WNBA Cares Community Assist Award

The Women's National Basketball Association's Community Assist Award (or WNBA Cares Community Assist Award) is an award given by the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) to highlight meritorious community service, charity, and leadership. A monthly version of the award has been presented to players and/or teams since the 2008 WNBA season, while a season-long award has been given since the 2017 WNBA season.[1]

The award is sponsored by the WNBA and State Farm and typically includes a monetary donation to one or several charitable causes.[2][3]

Season-long winners

In 2017, the first season-long WNBA Community Assist Award was given to the entire New York Liberty team for its impact on communities across New York City and New Jersey. As such, a $20,000 donation was split between several charities, including The Ali Forney Center, Garden of Dreams Foundation, Hopey’s Heart Foundation, Girls for Gender Equity, Nissan’s Place, and Ingersoll Community Center.[2][3]

Since then, the award has generally been given to individual players, with one exception being the 2020 season, in which all WNBA players were honored with the award, and $50,000 was donated to the Say Her Name campaign.[4]

Key

Denotes player who won both a season-long and a monthly award
Denotes entire team winning the award
Denotes two or more players sharing the award
Team (X) Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won
Season-long WNBA Community Assist Award winners
Season Player Team Donation(s) Ref.
2017 N/a New York Liberty $20,000 split between The Ali Forney Center, Garden of Dreams Foundation, Hopey’s Heart Foundation, Girls for Gender Equity, Nissan’s Place and Ingersoll Community Center [3]
2018 Nnkeka Oqwumike Los Angeles Sparks (3) $20,000 to LA’s BEST After School Enrichment [5]
2019 Natalie Achonwa Indiana Fever $10,000 each, to both Girl Talk Inc. and Dressed for School [6]
2020 All WNBA players N/a $50,000 to the Say Her Name campaign [4]
2021 Amanda Zahui B. Los Angeles Sparks (3) $25,000 to Brotherhood Crusade [7][8]
2022 Brianna Turner Phoenix Mercury (2) $20,000 split among Equality Texas, Athlete Ally, and Billy’s Place [9][10]
2023 Brittney Griner Phoenix Mercury (2) $20,000 split between Bring our Families Home and Phoenix Rescue Mission [9][11]
2024 Azurá Stevens Los Angeles Sparks (3) $20,000 to United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County in North Carolina [12]
2025 Tiffany Hayes Golden State Valkyries $20,000 to Changing Faces Inc. [13]

Monthly winners

Since 2008, a monthly version of the WNBA Cares Community Assist Award has been presented to players during the months of June, July, and August. However, entire teams have also received the award,[1] such as the Tulsa Shock team in 2013[14] and the New York Liberty team in 2017.[2] The monthly award for players began including the month of May in 2014. An exception where there was no monthly award was the 2020 season, where only the season-long award, and it was presented to all WNBA players.[4]

Key

Denotes player who won both a season-long and a monthly award
Denotes entire team winning the award
Denotes two or more players sharing the award
Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has won
Team (X)* Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won

*Note: The New York Liberty team's win in 2017 has not been included in its "Team (X)" tally.[2]

Monthly WNBA Cares Community Assist Award winners[1]
Season May June (player, team) July (player, team) August (player, team)
2008 N/a Sylvia Fowles (2), Chicago Sky (5) Candice Wiggins (2), Minnesota Lynx (5) Ruth Riley(2), San Antonio Silver Stars (2)
2009 N/a Temeka Johnson, Phoenix Mercury (4) Candice Dupree (2), Chicago Sky (5) Courtney Paris, Sacramento Monarchs
2010 N/a Sue Bird, Seattle Storm (4) Sylvia Fowles (2), Chicago Sky (5) Katie Douglas (2), Indiana Fever (8)
2011 N/a Kara Lawson, Connecticut Sun (4) Tamika Catchings (2), Indiana Fever (8) Swin Cash, Seattle Storm (4)
2012 N/a Ruth Riley(2), Chicago Sky (5) Candice Wiggins (2), Minnesota Lynx (5) Delisha Milton-Jones, Los Angeles Sparks (3)
2013 Tulsa Shock team[14] Katie Smith, New York Liberty (7) Tamika Catchings (2), Indiana Fever (8) Katie Douglas (2), Indiana Fever (8)
2014 Tina Charles (3), New York Liberty (7) Essence Carson (2), New York Liberty (7) Chiney Ogwumike, Connecticut Sun (4)

Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks (3)[15]

 Briann January (3), Indiana Fever (8)
2015 Jeanette Pohlen, Indiana Fever (8) Essence Carson (2), New York Liberty (7) Elena Delle Donne, Chicago Sky (5) Briann January (3), Indiana Fever (8)
2016 Tina Charles (3), New York Liberty (7) Elizabeth Williams, Atlanta Dream Carolyn Swords, New York Liberty (7) Jayne Appel-Marinelli, San Antonio Stars (2)
2017 New York Liberty team[2] Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury (4) Alysha Clark (2), Seattle Storm (4) Tina Charles (3), New York Liberty (7)
2018 Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury (4) Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx (5) Alysha Clark (2), Seattle Storm (4) Candice Dupree (2), Indiana Fever (8)
2019 Briann January (3), Phoenix Mercury (4) Danielle Robinson, Minnesota Lynx (5) A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces Jasmine Thomas (2), Connecticut Sun (4)
2020* N/a
2021 Amanda Zahui B., Los Angeles Sparks (3) Jasmine Thomas (2), Connecticut Sun (4) Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings Layshia Clarendon, Minnesota Lynx (5)

*Note: There was no monthly award for the 2020 season. Only the season-long award was presented, and it went to all WNBA players.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "WNBA Cares Community Assist - Past Winners - WNBA". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Pehota, Elizabeth (2017-10-18). "Liberty's helping hand recognized". Swish Appeal. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  3. 1 2 3 "Liberty Receives Inaugural Season Long Community Assist Award". liberty.wnba.com. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Spruill, Tamryn (2020-09-18). "A'ja Wilson and Sydney Colson, WNBA Social Justice Council members, speak of the continued fight". Swish Appeal. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  5. ↑ "Nneka Ogwumike Receives Community Assist Award". sparks.wnba.com. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  6. ↑ "Natalie Achonwa Receives Seasonlong WNBA Community Assist Award". fever.wnba.com. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  7. ↑ "Amanda Zahui B." www.espn.com. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  8. ↑ "Los Angeles Sparks' Amanda Zahui B. Receives Seasonlong Community Assist Award". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2026-07-25.
  9. 1 2 Weinfuss, Josh (2023-10-27). "Mercury's Brittney Griner wins WNBA community service award". www.espn.com. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  10. ↑ "Phoenix Mercury's Brianna Turner Receives Seasonlong WNBA Care Community Assist Award Presented By State Farm®". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2026-07-25.
  11. ↑ "Phoenix Mercury's Brittney Griner Receives Seasonlong WNBA Cares Community Assist Award - WNBA". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2026-07-25.
  12. ↑ "Azurá Stevens Receives WNBA Cares Community Assist Award". Los Angeles Sentinel. 2024-11-16. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  13. ↑ "Valkyries' Tiffany 'Tip' Hayes Receives 2025 Seasonlong WNBA Cares Community Assist Award". valkyries.wnba.com. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  14. 1 2 "Shock Receive WNBA Community Assist Award". OurSports Central. 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  15. ↑ "Sister, Sister: Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike". sparks.wnba.com. 2019-08-13. Retrieved 2026-07-26.
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