Orlando Miracle
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox basketball club
The Orlando Miracle were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Orlando, Florida. It began play in the 1999 WNBA season. The Miracle relocated, in 2003, to Uncasville, Connecticut, where the team became the Connecticut Sun. The Miracle was a sister team to the NBA's Orlando Magic.
History
The city of Orlando was granted an expansion franchise in 1998, and the Orlando Miracle took the floor for the 1999 WNBA season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The league held their second expansion draft for the Miracle and the Minnesota Lynx on April 6, 1999.<ref name=buildmiracle>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=1999exdr>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Miracle posted respectable records in their four years of existence (1999–2002). The Miracle made the playoffs once, in 2000,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and lost in the first round against the Cleveland Rockers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2001, the Miracle took a step backwards, but they hosted the 2001 WNBA All-Star Game.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2002, the Miracle posted a 16-16 record, but missed the playoffs after losing the tiebreaker for the final playoff spot to the Indiana Fever.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The 2002 season would also prove to be the Miracle's last in Orlando.
Relocation to Connecticut
After the 2002 WNBA season, the NBA sold off all of the WNBA franchises to the operators of the teams.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Magic owner Rich DeVos was not interested in keeping the Miracle, and no local ownership group emerged. In January 2003, the Connecticut-based Mohegan Native American Tribe bought the team.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The new owners moved the team to Uncasville, Connecticut and changed the nickname to the Sun (in reference to the tribe's Mohegan Sun casino.)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Connecticut Sun's new nickname and logo were reminiscent of another Florida-based WNBA franchise, the Miami Sol, which folded at the same time as the Miracle.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Uniforms
- 1999–2002: For home games, white with blue on the sides and shoulders and white Miracle logo text on the chest. For away games, blue with white on the sides and white Miracle logo text on the chest. The Miracle logo is on the shorts.
Season-by-season records
| Season | Team | Conference | Regular season | Playoff Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | PCT | |||||
| Orlando Miracle | |||||||
| 1999 | 1999 | East | 4th | 15 | 17 | .469 | |
| 2000 | 2000 | East | 3rd | 16 | 16 | .500 | Lost Conference Semifinals (Cleveland, 1–2) |
| 2001 | 2001 | East | 5th | 13 | 19 | .406 | |
| 2002 | 2002 | East | 5th | 16 | 16 | .500 | |
| Regular season | 60 | 68 | .469 | 0 Conference Championships | |||
| Playoffs | 1 | 2 | .333 | 0 WNBA Championships | |||
Players
Final roster
Former players
- Cintia dos Santos 2000–2002
- Katie Douglas 2001–2002
- Jessie Hicks 2000–2002
- Adrienne Johnson 1999–2002
- Shannon Johnson 1999–2002
- Carla McGhee 1999–2002
- Taj McWilliams-Franklin 1999–2002
- Elaine Powell 1999–2002
- Nykesha Sales 1999–2002
- Brooke Wyckoff 2001–2002
- Monica "Monee" Sheppard
Coaches
Head coaches
| Name | Start | End | Seasons | Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | PCT | G | W | L | PCT | G | ||||
| Carolyn Peck | July 6, 1998 | April 3, 2002 | 4 | 44 | 52 | .458 | 96 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 3 |
| Dee Brown | April 5, 2002 | End of 2002 | 1 | 16 | 16 | .500 | 32 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
General managers
- Carolyn Peck (1999-2002)
- Dee Brown (2002)
Assistant coaches
- Rick Stukes (1999–2000)
- Charlene Thomas-Swinson (1999–2001)
- Michael Peck (2001)
- Vonn Read (2002)
- Valerie Still (2002)
All-time notes
Draft picks
Current WNBA players are in italics.
- 1999 Expansion Draft: Andrea Congreaves (2), Kisha Ford (4), Yolanda Moore (6), Adrienne Johnson (8)
- 1999 WNBA Draft: Tari Phillips (8), Sheri Sam (20), Taj McWilliams-Franklin (32), Carla McGhee (44), Elaine Powell (50)
- 2000 WNBA Draft: Cintia dos Santos (4), Jannon Roland (20), Shawnetta Stewart (36), Romona Hanzova (52)
- 2001 WNBA Draft: Katie Douglas (10), Brooke Wyckoff (26), Jaclyn Johnson (42), Anne Thorius (58)
- 2002 WNBA Draft: Davalyn Cunningham (23), Saundra Jackson (39), Tomeka Brown (55)
Trades
- April 18, 2002: The Miracle acquire Clarisse Machanguana from the Charlotte Sting for the Miracle's first-round pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft.
- July 8, 2002: The Miracle acquire Wendy Palmer from the Detroit Shock for Elaine Powell.
All-Stars
- 1999: Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Shannon Johnson, Nykesha Sales
- 2000: Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Shannon Johnson, Nykesha Sales
- 2001: Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Nykesha Sales
- 2002: Shannon Johnson, Nykesha Sales
<ref>2008 Connecticut Sun Media Guide</ref>
Regular season attendance
- A sellout for a basketball game at TD Waterhouse Center is 17,248.
| Year | Average: Home | Average: Away | High | Low | Sellouts | Total for Year | WNBA Game Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 9,801 (6th) | 10,889 | 15,442 | 7,028 | 0 | 156,818 | 10,207 |
| 2000 | 7,363 (11th) | 8,885 | 9,464 | 5,731 | 0 | 117,810 | 9,074 |
| 2001 | 7,430 (11th) | 8,560 | 11,903 | 5,363 | 0 | 118,874 | 9,105 |
| 2002 | 7,115 (13th) | 9,433 | 13,111 | 4,323 | 0 | 113,837 | 9,228 |