College Sports
Connecticut misplaced its WNBA crew, however one NBA star joked that having UConn round will soften the blow.
Connecticut has misplaced its WNBA franchise. The Solar are heading to Houston, the place they’ll rebrand because the Houston Comets.
The Comets received 4 consecutive WNBA titles earlier than folding in 2008. Eighteen years later, they’ll get one other shot to make issues work.
Rockets star Kevin Durant instructed reporters that he’s glad the Comets are making a comeback.
The 16-time NBA All-Star joked that Solar followers will likely be OK as a result of the winningest program in girls’s Division I school basketball historical past isn’t too far-off.
“I’m so completely happy to see that,” Durant mentioned. The Comets are an historic franchise, historic model. They kickstarted the WNBA. I really feel for the folks of Connecticut, although, as a result of they positively supported their crew by means of and thru.”
“However, they’ve acquired UConn girls’s basketball. They’ll be alright,” Durant mentioned with a smile. “Glad [the Comets] are again, glad that we will honor the legends that performed for the Comets earlier … can’t wait to see WNBA basketball in Houston.”
The transfer is a blow for native WNBA followers, because the Solar have been the one franchise in New England. According to ESPN, former Celtics minority proprietor Steve Pagliuca had a $325 million deal in place to carry the Solar to Boston final summer season however the deal was “principally blocked” by the league.
The league ended up taking Houston Rockets proprietor Tillman Fertitta’s bid as an alternative. The $300 million bid was an WNBA report, however it was finally lower than the reported provide from Pagliuca.
“Relocation choices are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and never by particular person groups,” the league instructed ESPN.
Celtics proprietor Invoice Chisholm mentioned final fall that he believes there may be an urge for food for skilled girls’s basketball in Boston.
“I believe Boston ought to have a crew,” Chisholm said. “That is the most effective sports activities metropolis within the nation and that is the birthplace of basketball.”
Nevertheless, New England will go with no WNBA crew within the space within the close to future.
The Solar are gone, however the Huskies are nonetheless alive. UConn is ready to play within the NCAA Match girls’s Final Four on Friday night time.
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