The Dallas Wings are an American professional basketball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Wings compete in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team is owned by a group led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg Bibb is president and CEO. Brad Hilsabeck joined the Dallas Wings ownership group in March 2019 with the acquisition of Mark Yancey’s interest in the Wings.
The team was founded in Auburn Hills, Michigan, as the Detroit Shock before the 1998 WNBA season began. It then moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, before the 2010 season and became the Tulsa Shock. On July 20, 2015, Cameron announced that the franchise would move to Arlington for the 2016 WNBA season.
The Shock were one of the first WNBA expansion teams and began play in 1998. The Shock quickly brought in a blend of rookies and veterans, but only qualified for the postseason once in its first five years of existence. The Shock went through two coaches (hall of famer Nancy Lieberman and Greg Williams) before hiring former Detroit Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer. Rumors arose that the Shock would fold after the team’s awful 2002 season. Laimbeer convinced the owners to keep the team for another year, certain that he could turn things around. The Shock finished the next season with a 25–9 record and defeated the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Sparks in the 2003 WNBA Finals. Detroit became the first team in league history to go from last place one season to WNBA champions the next season.
After a couple of seasons of losing in the first round of the playoffs, the Detroit Shock returned to success and appeared in three straight finals from 2006 to 2008. They won the WNBA championship in 2006 over the Sacramento Monarchs and 2008 over the San Antonio Silver Stars, but lost to the Phoenix Mercury in 2007.
United States
