![WNBA star rips Detroit expansion: ‘Don’t know how excited people are … going to Detroit\](https://i2.wp.com/www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2025/06/28/PIND/84395521007-usatsi-26547719.jpg?auto=webp&crop=5216,2935,x0,y271&format=pjpg&width=1200&w=860&resize=860,0&ssl=1 "WNBA star rips Detroit expansion: ‘Don’t know how excited people are … going to Detroit\")
Detroits to receive a WNBA expansion team in 2029
A previous version contained incorrect years the Shock were in Detroit. They were in the city from 1998-2009.
Not everybody is excited about the WNBA returning to Detroit.
On Monday, June 30, the league announced Detroit would be one of three cities receiving an expansion franchise in the coming seasons, making Detroit the home of the league’s 17th team in 2029. It marked a historic moment for a city with a history of success in professional women’s basketball, with the WNBA’s Detroit Shock winning three championships (2003, 2006 and 2008) during their 12-season run in Detroit. (The team later moved to Tulsa and then to Dallas, where it became the current Dallas Wings.)
One current WNBA star isn’t buying the excitement, however.
Sophie Cunningham, a WNBA veteran in her first season with the Indiana Fever, expressed some doubt about the WNBA’s plan to expand to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia between 2028 and 2030.
“I also think that you want to listen to your players, too,” said Cunningham who has gone viral recently for defending star Caitlin Clark on the cout, “Where do they want to play? Where are they going to get excited to play?” she said in an interview posted to Yahoo Sports’ X account on July 1.
“I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or Cincinnati,” she later added (though she likely meant to say Cleveland instead of Cincinnati).
She offered Kansas City, Miami and Nashville, Tennessee, as options the WNBA could have chosen instead of the three cities they settled on. Cunningham, a Missouri native and University of Missouri alum, highlighted an arena in downtown Kansas City as an “amazing opportunity” for the league.
The city of Detroit’s official X account responded to Cunningham’s interview, writing: “The last time we were home to a WNBA team (Detroit Shock) we ranked top five in attendance for five straight seasons, No. 1 in attendance for three straight seasons and set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals.
“Detroit is a sports town. We’re sure we’ll see the same excitement for the WNBA returning.”
Cunningham is averaging 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game over 11 games with the Fever so far in 2025. She spent her first six seasons playing for the Phoenix Mercury, who drafted her with the No. 13 pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft.
The WNBA, which currently has 13 teams, has plans to expand to five more cities over the next five years: Portland (2026), Toronto (2026), Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030). The league added its 13th team, the Golden State Valkyries, ahead of the 2025 season.
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com