Remembering The WNBA Champion Detroit Shock 20 Years Later
The WNBA has started to get a lot more recognition, viewership, and support over the last couple of years as they have had superstars like A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Sabrina Ionescu, Catilin Clark, Angel Reese and others come into the league. Those players have dominated college basketball and then continue to excel during their professional career.
Detroit used to be one of the many cities around the country that was able to say they had the privilege to go out and enjoy a women's professional basketball team. Detroit was home to the Detroit Shock which was the cities 5th professional team behind the Pistons, Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings. They weren't able to stick around for long as their ownership group felt like they weren't getting the ticket sales they wanted but they weren't shipped away until after they had won a championship.
The Detroit Shock first took the floor in 1998 and just missed the playoffs by one game, this is when they felt like the program could be special. They were one of the first expansion teams in WNBA history and the first expansion team to win a WNBA Championship. They would only be around until 2009 when they were rebranded to the Tulsa Shock before becoming the current Dallas Wings.
The Shock shared the Palace of Auburn Hills as a home arena with the Detroit Pistons and also rocked their red, white, blue, silver and dark blue color scheme as well. They struggled in their early years but quickly rose to the top as they were hoisting the trophy just 5 years after being established. The Detroit Shock were crowned champions of the WNBA 3 times in the years of 2003, 2006, and 2008, the only 3 championships in the team's history. They also won 4 conference championships in 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2008.
They had an overall record of 210-186 for the regular season, 30-19 in the playoffs, which is 240-205 for an overall record. As the WNBA continues to gain popularity over the next few years, I would imagine that expansion will be in talks and on the agenda for many cities across the country.
Would you be a fan of bringing the Detroit Shock back? Who would you want to see suit up or coach the team back to greatness?
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