Washington Mystics

The Washington Mystics are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded prior to the 1998 season. The team is owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment (led by Ted Leonsis), who also owns the Mystics' NBA counterpart, the Washington Wizards. Sheila C. Johnson, co-founder of BET and ex-wife of Charlotte Sting owner Robert L. Johnson, is the managing partner.

While the Mystics have qualified for the WNBA Playoffs in only nine of its eighteen years in Washington, the franchise has been home to some high-quality players such as Tennessee standout Chamique Holdsclaw, athletic shooting guard Alana Beard, and nearby Maryland product Crystal Langhorne. The Mystics are the only current WNBA franchise that has not made it to the WNBA Finals. They have been to the Conference Finals once, losing to New York in 2002.

Franchise history

One of the first, one of the worst (1998–2004)

Women's National Basketball Association

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA). League play started in 1997; the regular season is currently played from June to September with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July and the finals at the end of September until the beginning of October.

Many WNBA teams have direct NBA counterparts and play in the same arena. The Connecticut Sun, Seattle Storm, Dallas Wings, and Chicago Sky are the only teams that do not share an arena with a direct NBA counterpart, although two of the four (the Wings and the Sky) share a market with an NBA counterpart, and the Storm shared an arena and market with an NBA team at the time of its founding. The four aforementioned franchises, along with the Atlanta Dream and the Los Angeles Sparks, are all independently owned. This independent ownership is important to the WNBA's growth; at one time, all teams in the league were owned by the NBA.

Mystic

Mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft or the occult.

Mystic (and derivative variants like mystics) may also refer to:

Arts, entertainment

Film

Music

Comics

Places

Washington

Washington commonly refers to:

Washington may also refer to:

Geography

United States

Cities and communities

Other features

Outside the United States

Chicago Sky

The Chicago Sky is a professional basketball team based in Rosemont, Illinois, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2006 WNBA season began. It is owned by Michael J. Alter (principal owner) and Margaret Stender (minority owner).

Like some other WNBA teams, the Sky is not affiliated with an NBA counterpart, although the Chicago Bulls play in the same market.

The Sky clinched their first playoff berth in team history on August 23, 2013 and their first WNBA Finals appearance on September 3, 2014.

Franchise history

Franchise origin

In February 2005, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that Chicago had been awarded a new WNBA franchise. The franchise was temporarily named WNBA Chicago. On May 27, 2005, former NBA player and coach Dave Cowens was announced as the team's first head coach and general manager. The team home would be the UIC Pavilion.

The team name and logo for the Chicago Sky were formally debuted on September 20, 2005, at the Adler Planetarium. Team President and CEO Margaret Stender claimed the team colors of yellow and blue represent "A beautiful day in Chicago between the blue sky and bright sunlight to highlight the spectacular skyline."