presented by YouTube TV, with Game 1 on Sunday, October 10, at 3 p.m. on ABC.
- The WNBA Finals will move up to start on October 6 or 8 if both semifinals end in three or four games, respectively.
- Every game of the postseason – a potential 19 total games – will be available across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, with all games available to stream in the ESPN App.
- Two commentating teams will be on the call for all the action through the WNBA Playoffs semifinals:
- Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe
- Pam Ward, LaChina Robinson and Ros Gold-Onwude
- Monica McNutt and Carolyn Peck will also provide studio coverage from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn. studios through the semifinals.
- In addition, McNutt and Peck will host two WNBA editions of Hoop Streams Presented by Google on Thursday, September 23 and Tuesday, September 28, both at 7 p.m., on the @ESPN Twitter handle, on the ESPN Facebook page and in the ESPN App.
- Throughout the playoffs, guest analysts in the form of current WNBA players will be on hand to provide unique insight to game coverage.
- ESPN.com will continue tracking all the action throughout the playoffs. Highlights include:
- Round-by-round primers previewing each single-elimination game or series, including predictions and breakdowns of the first round
- WNBA playoff predictions: Experts pick the winners of each round and their projected 2021 WNBA champion
- WNBA survey results: Players, coaches and more discuss the league’s first 25 years and the changes they’d like to see
- Ranking every WNBA championship team: The league is about to crown its 25th champion. ESPN.com ranks the strength of the first 24
- Upcoming profiles of reigning MVP A’ja Wilson, 2021 MVP front-runner Jonquel Jones and dunking phenom Brittney Griner.