PITTSBURGH – I’m with former basketball star and soon-to-be Pitt Hall of Famer Brianna Kiesel on the possibility of a WNBA team coming to Pittsburgh, pitfalls and all. “I think it’s a great idea,” says Kiesel, who played in the WNBA. “You have so many great players, and they’re in the limelight now – in the media with NIL when they’re in college, expanding our game, and then you follow them through (to the pros). You already have professional sports teams there, and this would be a summer sport. “I think it would be amazing.” A wise guy might add that the only summertime competition would be the Pirates and that everybody beats them, but I won’t be that guy. Let’s focus on the positive.
As the Post-Gazette’s Mark Belko recently reported, the Sports & Exhibition Authority “has set its sights on bringing a WNBA basketball team to Pittsburgh.” A study is in the works. The surging league hopes to expand by four teams, to 16, by 2028. San Francisco and Toronto have gobbled up two of those spots, leaving the likes of Philadelphia, Portland, Denver, Nashville, South Florida and Pittsburgh as possibilities.
The Penguins are on the record with support, saying, “If a serious effort emerges to recruit a WNBA franchise to Pittsburgh, we would be interested in potential discussions about hosting games at PPG Paints Arena.” Count me in. I can’t get enough of the WNBA. I watch it all the time, and I’m not alone. ESPN’s ratings are up 183%. The women’s game has never been better. The personalities. The rivalries. The rookies. The skill level. It’s riveting theater. I already have the next Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese matchup circled (Aug. 30), as do millions of others. Huge crowds are packing arenas from time to time, too, thanks largely to Clark, who is the closest thing to Pistol Pete Maravich that I have seen in the women’s game. Everybody knew about the logo 3s. It’s her passing wizardry that leaves you speechless. It’s like watching Wayne Gretzky play hockey. She sees plays before they happen, like she’s sitting in the cheap seats. Clark and Reese have made a fibber of WNBA legend Diana Taurasi, who said “reality is coming” for the league’s rookies. After a brief adjustment period – both players basically came straight from a six-month college season – Reese leads the league in rebounding, and Clark leads in assists. Clark, in fact, is doing the full Magic Johnson rookie routine.
She is 12th in scoring (17.8 ppg), fifth in 3-pointers (2.8 per game), fifth in free-throw percentage and top 20 in steals, rebounds and blocked shots, if you can believe that. She also has her long-lost franchise back in playoff contention, with two more wins than it had all of last season. Reality came all right – for the rest of the WNBA. I have no doubt that Clark would fill PPG Paints Arena on her visits.
The Atlanta Dream are averaging 4,348 fans per game, but when Clark came to town, they moved to the NBA arena and set a league attendance mark with 17,575 fans. It’s the other games I’d worry about. It’s not necessarily Pittsburgh’s failed history with professional basketball that has me concerned. This wouldn’t be like the Pittsburgh Xplosion trying to make it here. But I do see some worrisome signs buried in all the hype.
