CHARLOTTE STING

The 'Charlotte Sting' was a Women's National Basketball Association franchise based in Charlotte, North Carolina and it was one of the league's eight original teams. The team folded on January 3, 2007.
Formerly the sister organization of the Charlotte Hornets, it became the sister team to the Charlotte Bobcats. Robert L. Johnson, founder of BET, purchased the team in January 2003, shortly after he was announced as the principal owner of an NBA expansion franchise that was later named the Charlotte Bobcats. Johnson changed the Sting team colors from the Hornets' teal and purple to correspond with the Bobcats' blue and orange in 2004.
The Sting moved into the Bobcats' new home, Charlotte Bobcats Arena, in 2006. It was speculated that they might get a new name, but a newly released mascot following the same Sting theme made that speculation unlikely.
'Uniforms':

★ 1997 - 2003: on the road, light blue with white and purple trim, Sting logo text on the chest. At home, white with blue and purple trim. Sting logo mascot on the shorts, similar to the Charlotte Hornets

★ 2004 - 2006: on the road, orange with blue trim, Sting logo text on the chest. At home, white with orange trim. Sting logo mascot on the shorts, similar to the Charlotte Bobcats

Contents

Franchise history

Season-by-season records

Players of note

Hall of Famers

Retired numbers

Former players

Final roster

Coaches and others

Head Coaches

External links

Franchise history

In addition to being one of the first WNBA franchises, the Charlotte Sting have also been one of the most successful. In their first three seasons of existence, they made the playoffs each year. In 1999, with the folding of the American Basketball League, the Sting added former ABL guard Dawn Staley to an already impressive roster that featured Vicky Bullett and Andrea Stinson.
After a disappointing season in 2000 in which they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, they made one of the most unexpected comebacks in professional sports history during the 2001 season as they rebounded from a 1-10 starting to make the playoffs with a win-loss record of 18-14. They capped off the 2001 season with an appearance in the WNBA Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Sparks.
After another playoff appearance in 2002, the team was bought by Charlotte Bobcats owner Robert L. Johnson in 2003. The 2003 season saw yet another playoff appearance for the venerable Sting. However, in 2004, the team made several key roster additions to its established group of veterans. After trading Kelly Miller to the Indiana Fever in exchange for the 3rd overall pick in the WNBA Draft, the Sting drafted Stanford University standout Nicole Powell. The Sting made four picks overall - including the second round pick of Penn State standout Kelly Mazzante.
While they did not make the playoffs in the 2004 season, the Sting continued to build for the future - trading with the Sacramento Monarchs for Tangela Smith and a second-round draft pick in the 2006 draft in a deal that saw Nicole Powell traded to Sacramento. Having won the first pick in the 2005 WNBA Draft, the Sting selected University of Minnesota Golden Gophers player Janel McCarville. The team missed the playoffs for a second straight season in 2005 and finished the regular season with league's worst record. [2] The season was notable as they traded Sting veteran Dawn Staley to the Houston Comets and named Charlotte basketball icon Muggsy Bogues as their new head coach late in the season. The season also saw the team play its last game in the Charlotte Coliseum, the team's home arena since 1997.
It was rumored that the Sting would move to Kansas City and play in the Sprint Center, which is due to open in the Fall of 2007. Citing low attendance in Charlotte, despite a new arena, the team may have had a better life in Kansas City.
On December 13, 2006, Bobcats Sports and Entertainment turned ownership of the team over to the league, which handled the negotiations. [3] If the Sting did fact move to Kansas City, the Charlotte Sting would have been the second franchise in the WNBA to take root in a non-NBA city (In 2002, the Connecticut Sun began play at the Mohegan Sun Arena after leaving Orlando). It should be noted that unlike Connecticut, Kansas City was an NBA market at one time.
On January 3, 2007, the Bobcats announced that the fundraising effort by a group seeking to move the team to Kansas City had failed, the team would fold immediately, and the players would be sent to the other teams in the league via a dispersal draft.

Season-by-season records

|-
|colspan="6" align=center bgcolor="#FF6E3D" | 'Charlotte Sting'
|-
|1997 || 15 || 13 || .536 || Lost WNBA Semifinals || Houston 70, Charlotte 54
|-
|1998 || 18 || 12 || .600 || Lost WNBA Semifinals || Houston 2, Charlotte 0
|-
|1999 || 15 || 17 || .469 || Won First Round
Lost Conference Finals || Charlotte 60, Detroit 54
New York 2, Charlotte 1
|-
|2000 || 8 || 24 || .250 ||
|-
|2001 || 18 || 14 || .563 || Won First Round
Won Conference Finals
Lost WNBA Finals || Charlotte 2, Cleveland 1
Charlotte 2, New York 1
Los Angeles 2, Charlotte 0
|-
|2002 || 18 || 14 || .563 || Lost First Round || Washington 2, Charlotte 0
|-
|2003 || 18 || 16 || .529 || Lost First Round || Connecticut 2, Charlotte 0
|-
|2004 || 16 || 18 || .471 || ||
|-
|2005 || 6 || 28 || .176 || ||
|-
|2006 || 11 || 23 || .324 || ||
|-
|'Totals' || '143' || '179' || '.444' || ||
|-
|'Playoffs' || '6' || '13' || '.316' ||
Stats updated August 15, 2006

Players of note

Hall of Famers

none

Retired numbers

★ 32. Andrea Stinson

Former players

'Name'	'Years'	'Team Accomplishments'
Cass Bauer-Bilodeau	1999-2000
Vicky Bullett	1997-1999	★ One of two Sting players to start the first 90 games in franchise history
Shalonda Enis	2000-2003	★ Scored a career-high 29 points vs. Detroit on July 3, 2003
Rhonda Mapp	1997-2000	★ 1st Sting player to participate in a WNBA All Star Game ★ Franchise-best 18 rebounds vs. New York on July 26,1999 ★ Scored a career-high 25 points vs. Detroit on July 29, 2000
Kelly Miller	2001-2003	★ First-Round pick (2nd overall) ★ Led WNBA in three-point field goal percentage in 2002 (.471)
Tracy Reid	1998-2000	★ 1998 WNBA Rookie of the Year
Charlotte Smith-Taylor	1999-2004
Dawn Staley	1997-2005	★ All-time leader in assists (1,176) ★ Set a team record for assists in one season (190 in 2000) ★ 3 time WNBA All Star (2001-2003) ★ Recorded her 1,000 WNBA Assist vs. Connecticut on September 1, 2004
Andrea Stinson	1997-2004	★ Started every game in the first 8 years in franchise history ★ All-time leader in points (3,329), field goals made (1,302), field goals attempted (2,882), free-throws made (520), free-throws attempted (706), rebounds (1,115) and steals (339) ★ 3-time WNBA All Star (2000-2002) ★ Team's leading scorer for six straight seasons (1997-2002)

Final roster

Coaches and others

Head Coaches

★ Marydell Meadows (1997 - 1999)

★ Dan Hughes (1999), now the Head Coach of the San Antonio Silver Stars

★ T.R. Dunn (2000)

★ Anne Donovan (2001 - 2002) (Hall of Famer), now the Head Coach of the Seattle Storm

★ Trudi Lacey (2003 - August 2, 2005), also served as the team's General Manager

★ Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues (August 3, 2005 - January 3, 2007)

External links

★ Sting website