WNBA: Multiple cities vying to become the league’s 16th team

As the WNBA free agency waters churn, the wider women’s basketball landscape also is flooding with news. Catch up on all the latest happenings:

WNBA expansion bid battle is brewing

Let’s just say the groups from Detroit, Philadelphia and Houston that recently have introduced WNBA expansion bids wished they had done so before the Nashville group announced their bid.

The Tennessee Summitt dropped an Unrivaled-style roll out, with star-studded investors and pitch-perfect branding. The stated intentions of the other groups fall flat in comparison to the evocative vision put forth by the Nashville-based group led by Bill Haslam, owner of the NHL’s Nashville Predators, and including Candace Parker, Peyton Manning and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

Nevertheless, according to Front Office Sports, NBA owners in Detroit, Philadelphia and Houston have submitted bids for WNBA expansion teams. Detroit’s bid, led by Pistons’ owner Tom Gores, seeks to restore the Detroit Shock, the three-time WNBA champion franchise that departed the Motor City for Tulsa after the 2009 season. (In 2016, the Shock moved to Dallas, becoming the Wings.) The investor group includes former NBA stars Grant Hill and Chris Webber, as well as Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff and his wife, Christen. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer also supports the bid. Front Office Sports also reports that that the WNBA subsequently has filed a clothing and entertainment trademark application for “Detroit Shock.”

In Philadelphia, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, a group led by Josh Harris and David Blitzer that owns the Sixers, NHL’s New Jersey Devils and NFL’s Washington Commanders, has submitted a bid to the WNBA, which they made public when they introduced plans to build a new arena in South Philly. It is believed that comedian Wanda Sykes, who has voiced interest in bringing a WNBA team to Philly, could become part of the investor group.

An effort to right WNBA history also is part of Houston’s expansion bid, which has been submitted by Rockets’ owner Tillman Fertitta. The Comets, of course, were the WNBA’s first, and forever, dynasty, winning four-straight championships to launch the league from 1997 to 2000. The team folded after the 2008 season. The revitalized Comets would play in the Toyota Center where, as Front Office Sports noted, the original Comets’ championship banners and retired jerseys still hang.

Cleveland and Milwaukee also have submitted expansion bids, while groups in St. Louis and Kansas City also have expressed interested.

In short, everybody wants a WNBA team. But at the moment, the league only has plans to add one more team—No. 16—before 2028. Maybe Commissioner Cathy Engelbert should seek to further cash in on this escalating interest in the league, producing reality television show where the various investor groups compete to become the league’s 16th team? (Our allegiances are already with the Tennessee Summitt.)

Alternatively, further expansion could be pursued. The dissolution of the Connecticut Sun, with players, in part, choosing new destinations due to the organization’s inadequate resources, could spark conversations about relocation, opening up a team to another interested market.

McD’s to introduce The Angel Reese Special

McDonald’s is partnering with Angel Reese, a 2020 McDonald’s All American, to introduce the Angel Reese Special—a BBQ bacon quarter pounder with cheese that includes a new barbecue sauce—on Feb. 10. It will be McDonald’s first signature meal with a woman athlete.

Reese spoke to Andscape’s Arielle Chambers about the partnership, emphasizing:

I always want my partnerships to feel authentic to who I am….[B]eing a McDonald’s All-American alum, it just felt like it was meant to be. When McDonald’s approached me about this partnership, it was an easy yes. They see me for who I am—strong, confident and unapologetically myself.

On the process of creating her signature meal, Reese added, “We wanted to create something that wasn’t just tasty but also celebrated my style and the energy I bring to everything in my life.”

CC is saving her 3s for the WNBA

While Reese does McDonald’s, Caitlin Clark will not be doing NBA All-Star Weekend.

On Wednesday, Clark’s representatives silenced speculation that she will participate in a special 3-point shooting contest at NBA All-Star Weekend, similar to last season’s event featuring Sabrina Ionescu and Stephen Curry. Clark’s reps also indicated that the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year wants her first 3-point contest to come at WNBA All-Star 2025 in Indianapolis.

Good for Clark.

As the likes of Clark and Reese approach new stratospheres of women’s basketball stardom, they are encountering an array of opportunities, from collaborations that intend to benefit them as athletes and people to ventures with a more exploitative lean that are looking to profit off their popularity. Reese deduced her partnership with McDonald’s to be the latter. While Clark and her team may not describe the NBA’s entreaties as the former, it’s encouraging to see her set boundaries, choosing to give her time and energy to initiatives that prioritize the growth of women’s basketball, rather than those that might be using women’s basketball as a vehicle to attract eyeballs (and dollars) to men’s basketball.

Because the Clark certainly does bring in the big bucks. As reported by The Athletic, Iowa women’s basketball raked in over $3.2 million in home ticket sales during Clark’s senior season, the most in Big Ten history.

Sky are callin’ Baton Rouge; Fever are heading to Iowa City

In more Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark news, the teams of the rising WNBA sophomores will return to their respective college campuses for exhibition games against the Brazilian National Team.

On May 2, the Sky will play Brazil at LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The game will also be an opportunity for Kamilla Cardoso to play against her national team teammates. Then, on May 4, the Fever will play Brazil at Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Tempo nab Wright Rogers as first GM

Former WNBA player Monica Wright Rogers will be the first general manager of the Toronto Tempo.

A two-time champion with the Minnesota Lynx who played in the WNBA for seven seasons, Wright Rogers has been the assistant general manager for the Phoenix Mercury since Jan. 2023. Prior to that, she worked on women’s basketball initiatives within the NBA league office.

Aces make another coaching staff addition

Having already added new assistant coaches Ty Ellis and Larry Lewis to head coach Becky Hammon’s staff, the Las Vegas Aces have hired John Lucas III as a player development coach.

Following a journeyman career in the NBA, G League and overseas, Lucas has served four seasons as an assistant coach with NBA teams. The son of former NBA player and coach John Lucas, the younger Lucas attended high school in Houston, coinciding with the heights of the Houston Comets. He emphasized that connection to the WNBA when expressing his excitement about joining the Aces organization, sharing:

Also, one of the reasons I’m looking forward to my transition from the NBA to the WNBA is because when I was younger, I used to practice against the Houston Comets as one of their practice players. I remember going against Tina Thompson, Sheryl Swoopes, Kim Perrot and Cynthia Cooper, practicing against them when I was in high school and playing against those young ladies was eye-opening because they had game. It’s like a full circle moment. I love everything about basketball, and I can’t wait to get started with the Aces.

Thibault to coach Cats

Mike Thibault is not done coaching, named as the head coach of the Belgium Women’s National Basketball Team on Monday.

Thibault replaces Rachid Meziane, who is the new head coach of the Connecticut Sun. The Sun, coincidentally, is the organization where Thibault first cut his WNBA teeth, serving as head coach from 2003 to 2012. He then joined the Washington Mystics organization, serving more than a decade as head coach and general manager, a stint that peaked with the 2019 WNBA championship. Thibault was dismissed after the 2024 WNBA season.

He also will bring significant experience with the US Women’s National Basketball Team to his new post in Brussels, as he was an assistant coach with Team USA from 2006 to 2008 and 2022 to 2024, helping the Americans win Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2024.