| Miami Sol | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Leagues | WNBA |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Dissolved | 2002 |
| History | Miami Sol 2000–2002 |
| Arena | American Airlines Arena |
| Location | Miami, Florida |
| Team colors | Fiery red, yellow, black, orange, white |
| Head coach | Ron Rothstein |
TheMiami Sol were a professional women'sbasketball team that was based inMiami and entered theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 2000. They played their games atAmerican Airlines Arena as the sister team to theMiami Heat of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). The team folded after the2002 season because of financial problems.
The city ofMiami was granted one of the first fourexpansion teams of the WNBA in June 1999 along withIndianapolis,Seattle, andPortland.[1] In their short history, the Miami Sol was coached for three seasons byRon Rothstein.[2] The league held anexpansion draft for the four expansion teams on December 15, 1999.[3][4][5] In their inaugural 2000 season, the Sol finished in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with an overall record of 13–19.[6]
Players such asDebbie Black,Elena Baranova,Sandy Brondello,Ruth Riley, andSheri Sam led them to a 20–12 record and a trip to the playoffs in 2001, but lost in the first round to theNew York Liberty in three games, the only playoff appearance in franchise history.[7][8] After losing to theNew York Liberty in the playoffs, the Miami Sol finished the 2002 season with a 15–17 record.[9]
That season proved to be the Sol's last. Citing the inability to raise enough funds to continue operation under the WNBA's new restructuring agreement, the organization ceased operations in November 2002.[10] The team formally folded in January 2003 after the WNBA announced players from both the Sol and Portland Fire would be placed in a springdispersal draft.[11] The team finished with a .500 franchise record of 48 wins and 48 losses. The other Florida team, theOrlando Miracle, ceased operations after the 2002 season and was relocated to Connecticut as theConnecticut Sun, adopting a nickname and logo very similar to the Miami Sol.[11]
After the team's folding, its players found success elsewhere in the league. After being reassigned to theDetroit Shock,Ruth Riley won twoWNBA championships in 2003 and 2006.Betty Lennox and Sandy Brondello won a WNBA championship with theSeattle Storm in 2004, with Lennox winning the WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player award.[12]
The Sol's road uniforms were fiery red, with the team name emblazoned in white on the chest and aWNBA ball in place of the hole in the letter "O". The home jerseys featured the same design, only with the colors inverted.
The team's nickname, Sol, is Spanish and Portuguese for "sun" and was unveiled on January 7, 2000.[13] The name played off the Miami area's large Hispanic population and its "brother" NBA team, theMiami Heat.[13]
| Season | Team | Conference | Regular Season | Playoff Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | PCT | |||||
| Miami Sol | |||||||
| 2000 | 2000 | East | 6th | 13 | 19 | .406 | Did not qualify |
| 2001 | 2001 | East | 3rd | 20 | 12 | .625 | Lost Conference Semifinals (New York, 1–2) |
| 2002 | 2002 | East | 6th | 15 | 17 | .469 | Did not qualify |
| Regular Season | 48 | 48 | .500 | 0 Conference Championships | |||
| Playoffs | 1 | 2 | .333 | 0 WNBA Championships | |||
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TV Production