The sale of the Connecticut Sun comes as a blow to fans in the Northeastern United States who have grown used to having a WNBA team nearby, but there is a silver lining for fans who live on the opposite end of the country. The team's new owners are in Houston, and they're bringing back one of the WNBA's founding teams.
The Houston Comets were formed in 1997 as one of eight original WNBA teams. The team was, to put it mildly, excellent: they won the first four championships and ushered in an era of women's professional basketball that hadn't been seen that frequently in the US. The Comets are largely considered the first dynasty in the league, the type of team that walked so the Aces could run — decades later.
The Comets put together powerhouse roster after roster over the years. The team drafted Tina Thompson, Sheryl Swoopes, and Cynthia Cooper, who were known as the Big Three.
Of course, not every season was a great one. The Comets lost Cooper when she retired in 2001 and were forced to play without Swoopes after she tore her ACL in the same season. That didn't slow them down entirely — they won the championship, and Swoopes was named MVP in 2002. But the team missed the playoffs in 2003 and 2004 before returning in 2005. The following year saw changes that disrupted the front office, and then-owner Lindsay Alexander announcd plans to sell the team.
The new Houston Comets will be different than an expansion team
The Connecticut Sun are relocating to Houston, which means the Comets are back — but they aren't an expansion team like the Golden State Valkyries last year, or the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire this year. Presumably the roster will move with the team, and fans will have an idea of who will be playing, when those games will be held, and where they'll be.
The move to Houston isn't entirely surprising. There were rumors the team might be up for sale for months, and Houston was previously vetted as a potential home for an expansion team down the line. This sale just pushes that timeline up, which is an exciting thing for fans in Houston.
The new Comets will be familiar faces to WNBA fans, but will also benefit from a history that's powerful and impressive. There's a lot of potential in change, and hopefully the team's new owners will take advantage of every opportunity to harness that.