Detroit Shock celebrates 20th anniversary of first WNBA championship

Detroit News

Detroit ― The stage was set for the Pistons, but the night was won by the Detroit Shock.

Members of The Shock’s inaugural championship team were scattered throughout Little Caesars Arena hours before the Pistons were officially eliminated from playoff contention with Thursday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

The 2003 championship banner was on display in the concourse, along with The Shock’s shiny three championship trophies from 2003, 2006 and 2008.

Fans lined up for pictures and autographs from several notable players from Detroit’s beloved WNBA franchise, which was honored for the 20th anniversary of its first championship.

Among those in attendance were the team’s heralded starters: Swin Cash, Cheryl Ford, Elaine Powell, Ruth Riley and Flint native Deanna “Tweety” Nolan; along with reserves Barbara Farris, Petra Ujhelyi, Stacey Thomas and Ayana Walker.

“When the organization calls and they want to recognize you, and it is Women’s History Month, we appreciate it,” said Cash, a Basketball Hall of Famer and the first Black woman to secure an NBA executive position in basketball operations with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Rounding out the roster was the architect behind the roster’s construction, Bill Laimbeer, who served as The Shock’s head coach and general manager from 2002-09.

There were smiles and teary eyes, memories shared between old teammates and praises heaped on a team that went from “Worst to First,” a phrase engrained on their championship rings for winning it all after having the league’s worst record the season before.

The Shock finished the 2002 WNBA season with the a record of 9-23, but Laimbeer knew the team was a couple of pieces away from serious title contention, so he re-tooled the roster by adding Ford, the third overall pick out of Louisiana Tech, and Riley, who was acquired in a special one-round dispersal draft after the Miami Sol folded.

The rest was history.

The Shock produced a league-best 25-9 record during the 2003 regular season before a postseason run that included defeats over Cleveland (2-1), Connecticut (2-0) and a comeback 2-1 series victory over the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Sparks that placed them upon the W’s mountaintop.

“I knew the year before,” Laimbeer said. “I saw something in Swin Cash as a leader. Nolan was coming into her own. It was clear early in the year that we were going to be something special. Whether we won or not, that was up to the players. I give them all the credit in the world, but we changed how basketball was played that year with our physical style and fast-paced, up-and-down the floor (play).”

Ford, who won the 2003 Rookie of the Year after averaging 10.8 points and 10.4 rebounds, said the moment she knew the team was capable of winning the championship was right after they won eight consecutive games after dropping their season opener at home to the Charlotte Sting.

It was a lesson learned because by the time the team advanced to The Finals, they dropped their first game of the series in Los Angeles before winning the final two games in Detroit.

“Bill always told us to win the home games,” Ford said during a private panel discussion. “We knew we were coming back home and we just had to win the home games. We had the confidence. We knew we could come back and win.”

With the title hanging in the balance, Riley scored 27 points in Game 3 and earned the Finals MVP award in a thrilling 83-78 series-clinching win to dethrone the Sparks.

“It was a phenomenal experience,” Riley told a group of fans before the game. “Obviously, that’s why you play. You’re trying to win a championship, but I think there was something really special about the group that we had together. We were young. We were selfless. We were hungry. We just loved the game. You could tell that passion everytime we stepped on the floor in a sense.

The Shock was a young team compared to the Sparks. Powell was one of three players with four years of experience. The rest of the roster was comprised of rookies, sophomores and third-years.

“Even though we were young, we believed that we could win,” Riley said. “I think that we did represent the city of Detroit — hard work, blue collar. To see The Palace filled to the brim with people that we loved to play for and represent, I think it meant a lot to us.”

The WNBA, which is currently made up of 12 franchises, is more visible and profitable than when the Shock were members of the league from 1998-2009. The franchise moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2009 and the name remained the same, but the colors were changed from red, white and blue to black, red and gold. The team moved again in 2016 to Texas to become what is now known as the Dallas Wings.

Laimbeer said he had talks with several others about the possibility of the Shock returning to Detroit, but ultimately didn’t know if it could become a reality again.

“We were in an infancy stage, so to speak, with the league,” Laimbeer said. “Now the league is very popular and the women’s time is right now. Whether it comes back to Detroit in the future, (Little Caesars Arena) is probably way too big for their product. I think there’s a market for it, but whether it happens or not, I don’t know.”

One by one, the players and coaching staff walked onto the court during halftime to receive their proverbial flowers. Nolan, who was a key member of the Shock’s three titles, raised her arms and skipped to midcourt to receive her commemorative 20th anniversary trophy. Nolan, the 2006 WNBA Finals MVP, played eight seasons in the league until the Shock’s final season in 2009.

Although she’s one of the greatest members of the franchise and most skilled scorers in the history of the league, her name isn’t a common one for the casual WNBA fan.

“I know for me, even when we were playing, I always brought up Tweety, because she was gangsta,” Cash said. “Her skillset, everything she had, not a lot of players are playing like her. And she was a hometown girl that was here.”

Going down memory lane and joking with her teammates stood as one of the highlights of Cash’s night before she rejoins the Pelicans in New Orleans.

“Funny story, because Tweety’s like, ‘What? What did they say?’ (during the ceremony) and I’m like ‘Oh my God, you still can’t hear,'” Cash joked. “We used to be on the court and somebody would be calling the play and we had to start doing hand signals because Tweety’s like, ‘What? What happened?’ If you look at the film, you can always see it on her face and it cracked me up all the time.

“But you love it, that’s what it’s all about. I try to tell (the Pelicans), the goal right now is a championship, but what you remember is the humble journey.”

mcurtis@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @MikeACurtis2

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