The WNBA set milestones in many metrics this year, from complete presence, to social press wedding to TV viewers.
One area in which the W did n’t have a banner year, however, is scoring points. The team’s team averaged 103.5 factors per 100 possessions in 2024, not just down from last year’s 104.2, but even lower than the 103.8 regular from 2016 and just a marginal raise over 100.2 a decade ago.
This contrasts sharply with the NBA, which achieved the same level of insulting performance five times in the previous six seasons with a record-setting 2023-24. During the same eight-year time in which the WNBA’s unpleasant standing has flatlined, the NBA’s jumped by almost 10 factors: from 106.4 to 115.3, per Basketball Reference.

The offensive explosion in the NBA is generally attributed to the rise in 3-point shooting—in 2013-14, only 26 % of all field goal attempts were 3-pointers, whereas last season that rate was 40 %. Three is for more than two, according to groups, but better judge placement has even resulted in more drives and rim-cuts.
Over the past ten years, the percentage of shots coming from behind the arc has increased from 21 % to 34 %, making the WNBA experience a nearly identical 3-point revolution. The W has undoubtedly had its own influx of skilled guns, from Caitlin Clark to Sabrina Ionescu, in comparison to the influx of skilled, fresh troops entering the NBA.
So why the unique offensive results?
Clubs in both leagues were attempting more threes than they should have been given the significantly higher ratio of twos to twos ten years ago. But, the numbers indicate that the NBA could have gotten much more efficiency by making more twos than the W. In 2014, the average NBA 2-pointer produced 0.98 positions, while the ordinary 3-pointer produced 1.08. These figures were 0.93 and 0.99 in the WNBA, which suggests that the league was now much closer to the NBA’s ideal shot distribution.
The other defining factor is subjective: Most NBA players is slam, and most WNBA gamers never. Since teams then stop four or five players around the circle rather than having several bigs clogging the color, as they frequently did, the new period of long distance shooting and spacing in basketball has opened up the lane for slashers to travel and end at the basket.
NBA players are utilizing that much room to run by releasing a head of steam and throwing it down as the defensive rim protectors are being pulled away from the hoop to defend the three. Dunks are up almost 29 % from a decade ago. The range of 0 to 3 feet of shoeing has increased from 64 % to 70 %.
Meanwhile, shooting percentage at the rim in the WNBA has only increased from 64 % to 65 % in that time span. It’s reasonable to assume that the lack of dunks lowers the bar for rim finishing in the women’s game. Many shots in the NBA that would have been contested layups in 2014 are now dunks. In the WNBA, many shots that in 2014 would have been contested layups are now a little less contested.

Officiating differences could also contribute to these developments. Between 2013 and 2023, the NBA’s rate of shooting fouls called on shots inside the arc steadily increased, a trend that has received some criticism from Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who claimed that physical defense was being excluded from the game.
Referees ‘ effects on offensive production are well known; commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that there was a change in how games were called following the 2024 All-Star break, which saw the league’s overall offensive rating decline by several points. The first few years of the 2020s likely saw improved finishing at the rim and a rise in overall offensive efficiency as a result of the NBA’s prioritization of offensive players ‘ freedom of movement.
Fans ‘ interest cannot be conditioned on high scoring totals. In fact, the WNBA is proving just the opposite. The New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx, two of the league’s top three defensive teams, won Game 2 on Sunday, which was the most watched WNBA Finals game since 2001, scoring 80-66.