It’s not news that the WNBA has reached new levels of popularity during the league’s 28th season.
However, there remains a problem for those in Michigan: There is no local team for fans to call their own. Well, at least not anymore, as Detroit once had a team, the Shock, who have since relocated to other cities.
But fret no longer, as these three teams, the Chicago Sky, Indiana Fever and Dallas Wings, have the star power and history any new fan looking to get into the WNBA would want.
Chicago Sky: The Closest Contender
Although it seems unimaginable for a Michigander to root for a sports team in Chicago, the Chicago Sky is the closest team, by distance, to Michigan.
In addition to being the closest team, the Sky has an exciting duo of rookies: forward Angel Reese and center Kamilla Cardoso, who are already perennial starters.
Despite being selected after Cardoso in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Reese has brought a lot of attention to the sport and set the record for the most consecutive double-doubles in WNBA history. Also, Reese shattered the record for rebounds in a WNBA season with eight games to spare in the regular season.
If there’s any room to forgive Chicago for the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals in the NBA and the 2013 Western Conference Semifinals in the NHL, the Sky might be the team for you.
Indiana Fever: The Record-Breaking Talent
The Fever makes the list for similar reasons as the Sky: The Fever is the second-closest team to Michigan, depending on which part of Michigan you are from, and has one of the most polarizing rookies the WNBA has ever seen — Caitlin Clark.
Like Reese, Clark also had a season for the history books. The first-overall pick from the 2024 WNBA Draft has broken numerous records. Clark’s standouts include becoming the youngest player in WNBA history to record multiple triple-doubles and the first rookie to net 100 three-pointers in a season.
Another key player the Fever have on the roster is Aliyah Boston. Like Clark, Boston was the first overall pick from her draft in 2023. Boston hit the ground running in her rookie season, winning Rookie of the Year and becoming a starter for the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game.
With rising stars in Clark and Boston leading the way, the Fever offers fans from Michigan a nearby team on the upswing in the WNBA.
Dallas Wings: The Legacy of the Detroit Shock
Considering that Detroit once fielded the Shock as a WNBA team, the Dallas Wings make an interesting case for being the team that fans from Michigan root for.
Following the Shock squeaking by to make a playoff appearance in the 2009 WNBA season and their elimination in the WNBA Conference Finals, the team made the move to Tulsa, still keeping the Shock name.
One of the main reasons for the move was the Shocks’ low attendance during their time in Detroit, which is ironic as the Shock still hold the record for the first and second most-attended WNBA games ever.
After six years of dreadful basketball in Tulsa, during which the Shock had just one season above the .500 mark, owner Bill Cameron moved the team to Dallas in 2015, rebranding it as the Wings.
If you care about the history of the Detroit Shock, which includes four WNBA Finals appearances and three Finals wins, the Wings could be the team you root for, as the team brings all of the history of Detroit with them.
On another note, buying into the Sky or the Fever as your favorite WNBA team means investing in an emerging rivalry between Reese and Clark that parallels the transcendent rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
