CNN
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It was a WNBA season like no other.

The 2024 season has seen unprecedented growth, broken records and introduced one of the most hyped rookie classes in league history – and we’ve still yet to enter the postseason.

Eight of the 12 WNBA teams make the playoffs and are seeded first through eighth, regardless of conference.

The regular season ended Thursday night with all 12 teams in action. While some teams already knew where they stood for the playoffs, there were still some things to be decided on the final day, and there were storylines everywhere you looked.

The Phoenix Mercury lost 89-70 to the Seattle Storm on Thursday, but most of the attention was on what happened after the buzzer.

Diana Taurasi, widely regarded as one of the greatest women’s basketball players of all time, addressed the Phoenix crowd on the court after what may have been her final regular season game ever.

The 42-year-old was drafted first overall by the Mercury in 2004 and has spent her entire WNBA career with the franchise. She is a former MVP, a three-time WNBA champion, a six-time EuroLeague champion, a six-time Olympic gold medalist, an 11-time WNBA All-Star and the league’s all-time leading scorer.

There is speculation that this will be Taurasi’s last season as an active player. Although the rumours have not yet been confirmed, she gave an emotional speech to the adoring home fans.

“There’s really no place to start, but there’s always a place to end,” she said. “It seems to be the same place that, as you know, when I arrived here in 2004, I kind of knew I was going to stay here for a long time. I felt like this was my home in some strange and mysterious way.

“I want to thank every coach, every player, every person who has worn a WNBA jersey because it’s a team that works together and our league is about lifting each other up. And when we look at where we are now, 28 years later, for those who came before, this league is where it is today. We’re thankful for you and for the next generation.

“If it’s the last time, it feels like the first time,” she added.

Taurasi will get at least one more chance to perform on home soil: the seventh-seeded Mercury will take on the second-seeded Minnesota Lynx in a best-of-three first-round playoff series.

This season saw record highs in attendance and viewership, and this continued through the end of the regular season.

20,711 fans packed Capital One Arena in Washington DC as the Mystics defeated the Indiana Fever 92-91, the highest-attended WNBA game ever.

After breaking the single-season assists record earlier this month, promising rookie Caitlin Clark entered the game eight shy of the single-season record of 128, set by Sabrina Ionescu in 2023.

Although Clark didn’t see Ionescu’s goal in the match – she played just under 20 minutes and the 20-20 Fever had already secured sixth place – she made two triples to bring her total to 122, passing Taurasi for second place.

Indiana’s return to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 marks an incredible turnaround for the team. The franchise was 3-10 to start the season but came out on fire after the Olympic break to battle back to .500 and secure a postseason spot.

“I’m just really proud of their growth, their resilience,” Fever head coach Christie Sides said after the game. “They got going, they got better. We didn’t have the time early on, but they got better and better as the season went on.

“They deserve the chance to play in these play-offs.”

The Mystics entered the game as the ninth seed, knowing they had to win to have a shot at the postseason. The game got off to the worst possible start for Washington, trailing 20-2, but it mounted a huge comeback to steal the win.

Sika Kone led the way with 20 points and four other Mystics players scored double figures in the decisive victory. However, a place in the play-offs was not in the cards as the Atlanta Dream took the matter out of Washington’s hands.

The Dream defeated the Mystics to finish in eighth place with a 78-67 win over the New York Liberty, with center Tina Charles writing her name in the history books.

Charles, a former league MVP and eight-time All-Star, grabbed her third rebound of the game in the first quarter to become the WNBA’s all-time rebounding leader with 4,007 rebounds, passing Sylvia Fowles for the top spot.

Her record-breaking performance couldn’t have come at a better time for Atlanta, which needed a boost heading into Thursday’s game. The Dream entered the game as the eighth seed but trailed the Mystics by just one game and knew that only a win would guarantee a spot in the postseason.

However, according to Charles, the outcome was never in doubt.

“We came here with our bags packed,” the 35-year-old said after the game. “We knew we were going to take care of business. For us, honestly, the play-offs might have started a week ago, just because of the situation we were in.”

Charles also finished the game with 10 points and 10 rebounds to record her 194th career double-double, the most by a player in league history. Fowles was also the previous holder of this record.

The game also served as a preview of the play-offs: Atlanta will face top-seeded Liberty in the first round of the postseason.

New York had already clinched the top spot before Thursday’s game, so it remains to be seen how the squad will fare against a revamped Dream group with the season on the line.

The first round consists of three matches.

Away @ Home (match 1)

No. 8 Atlanta Dream @ No. 1 New York Liberty

No. 7 Phoenix Mercury @ No. 2 Minnesota Lynx

No. 6 Indiana Fever @ No. 3 Connecticut Sun

No. 5 Seattle Storm @ No. 4 Las Vegas Aces