With the recent success of the Golden State Warriors, basketball fans will soon have a new professional team to root for in the Bay Area.
On Oct. 11, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) awarded San Francisco an expansion team, this will be the 13th team in the league and first new franchise since the Atlanta Dream in 2008.
April Phillips, San José State women’s basketball head coach, said the new team will give a lot of women something to look up to.
“To be able to see women’s basketball at the professional level in person, as opposed to TV, I think is monumental for women in sport,” Phillips said. “I understand the Warriors are supportive of the new team and any time the NBA is supportive of women’s basketball it’s awesome.”
The team will tipoff in 2025 and will play its home games at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
The team will also take over the Warriors’ old front office and practice facilities in Oakland according to an NBA Oct. 11 press release.
“The new franchise will likely be known as ‘Golden State’ to represent the entire Bay Area but the team name is still to be determined,” Golden State chairman Joe Lacob said, according to a Oct. 5 Sports Illustrated article.
SJSU freshman guard Sabrina Ma, a San Francisco native, said it’s great to have that representation from the NBA and to know the WNBA is expanding makes her happy to see, especially in her hometown.
“To see people have more respect for the women’s game, specifically college and the professional level, is really cool to see, especially in an area that I grew up in,” Ma said. “When I heard the news, I was excited to hear about a new team being implemented into the league and I just think it’s great the league is expanding.”
Alyssa Malla, Spartans’ sophomore guard and San José native said a WNBA team could encourage more locals to come out and support women’s hoops.
She said a WNBA team in the Bay Area could bring the community closer through sports and said she hopes this future team can help the community build social connections with each other.
“Although we have an NBA team in the Bay Area, a women’s team would mean so much for young girls, especially those who have aspirations to play in the WNBA in the future,” Malla said. “One player I would like to see play for the new Bay Area WNBA team would be Sabrina Ionescu.”
Sabrina Ionescu is currently a guard for the New York Liberty and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA draft out of the University of Oregon.
Biomedical sophomore Luke Avery said he would like to see current Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner headline the new team.
“She’s a little older now but I think she would dominate for us and provide toughness and veteran experience,” Avery said.
He said that it makes perfect sense for the Bay Area to be chosen for a WNBA team because of the locations’ huge market for sports.
“We have the best fans in the Bay. So fortunate for this new team, they’re going to inherit a huge fan base quickly,” Avery said.
