The Women's National Basketball Association's first overall pick is the player who is selected first among all eligible draftees by a team during the annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) draft. The first pick is awarded to the team that wins the WNBA draft lottery; in most cases, that team had a losing record in the previous season.

Eight first picks have won the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award: Lauren Jackson (three-time winner), Candace Parker (two-time winner), Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Nneka Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, and A'ja Wilson. Candace Parker is the only player to win the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award during her rookie year.

Fourteen first picks have won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award: Chamique Holdsclaw, Diana Taurasi, Seimone Augustus, Candace Parker, Angel McCoughtry, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Nneka Ogwumike, Chiney Ogwumike, Jewell Loyd, Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson, Rhyne Howard, and Aliyah Boston.

Four collegiate programs have multiple players that were selected first overall: UConn with five, Tennessee with three, and Notre Dame, South Carolina and Stanford with two each.

Key

List of first overall picks

Draft	Selected by	Player	Country	Position	College / high school / former club	WNBA rookie statistics			Ref.
						PPG	RPG	APG
1997 (Elite)[b]	Utah Starzz	Dena Head	USA	Guard	Tennessee	5.7	2.3	1.7	[1]
1997	Houston Comets	Tina Thompson*	USA	Forward	USC	13.2	6.6	1.1	[2]
1998	Utah Starzz	Margo Dydek+	POL	Center	Fota Porta Gdynia (Poland)	12.9	7.6	1.8	[3]
1999	Washington Mystics	Chamique Holdsclaw*	USA	Forward	Tennessee	16.9	7.9	2.4	[4]
2000	Cleveland Rockers	Ann Wauters+	BEL	Center	USV Olympic (France)	6.2	4.0	1.2	[5]
2001	Seattle Storm	Lauren Jackson*	AUS	Forward-Center	Canberra Capitals (Australia)	15.2	6.7	1.5	[6]
2002	Seattle Storm	Sue Bird*	USA	Guard	Connecticut	14.4	2.6	6.0	[7]
2003	Cleveland Rockers	LaToya Thomas	USA	Forward	Mississippi State	10.8	5.1	1.2	[8]
2004	Phoenix Mercury	Diana Taurasi*	USA	Forward	Connecticut	17.0	4.4	3.9	[9]
2005	Charlotte Sting	Janel McCarville	USA	Center	Minnesota	1.8	2.7	0.4	[10]
2006	Minnesota Lynx	Seimone Augustus*	USA	Forward	LSU	21.9	3.8	1.5	[11]
2007	Phoenix Mercury	Lindsey Harding	USA	Guard	Duke	11.7	4.4	3.9	[12]
2008	Los Angeles Sparks	Candace Parker*[c]	USA	Forward	Tennessee	18.5	9.5	3.4	[13]
2009	Atlanta Dream	Angel McCoughtry*	USA	Forward	Louisville	12.8	3.1	2.1	[14]
2010	Connecticut Sun	Tina Charles*	USA	Center	Connecticut	15.5	11.7	1.5	[15]
2011	Minnesota Lynx	Maya Moore*	USA	Forward	Connecticut	13.2	4.6	2.6	[16]
2012	Los Angeles Sparks	Nneka Ogwumike*	USA	Forward	Stanford	14.0	7.5	1.2	[17]
2013	Phoenix Mercury	Brittney Griner*	USA	Center	Baylor	12.6	6.3	1.0	[18]
2014	Connecticut Sun	Chiney Ogwumike+	USA	Forward	Stanford	15.5	8.5	0.6	[19]
2015	Seattle Storm	Jewell Loyd*	USA	Guard	Notre Dame	10.7	3.5	1.9	[20]
2016	Seattle Storm	Breanna Stewart*	USA	Forward	Connecticut	18.3	9.3	3.4	[21]
2017	San Antonio Stars	Kelsey Plum*	USA	Guard	Washington	8.5	1.9	3.4	[22]
2018	Las Vegas Aces	A'ja Wilson*	USA	Forward	South Carolina	20.7	8.0	2.2	[23]
2019	Las Vegas Aces	Jackie Young	USA	Guard	Notre Dame	6.6	3.3	4.5	[24]
2020	New York Liberty	Sabrina Ionescu*	USA	Guard	Oregon	18.3	4.7	4.0	[25]
2021	Dallas Wings (from New York via Seattle)	Charli Collier	USA	Center	Texas	3.4	3.6	0.2	[26]
2022	Atlanta Dream (from Washington)	Rhyne Howard	USA	Guard	Kentucky	16.2	4.5	2.8	[27]
2023	Indiana Fever	Aliyah Boston	USA	Center	South Carolina	14.5	8.4	2.2