ThePortland Fire were a professional basketball team in theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA) based inPortland, Oregon that joined the league in 2000 as the counterpart to theNBA’sPortland Trail Blazers and played their games at theRose Garden. The team folded after the 2002 season, its third in the league. They were the only WNBA team that ceased operations without having made the playoffs.
In its short, three-year history, the Portland Fire franchise held some of the more dubious distinctions among WNBA franchises. Founded in 2000,Portland Trail Blazers ownerPaul Allen served as the team's chairman. Led byVanessa Nygaard andSylvia 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 guardJackie Stiles, who would win theWNBA 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 finished with a .500 record.
The 2002 season marked the end of the Portland Fire's time in the WNBA, but it was also their most improved campaign. Following that season, the league transitioned ownership of its teams to either their NBA counterparts or independent third parties. Portland Fire chairman Paul Allen, grappling with financial challenges tied to the Trail Blazers' widely perceived underperformance, opted not to purchase the Fire franchise, ultimately leading to the team's dissolution. While a group led byClyde Drexler andTerry Emmert expressed interest in acquiring the franchise, they were unable to finalize a deal.[1][2] With this, the Fire became the only WNBA franchise not to make the playoffs, and along with theMiami Sol, the WNBA franchise with the shortest lifespan.
On September 18, 2024, a newPortland WNBA team was announced that will begin playing in 2026.[3]
Lynn Pride: Played for Portland in the inaugural expansion 2000 season before being traded to the Lynx, where she played for two and a half seasons (2001–03). She was waived by the Lynx before signing up with the Sparks, where she played the rest of the 2003 season before retiring.[5]
Jackie Stiles: Selected fourth overall by the Portland Fire in the 2001 WNBA Draft, she was later voted the Rookie of the Year on August 16, 2001. But since that high point, Stiles has suffered numerous injuries, including 13 surgeries, which has greatly hampered her WNBA career (2001–03). After the Fire folded in 2002, Stiles was selected 14th by the Los Angeles Sparks to play for the Sparks in the 2003 season, but did not play due to spending rehabilitation time for her injuries. She retired from the WNBA after that season, though her WNBA rights are still owned by the last team she was with, the L.A. Sparks. After an injury-hampered WNBA career, in 2004, Stiles made her first comeback to basketball in a new league on a new basketball team and signed with theLubbock Hawks (in Lubbock, Texas) of theNational Women's Basketball League (NWBL), which proved unsuccessful for her. Stiles made her second comeback to basketball in a different league with a different team on September 29, 2006, when the Canberra Times reported that Stiles signed to play for theCanberra Capitals in theWomen's National Basketball League in Australia.
Stacey Thomas: She was selected 23rd overall in the2000 WNBA draft by the Portland Fire. When she became a free agent after the Fire's folding following the 2002 season, she signed with Portland's I-5 rivals, theSeattle Storm, but was waived before she even played in a Storm uniform. She played for thePhoenix Mercury, the team that signed Thomas after the Storm let her go, the 2003 WNBA ChampionshipDetroit Shock team, theMinnesota Lynx, and then theCharlotte Sting. After the 2006Charlotte Sting season, Stacey Thomas decided to retire from the WNBA in 2006 because she thought it was time. Following her retirement, the Charlotte Sting folded on January 3, 2007, just a few months prior to the start of the next WNBA season.[6]
DeMya Walker: Signed a free agent contract with the Portland Fire in 2000 after being released by theMinnesota Lynx a few months back, and played with them for all three seasons of their existence. The WNBA held a Dispersal draft on April 24, 2003, which Walker was a part of, that involved various former players from the newly-defunct Portland Fire and Miami Sol franchises that were chosen by the existing WNBA teams. The Sacramento Monarchs selected Walker as the fifth overall pick in the 2003 WNBA Dispersal Draft. Walker played the next several seasons with the Monarchs (2003–08), and helped the team win the 2005 WNBA Finals by defeating theConnecticut Sun, three games to one. Walker was waived by the Monarchs on May 15, 2008. Walker was re-signed by the team on July 21, 2008, making her a free agent or another WNBA retiree who started their career with the dubious Portland Fire.
Sophia Witherspoon: Played a total of 7 seasons in the WNBA. Two of them with the Portland Fire (The first two seasons in franchise history; 2000 & 2001). Before that, she played with theNew York Liberty from 1997 to 1999. After her 2000–01 stint with the Fire, she played her last two seasons with theLos Angeles Sparks in 2002–03 before retiring.[8]
Linda Hargrove was the head coach and general manager of the Portland Fire from 2000 to 2002.[9] She later served as general manager of theWashington Mystics from 2005 until 2008.[10]
