{"id":869921,"date":"2026-06-15T23:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T23:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/869921\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T23:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T23:56:12","slug":"fans-will-shape-how-the-new-fire-storm-rivalry-takes-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/869921\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans will shape how the new Fire-Storm rivalry takes shape"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last time the Portland Fire and Seattle Storm played a game of regular season basketball was Friday, August 9, 2002<\/a>. At this point, the Fire was in crisis: the third-year team, which spawned Sylvia Crawley<\/a> and Vanessa Nygaard<\/a> among others, was a victim of a new ownership plan rolled out by the WNBA. The league decided team ownership should be transitioned to NBA affiliates or third-party groups, and despite the fact that the Fire were having their best season yet, there were no takers.<\/p>\n

That may have been weighing on the minds of players that Friday 24 years ago, when the Storm ultimately defeated the Fire 83-74. This was in the internet\u2019s earliest days, and if there\u2019s any archival footage or a newspaper recap, it\u2019s not easy to find.<\/p>\n

So instead, readers will need to imagine the scenario. At the time, the Fire boasted Crawley, Tamicha Jackson<\/a>, Jackie Stiles<\/a>, and Tully Bevilaqua<\/a>; the Storm had just drafted Sue Bird<\/a> that season, and she was playing alongside Lauren Jackson<\/a>. The latter duo had a 56-point game between them.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Fire is a different team \u2014 in fact, they\u2019re different than they were last month, when the two teams played in the preseason and the Storm walked away with a 91-81 win at the Climate Pledge Arena. The Fire is still losing almost as much as they\u2019re winning, but they\u2019re rapidly adapting and adopting Alex Sarama\u2019s Constraints-Led Approach (CLA) basketball, and they\u2019re playing as a collective.<\/p>\n

The Seattle Storm, who have held on to their spot in the WNBA since debuting in 2000, are also approaching the 2026 season with ferocity. The team\u2019s No. 8 draft pick, Flau\u2019jae Johnson<\/a>, is averaging<\/a> 11.5 points, 5.3 rebounds (first among rookies), 2.5 assists, 1.0 blocks (first among rookies) and 0.8 steals in 26.7 minutes per game; she and their No. 2 pick, Awa Fam<\/a>, are part of a long-term rebuild vision<\/a> that also includes Dominique Malonga<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The WNBA was different \u2014 but also the same \u2014 in 2000<\/p>\n

In 2000, there were 16 teams in the WNBA \u2014 one more than the league currently boasts now. While there were some differences in how the league functioned in the early 2000s and what we enjoy in 2026, the heart of the game was still very much the same.<\/p>\n

The 2000 season also ushered in the inaugural seasons for the Indiana Fever, the Miami Sol, and the Storm. The American Basketball League (ABL) had declared bankruptcy the year before, which paved the way for a stronger WNBA. The Houston Comets, then helmed by Cynthia Cooper<\/a>, Sheryl Swoopes<\/a> and Tina Thompson<\/a>, took home the WNBA Championship and posted a 98-24 overall record before their disbandment that year.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s also true of the Fire, Bevilaqua told reporters in Indianapolis on May 19, ahead of the Fever\u2019s first match against Portland. Bevilaqua, who now works as a video associate and player development coach, said it was \u201cdisappointing\u201d the Fire\u2019s original berth was so short-lived. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, when it folded initially, you know, it was really disappointing, because the team was on a momentum uphill in terms of crowd attendance, record, that kind of thing,\u201d she said. \u201cSo it was a real surprise, a real disappointment when we folded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo to have it come back, it\u2019s like we\u2019re getting to finish that story,\u201d Bevilaqua said. \u201cWe\u2019re not finishing it, [we\u2019re] restarting it, [which] gives us a chance to reconnect with the Portland Fire again, and it\u2019s awesome. They\u2019ve got huge following, and it just reminds me of the team from back in my day, they\u2019re playing with the same integrity, fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The original Fire was an expansion team, too, she added. \u201cI mean, we\u2019re all like the sixth, seventh players from rosters that have come together, and you can just see the way that they\u2019re playing out there, that they\u2019re playing with so much passion, so it\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Fans are all in for their teams<\/p>\n

The re-emergence of the Fire this season offered new possibilities for both the city and the team. Portland has embraced its WNBA squad, and the team has been pouring right back into the fans. In fact, the enthusiasm of fans has been one of the biggest, and best, surprises of this franchise\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel great about where we are, great about where the team is, great about the experience fans are getting in the arena,\u201d Fire interim president Clare Hamill told The IX Basketball. \u201cYou know, we\u2019re getting some wins, which is great, and I think the chance to have a rivalry and have some fun togethr is just one more piece of the puzzle for fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those fans have made quite the impression, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think just sitting there, even at the \u2026 Dallas game on Saturday, just that \u2026 just the sort of raw energy, I mean, fans are just like leaping in the air, right?\u201d Hamill added of the thousands of people who fill the Fire Pit each home game. \u201c[They\u2019re] so excited every good play, so loud, staying around afterwards, the handing out roses to the players. I knew the fan part of this would be great, [but] I didn\u2019t even realize how great it would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s it\u2019s beyond what I thought. I think the fans are falling in love with the players, the fans are loving the experience in the arena, and they stay around and cheer for the players, win, win or lose, and I think that\u2019s all you can ask for from an expansion team, from the fans,\u201d she also said. <\/p>\n

Though they might not be new to the league and are having a rebuilding season, the Storm\u2019s fans still show up game after game. In fact, said Will Gulley, the Storm\u2019s CMO, those fans are completely behind their team no matter what.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am biased, of course, but the Storm fans are absolutely the best fans in the WNBA,\u201d he told The IX Basketball . \u201cThe fan base is super \u2014 [there are] a couple of things I\u2019ll say. One, they are they\u2019re 100% behind the organization from start to finish, meaning everything on the court, to all the activities that we do in the arena when the game\u2019s not being played, to outside the arena, when we have Fan Fest, and all those things \u2026 they are with us, and they\u2019re all about having fun in those times.\u201d<\/p>\n

That support is something that\u2019s tangible for the players and the entire organization. \u201cAnd because they\u2019re so with us, it impacts the game, and how our players play, and how they feel, and so they\u2019re with us, too,\u201d Gulley continued. \u201cThey\u2019re super knowledgeable about basketball \u2026 the more that they understand the game, the more they understand when to be hot, when to be loud, when to be quiet \u2026 when to really engage, they understand when momentum is on our side and how they can impact that momentum, and they are in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preseason might not translate to the present<\/p>\n

The Fire\u2019s preseason loss to the Storm likely won\u2019t weigh too much on the team as they head into their Wednesday game. \u201cI think we we showed a lot of great things against Seattle, but it was not first game, so of course it was a little bit hard to find like great connection,\u201d Fire guard Carla Leite<\/a> told reporters<\/a> of that loss back in May. \u201cSo, we had to practice more, and I think we will show more things, more stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Storm, the way the Fire pushed back during that first game was a great example of what makes basketball so fun in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s what, you know, basketball is about,\u201d Johnson told reporters after the game. \u201cYou know \u2026 it kind of defines the activity. It kind of takes away from the seriousness of the game, saying [that] because, of course, you want to win, but it\u2019s just like, how you doing it? What\u2019s your energy when you\u2019re doing it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think, for me, I think energy is great for my game. When I\u2019m having fun, I\u2019m playing my best basketball, even if the ball not going in the hoop,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

If there is one thing fans of both teams can look forward to Wednesday night, it\u2019s energy. \u201cI think, obviously, one of the things we want to do, and I think this is probably the tone we\u2019re going to try to set, both on our side and I think on Seattle side as well, is just that we just want to celebrate just the amazing fandom of the Pacific Northwest,\u201d Hamill said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got two teams in the Pacific Northwest now, amazing fans, and you know, I think it\u2019s going to just make WNBA basketball even stronger, even more exciting for fans,\u201d she also said. <\/p>\n

Gulley agreed. \u201cWe\u2019re going down and back from Portland, up here. Portland\u2019s a three hour drive from Seattle, and we are expecting a significant amount of our fan base to go down to Portland and really show the fans down on in that area just what we\u2019re all about,\u201d he said. \u201cWe take our game seriously. We take our fandom seriously. The Seattle Storm fans do, and we also are like really good people, and we want to shoot. We\u2019re passionate, and we want Portland to succeed. We want the fan base to feel like they\u2019re welcome when they come up here, and similarly, we hope we know that Portland fans are going to welcome us down there too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having the opportunity to play a newly revived Fire is a sign of a league that\u2019s in a good place, he said. \u201cThe league expanding is a good thing for everybody. It\u2019s an opportunity for us to introduce ourselves into new markets. Obviously, this year we\u2019ve been up to Toronto twice and have had a good experience up there. We\u2019re going to go to Portland twice this year and anticipate and have a good experience there. And then, as the league continues to grow with the other cities, like we anticipate being able to showcase the best of the Seattle Storm and what we\u2019re about into those cities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luckily, there will be plenty of times to see the two teams do exactly that. After the June 17 match, the Storm will play host on July 4, and the two teams will meet in Portland once again on August 8 before they close out the 2026 rivalry series in Seattle on August 14.<\/p>\n

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