MILESTONES

Much was made of Seimone Augustus becoming the 2nd fastest player to reach 1000 points, doing so in only 46 games.  Did you ever wonder who the fastest ones to 1000, 2000, 3000 were?

Player 1000 Player 2000 Player 3000 Player 4000
Cynthia Cooper 45 Cynthia Cooper 90 Diana Taurasi 151 Diana Taurasi 197
Seimone Augustus 46 Seimone Augustus 93 Lauren Jackson 162 Lauren Jackson 209
Tamika Catchings 54 Cappie Pondexter 104 Chamique Holdsclaw 165 Chamique Holdsclaw 227
Jennifer Gillom 55 Diana Taurasi 104 Katie Smith 167 Lisa Leslie 230
Cappie Pondexter 56 Lauren Jackson 109 Lisa Leslie 172 Sheryl Swoopes 236
Natalie Williams 56 Katie Smith 110 Tamika Catchings 175 Katie Smith 241
Lisa Leslie 57 Tamika Catchings 112 Sheryl Swoopes 175 Tamika Catchings 243
Nikki McCray 57 Chamique Holdsclaw 114 Alana Beard 183 Tina Thompson 256
Yolanda Griffith 58 Sheryl Swoopes 116 Yolanda Griffith 189  Yolanda Griffith 278
Chamique Holdsclaw 59 Lisa Leslie 117 Tina Thompson 195 Becky Hammon 315

Lisa Leslie took 287 to make 5000 and 348 to make 6000, the fastest to those marks.  There aren't 10 to reach either one yet, so I'm leaving them off of the chart.  The slowest to 1000 is Barb Farris, who took 244 games.  The slowest to 2000 is Ticha Penicheiro at 315.  The slowest to 3000 is Tamika Whitmore at 297.

What about the youngest player to reach each scoring plateau?

Player 1000 Player 2000 Player 3000 Player 4000
Lauren Jackson 22-1-27 Lauren Jackson 23-2-4 Lauren Jackson 25-0-28 Lauren Jackson 26-2-16
Penny Taylor 22-2-28 Seimone Augustus 24-2-27 Diana Taurasi 26-0-27 Diana Taurasi 27-2-25
Chamique Holdsclaw 22-11-25 Diana Taurasi 24-11-14 Chamique Holdsclaw 27-2-14 Tamika Catchings 30-1-16
Candice Dupree 23-0-0 Candice Dupree 25-0-13 Alana Beard 27-2-26 Tangela Smith 31-3-0
Seimone Augustus 23-1-17 Penny Taylor 25-2-6 Tamika Catchings 27-10-23 Tina Thompson 31-4-1
Diana Taurasi 23-2-7 Alana Beard 25-2-28 Tina Thompson 28-5-22 Chamique Holdsclaw 31-9-29
Brandy Reed 23-5-9 Sophia Young 25-8-6 Sue Bird 28-9-1 Lisa Leslie 32-0-22
Sue Bird 23-8-6 Sue Bird 25-9-16 Deanna Nolan 28-9-18 Katie Smith 32-1-18
Swin Cash 23-10-29 Chamique Holdsclaw 25-9-22 Nykesha Sales 29-1-18 Becky Hammon 32-5-18
Mwadi Mabika 23-11-28 Tamika Catchings 25-11-3 Tangela Smith 29-1-22 Sheryl Swoopes 35-2-22

The ages are listed years-months-days.   Tina Thompson is the youngest to 5000 at 33-3-27.  Lisa Leslie is the youngest to 6000 at 37-1-3.

For a full list of all the players to reach the various landmarks, click below.

1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000


How about breaking the scorers down by rookie class...

class 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
Originals 15 9 4 2 1 1
Elite 5 3 2 1    
1997 5 4 2 1 1  
1998 12 6 2 1    
1999 27 17 11 5 1  
2000 10 3  1      
2001 14 10 4 2 1  
2002 9 4 2      
2003 5 2        
2004 9 5 2 1    
2005 8           
2006 5 4        
2007            
2008            
2009            
totals 124 67 30 13 4  1

Originals are players who were on rosters when the league started play in 1997 but were not drafted in either of the two drafts that year.  Players are assigned to the class in which they were drafted.  If undrafted, then they go with the season in which they made their first appearance.  Tamika Catchings goes with 2001 even though she missed that season with an injury because she was drafted that year.  Nykesha Sales goes with 1999 because she was never drafted and that was when she first played.


For a list of players who are close to passing various milestones, not just scoring, click HERE

 

Next, we have a table of award winners by draft class.  In this case I combined the 1997 and Elite drafts:

Class2 MVP DPY FMVP All-Star All WNBA 1st All WNBA 2nd All Def Team 1st All Def Team 2nd 6OY Scoring Rebounding Assists Steals Blocks
originals 8 7 6 33 20 14 6 2 5 3 1 4 3
1997 20 6 8
1998 13 3 2 5 3 6 9
1999 1 2 2 62 9 17 1 3 2 5 1 3
2000 1 5 1
2001 2 4 2 29 14 9 11 6 3 1 5
2002 16 4 6 4
2003 5 2 1 1 2
2004 1 1 13 6 2 1 5 3 1
2005 2 1 3
2006 1 11 2 4 1
2007
2008 1 3 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1
2009 1 1