Portland Fire

WNBA team
color1 = #990000
color2 = #FFFFFF
name = Portland Fire

imagesize = 150px
conference = Western Conference
founded = 2000
folded = 2002
arena = Rose Garden
city = Portland, Oregon
colors = Red, Black, Gold, White
league_champs = None
conf_champs = None

The Portland Fire joined the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 2000 as the counterpart to the NBA team the Portland Trail Blazers. They played their games at Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. The team folded after the 2002 season. Until the Chicago Sky joined the league, they were the only WNBA team that had never made the playoffs.

Uniforms

At home, white with red on the sides and gold on the shoulders, black Fire logo text on the chest. On the road, black with red on the sides and gold on the shoudlers, Fire logo text in white. The shorts had the Fire logo on them..

History

In its short history, the Portland Fire franchise held some of the more dubious distinctions among WNBA franchises. Founded in 2000, Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen served as the team's chairman. Led by Vanessa Nygaard and Sylvia Crawley, the team managed a 10-22 win-loss record in their inaugural season. In the 2001 season, the team faced another losing season but found hope in the play of rookie guard Jackie Stiles, who would win the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award. However, in 2002 Stiles suffered a severe injury and was out for most of the season. Without their star player, the Fire faced another losing campaign.

The 2002 season proved to be the Portland Fire's last. After this season, the WNBA sold ownership of their franchises to owners of their counterpart NBA teams or to third parties. Fire chairman Paul Allen's continued financial problems with what was seen league-wide as an underachieving Trail Blazers team put him out of the running to buy the Fire franchise and led to the Portland Fire folding in 2002. With this, the Fire became the only WNBA franchise not to make the playoffs and along with the Miami Sol, the WNBA franchise with the shortest lifespan.

eason-by-season records

-
colspan="6" align=center bgcolor="#990000" | Portland Fire
-
2000 || 10 || 22 || .313 || |
-
2001 || 11 || 21 || .344 || |
-
2002 || 16 || 16 || .500 || |
-
Totals || 37 || 59 || .385 |
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Roster

The following have been listed on the Fire roster:

Coaches and others

Head Coaches:
* Linda Hargrove (2000-2002), now serves as the General Manager of the Washington Mystics

External links

* [http://www.wnba.com WNBA website]