The rumors can now be put to rest: An effort to bring professional women’s basketball to Detroit is officially underway.
Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores, his wife Holly and a team of local investors all submitted a formal bid for the city to receive a franchise, according to the Detroit Free Press on Friday.
The investor team includes a long list of local athletes and team executives, business and community leaders, and philanthropists — such as Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem and his wife, Nancy; Lions principal owner Sheila Hamp and her husband, Steve; former Pistons star Grant Hill and his wife, recording artist Tamia; former Fab Five standout and NBA star Chris Webber; Lions quarterback Jared Goff and his wife, Christen; General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra and her husband, Tony; and many others.
The move would revitalize the previous Detroit women’s team, the Detroit Shock, one of the first expansion teams after the women’s basketball league was established in 1996. In 12 seasons, the Shock won three WNBA titles.
Here’s more on the Detroit Shock history:
Why did Detroit Shock move?
The Detroit Shock always faced an uphill battle garnering attention in a region with four major professional sports teams. After owner Bill Davidson died in 2009, his wife, Karen, began liquidating his estate’s assets and both the Shock and Pistons were sold.
The Shock relocated to Tulsa for the 2010 season.
The team lost $2 million in their final season in the Motor City, Tom Wilson, president of Palace Sports and Entertainment, said at the time, with an economic downturn in the Detroit metropolitan area playing a role.
“The Shock has been a true force in the WNBA, but the fact of the matter is that the economic realities have caused us to make this decision,” Wilson, who spent 32 years as Davidson’s right-hand man, said at the time.
The Shock led the WNBA in attendance from 2006-08 and was fifth of 13 teams in 2009.
The Shock averaged 8,011 fans per game at the Palace in 2009, below their average of more than 9,000 fans a game during the previous five seasons, though still far more than they averaged in 2002 (5,886), when the Shock were the WNBA’s worst team.
In 2015, Tulsa Shock majority owner Bill Cameron moved the WNBA franchise to the Dallas-Fort Worth market, and they are now known as the Dallas Wings.
Gores bought the Pistons in 2011.
Detroit Pistons connections to Detroit Shock
Bill Laimbeer was the Detroit Shock head coach for the title-winning seasons in 2003, 2006 and 2008, Rick Mahorn joined as an assistant in 2005; the two won the NBA championship with the Bad Boys Pistons in 1989. (Mahorn later took over for Laimbeer early in the 2009 season as head coach.)
The Shock in 2002 finished 9-23, a league worst, with Laimbeer taking over midseason.
Then in a meteoric rise, they went 25-9 in 2003 for the best record in the league, and captured their first of three championships.
Where would Detroit Shock play?
If selected, the new WNBA team would play all 22 of its home games at Little Caesars Arena, but the bid includes plans for a brand new practice facility and team headquarters separate from the Pistons’ facilities in New Center. The Pistons and Detroit Red Wings play at LCA, which opened in 2017.
The new development plans also include a “publicly accessible sports center,” per the team, that eventually would lead to the creation of a youth development academy providing athletic facilities for the community.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to provide further context and clarity as to why the Shock left Detroit.
Free Press Pistons beat writer Omari Sankofa II contributed reporting.
Jalen Williams is a trending reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jawilliams1@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit WNBA bid: Why did the Detroit Shock leave the city?
