Bringing the Portland Fire back to the WNBA has meant a lot of things: league expansion is a good thing, and watching the Fire and Tempo join what's already a robust group of teams has been a fun and dynamic part of the 2026 season.
But the return of the Fire, which disbanded in 2002 after failing to come up with a new owner for the team, has also resurrected something else: the team's rivalry with the Seattle Storm.
All of that is finished, though, because the WNBA announced the Fire and Storm rivalry is back on—and both teams have plenty to prove.
A brief history of the Fire/Storm beef
Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, are less than 175 miles apart. That might sound like a lot, but the reality is that it's close enough to make the round trip in one day, and there are trains that regularly traverse the span of land that separates the two cities (not to mention flights are wildly short). That in and of itself makes the possibilty of a rivalry not only compelling, but mandatory.
Both the original Fire and Storm teams entered the WNBA in 2000. The two teams played their first game against one another on June 3 of that year, with the Fire coming back from behind to win the match 65-58. Portland would go on to win 5 of the 9 games the teams played, which makes them the series winners... but just barely.
The 2026 iterations of the Fire and Storm are two very different teams than they were back in the early 2000s. The Storm have gotten off to a slow start this season and are currently ranked 14th in the league (just above the Connecticut Sun, who are 15th of 15 teams), but there's reason to believe that the combination of Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam will be able to get the team back on track. Malonga, who was drafted by the Storm last year, missed several games at the beginning of the season due to a concussion.
The Fire has completely taken the WNBA by surprise. The team is currently ranked 9th in the league but has been as high as fifth so far this season, and coach Alex Sarama was named Coach of the Month in May in part due to his ability to lead the team to a 6-4 record — a major feat for an expansion team.
Hopefully, the two teams will have plenty of time to get their new rivalry off the ground—and will play many years of basketball against one another. Their first match will be on June 17 in Portland.
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