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It remains to be seen what the Portland Fire will truly look like in their return to the WNBA in 2026. But former players, coaches and executives have made it clear that there’s already one aspect of the team’s culture that no one needs to worry about:
The fans.
“We had the best fans, I promise you,” said former Portland Power player and Lake Oswego High School alumna Katy Steding, who is now an assistant coach at Stanford. “We had the best fans in the whole country. Very loyal, super supportive, engaged in the game. They were knowledgeable, but they were always on our side.”
It would be easy for Steding to see that, as she was born and raised in the area. Jenny Mowe, who is from Joseph and played for the Fire, was also a fan favorite according to teammate Sylvia Crawley.
But even those from across the country said they felt a warm welcome from Portland basketball fans.
Lin Dunn came to Portland to coach the Power in the American Basketball League (and later coached the Seattle Storm in the WNBA) after mostly working in the south. Despite coming in to coach a Portland team that was 5-17 at the time, she said she was immediately embraced by the city.
“First and foremost, I love the city of Portland,” said Dunn, who is now a consultant for the Indiana Fever. “I immediately loved the passion of the fans. And I think the fact that the Portland Fire are coming back to Portland will be a huge asset to the WNBA because of the fans.”
Opposite Dunn when the Portland Fire played the Seattle Storm was Linda Hargrove, who coached the Fire for the team’s entire first run in Portland.
Hargrove said that when she arrived to Portland, Dunn told her that she was inheriting a rabid fanbase that loved basketball.
“I just feel, and I don’t know why but, there was such a love for the team there,” said Hargrove. “It was the city. It was the people in that city. There was just something about them supporting women’s basketball. And I know they do soccer and they do other women’s sports in Portland now as well, but they really did. They really did just have a real close connection with the players and the team.”
When the ABL folded in December 1998, the Portland Power was No. 2 in the league in attendance. But that excitement about women’s basketball was there from the beginning.
According to Linda Weston, the general manager of the Power, the team brought in 9,000 fans for opening night at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 1996 despite being a brand new team with a limited marketing budget.
Crawley has the unique distinction of having played for both the Portland Power and the Fire in their first run in the WNBA. She said the fanbase made the players want to work even harder.
Crawley said Fire fans would stand in the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) until the team scored their first points of the game. It made the Fire want to get the scoring going early so the fans could take their seats.
“But the fans were there through thick and thin, rain or shine,” Crawley told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “We wanted to win so bad for them because they would cheer and they stood up until we scored a basket.”
Crawley even credited the Portland fans for getting her an invite to the 2000 WNBA All-Star Game. Crawley led the Fire in scoring in 2000, but her name was left off the all-star ballot. She said Portland fans were irate with the WNBA and petitioned the WNBA to get her name added to the all-star ballot.
The WNBA responded by telling Portland fans to vote for Crawley as a write-in candidate. And even though the votes pretty much only came from Portland, Crawley was still invited to go to Phoenix for the All-Star Game as an alternate.
“My name wasn’t listed for, like, people who weren’t our fans,” said Crawley, the Fire’s all-time leader in career points, rebounds and blocks. “You know, when they’re looking at the list, they don’t see my name, so they don’t vote for me. Only our fans knew to do that. Like, what fans do that? You know, they’re just like, ‘Hey. We want Crawley’s name on the list.’”
Jackie Stiles was one of the true highlights of the Fire’s original run from 2000-2002. The former Rookie of the Year and Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer said she’s always remembered the Portland fanbase as the best in the league.
“This community, they supported us so much,” Stiles said. “I mean, I know I’m biased, but it was the best place in the WNBA to play, and we had an incredible crowd, and this community deserves to have another team.”
