At one point, the WNBA’s best team was right here in Detroit. The Detroit Shock won three WNBA championships in the early 2000s and was coached by Bill Laimbeer, who was connected to the Bad Boy Pistons era.
In 2009 the team moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in a move that’s been characterized as a failure by the WNBA and not so much the city of Detroit. In recent years the WNBA’s popularity has grown significantly and there’s been a call for the WNBA to come back to Detroit.
There’s a really good shot that could happen, and Detroit Lions owner Shiela Ford Hamp could have a lot to do with it. She and her husband Steve Hamp joined an all-star group of investors in an effort to revive women’s pro basketball in Detroit.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff and his wife Christen Goff are also investors in this project.
Pistons owner Tom Gores heads up the group that also features:
- Grant Hill and Tamia Hill
- Sheila Hamp and Steve Hamp
- Mary Barra and Tony Barra
- Arn Tellem and Nancy Tellem
- Chris Webber
- Roger Ehrenberg and Carin Ehrenberg
- Ethan Davidson and Gretchen Davidson
- Denise Ilitch
- KC Crain and Ashley Crain
- Larry Brinker Jr.
- Andra Rush
- Sandy Pierce
- Steve Jbara
- Beth Chappell
- Mindi Fynke
- Suzanne Shank
- Matthew and Karen Cullen
- Sportsology Capital Partners
What a group. This thing is very likely to happen with this group.
